The Boy Who Insured His Car With Admiral - A Terrifying Bedtime Story for Adults

In today's video, definitely NOT sponsored by Admiral insurance, I talk you through the procedures involved when you have a car involved in a very minor, low damage incident - and how insurance costs can quickly spiral out of control.
The Cayman has now been SOLD - and the new owner is aware of its history, and this video :)
#Admiral #Porsche #Accident
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[@SquireComedy]

I've had the pleasure of being George's friend since we were young, and this rubbish couldn't happen to a nicer chap. Shocking that without his persistence, his motor would have sat in somebody's shed for presumably years. That being said, I'm certain he had a poster pinned up on his bedroom wall of a c220 diesel for years! Thanks for another video, James.

[@Anirossa]

The poster, omg 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@benjaminlocksmith8932]

Did not expect this to be the crossover I knew I needed

[@SquireComedy]

@@benjaminlocksmith8932 James reviewed our R32 a couple of years back, we still use it as the Squire location scouting and reconnaissance vehicle.

[@benjaminlocksmith8932]

@@SquireComedy finding out you're a petrol head makes you even cooler my man

[@SquireComedy]

@@benjaminlocksmith8932 My shirt game is still nothing on James's, though.

[@benjaminlocksmith8932]

When I turned 21 in 2019 I thought I'd get myself something a bit nice, I'd been driving a lovely MK1 Mondeo at the time but wanted something special. I spotted a beautiful jet black metallic 58 plate, Saab 9-3 2.0T with the manual gearbox. 1 owner, absolutely mint. I enquired with the dealer in Peterborough about it and pending my insurance checking out I'd come by and have a look. I was insured with Hastings at the time and called to see if I could be insured, man on the phone told me it would cost £5 and I'd be away. Excited at this point I got a train, signed the paper work and drove home on temporary insurance. A week later after selling my Mondeo I called to change my insurance, I was told that I was, in fact, uninsurable on the Saab! I then had to spend 5 weeks with no car as I went through the chain of command to the regional manager until they finally listened to the recording of the conversation. This lead to another 2 weeks of faff as they went to their underwriter, eventually the policy was honoured at the original price. I haven't used Hastings since.

[@chrism2567]

This is why (the true reason) insurance is so high, everyone involved uses it as a cash cow , from claims companies, recovery/storage firms and courtesy car suppliers , they all treat it as a blank cheque

[@philiphawkins4684]

Yes, I'm sure it's all done on purpose to keep the prices high.

[@iainbagnall4825]

And this is why US healthcare is a hideous mess...

[@davedave1027]

Puts the risks up and why cars are written off so easily.

[@pb7870]

And don’t forget the highways companies. Claims like this are nothing compared to third party when injuries and infrastructure is involved

[@testaccount4191]

This is literally the same problem they have in the US with health insurance, the whole chain is full of price padding middlemen as its not the person they are bulling its the insurance company.

[@Rocky-hh3yg]

Love these videos. I think there’s a KZbin market for an investigative motoring journalist. You sir fit the bill perfectly. No agendas, not scared to upset certain manufacturers. Factual.

[@celt67]

Certainly better than the usual 22 year old 'youtuber' bragging about his carbon fibre and "what colour shall I wrap my Ferrari" type content.

[@Rocky-hh3yg]

@@celt67 you mean to say to me you don’t enjoy a ‘collecting a new RS3’ video?

[@men8ptb]

My god Jay one of my colleagues had exactly the same experience toward the end of last year. Her 2019 Ford Ranger pickup was in a frontal collision, insurance took it away to "assess". She had heard nothing for a while so chased. Insurance couldn't find the vehicle. Apparently it should have been in Warrington but it wasn't there. They eventually found it at a storage facility in Leeds. It then made its way back to a local coachworks who said they were waiting for a part, citing delays due to COVID etc. Bear in mind this is a Ford Ranger, not a Porsche. She was given a Subaru Forester as a courtesy car. Approx 6 months later the part was eventually "found" and the repair completed. Cost of repair £9,000. Cost of storage a few grand. Cost of courtesy car.. £42,000. This has to be one of the biggest scams going.

[@satsumagt5284]

It's basically the price of a Forester...

[@markholroyde9412]

That's serious, this is just a snowflakes car who wants to moan about it., This bloke knows nothing about the real World , this is far from a horror story in todays World

[@lmaoroflcopter]

Wonder if it was the same body shop involved?

[@nuttycommuter3718]

@@CandyMan2001 they make you sign a credit agreement. Why do you think you have to sign a credit agreement for something that they tell you is free?

[@avulonanderson2372]

@@CandyMan2001 Absolutely I'd caution anyone against allowing any 'claims advisor' to arrange any sort of hire vehicle - If you absolutely must have something then arrange it yourself.

[@macbitz]

Wow, reminds me of my own story when I was rear-ended on a dual carriageway. I had a year old Lexus IS300 and was stationary at the back of a traffic jam when a lady came over the hill and hit me at around 40mph! I was injured and taken to hospital and the car went to the Lexus official body shop. The accident happened in November 2005 and Lexus finally fixed the car in August 2006. However that was not the worst part. I had to submit a personal injury claim for which my insurers (Royal Sun Alliance) appointed a solicitor and it took SIX YEARS for them to sort it out. My settlement was £7K and the solicitors costs were over £25K!! To this day I still have shoulder problems resulting from the accident. My faith in insurance companies and solicitors is about as low as you'd expect.

[@hughclinton]

Only £25k - sounds like a cheap solicitor to me!

[@lukebool8675]

They and their solicitors are scum who lie and don't give a damn about customers or service.

[@ianmitchell9102]

You tell a story so well 👍

[@JayEmmOnCars]

Thank you! 🙂

[@ianmitchell9102]

At this point I must say I’m with Chris Knott insurance for my M240i, unfortunately somebody hit my car during the middle of the night whilst my car was parked up. From the very first call on discovery of the incident to the car being completely finished it took about 3 weeks. It was repaired absolutely perfectly by Finesse auto repairs in dorking, they also supplied the Vauxhall Corsa EV courtesy car. And to praise Chris Knott even more, my next years premium hardly went up 👍

[@JayEmmOnCars]

Great to hear positive stories like this!

[@larssonk22]

Yeh can't fault them neither I bounce between Knott and Brentacre since they always quote me the best price. Only ever had to call them once when I wrote off my car, didn't hear anything from them for a couple of weeks until I got a cheque in the mail.

[@jonathanellis6097]

They are just a broker. Your actual policy will be with another company, probably one of the big ones. Having said that if the broker manages to get the actual underwriter companies to move quicker than great they have done their job I guess.

[@larssonk22]

@@jonathanellis6097 yup, LiverpoolVictoria

[@ianmitchell9102]

@@jonathanellis6097 I’ve just double checked, the actual insurance company is “ Highway insurance “ who are part of Liverpool Victoria…… But as far as I’m concerned, any issues or renewals I deal direct with Chris Knott and they have been fantastic 👍

[@smudgerbyname]

I am so glad to hear that it wasn't just me that has had a similar experience to this with Admiral. I say similar, if you replaced Porsche with Range Rover Velar and Mercedes with Ford Fiesta then it is essentially the same story. Took 18 months for a solution and a further 12 through the ombudsman as well. Will never use admiral or any sister company again

[@Pickchore]

This is why I didn’t make a claim when I rear ended another driver in my 87 Golf GTI. The other driver claimed against me and I just repaired the front end myself as I had most of the parts spare and the rest was straightened. When I went to renew my policy I was asked why I didn’t claim. I told them I didn’t want it to be written off and I repaired it that day. I was told that was fine and all was well. Congratulations on selling it so fast.

