A recent dispute between a consumer and Accident Assist has highlighted concerns over the company’s billing practices following a vehicle collision. The person who did this first contacted Accident Assist. They were often faced with exorbitant fees and delays that shook their confidence in the service’s transparency and dependability.
After the accident, the consumer’s disabled vehicle was towed to a location far from her home, where it racked up a significant storage bill. Accident Assist claimed this was so that they could charge a £254.50 storage fee. This fee would go directly toward the cost of transferring the vehicle into a garage. They overcharged by £76 for a weekend stay in storage, which the customer was left feeling had been excessive in charges.
Accident Assist has now accepted that it will refund the greater of the storage charge together with £150 in admin costs. The consumer made all of the arrangements and only agreed to a final repair budget of £1,200. This brought the per accident cost of Accident Assist’s services well below that.
This makes sense until the timeline of events is considered. In the consumer’s case, their vehicle did not reach the approved garage until four days after the accident. Accident Assist promises to inspect the vehicle within four days. The journey starts the moment a vehicle enters a collision repair center. As a result, the car went in the shed for the weekend. It was this decision that resulted in significantly higher costs, an average of £20-£45 per week.
Accident Assist then informed the person that they were entitled to a courtesy car. This would only be true if their insurer were willing to pay for it. The insurer was not called until the vehicle had already arrived at the garage, leading to additional delays.
On the fifth day, the nearly 3,000-mile journey would finally come to an end. Readers will recall that increased time in storage led to some hefty demurrage charges. Instead, the consumer later received a notice of cancellation fee for £991.71 being sought. This sum covered the aforementioned storage fees plus other expenses.
The accident has brought into question Accident Assist’s practices, specifically how they communicate about fees and towing procedures.
“When the customer chose to withdraw from making a claim, we instigated the cancellation process, which the customer was advised of on the initial call.” – AA Accident Assist