Hi Redroy. Any luck with obtaining these hire costs back yet? Am asking as it seems I am in the exact same position as you are right now. Ive been told by OCL solicitors that third party are Hi Redroy, any luck with this yet? I am in exact same position as you was last year. Have been told by OCL solicitors that third party are disputing the excessive car hire amount and want to know why i chose to take an expensive car out of hire. I feel trapped as i explained to OCL that One Call insurance deferred me to the hire company and made it seem all seemingless and painless. Now its been 7 months and I am dealing with a court mitigation with third party regarding costs for car hire and injury. This was a 100 percent non fault claim.

My son paid £6k for a car last week, a 2010 golf with 77k miles. He bought it from a motor dealer in London. His wife drove it down to my family in Wales, and on the 2nd day the car wouldn't engage D or R (auto-box) He contacted the dealer, relaying the issue from his wife. Unfortunately the issue has only worsened, and he decided, rightly in my view, that he was rejecting the car under the consumer rights act 2015 as it was less than 30 days old, and informed the dealer of this via email and phone-call. I am driving the car back to the dealer in London on Saturday morning - exactly 7 days since the purchase. Since looking at the paperwork with the car, please see link https://drive.google.com/open?id=19FvkpDbBqEgJe39jH6HFTnSi_Ddvb2XF It seems the previous owner also had a the same fault. My question is, does this piece of paper go in our favour as proof the fault already existed, or against us as he took the car with that paper in the service book, therefore accepting the fault. Basically - Do I wave that under the dealer's nose, or hide it? Thanks in advance.

I bought a Nissan Qashqui from a local independent dealer in June this year for just over £5k. The turbo went faulty within 30 days, after an initial appearance of indifference from the dealer they did indeed repair it and all was good. However, we now have an issue with the windscreen washers (both front and back) in that they just don't work. I can hear no noise when trying to use them which leads me to think this it is the washer motor (i have checked the fuse and it is not that). The washers did work upon when we first got it, but over the past few weeks they have stopped working. I contacted the dealer via email yesterday confirming that the car is under 6 months since purchase and this fault has occurred for which i would like them to repair. Their reply has been: "Sorry to hear you are having a minor problem with your Nissan Qashqai unfortunately due to you only having a 3 months major mechanical warranty which would of expired on the 11/09/18 this wouldn’t be something we could cover the cost of. Even if this issue occurred during the first three months of you owning the vehicle the washer jets wouldn’t be covered due to the warranty only being a major mechanical warranty." I have just replied to them that my request for them to repair this free of charge is under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 "Goods to be of satisfactory quality". I have reiterated that i expect them to repair this free of charge or state their final position on the matter so i can then decide on my next course of action. Can anyone give me their thoughts on whether i am completely in the right to demand repair for this issue on a car bought privately from a dealership just under 5 month ago? If they refuse to play ball, what should my next steps be? I have kept all communication with them via email so i have a clear trail, but if we do have any chat via phone then it will be recorded (i have installed a call recording app - thanks to all the advice on here!).

I was involved in a non fault accident one call insurance put me on to a company to give me a hire car and reclaim everything from the 3rd party . i had a hire car for 8 weeks i tried to return but wasnt allowed .now after 9 months i have received a.letter saying they havent recovered costs from the third party and are using OCL solicitors to reclaim the debt by court action using my name . has anyone being in this situation . they are asking me to sign forms to authorise this . please help Thanks in advance

Hi all, VW dealer charged almost £700 first time when took the car to them for Engine management sign. This was after 70% discount . Invoice had EGR & particulate filters work done. It was on 17th Sep. A week after, same sign came on dash and took it back to the dealer. Now they saying that they need to replace rear EGR valve and wants £600 . Decided not to go ahead and requested to get the car back. Will be asking for printouts for diagnostics and quotation. Don't know what are our rights on this matter but shouldn't the dealer try to fix for free for the same fault that was charged but not fully fixed? At the moment, we're trying to write to parent company and to VW UK. But if goes nowhere, where and how can we proceed further? Car is VW Sharon diesel 2015 reg and not in the list for recall. Thanks.

Hi all, I am new to this forum and apologise if this is the wrong section to post this. I live in London and was involved in an accident yesterday. As I was leaving the bus, a man ran to get on the bus and collided into me, giving me an ankle injury. I didn't know if it was broken or just sprained, but figured it may have been broken as I almost fainted moments after. Do I have any rights to receive compensation i.e. from the man? Thanks.