[@iancrooks8451]

James, this brings back some horrendous memories of the experience I had, not with the insurance company, but with the Porsche specialist body shop. Let's just say they were 'mistaken'' a number of times about the work they said had been done and what had actually been done. Took forever to get the work done, claimed they couldn't get certain parts which I found in a heartbeat. When it was finally handed back, I went to collect it and there it was parked proudly outside their reception sporting a rear number plate which they'd attached at a jaunty angle....unbelievable!

[@benfel9403]

I feel for the family in this story, I have had dealings with a well - known insurance company that was downright dishonest and involved lies and attempted theft. The industry could do with some serious attention and tidying up!

[@fatbelly27]

It always surprises me when a company acts as if they have never done something before when it's the core part of what they do.

[@blairwilliams136]

I've worked in the parts side of the business for the last 20 years , the latter 7 of those for Mercedes Benz so I'm all to aware of stories like this from customers of outside bodyshops and dealers . Its why I always try to go the extra mile to help our customers not end up on positions like this when there own cars get banged up. One piece of advice i can give, never go for the cheapest insurance option and make sure you be the one to decide which bodyshop the car goes to.

[@ruinunes8251]

Spot on. 👍

[@bsimpson6204]

"make sure you be the one to decide which bodyshop the car goes to." Never ever use the insurers premier repairer... ever!!!

[@ruinunes8251]

@@bsimpson6204 Spot on. I was wondering if were still allowed to choose which repair centre the car could go to.

[@jimmyfarley5581]

I just want to point out how very good you are at speaking fairly quickly, without any stumbling or mistakes. A story told in quick fashion without mumbling and well understood. Top man! Have you considered story telling. You'd smash it.

[@gd1531]

I've been in a position to communicate with Admiral. They competently addressed the matter of their insured having run into my car. Very impressed that they were in contact with me within an hour of the incident. Here I take the opportunity to say thank you. Some businesses, when preparing a quote for repairs really take advantage, when they ought not. Admiral were correctly circumspect and a properly priced effective repair sorted out, but it correctly took some work to arrive at that. It is in our collective interest to keep repair costs down as we all pay for insurance. I am very happy happy with Admiral's behaviour based on my experience.

[@Holdeenio]

What a naff experience, poor guys! My family have been insuring with Admiral for years, with a few claims along the way we’re never had one issue - fast resolutions every time and swift payments where applicable. I would argue that perhaps this issue sounds more the responsibility of the body shop than the insurer - but I can see that ultimately they are who the claimant deals with and holds responsible.

[@DavidEverson77]

This is also my experience

[@robi4387]

The sad thing is it is the insurance company that insists on using its 'own' body shops AND if the claimant wants to go elsewhere they don't get a replacement vehicle. The really sad thing is that £9,000 for hire car is more than Admiral and probably any subsequent insurer will recover from both George and the brakeless other person - we all pay for it!

[@M0j0]

I too have had zero issues and have had claims swiftly sorted by Admiral. Once flood damage and once rear ended. Both occasions Admiral were top notch.

[@lmaoroflcopter]

Yeah, this sounds like Admiral coping heat as the organiser, for a variety of BS caused be everyone in this chain of repair. Granted as the point of contact they are the interface for the customer but this sounds like a bunch of dickheads at the bodyshop and enterprise.

[@danhunters8226]

Wouldn't surprise me if the bodyshop and the car rental place were in league scamming the insurance company. By stalling the repair and providing the customer with a cheaper car than the insurance company is paying for they make thousands on a repair that should have cost a couple hundred dollars.

[@MrRiggle350]

When I was insured by Admiral I had a crash on a roundabout in 2016 when a Tesco delivery van decided to completely ignore any road markings and instead of turning off tried to carry on round the roundabout via the B-pillar and passenger door of my Cupra 280. I had a dashcam too which showed very clearly that the Tesco van just snapped right, no mirrors, no indicating just turn and pray, obviously the Tesco vans fault. Car got repaired to good standard, if a little slowly, and returned to me. As Tesco's insurance provider, Aviva I believe, was particularly slow and this had been going on for 6 months Admiral got impatient decided to ring me up and change their story from "obviously the other parties fault" to "we think it's 50/50 blame" despite the overwhelming evidence. At this point I explained to Admiral I wasn't in financial difficulty and could quite happily legal representation to pursue them if they took this route, which was obviously just a ploy to get it off their books and hope that I would just suck it up and carry on. Days after this discussion I got a call stating they would be pursuing the other party and it was resolved a month later. I don't care how cheap they are, I'd never use Admiral or any of their companies again as they are absolute bottom feeders.

[@skimmingstoness]

Bodyshop near me is notorious for over egging insurance repairs. I had an Audi sent to them from my insurer about decade ago with a dent in the front bumper and a bit of trim missing. The report was full of charges for them removing the rear bumper and rear exhaust and they quoted £4k to repair so the car was written off. I bought it back for £600 and fixed it for the grand total of £100. When I went to collect it from the storage yard they said it was written off because they'd discovered a crack in the chassis leg, further inspected revealed a nick made with a hacksaw but no crack whatsoever.

[@JimboJammy]

A lot of the problem is, other companies see insurance jobs as a blank cheque. They know they can charge what they like for cheap repairs and take as long as they like because the customer usually has a courtesy car that the repairer isn't paying for, nor does the customer go directly to them with complaints etc. As we also see with this story, rental companies also take the absolute mick out of insurers. This isn't to say admiral are innocent, quite the opposite, these insurers need to get their own houses in order to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen and to make sure they are able to manage a claim correctly from all angles. But nope, ridiculous things like this happen, body shops and car rental companies laugh all the way to the bank whilst the victim is left stressed and without his / her car. Oh and the cherry on top is the insurers put everyone's premiums up in order to pay for all of this ridiculousness!

[@joshbacon8241]

(Insert Mr. Krabs money dance from the SpongeBob episode ‘Clams’ here)

[@patrickanthony3632]

It’s not fair that the lucky consistent "safe" drivers would have their premium go up as a result of an insurance company experiencing an increase in random claims!

[@andrewboggis3174]

Said the man who works in a bodyshop?? No thought not..

[@JimboJammy]

@@andrewboggis3174 oh please! There's plenty of untrustworthy body shops fleecing people and you know it!

[@andrewboggis3174]

@@JimboJammy hook line and sinker 😂😂

[@TheJamsterMan1517]

Insurance companies are next level scam artists in my opinion. Especially as a 22yr old, it appears to be a random number generator each year I get quotes, always get quotes initially higher than what I have paid previously until I start fighting. They just waste money left right and centre, I knew someone with a very similar story so it must be a fairly common occurrence... I hope I never have to claim.

[@MrKiingpin]

Yep I'm 24 my insurance was going to autor-renewed next week, called up and now they can reduce it by £80 hopefully once past the 25 threshold insurance costs might be somewhat reasonable

[@davedave1027]

Younger drivers are to blame for allot of accidents and theyre usually massive ones. Worked for an insurer and the average cost of a younger driver incident are so much higher than older drivers. Think less a bumb and more wrapped around a tree with 5 occupants claiming for injuries. To be fair though they do need more checks on pricing and regulation on the repair and injury side to bring prices down .

