This cses perfectly illustrates the way things are moving now insurers are getting involved in the accident management busienss.

Claimfast are owned and operated by Acromas which is the same group as Saga and the AA. If you are insured with either you are likely to be bundled into their hands as your insurer will be seeking to make money out of the credit repair, the credit hire and any personal injury claim.

In the very short time they have been around we have had to take action against them twice and won on both occasions.

First of all to the policy excess issue. What they appear to be saying is that unless you take the credit hire - from which they make a great deal of money - they will refuse to act to recover your uninsured losses (in this case your policy excess).

This should be a matter of note on its own as it highlights that most legal expenses cover is not really insurance at all.

The purpose of Motor Legal Insurance is to recover your uninsured losses. Claimfast seem to have lost sight of this imperative and seem to be refusing to act if you refuse to take a credit hire - whether you need one or not. The fact is that if you say you do not need a credit hire because you have alternative vehicles then the court may agree with you and hence refuse the claim. The danger in this is that the agreement you sign for the hire may well make you personally liable for the (extortionate) costs of the hire if the other side are not ordered to meet the bill.

If you make the claim not through your own insurers but directly against the insurer of the at-fault third party the policy excess issue should not come into play at all and certainly should not be linked to your taking a credit hire.

I would be interested in hearing more about the circumstances (and from anyone else with a similar experience) via asklucy@honestjohn.co.uk. It may be the case should be referred to the FSA.

In respect of your own vehicle, with a repair estimate of £3000+ and a ten year old car it is likely they will write it off.

It is still your car and hence you do not have to sell the salvage to the insurer (despite what some of them will tell you). You need to make it clear from the outset that you wish to take the car back and they must not dispose of it.

In terms of the value I am afraid that any recent fitted parts or work undertaken will play no part in the valuation but the price should reflect the market value of cars of a similar age, specification and condition. If this is £1800 - £2000 then that is the price you should receive. They may try to talk this down using the Category D classification but you should stick your ground. In these circumstances having a loss adjuster represent your interests may be to your advantage and if necessary I can suggest someone who may be able to help.

Hi, hope this is the place to post this question. Basically I need some reliable advice regarding insurance.

Recently driving along main road when another car came straight out of side road without stopping and hit nearside rear of my 51 reg clio 1.5dci. 3 door. Other driver admitted liability both to myself and the police (I called police because he admitted to having a drink although breathalyser at scene read zero). There is a fair bit of damage to my rear quarter panel,slight dent on door and alloy has a small chunk chipped out of rim. Tyre damaged as well although car is still driveable.

I am insured fully comp by Saga who put me onto an outfit called Claimfast as soon as I reported the accident. The repair estimate from claimfast approved repairer is £3370 which is ridiculous. What are my rights regarding this as it was totally the other drivers fault?

My car although 10 years old is was in immaculate condition and has had a lot of money spent on it recently,all new shocks,new wheel bearings all round,new front tyres,cambelt,all new discs and pads etc. I have already made it clear whatever happens I want to retain the car and have it repaired privately if they deem it uneconomical to repair.

Claimfast have already blackmailed me into taking a hire car although I did not really need one - they said if I declined the hire car i would have to pay the £350 accidental damage excess out of any settlement I may receive! I know the car is recorded as a cat D insurance claim although Claimfast have not mentioned this as yet.

I bought it damaged 3 years ago and had it repaired to a high standard for my own use. No doubt they will use this fact to value it at about £500 when the market value of similar age and spec and condition is between £1800 - £2000.

Can anyone advise me what my options are please? This is the first insurance claim I have ever had.

(Edit - Paras put in so that it can be read without losing the will to live!)

Firstly if your fully comp it would be your Insurer's approved repairer. You do haveehi the option of using your own repairer but if any problems, your Insurer will not help as they don't have a contract with them. It's the same with most Insurers. If you don't need a credit hire vehicle then don't take one. The statements they get you to sign state that you need the replacement vehicle so signing this not wanting it could cause you problems. Although you are no longer insured with Saga, alot of Insurers have contracts with companies like Claimfast to pass you onto. Alot of the time these companies are regulated by the Association of British Insurers, which means they set the charges these companies can put onto the Third Party Insurer. The ABI is a board of Insurance governors who set out the rules. They created the General Terms of Agreement. You may find it cheaper to go to your own repairer should you have to claim again. If your vehicle was a previous total loss then this will decrease the value of your vehicle should it be involved in an accident. This is up to the Insurers engineers as to how much it is. You can also go to the Third Party Insurer directly for a hire vehicle and if they accept fault they will usually accommodate your needs. Should you ever have any questions about these kind of companies then google ABI, Credit Hire, etc... Hope this helps in future.