Buggar some idiot drove into the old girl yesterday whilst parked. Now deemed a write off. Being classed as a write off does not surprise me but probably worth more to me than I will be offered. Car insured fully comp with Admiral, not overly impressed with them so far. They have palmed off the claim to some mob called Auxilis who look worse than useless. Promised phone calls which do not material1ise. I am doing all the ringing around. When I get hold of them, and repeat the same details for the umpteenth time, told their system is down. Now been over 24 hours with no replacement car in site. Copart who are supposedly dealing with the old girl re salvage are no better, zero communication.
The guy who ran into her admitted to the police he was fiddling with his contact lenses, so I think bang to rights there. Am not sure why I should have to chase my excess through law when his fault and Admiral will not be suffering any financial loss. They have told me I need to chase my excess as is nothing to do with them. What a way to do business.
Will shortly have some bits and bobs for sale on here which are now no use to me so keep watching.

Can you get in touch with the underwriter? When I had an accident I had the same trouble as you trying to get in touch with the insurer but as soon as I got a contact at the underwriter things moved much quicker.

Copart were efficient for me, but they have many depots. They are probably waiting for the get go.

Have got Copart sorted finally. How do I find out the underwriter? Trying to get a replacement vehicle is like getting blood out of the proverbial stone.

Been told by Admiral they are the underwriters. Am losing my patience rapidly. If I hear anymore of this Your call is important to us I will shoot myself.

Is it worth finding out what they would sell it back to you for and you could contact salvage rebuild Uk. They are a YouTube channel and have brought cars off of people before and given more then they paid for it off of their insurance company. Might go towards helping to fund another one.

Is in hands of copart, Wisbech, now. I will keep a look out for it just out of curiosity. Would be an expensive job to sort out.Bonnet damaged offside front suspension gone=, front bumper knackered plus I think frame might be damaged as battery compartment plastic all split. Strange how both headlamps survived. Think transmission shot as fluid everywhere think will be listed as just a parts job but who knows.
Still trying to get a hire car sorted, is a joke.

Bogart wrote:

They have palmed off the claim to some mob called Auxilis who look worse than useless

Re: Auxillis

When ours was badly damaged whilst parked in a supermarket car park, we got handed off to Auxillis… the car was collected on a truck the same day and a like for like courtesy Ford Edge was driven down from Newcastle to South Yorkshire with apologies for being a bIt dirty following its journey.

The Auxillis selected (and was agreed by me) the body shop which is about the most expensive in the area. They did a first class job, returning the car about two weeks later with a mismatched new tyre with a promise to source and fit a matching tyre as soon as poss. Which they did.

Auxilis performed faultlessly but needless to say, the third party insurance kicked off, primarily about the cost of the courtesy car. Under the Auxilis contract, that ended up with Auxillis suing the third party in my name whilst providing all the legal assistance. A county court date was set but they eventually settled beforehand. Auxillis were excellent throughout, both with the initial recovery and repair and in terms of keeping me fully appraised throughout the entire thing.

Funny how we often have different experiences with a company effectively providing the same service to us…

Oh, I also used the no fault and no claim against my insurance on my part and no loss, no work and no risk on my insurers part at my next increased renewal. They did the right thing and I am still with that same insurer some years on.

Yes yours sounds a totally different scenario. What p***s me off is all these promises about return phonecalls. and all the lame apologies. They have had over 36 hours now to get their a**e in gear. Recorded message whinges on about lack of availabitlity of cars. So either they should get some more sources of vehicles out there or there are a lot of current accidents. Either way I do not believe them.Is 6pm still waiting for the call I was promised at 2pm.

If it can be repaired properly, then I'm sure the other insurance company has to repair it. I'd not accept any BS about not economical to repair. It's not their decision, it's not their car, it's your decision, as it's your car.  Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Gone.
2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE. Gone.
Audi A5 convertible, my daily driver.
1972 Hillman Avenger GT, the project.