[@philiprice7875]

best one just watched a repeat of top gear where they was tring to get insurance for a 17yo jezza made a joke about getting a quote for a XR3i for 110% of the value of the car new ha can beat that me male 50yo car honda civic 1.4 15yo in rust and white 120k on clock value...scrap about 400 quid cheapest quote on the meerkats £950 2nd most expensive Tesco £5250 most expensive wiseiest choice £87,725 ( no not a typo eighty seven grand) next day i get a call from a Indian script center "would i like to continue with my purchase. 87725 is a very reasonable price, i doubt you can find any cheaper" i hung up

[@gabrielcaramet3238]

Why do I have a feeling that bodyshops recommend by insurance companies always suck had to wait 4 months for my sportage rear bumper to be fixed (small crack in it got rearended by an outlander) and painted in 2019

[@gabrielcaramet3238]

Also I HATE insurance companies

[@Ztandard32]

My Porsche is insured with Admiral too. I hope they get in touch with you for a follow up if they want a renewal from existing customers on this channel. Thanks for raising this.

[@kieranmandy9987]

Story from Japan, where insurance is similarly as useless. I was trundling through the country side one snowy winters morning when someone's lovely gran pulled out in front of me from a rice paddy, panicked when she realised her mistake, and stalled it. Being a steep downhill section of road in the middle of a snow storm, grip was non existent and I immediately knew that simply braking would lead to the ABS saying "NOPE!" and granny's micro truck becoming a banana car containing an ex-granny. I managed to lob the Alto works into the wrong lane, avoiding the collision, but lost the rear end trying to gather it all back up. Ended up on the lock stops back in my own lane sliding at 5-10 kph perpendicular to the road before eventually dropping the front two wheels over a 4 meter high concrete cliff. Not great but no one hurt so that's a win. Granny was most concerned and after giving me tea from a thermos in the not bananaed micro truck, rallied her family of friendly farmers to try to help pull the car out. it was sitting on the chassis rails, wheels dangling limply in the air... No leverage meant no luck on this front. Not to worry I said, insurance gives free roadside assistance. Quick phone call later and I was informed a tow truck was on the way. Do not pay the driver, all payments through insurance, we will cover it. 30 minutes later car is out, inspected and given the good to go. Family say thanks very much for not killing granny and for being so good about nearly dying a horrible death. They invite me to dinner the next day and offer to pay any repairs the car needs. Three weeks later I get a bill for 1000usd equivalent for tow expenses and mechanical inspection from the insurance company... for 5 minutes work. The insurance will not pay as there was no other car involved. Long explanations about the context from myself AND the very kind family who were horrified to hear this proved in vein. I eventually payed and the same day changed insurance provider. They called me immediately to ask why I was unhappy with their service and offered me a one time 50 dollar discount if I continued on...

[@TOILETGUY115]

I'd take it to the court or something

[@adonisnetworks]

Very Sad.. Hitting granny would have been cheaper for sure!

[@Calverto99]

I was insured with Admiral a few years ago. I’d been driving a week and had clipped somebody’s mirror with no damage to my own car. Other party was there so called insurance company and claimed that i’d crumpled down the side of their car which was all scratched and dented (as if they’d hit something previous). Admiral sent me to an independent bodyshop who claimed it was impossible for me to have caused that damage as my car had no scuffs, scratches or dents. A month goes by and I get the phone call saying I am liable for the damage to that person’s door and body because I hit their mirror. Keep in mind the other person’s mirror nor mine had any damage. The other party were also insured with Admiral and clearly knew I was a young driver knew she could get her own damage fixed by claiming I had ruined her car. That was 2016 and it still annoys me now

[@JimboJammy]

And so it should annoy you! People are opportunistic and scummy! It was the easiest thing for the insurer to just put the blame on you. I'm furious for you as similar things have happened to friends

[@TheFlyingClutchman]

Ngl if there was no damage to either car I'd have driven off once assessing the vehicles and taking photos. And when someone contacts me - be it police or insurance, id play dumb and ask them what accident? I have no damage on my car and have never been in an accident so I don't know what you're talking about. Does the person making the accusation have proof that I was involved in an accident with her? Does she have pictures of damage on my car?

[@Calverto99]

@@TheFlyingClutchman I was at college so was pretty uneducated after only being passed a week. Sort of wish I did that now but not a lot I can do now. 6 years have passed since and another accident (more serious this time). That second accident was 2019 and thats not sorted either. Fml

[@gepwxaqdfsidsesg1548]

That is called fraud and it's a criminal offence. I would have gone to the police and reported it.

[@Calverto99]

@@gepwxaqdfsidsesg1548 Honestly I was 17 I had no idea how to deal with things properly. My parents had never dealt with anything like that. We are all wise to it now

[@adrianchell]

My wife's car got rear-ended at traffic lights, many years ago and, when her car returned from the insurer's approved body shop, the exhaust hadn't been un-kinked and rattled against the bodywork even on tickover. We refused to accept delivery of the car and it went straight back to the body shop, who told us it wasn't done initally because it wasn't on the estimator's inspection report. This highlights two issues. 1. The insurance estimator didn't do his job properly, giving the car no more than a cursory look around the bumper and boot floor (the exhaust was kinked further forward), and 2. Someone drove that car out of the body shop to load it on the truck, heard the rattling and thought "sod it, that'll do". For the amount we pay in car insurance, we deserve better than that.

[@mjstow]

Videos like this exposing companies' appalling service are so important. I am the wiser regarding Admiral, and for that, many thanks.

[@jibbyjabby7499]

Burst out laughing when you said the other insurer was Admiral. 🤣

[@mc02fly28]

The company I work for routinely used Enterprise for our Rentals at work. We had so many claims from them for non existent damages that they are no longer used. They dropped a car off on my drive whilst I was not at home that had sustained significant damage to the near side front wing. I returned home over two hours after the drop off and noticed the damage. I photographed it and reported it, having at this point not even sat in the car. My employers own insurance received the bill for the damage. This was because the damage had not been notified within a two hour time frame. My home cctv proved I had not driven the car. Beware of Enterprise.

[@youraveragejoe1]

I refuse to use enterprise. We went to hire a car while our Golf was broken. It was 1 year old covered in scratches (long scratches on every panel including ridiculously big ones along the boot). They tried to claim there was “no damage recorded” to the car which was crazy. They also considered a max spec Vauxhall Astra as the same class as a Dacia Duster… Practical was much more fair and cheaper, Hertz was alright too

[@mc02fly28]

@@youraveragejoe1 I learned very quickly to photograph every panel before moving any hire car.It got so bad that every hire resulted in a false damage claim

[@fransb8543]

A lesser man would have turned this into a big old mud throwing fest. Thanks for keeping it factual, a fair warning to not blindly trust what you're being told over the phone. Someone, please throw this on twitter to make sure the people at Admiral see it, and ensure a nice and uneasy monday morning at their HQ.

[@nectafarious8842]

I had terrible experiences with both Norwich Union and Zurich. The latter refused 100% of my claim when their insured driver pulled out of a field gateway in front of me causing a collision. Norwich Union clobbered my ncb because of this. I had to sue in the small claims court. Insurance companies fully deserve the reputation they have with the public along with estate agents, lawyers and politicians.

[@HoneyJD]

Hi James. I used to work for Enterprise as a graduate, eventually becoming a branch manager before I left. These scenarios are all too common, and both the insurer and Enterprise have some pretty nefarious practices. The amount of times I would see an insurer request a category of car far below that of the customers was all too often, but not as often as we'd be instructed by managers to put a customer into a car far below that the insurer were paying for. I've seen car rental bills over £20K, sometimes more than the value of the car being repaired itself...

[@Tom.G.Wright]

Hi mate, I started at Enterprise a year ago and still see things like this a fair bit. Most of the time it's due to the insurer not agreeing to pay for a like-for-like vehicle as you say. As you know, they'll request cheaper categories of vehicle to what a customer drives in the hope they won't complain. Then if a customer does take issue with their insurer, there often seems to be a pretty shady clause in the Ts & Cs that denies their entitlement to a similar vehicle. There are still times where Enterprise gives them a car in a category below what is authorised due to availability, however this is usually switched for the right vehicle ASAP. Just speaking from the relatively short time I've worked here, I find there's a lot of pressure now (and rightfully so) from insurers & customers to source a similar vehicle if we have provided a downgrade. The chip shortage has really affected our ability to buy cars. There's a feeling that the short supply of new cars has been manufactured by car manufacturers at least to some extent - but that's a discussion in itself. Would be interesting to hear your thoughts on Enterprise having been a BM.

