Dispute with Drive Assist - Advice most welcome

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Sukgrn

New Member
Feb 26, 2011
2
0
0
I currently have car insurance with Sainsburys Finance.
Recently I was hit from behind by another car causing damage to my
bumper and boot mainly, however the lambda sensor warning light came on.
The other driver admitted liability, Sainsburys then strongly encourage me to go with Drive Assist as they would be able to deal with my claim quicker and I would not have a "non fault" on my record. I had never heard of Drive Assist but was told by Sainsburys that they would take care of all the issues.

The upshot is that Drive Assist have authorised the repairs to the bumper and boot, however they will not authorise the replacement of the lambda sensor. The only reason I was given was that in their engineers "opinion" this was not caused by the accident - even after it transpired that the cars diagnostics show that the light came on at the exact time of the impact!!!! The claim handler tried to say that this is does not prove that the fault occured as a result of the accident??
I have been told that I need to take the car to Audi and get them to provide written evidence that this was caused by the accident. The sensor costs £103 and it will cost more to send to Audi. Drive Assist won't even tell me what would be deemed as sufficient evidence! I have spoken to Audi and explained the situation. Their view was that it was fair and reasonable that a sensor connected to the exhaust system would be affected by a rear impact (which wrote off the other car) and especially given the diagnostic evidence. They were happy for Drive Assist to call them and they would give their view. Drive Assist have refused to do this.

I have made a formal complaint which could take weeks to be dealt with. Meanwhile Drive Assist want my hire car back and have cancelled my insurance on the vehicle as of Monday. I do not know what to do and would appreciate any advice. I don't want to collect the car as I am concerned that something might go really wrong with it and no one will take responsibility. I want to keep the hire car (even if just as leverage), but I am not sure of the legal position.
Sainsburys are trying to say it is nothing to do with them. I want to involve the FSA as I don't want this to happen to others, however it will not help me fix the current issue.

Sorry for the length of this post, however wanted to give you the context.
Regards,
Greg
 
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AndrewHG123

New Member
Mar 4, 2011
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They cancelled your insurance or hire car because you complained?
The fact the light came on at the exact time of impact is pretty damning.
A rear impact might well shock the exhaust system. It might not even be the sensor it could be the wiring.

Try asking for a transcript of the conversation with the call handler, that might focus minds.
 
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Sukgrn

New Member
Feb 26, 2011
2
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0
Thanks Andrew. I will ask for transcripts.
I have had to pay £450 to get it fixed and to add insult to injury when I got my car back, there was a dent in the door that was not there before - of course Drive Assist know nothing about it!
 
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ziggy13

New Member
Feb 8, 2012
3
0
0
Sorry to hear you are also experiencing problems with this lot!
they need to be stopped and reported to watch dog as they seem to be the only ones who win:mad:
 
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dollydimple

New Member
Feb 8, 2012
1
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0
Hi im really sorry to hear you are also having problems with DRIVE ASSIST, as i am. I know how stressful it can be and i have spent the best part of today on the telephone with them, my insurance company, the "engineer" and the garage. In total i have made 12 phone calls to no avail.

What i suggest you do, as i am doing, is put a complaint in writing to DRIVE ASSIST at the address below but add a cc at the bottom of your letter with the following addresses so they know you are taking your complaint with them very seriously.


The Customer Relations Manager,
Drive Assist UK Ltd,
Tamworth House,
Ventura Park Road,
Bitterscote, Tamworth,
Staffs B78 3LY

Telephone: Customer Services on
08448 004 004

Association of British Insurers
51 Gresham Street
London
EC2V 7HQ


FSA 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS
tEL: 0845 606 9966

WATCH DOG : MC4 C5, Media Centre, Wood Lane, London W12 7TQ

Hope this helps :) x
 
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ziggy13

New Member
Feb 8, 2012
3
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0
Thank you for your response, we have been in dispute with theses and the engineering company since the end of September 2011.

My husband was involved in an accident which was not his fault, they gave us a hire car which cost £281 + vat per day and went off to repair the car which has a market value of approx £6995 upwards for the condition and spec. OK they decided to write the car of offering £4810 less the scrap value of £1433 and a cheque for the remainder would be issued. we did not accept this and were asked to submit evidence to support or claim which we did, they refuse to budged and have valued our car on the lower spec model a 4lt engine not the 4.5 which is in our car and has been fully rebuilt (we bought the car to keep not scrap) We have complained to the FSA and to drive assist and to IMS the engineers.
We have been sent a cheque for the amount they valued the car at as an interim payment however they still refuse to budge.

1, The car is under valued
2, We offered to send back the hire car which by the time they took it back, after we complained cost the third party nearly £15,000 (the hire car was provided by Drive Assist nice little earner)
3, We only asked them to settle for the full amount of £4810 and we would have been happy.

Drive assist need the claim settled but IMS are asking for the paperwork, drive assist said we should not worry about the cost of the hire car as it was not being paid by us but by the third party, we were first told the third party did not know what we had been offered but then the story changed to it being them who decided the valuation? confused? we are.

We now need to go back to the FSA as that is the next step, we will take it to watch dog as I think these lot need to be exposed.