I bought a used car from a local independent dealership on 11th June this year for £5200 (Nissan Qashqai). It's been a good car since i bought it up until 2 days ago when the CD player stopped playing CDs (it's a 6 CD changer) and then yesterday when the car went into 'limp' mode when driving home. I called the AA who diagnosed a fault with the turbo and towed me to the car dealership. As it was late on a Sunday evening i left the car outside the dealership and returned there this morning at 8.30am to hand over the keys, explain the situation and ask for a repair. The reason i am posting this is that one of the chaps in the office asked if i had paid for their warranty (i hadn't) and said i've therefore just got the basic warranty (up to £300 limit for repairs i think). I replied that i was wanting it repair under the Consumer Sales Act. He made a reply along the lines that it was not applicable to this situation and then walked off. I continued to deal with the other chap in the office, gave him the key and my contact number, He said they'd contact me later today once it's been looked at. I'm just slightly concerned that the dealer might not play ball and get it repaired. I sent an email to the dealer half an hour later confirming the timeline of purchase and when the faults occurred (both the CD player and the turbo) and confirming that i am requesting a repair. I also enclosed a copy of the AA's report from when the recovered the car. Is there anything specific that i need to do in the meantime? If they reply that they want me to contribute to repair costs, i am right that i can demand they cover it completely under CRA rather than warranty?

Took delivery of a brand new E-Pace and initially all was good until 6th June was drive on a dual carriage way and the front collision detection system triggered incorrectly. The car was bought to a stand still, the hand brake applied, and engine switched off, no vehicles or obstruction in front of car. Luckily the lorry and car behind our realised there was a fault and avoided a collision, wife and daughter very shaken. Reported to dealership who were very concerned and asked to bring it into dealership, they inspected the car found errors or logs relating to the time of the incident. Dealership said we could not have our car back it was too dangerous hire car was provided. were hoping there was an identifiable fault that would be quickly fix but after a week still investigations were ongoing we therefore rejected the car as ‘no fit for purchase’ Initially dealership were onboard and told us to report the issue to Jaguar Finance stating we were going to reject the car. Dealership the found a replacement car but delays started to happen Main issues were the replacement car was £600 which I wasn’t prepared to pay but also I’d used Jaguar Privilege staff discount which caused problems I continued to chase and was told ‘we have to follow process’. By this stage I’d already escalated the issue to the Jaguar Executive team. 2nd June still no updates chased and was told still waiting for report from engineers at which point I expressed concern and threated legal action. Magically a few hours later I received a call from dealership, no Jaguar stating that no fault had been found and as a result they could not replace my car and I’d have to have my original car back. I have stressed that no fault found does not mean the incident did not happen, in theory it is now more serious as Jaguar are aware of an issue and have been unable to identify the cause. Weekly summary of the events below, I have a very detailed breakdown of events Is there anything I can do, my wife now does not want to drive the car, she did feel happier knowing the car was going to be replaced. Now she will be concerned if it happens again. 25/05/2018 1 Delivery and handover of E-Pace 01/06/2018 2 Identified faults, rear fog light wiring, alarm triggered, 3G Issues 06/06/2018. Collision detection system triggered incorrectly 08/06/2018 3 Car returned to Marshalls due to serious fault, refused to return car as logs found, too dangerous 15/06/2018 4 "Asked to call Finance company and inform them car is not fit for purpose and is being rejected. All ad-min good and complete and everyone had approved the replacement. Christian had identifed a suitable vehicle but due to additional cost it needed approval but shouldn't be an issue." 22/06/2018 5 Replacement vehicle hadn't been approved, must follow process. 29/06/2018 6 "Issue relating to Privilege voucher resolved Christian working to locate suitable replacement car. Additional £600 reguired for new car, unwilling to pay extra, Marshalls unable to cover costs. Potential issues with Q3 pricing in comparison to Q2, need to wait until next week." 06/07/2018 7 Q3 SE Specification changed, Drive Pack now an additional £700 cost option.

