AA Assist let me down after a collision – and wanted nearly £1,000 to give my car back

The Guardian

3 days ago

When my rear bumper was torn off after a collision with a post, the AA directed me to its Accident Assist service. I was told my vehicle would be recovered immediately and assessed for repairs on the next working day, and that the service would liaise with my insurer. I was also promised a courtesy car.
My car was taken into storage over the weekend. Four days later, it had still not arrived at the nominated garage. It eventually arrived on day five, and I was informed it would take up to four days to assess. The courtesy car never happened, and I found my insurer had not been contacted.
I lost faith in the service and asked to take my car back and I was told it would cost £991.71 in cancellation fees, including £254.50 for storage over the weekend.
I arranged a repair myself which came to £1,200, only marginally more than Accident Assist's bill for messing me around.
RB, York
The Accident Assist leaflet is unambiguous. It promises a speedy repair, a courtesy car and hassle- and cost-free handling of insurance claims. You received none of these.
The storage charges you have been billed for are astronomical and inflated by the delay in removing your car to the garage on the Monday. An online search suggests average storage costs for a car are between £20 and £45 a week.
When I queried them, the AA decided it had made a mistake. The £254.50 storage fee, it now claims, is the cost of transferring your car to the garage, and that the cost of its weekend sojourn, also billed as storage, was only £76. It has agreed to refund you the larger sum and a £150 admin fee.
As for the delays, AA's argument is 'these things can happen'. The courtesy car, it says, is granted only when the insurer agrees to pay, and the insurer is contacted only when the car has arrived at the repair garage (four days later in your case). Neither of these caveats are mentioned in the terms and conditions.
The AA insists it does not take fees from repairers or storage providers, and that it is funded by 'combining a number of services together [for] our insurance customers and breakdown members'.
AA Accident Assist says: '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.
'We acknowledge that the incorrectly itemised invoice caused confusion and, upon review, we have agreed to reimburse the customer for this error.'
You are now appealing to the Financial Ombudsman Service as you feel you are still out of pocket.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at [e-mail] or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.