[@ric355]

Hmm. To me, the weakest link in this whole story seems to be the body shop rather than the insurance company. Although the insurance company did themselves no favours it was the body shop that held up the work and did a crap job. So why do they get away with not being named?

[@JayEmmOnCars]

Though the body shop certainly are at fault, as Admiral are the people that should organise everything it is their responsibility

[@ric355]

@@JayEmmOnCars Agree that Admiral should have organised everything. That being the case, the owner of the vehicle should *never* have spoken to the bodyshop. But the bodyshop features heavily in this story, was spoken to directly by the owner, did a crap job, and yet they are not named. I guess the answer is still the same but if you're going to name and shame it kinda seems wrong to selectively name the businesses at fault.

[@yinyangsaladgang8789]

@@ric355 Maybe it's different in the UK but every time I've dealt with an insurance claim I spoke to both the insurer and the body shop. It seems rather normal to me.

[@andrewhull365]

I agree. Not the full story. Repair shops are raking it in with cases like this and pumping out substandard repairs. Poor admin by admiral, poor and dangerous work by the body shop.

[@Blade1310]

There's certainly some parts missing from this tale. I agree Admiral were ultimately responsible but why was the car accepted by the owner if it still had issues? Why did he resort to fix them himself and then allow the video to out? If mud is getting flung then surely being squeaky clean is the best position to be in? In other words giving them it straight back to resolve. I'm also sure Admiral won't be the only insurance company to act like this too. Unfortunately we only find out when we make a claim.

[@lozetchells9164]

Shocking. Sounds like one for the ombudsman. When I had a similar accident, also not my fault, I let the other party's insurance company (Direct Line) sort it out. I didn't even contact mine.

[@sidewayssam]

That is potentially the worst thing you can ever do. Having the liable party as the paymaster of repair is in conflict to your lawful entitlement. You also have no entitlement to go i the financial ombudsman when it goes tits up.

[@lozetchells9164]

@@sidewayssam the liable party's INSURER (NOT the liable party) came to me and offered to put things right, thereby admitting liability. As a member of the Association of British Insurers they were then as much on the hook to fix my car (as far as the ombudsman is concerned) as own insurer would have been. Also, it didn't count as a claim, blame or otherwise, on my record. So it actually worked out far better than if I'd gone to my own insurer.

[@Blade1310]

@@lozetchells9164 Pretty sure your T&C's will state you need to notify your insurer of any incident whether you make a claim or not. Also you'd need to declare the accident at renewal time, even though you weren't at fault they will still consider you a greater risk. That or take a chance on having your insurance cancelled or invalidated should anything happen again and it comes to light!

[@lozetchells9164]

@@Blade1310 yes I notified them but did not claim against them

[@lozetchells9164]

@J Scott no it doesn't. I merely informed them I'd been involved in an accident. It's called a "notify". Same as if I'd just dented my car in a car park and gone to a body shop and paid for it myself, MY insurer had to do nothing, the other party's insurer did everything. It did not count as a claim against my insurance, they were very clear about that. That's very different from a "no fault claim"

[@paulchandler5004]

My son had a relatively minor shunt at a roundabout as he rear-ended a VW Transporter who pulled away and then stopped dead for no apparent reason. Both vehicles driveable, details exchanged and insurance companies notified. My son's car is a 14 plate Corsa with 30K miles. Initial response from Hastings "we'll come and collect and then assess damage". Even though we having sent comprehensive photos, they commented that the car was old and may be written off!!!! I took the car to our local bodyshop who was amazed it would be written off, especially as the adjacent car dealer is crying out for low mileage clean cars. Long story short, Hastings agreed to our local bodyshop repair. Repairs took best part of 4 months to complete mainly because of shortage of parts in the motor industry. We found Hastings less than helpful. Whilst appreciating Insurance companies deal with claims every day, their ability to empathise with claimants is extremely poor. Unless you are extremely unlucky or a very poor driver, communications with insurance claims personnel will be very rare and can be very traumatic. Did Hastings have a dedicated contact person to take my son through the process? NO. Every time we contacted them it was a different person trying to access the his details - notes of previous conversations were not always up to date. All in all and extremely frustrating experience.

[@iainbagnall4825]

I've a doozie for you from the US. I used to live in the UK, and funnily enough was insured by admiral, although never made a claim. My partner t-boned a car turning across her when she was proceeding along the road we live on. Other driver thought my partner was coming up to a stop sign. It was not a stop sign. So the other driver was at fault, and accepted blame at the time. My partner tore her rotator cuff during the accident, and airbags were deployed. So, in due course she is making the insurance claim, and because of her injury, my partner's insurance company REQUIRED that she sue the other driver for damages, personal injury etc. As insurance also provides you legal coverage, the other driver's insurance paid for her defence (both parties are women here). Now, insurance paid for my partner's written off car pretty promptly, and the other party's car was replaced soon enough - she works at a local real estate agent and we'd see her now and again. Kind awkward to keep running into someone you are suing lol, but its America so apparently its not a big deal. So, over the course of the next TWO YEARS of claim, offer, counter-offer, depositions etc, eventually we settled out of court for about 75k in personal injury, lost income, lawyers fees, yaddayadaa, only ended up walkign away with about an extra 10k. Considering the amount of work going into the case, depositions, statements, doctors visits/inspections etc, really not worth it. So you want to know the punchline? Our insurance company is State Farm. The other Party's insurance company... also State Farm. It was State Farm representing my partner suing the other party, represented by State Farm. It was State Farm suing itself. When we got a settlement, it was not the other party paying - it was the other party's insurance company. State farm paid two sets of lawyers to fight each other with State Farm's money. They could have just given us $10K and left the lawyers out, we'd have saved 2 years, lots of heartache for us, for the other party too, and State Farm would have saved themselves about 90k. Utterly pointless. The only people who won were the lawyers.

[@jumpferjoy1st]

Last time I used Admiral was many years ago when I had a 2006 FIAT Panda and it was my first new car. I kept it in pristine condition with factory seat covers, floor mats on the floor mats, and a boot liner. It did not have a scratch on it. After about a years ownership, while parked outside work, a lorry swiped it. No problem for Admiral, the car was picked up quickly and sent to repair and I had a courtesy car. All very efficient and painless. When I got the car back something was wrong, VERY wrong. Yes the repair had been done and looked good. BUT over a thousand miles had been added to the miles and the interior plastics were scratched up like someone had, had an argument with a large dog. The car was ruined. I did complain, but as I could not prove the mileage and I could not prove how clean the interior was, I got nowhere. Admiral just didn't care. I have never used them since and warn all to take photos of mileage and anything important after any collision. The insurance companies are generally trustworthy, but some of them will use the cheapest body shop they can even if the repair is covered by the other parties insurer.

[@bsimpson6204]

I had similar happen to me, always take detailed photos of the car before letting it go, including the mileage as you know

[@johnroskruge2752]

My wife recently had a claim with Admiral when her car was hit when parked on our drive. The other driver was insured with Elephant who I believe are owned by Admiral. The service she had from Admiral was excellent.

[@davidknowles2491]

First place I went to was Admiral when I first started driving - Still with them today and had 0 issues. Body shop is blatantly at fault here, as is Enterprise for giving him the wrong car and then lying to Admiral.