Hi I'm about to file a MCOL. I bought a new radiator in March 2017, it developed a fault (metal started to bulge and cause a leak) in February 2018 and defendant has ignored all attempts to resolve. Defendant is a company that also sells on ebay - http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/delux-bathrooms Before sending my first letter I looked them up on companies house and ended up with three addresses and thus sent three letters recorded. 1 - address listed on ebay page - the letter was returned as not called for. 2 - address listed on companies house - the letter was signed for by unknown. 3 - director address listed on companies house - this was signed for by the director and name matches that of the seller on ebay. This is how it appears on ebay. Ha Ma is the director who signed for the letter. Should I raise MCOL against the company but with the directors address? Here is my POC: Thanks, Kris

Hi I'm sure this has been covered many times but I've tried searching and not found anything specific. To cut a very long story short I purchased a second hand car on the 17th Feb 2018 on HP through first response finance via a local dealership. On the 6th May an injector fault code had shown up after many tooing and throwing between myself and the dealership and the finance company an attempted repair was carried out by the dealerships approved garage where they fitted a new injector. I picked the car up on the 17th May (yes it did take that long for this garage to fit a new injector!!). However upon picking the car up we discovered it had a diesel knock, not something it went in with! We then had it at a further 3 garages, arranged for by the dealership and i'm assuming covered under warranty and the 3rd garage took all the injectors out and sent them for testing, all came back as ok BUT he has advised the noise we hear in the car is actually due to a failing flywheel. Driving the car away from the 3rd garage on the 8th June we discovered the diesel knock had been fixed and realised this vibrating noise was always present in the car from purchase... just to shed some light, its the first time I've even driven a diesel!..i thought the vibrating feeling when stationary at traffic lights was 'normal' and as i'm no mechanic I didn't realise this was to do with the flywheel. After speaking to the finance company and raising a complaint with them we've since had quotes to repair of between £1,300 and £1,700 to fix this flywheel issue and replace the clutch, clearly after only owning the car since Feb and it's been in for repair since early May so actually only driving the vehicle for 11 weeks they're claiming wear and tear therefore not accepting any liability. I'm obviously aggrieved at the prospect of having to pay out anywhere up to £1,700 on a car worth £5.5k (Peugeot 3008 10 plate with 59k on the clock) however my argument is this issue with the vehicle has always been present and I find it hard to claim wear and tear when I hadn't owned the vehicle for that long. BTW the approved garage where the injector repair was supposedly carried out and who had my car for 3 weeks and came out with another fault was the same garage that MOT'd my vehicle and passed it without a working horn (something which we got fixed straight away!) therefore my confidence in that garage supplying roadworthy cars is clearly jaded. I've sent the final response from the finance company to the FO but I wondered whether you guys have any advise for me or whether anyone has had similar experience and can offer any advise? Sorry it's so long but this is the condensed version!! Thanks for your help

Hi My sons moped was written off after a van reversed over it - non fault He has been receiving letters from his insurer asking for the outstanding premium to be paid, I havent been in this situation before and unsure of - If the remaining premium needs to be paid If the at fault party should cover the unpaid premium is there anything I should be doing instead Thanks in advance for advice

2 days ago I was the victim of a crime in my local town. There was an armed robbery in one of our local shops where thankfully nobody was hurt. The getaway car that the robbers used was dumped in a back street where I live and set it on fire. Unfortunately for me, the car was dumped beside where my car was safely and securely parked as a result of the heat from the enormous blaze, the back end of my car has been damaged. The plastics covering the bumper, lights and badge on my boot were all melted and cracked and my boot door was all discoloured. It's a wonder that it survived the fire at all really what with the size of the fire. I contacted Hastings Direct as I have my insurance policy with them (Hastings Premier - not so premier if you ask me) who told me that even though my no claims bonus was protected in cases of vandalism, I was going to lose my no claims bonus. After hours on the phone and being sent from pillar to post, I finally reached a competent member of staff who assured me that it would be noted on my account that I was NOT at fault, but that I would definitely lose my no claims. What is this about? It is ridiculous! I am not at fault! This was all reported to the police and I have a crime reference number which was given to Hastings Direct, along with numerous photos of the car damaged, and the firemen putting out the fire. The firemen filed a report, as did the police! Can anyone offer me any advice at all please? I am at my witts end and feel like I am treated very unfairly!

