A bunch of organised women
Review of product: Car crash companies
Rated as /5 on Apr 05 2007 by Fiona O'Neill
I’d a car crash on Monday morning on the way to work (no-one hurt, not even whiplash, fingers crossed). Not 100% clear what happened, some moron braked suddenly for no apparent reason, the guy behind him jammed on (I don’t know if he hit him), guy in front of me braked and tried to swerve out of my path – it didn’t work, my front left smacked, with a sickening crunch, into his back right and I think he tipped into the guy in front. We all pulled in close to the metal barrier dividing the dual carriageways, to wait for the Gardai and cause traffic holdups at the 8am rush hour. I never saw the the rogue-braker, apparently he had stopped, but drove off again – hiding something from the Guards? Of course I was the last of the 3 cars, so the cost will all fall back on my insurance, balls!
Thankfully, we were all calm, no hysterics (unlike my cousin, who had a guy shouting at him and his 2-year old daughter, then claimed for everything, including the notorious whiplash and furthermore sent a solicitor’s letter looking for more money, pure gangster).
Why review a crash? Not the crash but the aftermath. It’s a stressful time when it happens, but so far everyone I’ve dealt with has been on the ball, and the whole process has gone really smoothly:
Gardai – pleasant, calmly took everyone’s details. Thankfully I’d just renewed my car tax, so had my insurance information in the car.
Claimsafe – the accident management company used by my broker Pat Britton & Co. The broker is based in Donegal, and Claimsafe in Co Down – made no difference, they were helpful, efficient, didn’t have to chase them once.
Eagle Star – insurance company. Had very little dealings with them, only to select the garage that would repair my car.
Clarke Bros, Bandon – the Eagle Star ‘Approved Assessor’. The contact there is Alison, a very efficient, friendly English woman. She organized the tow truck, the car rental, and liaised with the Eagle Star assessor.
Mike Murphy – tow company. Turned up on time, and got a couple of hawk pics from Sam.
Enterprise rent-a-car: I’ve a hire car for 10 days, covered by the insurance. Alison in Clarke Bros will try to get an extension for me because of delay over the Easter hols. Ciara in Enterprise is on the ball, and gave me a quick familiarisation of the inside of the car, can’t remember getting that before from a rent-a-car company, saves a lot of fiddling around. Plus she liked my Art shoes :o)
Just got an estimate of the repair cost 4,800 euro, not unexpected. I could see a bit of engine damage as well as to the bodywork.
In summary, if you ever do have a tip I hope you'll have as good a service as I got.
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