It's a tactic, they know you want an answer and they can easily wait you out. That does two things, it makes it easier for you to accept the gloved finger without Vaseline and grateful and softened when the you get any info at all from them.

It's a game that time is always on the Insurer's side.


One other thing, when I was in my early 20's, an agent about my age at the time told me that insurance was for peace of mind and not for claims. <I never forgot that life lesson. Negotiate, no down side.

Nodge68 wrote:

If it can be repaired properly, then I'm sure the other insurance company has to repair it. I'd not accept any BS about not economical to repair. It's not their decision, it's not their car, it's your decision, as it's your car.

When hit by another driver I used a local recovery firm with a storage yard and hire cars. Now they are not cheap but that's the point. The car has been recovered to a safe place, his insurance are not going to be able to move it before they have settled. They can supply a cheaper hire car, but all the time I am waiting they are going to be paying for the hire car from the storage yard (last time a Merc GLE 350). Oh and they have a selection of law firms that will take you on as no-win no-fee.

In the past I have let the insurance companies sort it out, got my car back with stuff missing and a battery that it certainly never had before the accident. Waited weeks for a hire car and generally been given the run around.

Funny how mounting costs focus the insurance companies mind - even down to the costs of taxis when the insurance companies hire car broke down. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

NoDo$h wrote:

Nodge68 wrote:

If it can be repaired properly, then I'm sure the other insurance company has to repair it. I'd not accept any BS about not economical to repair. It's not their decision, it's not their car, it's your decision, as it's your car.

Sorry Nodge, that's ....... that's not how it works.

The contract of insurance absolutely allows the insurers to declare a car uneconomical for repair and write it off. That's the basis of the contract. You can, of course, appeal. But to do so you will need evidence that they are incorrect in their assessment, and passionate statements regarding ownership of the vehicle will count for tuppence in the eyes of the insurer or the ombudsman when weighed against contract and engineers reports.

What folk sometimes consider is accepting a reduced payout and buying the salvage back to repair themselves. Now with utmost respect to the OP, with the damage described on an 07 plate you would have to be off your head to consider going that route.

Source: I was previously Head of Complaints for one of the largest insurers in the UK and now run a Consultancy Firm working with the FCA, the Financial Ombudsman and more insurers, lenders and car manufacturers than most people have even heard of.

Nodge68 wrote:

If it can be repaired properly, then I'm sure the other insurance company has to repair it. I'd not accept any BS about not economical to repair. It's not their decision, it's not their car, it's your decision, as it's your car.

No doubt it can be repared but as insurance companies look at it the monetary angle takes precedence.
Looking at her needs bumpers, fog lights, bonnet, wheel plus tyre. Plus any other items unseen as yet. On swapping out the battery yewsterday noted the battery compartment all broken so who knows what has gone on underneath. Is leak1ing transmission fluid so box is probably shot so I can see their point of view. Pity as she was a good reliable old girl.

NoDo$h wrote:

Nodge68 wrote:

If it can be repaired properly, then I'm sure the other insurance company has to repair it. I'd not accept any BS about not economical to repair. It's not their decision, it's not their car, it's your decision, as it's your car.

Sorry Nodge, that's ....... that's not how it works.

The contract of insurance absolutely allows the insurers to declare a car uneconomical for repair and write it off. That's the basis of the contract. You can, of course, appeal. But to do so you will need evidence that they are incorrect in their assessment, and passionate statements regarding ownership of the vehicle will count for tuppence in the eyes of the insurer or the ombudsman when weighed against contract and engineers reports.

What folk sometimes consider is accepting a reduced payout and buying the salvage back to repair themselves. Now with utmost respect to the OP, with the damage described on an 07 plate you would have to be off your head to consider going that route.

Source: I was previously Head of Complaints for one of the largest insurers in the UK and now run a Consultancy Firm working with the FCA, the Financial Ombudsman and more insurers, lenders and car manufacturers than most people have even heard of.