Hello, I am looking for some advice as Vodafone have treated me very unfairly and I am disgusted with their customer service. In April 2017 I called to give my 30 days cancellation notice as I had a new phone on order from a different carrier. I was told I could cancel my direct debit as I would get a letter with the final bill amount. Towards the end of July I received a letter stating I owed £112, I called them to query why it was such a high amount and to make payment. The advisor said it was a termination fee, I asked if I could make payment next month and he checked with the billing department and came back and told me "as the account is closed I can make payment whenever I can". He said he could set up an automated payment to come out of my bank on the 1st September, I asked him twice would it affect my credit file and he assured me it would have no affect at all so I gave him my card details and thought it was all done. Towards the end of September I received another letter saying I owe £116. I was confused by this as I thought this was dealt with. Upon checking my bank I saw that they didn't take it out as promised. Also noticed 2 late payments from Vodafone on my credit file. I was very annoyed by this as he promised me it wouldn't touch my file and he set up an automated payment which failed! I called them on the 2nd October to complain and the advisor said it was a mistake their end that the payment didn't go through and promised me the late payments would be removed, he put this in my notes. He said I can make payment now or at the end of the month when I get paid. So I called on 27th October to make payment and to get my late payments removed as promised. The advisor told me they could not remove them as its correct. I spoke to her manager and he was understanding and spoke to the credit department and said they cannot remove it as its correct from their point of view. I explained the advisor in July told me it wouldn't affect my file but he said he couldn't find the call recording so no proof he said that. He did say in my notes the advisor from the call in October had put he promised I could get them removed, however he said this was misinformation on their part. I escalated it to someone called Paul from customer relations department who quite frankly didn't care, his attitude was unprofessional and basically implied I was lying. He offered me £50 for the "misinformation" but I said I didn't want £50, I want my credit file rectifying as I will be applying for a mortgage and because of them it would affect my file for the next 6 years and its not even my fault.... He said they cant do anything else and said I can complain to the ombudsman but they probably will favour them and not get it removed. He put my complaint in "deadlock" and I await their letter. I have complained to the ombudsman and will forward them the deadlock reference when it arrives. I cannot believe the way Vodafone treat their customers. I had been a customer of theirs all my life. Absolutely disgusting. I will not give up until I get this fixed and I will be letting the public know how they have treated me. Any help much appreciated.

Please help, First time I received my salary and my outgoings monthly payments are bigger than amount received. I have unsecured loans and pay day loans and this Month I won’t be able to pay 3 of them, I read all the 10 steps but I am still panicking, I have more payments than my salary and I need at least 3 Month to back to "normal" when my paY day loans will be paid in full but this Month and next one I have to stop some payments. Please help and let me know how to go the creditors and what I can ask TO HELP ME, WHAT should I tell them? Can I ask to freeze 2 Month instalments or just offer pay a little? Many thanks

I have been waiting a couple of months for a migration from one energy supplier to another to be completed and get my final bill but I kept getting the same lame assurances that it will happen soon, could be aonther month etc. I found out that my old supplier, Greenstar, hadnt been given the electricity final reading so I got on to the new supplier, who assured me it had been forwarded. I found out that the numbers are passed through various middle men first and then put on a database where the oldco can look at it. Well, guess what? A company called SMS (smart metering systems) based in Cardiff hadnt forwarded the reading given to them so they werent on the database. When I compained to them about their inability to do their job they said that it was a data flow problem insinuating that it was a computer glitch. What they meant is they forgot to do it. These third parties get paid handsomely for basically doing nothing and there is a chain of them involved, not just one. No wonder this country looks like it is struggling, we create methods of cocking things up that others simply couldnt comprehend.