[@o.0699]

same had a crash and they managed it well

[@peterwhitehead2453]

Good for you Jay for sharing this & how great that via this medium we can hold the insurer to account. As funny as it was to hear the story, when you’re in this quagmire it’s no laughing matter…I can relate!

[@N3onDr1v3]

Reminds me of the mclaren ordeal. I do hope he conti ues this where he needs to. We nees this level of consumer information. Because the insurance companies sure as hell wont give it to us.

[@NEILB1989]

As entertaining as these stories are. It annoys me that it’s happening more often. We’re supposed to be progressing. I know mistakes and delays can happen but there is no need for ignorance and petty excuses that 9 times out of ten turn out to be lies.

[@vaushssexyboyfriend2623]

Progressing isn't always improving.

[@MRFUCKOFF202]

I think all these medium sized companies are filled with incompetence and that'll do from the top down

[@james141111]

I am amazed virtually every day, very few people actually seem to want to do the job they are paid for properly these days.

[@NEILB1989]

@@james141111 spot on!

[@elta6241]

These are not mistakes. Everyone is creaming off here determined to try and make as much money as possible.

[@MrAlexwoolf]

The joke is this wasn’t a particularly long duration, I’m still waiting for my motorbike over 1 year after a delivery company dropped it and did damage. Thing is I have no option for a courtesy bike, so I’m without a bike for over 1 year!!! All those missed trips and commutes to work, will I get any compensation? No, yet it has had an absolutely massive impact on my life.

[@venomtailOG]

Problem is Admiral offers significantly cheaper insurance than the next company. Remember as a 19 year old I had to go with them cause they offered me a staggering *low* £690 a year to drive my 1L car compared to the next best offer that was at £1600...

[@ElTurfStuff]

Admiral are not the only ones that don't seem to know what they are doing when it comes to customer service. It seems that the phrase "follow up and advise" no longer applies. I used to be a customer service manager for a large IT company and every outstanding problem went through a scaled response process. The longer a problem remained, the more people got shouted at, (metaphorically and physically too). Another great video. Nice looking car too.

[@04dram04]

I didnt see Admiral in the wrong here. It appears to be body shop that was.

[@notroll1279]

Exactly what I was thinking.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

Which is a valid train of thought, except this is the body shop that Admiral use - and as the process is handled by, paid for by Admiral it is them who are responsible for making sure the job's done right.

[@cliveodonnell2498]

@@notroll1279 I agree. it is totally over-egged. The overcharging of a Jaguar for a Mercedes is conveniently glossed over but then I guess those big nasty insurers have deep pockets whilst the guy is on a mission for his mate. The fact the othe car is insured also with Admiral is neither here nor there in the overall scheme of things. Time to get a life and some perspective.

[@ApothecaryTerry]

As someone who has been involved in 4 claims, I can say conclusively that bodyshops recommended by insurers are pretty much all awful. Also, I've always been given "like for like" courtesy cars- which have all been German diesels. It doesn't sound like Admiral did much wrong here to be honest so the title is a bit harsh. I've been hit by an Admiral-insured driver, my neighbour at the time (7 years ago though), and both me and him had a better experience than I've had with other insurers. Budget Insurance on the other hand, absolutely scummy, my insurer had to take them to court after they refused to accept that their driver saying he "saw me coming and pulled out anyway" was that driver's fault. I'm now with Admiral and thankfully haven't tested them...

[@bsimpson6204]

"I can say conclusively that bodyshops recommended by insurers are pretty much all awful. " Exactly right, they do a shoddy job!

[@jamesengland7461]

Here in the US, I commonly hear from friends about insurance problems from crashes. What constantly amazes me is the theme of a crash, clearly caused by the other driver, clearly makes their car a write-off, yet the insurance takes several months to make that decision, all the while providing a courtesy car. It's common that the courtesy car rental car far exceeds the amount of the check they finally agree to write to pay off the car! A quick decision to simply write that check would have saved themselves over 50% on the claim. Naturally, that cost is passed down to everyone else....

[@lolmeercatz10]

Funny you say that I was with admiral and a few years back I went into the side of someone at slow speed causing minor damage down the side of an E90 3 series in a horrid colour (this was 2018 so that car was worthless at this point anyway) and I admitted fault and never heard of it again. UNITIL, I had to check how much the claim came to for my new insurance... £8000!!!!!!!! The only damage was scratching down the side of the car and a dent in one passenger door. I now realize they probably wrote it off and gave the swine a new 3 series courtesy car in the meantime. Unbelievable.

[@Mac_F87]

I always press my insurance to use the local body shop I trust, the one I know does a first class job with no fuss. A bit trickier if you are going down a Porsche approved one I guess.

[@Joolz1982]

Yeah I used Local one which was approved for Toyota parts, as easy to get to A: and B: If they messed up, which they did not I could tell them easily.

[@MrNegativecreep07]

And we wonder why our premiums are so expensive.

[@cliveodonnell2498]

Really? Maybe the single biggest factor are the inflationary personal injury claims courtesy of the ultra conservative ogden tables. Therein is the answer.

[@Bruno-xb2mt]

Exactly, 9 grand for the rental is a joke. I wonder why insurance companies just don’t have their own fleet 🤔

[@matthewjenkins1161]

It is stories like this that should wake us up, to the real reason insurance is so expensive. I bought and insured my first car, a 1976 Mini 1000 in 1992, as I turned 17 with a provisional licence. £360 Third Party Fire and Theft with Eagle Star. Why is it to this day, with cars now designed from the ground up to be cheaper and easier to fix crash damage, I've never insured again as cheap as I did at my highest risk? I've a clean licence and not had a claim in over 2 decades. Then you see how a relatively inexpensive bit of damage at £1500, gets multiplied 8 fold. We have to pay for this widespread incompetence through our premiums. I am with Admiral, but may shop around now at renewal.

[@paulgoode8978]

Great video. Sounds similar to mine. My car got side swiped on 23rd December, took 4 weeks for someone to look at the damage( insurance company forgot to tell the garage to pick up my car), then parts were on back order, another 4 weeks, then another 4 weeks for the repairs, repair company snapped some trim and left it on the floor, so glued it back together and i fitted it. Its very frustrating and a right headache.

[@stuartjohnston1086]

We had both a good and bad experience when my wife was involved in a similar incident. She was stopped at a red light and a transit van rear ended the car at about 30mph. She suffered whiplash injuries but has fully recovered. The rear of the car ( 07 mondeo ghia x ) was annihilated and was a write off. Our insurance ( Privilege ) were excellent, car was quickly recovered, assessed and we had a cheque for full market value in under a week. They also arranged for my wife to get some physio for whiplash. The other insurer ( direct line ) denied all liability. The owner of the van was a well known transport company and their default position is to admit nothing. The driver of the van however was a very nice chap and was clearly very upset about what had happened, I have no issue with him, he made a mistake, these things happen. Direct line spun the claim out for 3 years, and only admitted liability when they were served court papers. This caused us to have higher premiums while this was being dragged out, refunded in the end. Not a process I wish to repeat and I think the only winners were all the legal folk involved. Top tip is make sure you have legal cover which fortunately I did.

[@james141111]

Legal cover is a must on motor and house insurance!

[@axelwulff2303]

They make sure the process is the punishment.

[@DavidEverson77]

Interesting, given that Direct Line and Privilege (and for that matter, Churchill) are the same company

[@Marcke-tb1hb]

Surprised? Not! My experience of another insurer was almost exactly the same (£1,500 damage etc) except, the car hire cost, passed to the other insurer as part of the claim, was well over £10k. So whilst they originally accepted responsibility, they changed their mind, and went to court. - why wouldn’t they with now so much more at stake?. This was because of what my insurer called an “angel” policy which was part of my overall policy. One of these “legal protection” elements. I said they could F-off if they thought I was going to court, and they said I’d have to pay the entire claim if I didn’t! Long story short, they bailed at the court gates but I didn’t sleep for weeks. These “angels” make a percentage of the claim. So they ramp it up as high as possible. Crooks them all!