Seems they win, i am without a car through no fault of my own surely we are entitled to be back in the same position as we were prior to the accident?
And if you buy a 2.5 engine in a car with a higher spec should you accept a 2 engine with a lower spec as a replacement as there is apparently no difference?
 
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Peaceful

New Member
Mar 9, 2012
1
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0
I hope things are sorted for you all now - I have had a horrible time with Drive Assist today, and I've never joined a consumer forum before, but what an awful day! The staff were so unpleasant, and demanding an immediate decision from me without giving me the options, or the ramifications, having seconds before told me that the minor dent in the body work has meant that my car is being written off (category C) because it's expensive to fix.

They were so pushy and unpleasant that I've ended up contacting the lady who drove into me and going with her insurance company instead! That's going to leave me with no hire car for work, but I'd happily pay good money to not have to deal with Drive Assist!

Hope other people aren't having this problem - I'd be amazed if they're not though - the "customer service" was an ordeal I wouldn't wish on anyone!
 
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Witch consumer

Moderator
Sep 8, 2008
1,593
3
0
Debtors retreat
Sorry not sure who Drive Assist are but take it they are an accident management company working on behalf of your insurance company.

Just a bit of clarification, if you have a bump it is your choice where you have any repairs carried out, accident management companies charge garages to be part of their 'appointmed repairers' scheme and one of the conditions is usually that they provide a courtesy car, not a hire car - doesn't guarantee any quality of repair tho.

It appears you have been hit by a third party, if you are sure that the accident is not your fault, the third party insurers should provide you with a hire car, if it is your fault or maybe knock for knock, the only way you will get a car is if you take it to an approved repairer and even then it will only be short term and not at all if the car may be written off.
 
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davekimbates

New Member
Jul 13, 2012
1
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0
Leeds
I too am currently in dispute with Drive Assist. I am insured with Octagon Insurance. on 13th June 2012 while driving to work an idiot (PR) tried to cross the A59 West Marton crossroads.

I was travelling @ 45mph with full right of way when PR pulled into my path when i was less than 3 car lengths away from him. I barely missed him and had to brake and swerve so serverely that the passenger side wishbone buckled - forcing the wheel right back into the arch. This left the car undriveable.

After I'd reported the incident to the police, Octagon Ins arranged for Drive assist to recover my car back to Leeds and then to remove it to Alton Motors in Leeds for assessment and repair. They also delivered a brand new BMW courtesy car the morning after! Why - I only wanted a reliable car - it was a shock when it arrived - it must be soooo expensive and a nice earner for Drive Assist.

3 weeks later Alton Motors advised that they had made the repair (in the region of £2000 worth) and then taken my car for a road test.

They then noticed 'rumbling and knocking. They re-examined the car and found the right wishbone was also damaged - but this would not be covered by my insurance. They said I must speak to my insurance - which I did and I was told to email a scanned letter from my local garage coinfirming there was definately no damage to that faulty part prior to the accident.

Incidentally, the parts in question were only fitted 11 months ago and had not worn out.

After dozens of emails and phone calls (some of which I have recorded) Drive Assist still refused to make the repair saying that the cause of damange couldn't be attributed to the accident!! yet it was fine before - and consequently have cancelled the insurance on the courtesy car as of midnight tonight.

As I drive around 3000 miles every month, I have to have a reliable vehicle - so Drive Assist have put me in a position of having to arrange for my car to be repaired at my expense today and didn't even have the courtesy to call me to arrange collection of the hire car - I only found out about this by calling an automated service that said Drive Assist had made arrangements to collect between 1pm and 4pm today.

Had I not called them I would have been at work 70 miles away from home.

No-one at Drive Assist has called me since even though i requested a call-back.

In sheer frustration I called another number I found on the internet for Drive Assist and managed to speak to them to register an official complaint - which I have to put in writing.

Having never made a claim before I am appauled at how a claim is dealt with and I have rasied a complaint against octagon Ins with the ombudsman.

I now see why everyone's insurance premiums are so high - it's because there are a huge amount of companies getting involved and they all want to make a fortune - unfortunately it's you and I that pay for these companies' healthy profits.

The most frightening this of all is that I have also provided 2 separate long voice recordings of the idiot who caused the accident admitting full liability and fault, yet his insurance company is just ignoring my insurance company and are denying liability still - even though they too have copies of the recordings.

Sorry for venting on this forum but I am simply at a loss as to what I should do.......HELP AND ADVICE WELCOMED!!!!!
 
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Ajard

New Member
Aug 29, 2012
2
0
0
davekimbates said:
I too am currently in dispute with Drive Assist. I am insured with Octagon Insurance. on 13th June 2012 while driving to work an idiot (PR) tried to cross the A59 West Marton crossroads.

I was travelling @ 45mph with full right of way when PR pulled into my path when i was less than 3 car lengths away from him. I barely missed him and had to brake and swerve so serverely that the passenger side wishbone buckled - forcing the wheel right back into the arch. This left the car undriveable.