Hey, This is going to be a long winded post so please bear with me whilst I try and put my issue into some form of logically forum post..here goes.. My 4-month-old BMW 420D caught fire on my drive in the early hours of yesterday morning through what appears to have been an electrical fault which started under the bonnet and quickly engulfed the car, melting the engine, melding the front of my wife's park which was parked in front of it (nose to nose) and even damaged the side of the neighbor’s car which was parked approx. 3 meters away. Now I say that this was an electrical fire based on the opinion of the fire investigator who came out to inspect. There were no signs of "foul play" and no accelerants were used. The evidence under the bonnet shows where the fire started so they are satisfied that it was a manufacturing defect. The BMW was a lease car from Arval and had company insurance from RSA, my boss has been made aware of what happened and told me to pass the insurance details to the neighbor’s as well as my own insurance company who cover my wife’s car (One Call) . It looks like 3 claims will be going in against RSA as the BMW was responsible for the damage on the 3 cars. I have uploaded some photos of the damage and have yet not really done anything with these pictures - the link for the images are here . https://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/2017/08/12/BMWFireRescure11.08.2017.jpg https://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/2017/08/12/BMWAfterFireBrigade.jpg https://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/2017/08/12/TowedBMW11.08.2017.jpg https://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/2017/08/12/BothCars11.08.2017.jpg https://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/2017/08/12/NissanDamage11.08.2017.jpg https://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/2017/08/12/BMWEngine11.08.2017.jpg https://www.imageupload.co.uk/images/2017/08/12/BMWSide11.08.2017.jpg So that's the background of my issue. Now here comes the questions. 1) All the signs and the experts say that this was an electrical fire leading me to believe that there should be some involvement from the manufacturer - can or should I approach them for help and do they have a responsibility? 2) My wife's car is a Nissan that is on HP - we used a 3rd party finance company (Money Barn) to lend us the money to buy the vehicle from a Nissan dealership. As far as the dealership was concerned we were cash buyers and repay monthly repayment to Money Barn as part of a 60-month agreement. When we spoke to the insurance company on the Nissan they advised the car was worth £9750, however, the outstanding finance on the Nissan is approx £15000 leaving us with some rather nasty negative equity. What can we do about this in the event of the Nissan being wrote off ? Do I just accept the insurance write off, use the payout money to purchase a new car as cash and continue to repay the same monthly payments essentially not telling Money Barn what has happened or will the insurance go to them, we have the replay the negative equity still and end up car less but still making payments (as situation I really do need to avoid like the plague)? 3) The BMW catching fire issue is actually more common than I assumed, a quick Google search showed pages of hits with BMW's catching fire whilst parked leading me to believe that this is a known issue that BMW are / having been keen quiet on. Should I challenge this with BMW or do anything about this issue at this stage? Fully appreciate that anything mass produced will have an acceptable failure rate but this is my life and the lives of my family that was in immediate danger here. We were woken at 4am yesterday to the sound of the fire brigade on the verge of kicking in my front door to wake us all up as they thought the cars were going to explode. Metal and plastic can be replaced but my family can’t so I do very particularly bitter about what has happened. Right now, I am left without a car, the BMW was collected yesterday by a company called Copart on behalf of the business insurance, my wife’s car is being collected today on behalf of our own car insurance and the neighbor is sorting their car out themselves with their dealership. What are my options? Sorry to ramble on as there will no doubt be spelling mistakes within this post, I have tried to make it as factual as possible but I am sure some emotion will have been added. Cheers

I contacted this uk company to complain that they didn't provide help when they claim they do. The lack of help has left my two daughters with health problems. The company admitted fault and offered me the entire holiday cost back which I accepted because I was in shock. Upon reflection I'm regretting accepting it. Is there anyway I can contact them and tell them I now don't accept it and want a higher amount?

Good evening all... My car internals melted themselves on the way home last night. I've since discovered from my mechanic it has been remapped and he is adamant this is what has caused the internals to fail.. . Corsa VXR in case you are wondering.. .ive spoken this evening to Moneybarn who only seem to be interested in talking about your 3 exit options...as if I don't know. They are saying I have to prove the remap was on the cars ecu when I got it so I can go down the mid sold road as frankly if I'd known, I'd not have touched it. I can't prove in any way shape or form that it was mapped prior to my acquiring the car so their unwilling to progress with a complaint to the dealer. Please help as I'm now paying 250 quid a month for a melted Vixxer that's still gonna cost me 2500 to just hand back in it's current Nick ��

Hi All A good friend of mine, charity worker and child who are school friends of my son has got a bit of a problem. A couple of weeks ago my friend and her family were on the way home when they were hit up the backside of the car buy a driver who was accelerating. The car my friends family were in was stationary. They were shunted forward about a foot the tail gate bumper and tow bar are damaged. Repairs are going to cost more than the car is worth but the car is driveable. The car is needed for hubbies work, he was the innocent driver, and to do fundraising for the charities they currently support. The driver that hit them insurance is dragging there heels about this. TBH its looking like the driver will get away with this and they will have to foot the bill or get a new car. The friends insurance is 3rd party after years of being fully comp. There insurance is not being to helpful either. As far as aware the at fault driver is insured as there insurance company has not said the policy number is not recognised or anything. My thoughts is what can they hurry the insurance along. My other thought is can they sue the driver personally via the small claims courts for the damage to the car if they do get away with it. I have suggested this but my friend seems to thing legal advise would be expensive