[@oliCRF]

This is happening to me right now mate, happened July 2020 and is still not settled! Now the hire car company are chasing a bill of £10,000!!! when the damage caused was only £2000. What the fuck is going on?!! Any advice ?

[@steveoneill3217]

Just unbelievable..... You could not write this.... Glad everything got sorted in the end.

[@joeharding98]

Admiral are a terrible insurance company, but for many young people they’re the only insurer with prices competitive enough. I found out the hard way not to use them when I wrote off my first car in 2019, a 2010 VW Polo, they offered me £250 for me to buy a “like for like” car, when I’d only bought the car for £3500 two years prior. After arguing with them for 2 months (they took ages to reply) the best they could offer was £700. I took it to the ombudsman and in the end I got £3800 for the car. The whole process took 6 months in the end…

[@R03333]

These stories increase my blood pressure even when I'm just a third-party to them, can't imagine being the person trying to claim through the whole ordeal. I'd have been arrested for turning up to Admirals HQ looking for blood by about the start of the 3rd month.

[@crztank9298]

Insurance body shops are normally high volume low effort enterprises. One in my area 'forgot' to put coolant in my mums 02 civic. It ran for weeks with no coolant. Only for that good ole d series engine it would have shat and died. It drove for another 40k miles before being sold. The working theory is the head and block are now one piece

[@ashliehiggins]

Admiral likes to use MotoFix who specialise in insurance/main dealer repairs, and are usually bottom of the barrel staff who use the cheapest parts and paint, and skimp on prep to increase profits rather than delivering a good result.

[@jibbyjabby7499]

Ive got a Honda d16 engine, done 11,000 miles since last service, hasn't used a drop of oil and it still looks clean.

[@rocket3man]

I just love all the positive spin of the first couple of days - the mother of all anticipation!

[@MattBeardless]

Bought a car Thursday Insured it Friday with Admiral JayEmm releases this video on the Sunday Guess I'd best not crash then. 😂

[@yeahno....]

Had a similar saga a few years ago, eventually took over a year to get fully repaired and in that time I had a rental for 1 week while the car was finally repaired, left the car at the dealers to be collected by the hire company who were based on the same industrial estate, got a bill a month later for the side of the hire car being caved in, the dealer confirmed it was in perfect condition on collecting from them 8 weeks of argument and finally it was struck off, also admiral and also enterprise

[@Dunkelzeitgeist]

I can relate, most insurance companies are scam artists, pure drivel and shit at their only purpose, my car was hit in October 10days after I bought it, I was asleep in bed whilst it was parked on the street and the other person hit it, more of a glancing blow tbf, but they didn’t stop and sped off, roof man across the street saw it and took pictures of their plate whilst they drove off. My insurance (1st central) was extremely good for the first week or so, my courtesy car should’ve been a premium coupe too but I ended up with a hybrid Volvo 4x4 🤔 anyways body shop was shit and useless just like in this story, as was my insurer, I ended up paying 3x what it should’ve cost to repair; Heard nothing from my insurance once I got my car back, kept pestering them every week, nothing.. kept saying other person isn’t admitting fault. Then finally in February/March they say they need the pictures and evidence (that I already sent in October) and they can’t get hold of my witness. I found out that the poor lad was having difficult times and actually ended his own life, my insurance didn’t care, dropped the case completely and it’s all my fault and I have to pay for it all. Remember, I was asleep in bed when my car was hit. Still technically ongoing now because I’m making a complaint but still, insurance companies are absolutely useless and a scam.

[@vercity118]

Car insurance is absolutely useless the only reason I have it is to prevent the police stealing my car

[@Dunkelzeitgeist]

@@vercity118 Yup I agree

[@bg1379]

Haha! I cackled at the end. Serves Admiral right, costing 10s of thousands of pounds due to their own incompetence. Justice!

[@paul8577]

Great Channel!! I've just seen the video and wanted to comment as a long standing Admiral customer. I've had two claims with Admiral over the years both involving Ferrari's. The first was a 360 which was hit by an un insured driver on the M4, took out the entire side of the car at a cost of £26K. I drove it home, it was picked up by Admiral the following day and taken to Body Technics in Slough the only Ferrari approved body shop in the south. It took about two months to fix and I made the same mistake of not asking for a hire car because I had another car etc (no leverage). The second claim was for the front of a California T, I was sitting in a petrol station and a guy in his 80's reversed straight into the front of me whilst I was waiting for a pump!! After telling me it would 'buff out' I managed to get his details and again phoned Admiral. They asked me to take it to a body shop I'd never heard of which I did, several days later I had a call to say they didn't want to quote as they were unsure of the warranty issues with the car afterwards. I didn't want to waste more time so I took it back to Body Technics in Slough and got a proper Ferrari approved estimate and whilst I was there one of the receptionists asked me why I was mucking around getting estimates and gave me the number of a claims management company. A quick call to them and they confirmed I could have a hire car and they would take care of everything. I had a further call 10 minutes later apologising that they didn't have a Ferrari but would a Bentley GTC convertible be okay! Sorry this is taking a while but this is the important bit...... On the way home (no more than half an hour) I got a call from the guy who had hit me's insurance company, could I confirm my address they wanted to send someone over to speak with me. I got home and the guy from the insurance company was waiting for me. He explained that the claims management company had been in touch to confirm it was an active claim and they had informed them that I was having a Bentley delivered for the duration of the repair. He explained that they were just out to make money and it's why premiums are so high etc (all of which I agree with but I want my car fixed properly with the minimum fuss). He then says to me, how much to not have a hire car, drop the claims management company and I'll get your car into Body Technics straight away. I'm thinking about it and straight off the bat he offers me £2500 in my account that day, then without much prompting from me increases that to £5k. Needless to say I took the cash and two weeks later the cars delivered back in perfect condition with the Ferrari warranty intact with a factory approved repair. If it were to happen again the first call I would make would be to a claims management company, I know lots of people out there will say it puts premiums up etc but if you have a 'no fault' accident you just want the car back as soon as possible with the minimum of fuss. Insurance is something you pay for hoping you'll never have to use it, unfortunately most insurance companies are rubbish but you only find that out during the claim process. Forgot to say Body Technics charged £16k to 'buff out' the damage!! Keep up the good work with the channel, love that F12 - far prettier than the 812!

[@ivordavies1828]

I realise Admiral could have sent the car to a different bodyshop but it sounds like it was the bodyshop (why not name them) and Enterprise that are the real villains in this story. At least that was my take on it

[@ArmaganDemiral]

If Insurance companies are going to charge Extortionate prices then excellent service should be received at the bare minimum

[@courtneyrager2166]

It’s very useful to hear these stories, as the only way to compare insurers if you’ve not had to claim - is via the cost of the premium! Coincidentally I insure my other half’s car through admiral, and my house - I’ll be exploring other options at the point of renewal for sure. Keep up the good work sir! 👍🏼

[@paulusarnhelm704]

Every year when my insurance renewal comes around for obvious reasons I get various quotes and Admiral are always one of the most expensive

[@robc8892]

Sounds like the body shop is to blame here

[@JayEmmOnCars]

There's an element of that, but it is also the job of the insurance company to help progress things

[@FourDK700]

this is a very odd watch for me, I also have a 987.1 cayman and i'm also insured with admiral and my car also suffered some very minor body damage last year. The difference is i decided at the time i would just pay the repair myself as i was only 20 and was scared what having a claim on my record would do to my insurance price. The damage in the end cost a bit more than I would have liked and I was starting to regret my decision and wish i had went through the insurance but based in this account it doesn't seem like I would have had a much better time. You live and learn.

