A customer’s frustrating experience with RACQ’s Accident Assist service has spurred an investigation, uncovering unscrupulous charges after a car accident. The user called the service for assistance. Instead they were met with surprise fees and hold ups that lead them to question the startup’s billing practices.
The trouble started after our at-fault customer got into an accident that resulted in bodily injury to the other party and reached out to Accident Assist for help. The service confiscated the vehicle. They then billed their customer £254.50 for storage, saying the storage fee included the cost of moving the car to a garage. The car didn’t arrive at the designated garage until four days after the crash. All of this delay calls into question whether those charges are even necessary.
Accident Assist has charged the consumer £76 for storing the car over a weekend. This is the fee that was included in their service charges. People indicated the company should have warned the customer on the cancellation fees. They would then incur a massive charge of £991.71 in addition to the storage fees. This cancellation fee consisted of the £254.50 storage charge plus additional costs associated with this charge.
After looking into the complaints, Accident Assist promised to refund the higher storage fee along with a £150 administrative charge. The court found that the person had made £1,200 worth of repairs. This figure perfectly mirrored the total invoice Accident Assist sent their clients for treatment and care provided.
Accident Assist’s practices raised further concern. Only you got a courtesy car if you managed to convince your insurer to cover the expenses. The insurance company will not be informed until a repair garage clears and accepts the car. This creates even further delay and frustration to the customer’s experience.
The car remained in storage all weekend. Once it did arrive on day five, the garage took an average of four days just to look at it. Storage industry averages storage cost at £20 – £45 per week. This renders Accident Assist’s charges much more impressively jumbo.
Accident Assist stood by its tactics. They claimed that they explained to the customer how to cancel when on the line with them the first time.
“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
The incident illustrates broader problems within the vehicle assistance sector, including a lack of transparency in billing and the timeliness of service delivery. As customers navigate accidents and repairs, understanding their rights and the fees associated with services like those provided by Accident Assist will remain critical.