Briefly: Mini Cooper Clubman D bought from dealership for £7800 24/8/16 73000 miles 5 months later "Death Rattle" on timimng chain car parked up . Phoned dealer, not our problem, but will repair and let you off with the VAT ! Estimated cost £1500-2500 Letter sent (to be signed for) 17/2/17 stating im within the 6 month period under The Consumer Rights ACT 2015 FOR RETURN OR REPAIR. Giving them 7 days to reply. They are now offering to pick the car up and have it checked for the chain ! My letter clearly states "at your cost" Do I let them take it please ?? I paid with debit card and have drafted a letter of "Chargeback " from Lloyds Bank should this be for the repair only or the amount I paid with the card £7100 ? I am also looking at the ADR SCHEME to try mediation before court is that a good idea ? Many thanks PS; Does anyone know anything about the RESOLVA SCHEME ? I think its a motor trade voluntary thing

I purchased a 49" Samsung TV in 18 June 2016. The TV is wall mounted. Whilst watching it 26 Dec the TV suddenly had a 2" black stripe on the left side and the bottom, and a diagonal internal crack line. When I called Samsung service they said they'd call back in 5-7 days. They did not. I then called to enquire on progress. They said a service centre would send out engineer to assess the physical damage and I may have to pay for the repair. I said I would not pay for any repair as it is a warranty issue. After no contact I called again and was given the number of the service centre, for me to call. The service centre then said Samsung should be arranging this, otherwise I have to pay £80+VAT call out. When I called Samsung back, they fobbed me off completely, saying that I had damaged the screen (even though no one has even looked at it) they have now voided my warranty. This is absolutely dispicable behaviour from any company, let alone Samsung. The TV cost £1400, so no trivial sum. I am really disgusted at how poor Samsung's service and attitude is. The service Ref number is >>>>>>>>> Also contacted Richer Sounds who I bought it from, and got the same response there - 'we can quote you a repair or a price for a new TV'. Astounded as we've not done anything to it - the screen developed an internal crack in its own. After consulting a solicitor who was also shocked, he suggested writing to the Chief Executive of Samsung and giving him/her 7 days to replace it or I will gladly initiate legal proceedings. It's the principle of being accused of damaging my own TV (which I haven't) which has really annoyed me. I am an engineer and I am well aware that something can fail with heat and from material flaws - not just from an impact that could cause external damage. There is no external damage. The policy is obviously to take your money and then fob off the customer and say they've damaged their own TV. Do Samsung care? Can anyone else offer any further advice?

In November someone drove into me and my car was written off. At the scene they admitted responsibility and I got the contact details of a witness who verified this. Following the crash the 3rd party decided to contest their liability which delayed my payout and meant that the case remained open, meaning that in the eyes of any prospective insurers I may possibly have been the guilty party... This meant that I couldn't afford to insure the car I'd been offered the use of over Xmas (thank you Ella Mullin x) so I had no wheels during the holiday period. All of this was bad enough but now... they've finally accepted liability, paid me out and I've got my ncd back again yet... I'm still being quoted twice as much for my insurance. I'm furious! I'm the injured party but my premiums have doubled - is this legal?