[@badrolkane]

Always best to not claim and just get it fixed

[@Joolz1982]

Depends how expensive fix is.if over a grand I would claim as excess will be cheaper as only £150 or £350 etc. I think key is once your insurance approve it go to a Body shop that is approved with them for parts for your car and try to make sure body shop has good reviews and Local. Although should not be on you to communicate with body shop makes it easier if you do, well in my experience anyway. Insurance claim will only be on yr record for 3 years after that it is wiped. May go up a bit in the short term obviously though.

[@JowoHD]

im in the same boat here. cost me a lot of money to fix my Panda 100hp but I'd rather deal with that than the stress of this

[@TC_Hill]

I was Insured with Lancaster for several years, which was fine until I needed them and then they were dross. So I switched my insurance and got a great deal... with Admiral. Wonderful.

[@barryfoster453]

Great advert for Admiral!!! They just quoted me twice the price against Churchill!

[@nzmctk]

I made my first claim ever through admiral having been insured through them for 7 years. My e90 330d had a control arm snap after going into a dip in the road created by lorry’s braking coming up to a sewage plant. The wheel contacted the arch and caused a minor bend in it and slight paint damage to the door where it met the arch. No contact with another vehicle, AA replaced the control arm and I drove it to the repair centre admiral recommended (Pennings MK). I spoke to them while assessing the damage pointing out a crack that had formed in the rear wheel spokes on the same side, which they said was paint damage. Repair job was 5.5k because every front suspension part and steering rack were meant to be replaced as part of procedure (win for me). This all took 3 days. It was another month of calls and questions before they finally started work. Eventually got the car back and once again I raised the crack in the wheel saying it didn’t look like paint damage I was ignored. Drove the car to spoons for lunch and when I looked back the front splitter was hanging off one side, so I taped it back up and returned. Showed the assessor the hanging loose splitter he took it in and returned a few minutes later saying they had never removed it but put a few clips back in… they actually claimed they removed every suspension component with a trim piece that covers 1/3 of the front end and tried to claim it was held on originally by duck tape the fix I’d done 20 mins before. Got the car home and packed up to move to Aberystwyth the next day (a move delayed 3 days by lack of my car) drove the 180 miles to aber no issues. That was until I looked again at the “paint crack” in the wheels, I legitimately was able to put a debit card in the crack between the spoke. Back on the phone to admiral very angrily, at which point they told me my car was too dangerous to drive due to the crack and they would investigate my allegations that pennings were clueless and made me drive 180 miles on a broken wheel. Admiral then denied my request to replace the wheel due to it being unrelated to the damaged suffered. Thankfully I had a video of the car at the centre where the crack was visible. I sent my final email saying roughly how stupid are you? The claim was made due to a dip in the road so bad it snapped a suspension arm and broke the front wheel (which they had already replaced) and yet the rear wheel on the same side was caused by something else? They finally agreed to pay and give me £100 compensation for making me drive 180 miles with a dangerous car. Turns out pennings had the damage to the vehicle caused by spontaneous part failure as opposed to road damage, safe to say if my cars damaged again I’ll be avoiding pennings

[@machidaman]

For balance. When I first came back to the UK from Japan and brought my beloved STi RA with me, Admiral were literally the only company that would insure an import for anything approaching reasonable money - none of the well known 'specialist' brokers were any help at all and impossible to communicate with. They also accepted the NCB I had accrued during 10 years in Japan and applied it. When I did have an accident, a Merc driven by a Surrey type literally drove acorss a bend in to the offside front, an accident for which they did accept full responsibility, Admiral were efficient and communicativevl throughout as were the bodyshop. Two small gripes, if I am being really picky, I got a Vauxhall Zafira as a courtesy car for the 10 days my Impreza was away and they were unable to match the original gold on the wheels perfectly (but close enough), but then it is apparently very tricky to colour match. I am sure many people have shite experiences, I loathe a certain company based on the Sussex coast for example, but my own experience was really good actually.

[@biglebowski7418]

If you don't mind me asking, which generation STI RA you have/had?

[@machidaman]

@@biglebowski7418 V5 Ltd. Love it.

[@biglebowski7418]

@@machidaman Nice. I love the GC generation Imprezas.

[@powernab8457]

JayEmm on Cars, you made me smile with this one:- £9,278 for the courtesy car!!😂😂😂

[@ianelliott229]

I had a similar tale of unnecessarily enormous car hire costs. We pay for such insurer incompetence through inflated premiums.

[@ScottZ370]

I had a claim with Admiral and was very straightforward, found Admiral very good at keeping me updated and their suppliers provided me with a Mini Cooper S within 48 hours of the crash. Wasn't the quickest of processes, 4 weeks from the crash to getting the car back but it didn't feel unnecessary. Any insurer out there will have some bad stories

[@armands3863]

I'm betting you work for them. A quick search showed me a crazy amount of horror stories with them .also I've seen some car clubs wanting about them also.

[@BobMonkeypimp]

Admiral's damage limitation team in full force here.

[@Joolz1982]

I don’t work for Admiral and had good experience recently so can back up above, although bit different to Porsche story as I dealt with stuff but just claimed on insurance.

[@ScottZ370]

@@armands3863 I don't, just think 1 mans bad experience is as good as another's good experience. Maybe I got lucky

[@BobMonkeypimp]

@@ScottZ370 Lucky with your employment at Admiral's social media team...

[@christaylor4946]

I’ve been with Admiral for longer than I care to remember, must be 15+ years, having had at least a couple of claims in that time and everything has been fine, even allowing me to choose my bodyshop of choice (just needed to get another quote from another bodyshop to show they weren’t being ripped off). Sounds more like the bodyshop being used in this instance were the key incompetence, not to mention enterprise hire cars and the ludicrous bill for the courtesy car. Surprised no mention of covid being an excuse though 👌

[@grahammanu4442]

Totally agree I've been with them for 3 years always beat any rival quotes thats even with a own fault claim. I also think its more body shop and enterprise problem? Think what's happen is his mate had a bad experience with them so he decided to put it over you tube?

[@BigDuke6ixx]

My Vivaro van was broken into though the back doors. It needed a new handle and there was a very minor scratch on the paintwork, the sort of thing that just needed a touchup. The repair shop wanted to repaint both back doors. I instructed them to just touchup the damage. When I went to collect it they gave me an invoice to sign. You guessed it, an invoice for all the work they hadn't done. The insurer was Direct Line and the repairer was owned 100% by Direct Line.

[@Punisher9419]

I'm insured with Admiral. They where the cheapest.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

I used to be too, and with their sister company Bell. Luckily, I never needed them

[@filmntvguy1977]

Run

[@Punisher9419]

@@JayEmmOnCars Well the plan is that I never have to use them :)

[@H22Freak]

RIP

[@originalGFLEX]

Thats why premiums are ridiculously high even for those with accident free history and this incident gives insight into why.

[@simonbussey7530]

Admiral are huge. A lot of other insurance companies are also actually Admiral, under a different name. It would be interesting to know what percentage of UK cars are ultimately insured under Admiral. I bet it's much higher than you would expect. "Approved Bodyshop" ultimately means nothing. Insurance companies use the cheapest they can find. Don't expect a high standard of work. They work to the standard that the average punter will accept. As a car enthusiast, your standard will undoubtedly be much higher and you will likely be disappointed by the work.

