Accident Management Companies

[EcclesCake]

Having recently had an accident I have been approached by an Accident Mgt Co who are acting on behalf of a party involved.

They are offering me a courtesy car and any other assistance I may require above and beyond my insurance and will be claimed back from the driver at fault.

I've never been in this situation before and am not a fan of ambulance chasers but am wondering what benefit I get and what the possible penalties could be.

Anyone who has any personal experience or advice I would appreciate hearing from you.

[Zacs-Master]

Strange. I’d phone my insurers to ask them. What’s the name of the company?

[hc4361]

Acting on behalf of whom? It is their job to keep their clients costs down and get them everything they are entitled to.
It seems to me they want to act on your behalf.

[EDDIE51]

If the other driver's insurance does not accept liability or the case is found to be partly your fault then the claim company will send the bill for the courtesy car to you or your insurance. There have been questions on here where that has happened. Most fully comp policies will offer a courtesy car anyway. I would be very wary of accepting.
The insurance claim management company want a cut of the money from both insurers which I think is conflict of interest . I don't think the same management company can represent both sides in the claim!

[AKMild]

There are some bona fide accident management companies out there, but also some sharks. For instance, you may be offered a hire car, the cost of which the accident management company will seek from the other party's insurer, quite possibly at a premium rate compared to what you can 'spot hire' for. The premium, if recovered, is their profit. If for whatever reason they can't recover it, in theory the cost is covered by an insurance policy they 'sell' you (at no cost to you - the premium is either claimed from the other party or written off against the policy itself). The catch comes if this policy doesn't work for some reason - you may find yourself liable for the hire car charges and possibly the premium.

Speak to your insurers and follow their advice.

[bhg481]

How did they know you'd had an accident? The usual approach from these people is to say you've had an accident and they'll help you claim - ask then which accident and they're stuck and hide behind Data Protection. They just cold-call and hope they'll hit someone whose had an accident "recently". Ignore it.

[Mamyalynne]

Agree with others, contact your Insurer for advice.

Some AMCs can be a help but others a real hindrance and drag things out far longer than needed.

Just my experience.

[EcclesCake]

My first instinct was to contact my insurers to see if there was a conflict of interest or other issues.

HC there were three parties involved the accident mgt co are acting on behalf of the least involved party.

Eddie I am sorry but you're advice of late has been highly questionable and it is in this post so please don't feel the need to contribute further.

[Mamyalynne]

Trust your first instinct for now at least.

[EDDIE51]

bhg, They are already acting for the one of the other parties involved. so they will know Eccles is involved. I still don't see how they can act for two parties without conflict of interest. They will have an interest in prolonging the case and maximising the claims as they get a % of the total payout.

[hc4361]

Eccles, they can't act for you and the other party.

[EcclesCake]

That is my concern AkMild, about the pay up if things don't go in my favour. Witnesses and police are of the view that I am an innocent party though.

A hire car isn't really needed it's just not the best time of year to drive a 50 yr old car about in poor weather :-(

[albaqwerty]

Mr Alba was once rear ended twice by the same driver, fortunately he had stopped a sensible distance from the car in front of him.

He received a phone call from some Accident place offering claiming compo and a courtesy car.
He told them he was fine and wasn't going to be claiming compo and his insurance company were taking care of the hire car.

Go with your gut instinct Eccles.

[EcclesCake]

HC, the AMC is acting on behalf of a stationary vehicle who was damaged from flying debris. Both I and the stationary car were not at fault.

In such a situation I believe it acceptable for the AMC to act for both us, if I so choose.

[hc4361]

I'm with you, now, but this is really what you pay your insurance company to do

[TWR]

Just seen this, use your own Insurance, that's what you pay them for.