There have been a few threads recently from people who have suffered accidents where the third party is 100% at fault and the third party insurers have accepted responsibility. There are then questions raised about whether to claim on your own insurance policy or claim directly with the third parties insurers. There is no perfect answer about the best way to proceed, as it can depend on so many factors. You have to notify your own insurance company first anyway and you should discuss with them your options. If you have personal injuries to claim for, then it is not really wise to go to the third party insurers for the car damage only, as you will want deal with the whole claim properly using any professional advice you can get. You might have legal cover under your own policy or can use an accident management company to deal with all aspects. Firstly, claiming off your own policy If you have comprehensive cover, you can claim off your own policy, but you then will normally have to pay an excess and claim this back from the third party insurers. The excess is payable before any repairs are carried out or deducted from any write off settlement. It might take several months, before a third party insurers refunds the excess to you, after you have submitted your request for reimbursement. So if you are short on funds, this might cause you a problem. If you have a car which is written off with a smallish value, say less than £3,000 and replacing it would be quite difficult, then you need to be aware of a few things. Firstly you have the excess which might take a few months to get back. Secondly, if you pay your premium monthly, your Insurers are quite likely to reduce the claim settlement, by deducting the remaining premium. So for a car worth £3,000, you might have say £250 excess and say £750 remaining premium deducted, leaving you with £2,000 to buy a replacement car. If you are short on funds you might be unhappy you don't have the money to buy a similar car. Thirdly, if your claim is being dealt with by an accident management company on behalf of your insurers, you can expect your claim to be delayed. They have a habit of drawing out claims and providing credit hire cars, to make money from third party insurers. The advantage of using your own insurers, is that you have a contract with them and rights to use the FOS if you are unhappy. Your Insurers are responsible for the repairs they authorise, so if a car is returned with substandard repairs, you have a right to ask your insurers to pay for additional repair work if necessary. With a third party insurers, it is more difficult to deal with repair issues and you can't use the FOS. If a car is wriiten off, you can go to the FOS to complain about your insurers offer. With a third party insurers, you would have to go to court, as you don't have FOS option. Claiming off third party insurers If a third party insurers is interested in dealing with your accident claim directly and there is no personal injury involved, then it can be worth it, for some of the reasons mentioned above. They won't deduct an excess, they won't deduct any remaining premium from a write off and they will normally pay you the book value for a write off. You might have to use the insurers authorised repairers, but can ask to use your own local garage, if they agree to any repair quote provided. The difficulty can be where you are not happy with repairs or write off value, as you are not dealing with your own insurers. The option of dealing with a third party insurers is not going to be suitable for everyone, if they are not confident in dealing with such issues or have a car of reasonable value they feel happier having repaired via their own insurers. Quite often the third party insurers will arrange a hire car for the period needed and to pay for it. It can be less hassle than a hire car via your own insurers, who will be conscious about the hire cost, as it will need to be claimed back off the third party insurers. It depends on what hire or courtesy car cover your own policy offers, as to pros/cons of claiming on own policy or third party in regard to the accident claim. It can be a problem area, as disputes can arise about hire car costs. If you are asked to sign for a hire car, be careful about what you are signing, as to whether you could be liable for any costs. This post is not an exhaustive complete item on these issues and there may be more information which would be helpful to people using the site. I thought it would be useful for a discussion thread, so people can add their experience or thoughts.

I had a car accident last week where someone drove at the back of my car while I was stationary at traffic lights and reported the accident to my insurance who called me on Friday offered me repair at their approved user once I paid Excess. They said once they have the other party accept liablity I would receive my Excess back and this would not be marked as FAULT accident on my claim. I asked them to wait until Monday as I wanted to send all the evidence about liablity to my insurance first. (Excess is Only £100 so its not a big deal at all). Then on Saturday I received a phone call from Third Party's insurance who said their client has admitted the liablity and therefore they are willing to repair my car at their approved garages and happy to provide me a courtesy car and if I chose to go ahead I wont even have to pay EXCESS. I said to them I will need to discuss this with my insurance first then give them an answer on Monday. Third party advised me to inform my insurance they have admitted liablity. I need to ask few questions if someone can kindly help: 1) Is this something normal for third party to call and offer repairs and courtesy car as it sounds very fishy? 2) Who should I choose to repair my car i.e. my insurance or third party insurers (EXCESS is not an issue as its only £100) 3) By looking at damage I took quoatation from few local repair garages and it is in Excess of more than 75% of my car's value. In this case will my car be written off? I would prefer my car not to be written off as its a perfect runner and I've always looked after it. 4) Which insurance is least likely to write my car off? Third Party or My insurance? 5) Because It will now be recorded as an accident on my insurance it is likely to affect my future premiums as some insurance companies think once in accident is more than likely to be in another accident regardless of fault or no fault. Can I in this case claim for increase in my car insurance premium from the 3rd party insurance? (I know this sounds very wierd question but I see increase in premium as a direct consequential loss of the accident caused by the 3rd party insured). I am therefore very confused and any help in this matter will be highly appreciated.

We purchased a Vauxhall vivaro swb van on a 64 plate from new on finance from vanarama.co.uk. Since having the van we have had lots of faults with it such as: window seal incorrectly fitted internal lights not fitted correctly faulty air con faulty radio/phone pack (works intermittently) plus many more van was taken back to Vauxhall dealership who fixed all problems under warranty except for the radio/phone pack issue and the air con unit was fixed but only temporarily and is now broken again. We have contacted vanarama and the finance company to reject the vehicle or get it fixed but they have closed the case saying the radio/phone issue is a software problem for which Vauxhall do not have a fix and the dealership won't accept rejection of the van due to its age!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please help - we are paying for a van that is faulty - we use/or want to use the phone pack as this is a commercial vehicle.