[@JayEmmOnCars]

The approval is from Porsche, not Admiral

[@terryc8164]

@@JayEmmOnCars porsche want their arse kicked then for using a shoddy bodyshop.

[@slidetek]

This is why I've used CSAA (AAA) ever since I started driving almost 50 years ago, and for all my insurance needs. They're not cheap, but they're professional and fast. My step brother put regular petrol into my step-dad's diesel, and they fixed it no questions asked. My step dad forgot to put oil in the damned thing, they replaced the engine (he paid deductibles of course). I had tenants let an ice maker leak on a slab floor with cedar planks, they didn't say anything until the floors warped so badly they couldn't open the doors. AAA replaced the floors entirely, as well as baseboards after water damage people came in to dry the place. That's just a few examples, I have many more especially real estate. Somehow in all my years of driving I've avoided accidents - but can't say the same of family members! All insurance is not the same, and any issues I've had are usually the other insurance company being jerks. FU Allstate, Nationwide and Progressive! Oh, and get a dashcam folks. They're cheap AF and could save you 5-6 figures for a $60 thing on a suction cup that plugs into your lighter. Or, if you can spare a few hundred, get a 2-3 camera system installed. They _should_ be standard equipment on cars (like Tesla only better resolution) - and hopefully will be soon.

[@paulmoor595]

A truly horrible ordeal which I am glad you were able to share. It highlights what is layers of true rot in our car insurance system. Rental car companies make huge incentives to insurance companies who are in bed with them to make sure they get fat profits from using the rental firm. Insurance repairers are incentivised to make as much out of a claim as they can. This is not isolated by any means...the hire car costs often far outweigh the costs of the vehicle repair. There should be a law forcing disclosure of monies paid between companies like hire car firms so all can see the gravy train for what it is.

[@markthompson50]

I currently have 2 cars insured with Admiral & had reason to get in touch after a third party bumped the rear of one. I wasn't anywhere near the car at the time & the 3rd party drove off without leaving a note but I have a good neighbour who saw the whole thing & reported it to the police. I told Admiral of the incident & they offered to refer me to another presumably related company called Auxillis for the provision of minor bodywork repairs & a hire car. This was when things started to go pear shaped. Firstly they were a constant nightmare to get hold of with some hideous looped hold music & the occasional 'we'll be with you shortly'.(I don't think close to an hour is shortly). On one occasion after a 40 minute wait I got through to someone who, when I mentioned how long I had been waiting, said "Is that all?" What a joke!! Eventually firm arrangements were made but a few days later I got a call saying that there were a lack of hire cars available & thus the repairs would take another couple of weeks. I reluctantly accepted this & two weeks later I got loads of paperwork via email with the full hire car contract. I signed & returned this, booked the day off to take the car up to the bodywork shop (35 miles away) Less than 24 hours before the big day I got another call from Auxillis asking me if I can confirm the type of car I needed & whether I wanted Manual or Auto ( My car was auto so I requested this). Also they stated that I would need to sign some paperwork. It was at this point that I realized that they were just going through the whole process AGAIN & that the paperwork was the contract I had already signed & sent back two weeks ago! When I mentioned this they sounded very surprised but after another wait on hold they said that they had my original signed contract but no arrangement for repair with the body shop had been made & that I would have to wait another 2 weeks! Finally at the 3rd attempt I got my appointment at the body shop & drove up only to find that the hire car that was dropped off for me at the shop was a manual NOT an auto! Admiral did send me a feedback form when the repairs were eventually completed which I filled in accordingly!

[@nickmoore2301]

This is no joke but I was actually looking about taking out an Admiral mulicar policy today, then your video popped up, this has made me think twice about doing it now 🤨

[@dunderhay9169]

Glad to hear the car sold OK. Definitely a cautionary tale. I have heard of the other party's insurer refusing to cover absurd courtesy car costs and the injured party being charged for it.

[@cbmsysmobile]

Someone I knew once had a courtesy car for 6 months because the repairer was unable to obtain a replacement rear light cluster for a Montego. She was more than happy as the courtesy car was a 2 year old Rover 25, far nicer than the 12 year old Montego. Eventually the insurance company admitted defeat and returned the Montego and paid her the estimated cost of the repairs. I believe the lamp was subsequently obtained from a scrappy for a fiver.

[@chrisgreen1094]

“Beautiful porsche cayman” words you don’t normally hear in the same sentence 🤣🤣

[@cericat]

Another one's "a beautiful Peugeot 306 GTi-6", most of them (at least locally) the drivers killed long ago alas.

[@alexbrain69]

I'm with admiral now, and have not had any issues so far... Will be switching to a specialist insurer come my next renewal!

[@antoinepageau8336]

I had a similar experience with a small kitchen fire. Fixing the damaged range hood and replacing burnt pot cost $1,250. Cleaning the house for smoke damage, (which included dry cleaning every piece of clothing in the house) $75,000. Honestly we could have left the windows open for a week and it would have done the same thing. The insurance companies like big bills so that at the end of the year they can raise our rates.

[@hallyfella]

I had a similar experience with another insurance company who used Enterprise. I was supposed to be getting a Jaguar XF while my jaguar XFs was being repaired but i ended up with a Volvo V40. i had it for 3 weeks and enterprise billed my insurance company for £3800.00 . What a rip off for car hire, and the cost is covered by every motorist because your insurance goes up every year to cover these types of scams !!! someone is making a killing namely Mr Enterprise !!

[@paulgannon3261]

We have several vehicles and drivers insured with Admiral , we recently sold one and removed one of the drivers. The yearly cost for this is listed at £180 when we asked about what the new cost will be Admiral told us although the car and the driver were no longer listed on the policy they would not be reducing the cost. So we are on our way now to a a Bulldog who can make us happy.

[@theimpatientbrewer]

Admiral, they once called me and told me they were going to cancel my insurance because I lied to them. I hadn't lied, I told them I had been living in Germany and driving a left hand drive car, before I took out the policy. I asked them if this would affect my premium. Their answer was no, it makes no difference. So they knew 100% what they accused me of lying about. They later called me and said, we have found the information was given to them and that they will not be taking the matter any further. No apology! Needless to say I did not renew my policy with them and would advise others not to.

[@JayMaverick]

As a non-UK person, it seems like the car insurance business in the UK is fraught with corruption. They can charge whatever they want and nobody is accountable for any sort of service quality. I hope Admiral loses business because of this video.

[@robchaloner7534]

You've hit the nail on the head there, the worst bit being its a LEGAL requirement to have it! They can charge what they like, you can shop around but at the end of the day you either pay up or don't drive

[@terryc8164]

That sums it up nicely. And it's not just car insurance, buildings insurance is equally a nightmare.

[@derekskinner4939]

Thanks for the tip......Goodbye Admiral.....this will be passed on to friends & family

[@BogdanDuceac]

This company has more incompetent people than it should. I am sorry for George and i am glad that you told the story

[@dessimpson]

I was insured by Admiral on my honda Accord. I was rear ended by a fiesta. He was also insured by Admiral. My car was fixed within 2 weeks and I was very happy with it. What I wasn't happy with was the incesant calls from Admiral asking if I wanted to claim for injuries. I told them I was fine after the accident but they kept calling me. Even after I told them the other guy was insured by Admiral!!!!

[@stephensmith7404]

I also had the misfortune was being hit at an intersection by a driver who also used the same insurance provider and to say the insurance company was uncooperative would be a major understatement. they did pay market value for my car but did not want to cover lost wages (off work for a mouth) or any other costs related to my treatment i had to sue and it took six years but i finally got some satisfaction.

[@craigturnbull5067]

Thanks for highlighting. I have our cars with Admiral as have a lot of people in my team. Defo will be moving.