After I'd reported the incident to the police, Octagon Ins arranged for Drive assist to recover my car back to Leeds and then to remove it to Alton Motors in Leeds for assessment and repair. They also delivered a brand new BMW courtesy car the morning after! Why - I only wanted a reliable car - it was a shock when it arrived - it must be soooo expensive and a nice earner for Drive Assist.

3 weeks later Alton Motors advised that they had made the repair (in the region of £2000 worth) and then taken my car for a road test.

They then noticed 'rumbling and knocking. They re-examined the car and found the right wishbone was also damaged - but this would not be covered by my insurance. They said I must speak to my insurance - which I did and I was told to email a scanned letter from my local garage coinfirming there was definately no damage to that faulty part prior to the accident.

Incidentally, the parts in question were only fitted 11 months ago and had not worn out.

After dozens of emails and phone calls (some of which I have recorded) Drive Assist still refused to make the repair saying that the cause of damange couldn't be attributed to the accident!! yet it was fine before - and consequently have cancelled the insurance on the courtesy car as of midnight tonight.

As I drive around 3000 miles every month, I have to have a reliable vehicle - so Drive Assist have put me in a position of having to arrange for my car to be repaired at my expense today and didn't even have the courtesy to call me to arrange collection of the hire car - I only found out about this by calling an automated service that said Drive Assist had made arrangements to collect between 1pm and 4pm today.

Had I not called them I would have been at work 70 miles away from home.

No-one at Drive Assist has called me since even though i requested a call-back.

In sheer frustration I called another number I found on the internet for Drive Assist and managed to speak to them to register an official complaint - which I have to put in writing.

Having never made a claim before I am appauled at how a claim is dealt with and I have rasied a complaint against octagon Ins with the ombudsman.

I now see why everyone's insurance premiums are so high - it's because there are a huge amount of companies getting involved and they all want to make a fortune - unfortunately it's you and I that pay for these companies' healthy profits.

The most frightening this of all is that I have also provided 2 separate long voice recordings of the idiot who caused the accident admitting full liability and fault, yet his insurance company is just ignoring my insurance company and are denying liability still - even though they too have copies of the recordings.

Sorry for venting on this forum but I am simply at a loss as to what I should do.......HELP AND ADVICE WELCOMED!!!!!
Click to expand...
How did drive assist get involved ? My understanding of companies such as Drive Assist is that they only get involved where liability is admitted.

Speak to your own insurers first in order to ascertain who drive assist are representing. They will also be able to tell you if the third party has admitted liability. If as I suspect there is an admission of liability on the part of the third party and your own insurers are not treating its as a claim on your insurance then drive assist are acting for you not your insurance company . In that case you are the client and drive assist owe you a duty of care.


You need to press Drive Assist to ascertain whether their engineer did a physical inspection of the vehicle or not. Ask for a copy of the engineers report - you are entitled to it. In most cases their engineers do not do a physical inspection but look a list of tables from their desk - (sarcasm warning- their engineers can also telepathically see things like poor previous repairs without looking at the vehicle- what a waste of a gift !- back to serious now)

Get your vehicle inspected by an independent engineer - there are experts who prepare vehicle reports for court use ( google and ask you chosen engineer what expertise they have and what qualifications) thats the type of engineer you need - not some mechanic. The expert should be asked to express an opinion on the damaged wishbone and it's cause he should also be given a copy of drive assists engineers report.

Once you have further info post back here.

How long did you have the hire car?
 
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Ajard

New Member
Aug 29, 2012
2
0
0
ziggy13 said:
Thank you for your response, we have been in dispute with theses and the engineering company since the end of September 2011.

My husband was involved in an accident which was not his fault, they gave us a hire car which cost £281 + vat per day and went off to repair the car which has a market value of approx £6995 upwards for the condition and spec. OK they decided to write the car of offering £4810 less the scrap value of £1433 and a cheque for the remainder would be issued. we did not accept this and were asked to submit evidence to support or claim which we did, they refuse to budged and have valued our car on the lower spec model a 4lt engine not the 4.5 which is in our car and has been fully rebuilt (we bought the car to keep not scrap) We have complained to the FSA and to drive assist and to IMS the engineers.
We have been sent a cheque for the amount they valued the car at as an interim payment however they still refuse to budge.

1, The car is under valued
2, We offered to send back the hire car which by the time they took it back, after we complained cost the third party nearly £15,000 (the hire car was provided by Drive Assist nice little earner)
3, We only asked them to settle for the full amount of £4810 and we would have been happy.

Drive assist need the claim settled but IMS are asking for the paperwork, drive assist said we should not worry about the cost of the hire car as it was not being paid by us but by the third party, we were first told the third party did not know what we had been offered but then the story changed to it being them who decided the valuation? confused? we are.

We now need to go back to the FSA as that is the next step, we will take it to watch dog as I think these lot need to be exposed.

Seems they win, i am without a car through no fault of my own surely we are entitled to be back in the same position as we were prior to the accident?
And if you buy a 2.5 engine in a car with a higher spec should you accept a 2 engine with a lower spec as a replacement as there is apparently no difference?
Click to expand...
What evidence did you submit ? Was it an expert valuation or a extract from cap/glasses'parkers?
 
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