ouch & cleaned up a bit

19:10
A40 Southbound 30 miles from Aylesbury, short lampposts bit before Western Avenue

visibility good
road conditions dry
traffic heavy, 3 lanes travelling c30mph(?) -relatively slowly anyway

looked away at something ?rearview?radio?
looked back again
Black Saab in front of me had stopped. I braked but went into the back of his car while he sailed into the back of the Range Rover in front of him.

The~ said “thanks a bunch” was edgy almost aggressive; quicker than quick to pick up whatever was on the road behind his car and throw it in the boot; also to clear up glass etc from the front of his car too – before I could take any photograph; I hit video not photo – eejit.

DAMAGE
my car :
front grille pushed back; radiator damaged enough to be leaking, front valance, bonnet & both wings damaged.

SAAB His rear number plate fell off. However, at the front, his headlights were broken and front grille pushed back
RANGE ROVER His rear numberplate fell off and there was a bit of a scuff on the bumper.


Paul info from home: your insurance is due to run out at end of this month (29th) customer ref : r0025825- policy number : a090000001n8nn

I cant find the number your meant to call to notify them. it says in the hand book the number is on the card you should carry with you.

The only number i could find was 08000353939


0800 Saturday: START
Renew Website check has a Claim Hotline number : 0800 035 4346: it just rang, and rang, and rang, and rang, and rang, and rang, and rang, and rang, and rang,

9am 0800 035 3939 worked, a girl took details, told me the policy is with Royal Sun Alliance, gave me their number 0870 380 3311, and told me they are not open till Monday.
Asked her to check if I have a courtesy car on my policy, and I do. Great! ~ from the repairers IF the car is repairable; scrap that then, I can't even put the claim in till Monday

Class; an accident out of office hours could have left me stranded at the side of the road for the entire weekend.
So much for their bold website claim
Renew car insurance excels in providing you with motor car insurance quotes that are value for money and provide reassurance that claims will be settled without fuss...because your safety matters.
Adrian Parry, Managing Director

Checked RSA website again
0800 300 252
Indian chap answers and asks for my policy number. A0~. “we don’t deal with those policy numbers; tried the customer reference number begins R “we only deal with policy numbers which begin with zero
He gives me a number 0870 165 0509

RSA website again: contact 01403 232 323
Which directs me to 0845 609 3300, their “emergency hotline”
The ‘emergency hotline gives me another number 0800 300 252 –
CIRCLE COMPLETE

RESTART
Indian woman answers and aks for my name, I give my name and the line goes dead.
I call back and get the Indian chap again; this time I give him the policy number without the ‘a’ prefix. He mishears 6 consecutive zeroes; mistakes six for 5 and gets the last number wrong too. It’s obviously my accent. He can’t find it.
He asks for the registration, I give it. I have to correct him to get it right.
He tells me this is a commercial policy (What?) and gives me another number 0870 165 0509

Mark gets up and tries the 0800 claim line again on his own phone; it just rings.
He calls the website number and gets a person somehow. (I discover later he called the quote line, who were keen to be keen and asked them what would happen if we had to make a claim. "No problem!" they said, "Good" he said " we already have a policy with you and would like to make a claim". Score one for the customer.


1100 -Robert- tells me he will get the claims people to call me
1138 –David- calls me “was the accident your fault”? : Well, probably since I went into the back of someone else. Later in the convo, after I point out that their website claims easy, fast, courtesy car stuff etc, he tells me they have a no-fault team which I can ’try’.
1148 ??? transfers me to –David- on the emergency helpline, who asks for Registration, Name, Address.
How MANY times do I have to give how many people the policy number, name, address, registration etc? None of them seem interested in logging any accident details since Julie at 8am or so who took some details but not of the other cars.

-David- eventually says he can organise for someone to collect and store the car until I can make a claim at 9am on Monday by calling 0845 071 0150. His extension xnnn Reference 0T2. . .

I’m not sure what time the wagon turned up to collect the car; it was unexpected anyway since they did just turn up when I’d expected them to call first. The chap was quite wonderful, he reminded me to take the tax disc, and spent ages dismantling half the car so I could have the CD changer from the boot, the stereo AND the lead from one to other.
Monday morning before I can move this any further; still not happy about it all at all.

I return to the pimlico penthouse with my hands covered in nasty greasy grunge and grime to find Mark has got ready and is dressed in white tie etc : his excuse being that he thought I was already dressed for us to go out. ziff; I wore that stunning outfit to dinner LAST night, I have another one for the Proms tonight.

Still, it was a huge relief to know the car is not going to be sitting in a residents parking bay in the congestion zone, and that whatever the insurance crew decide, it all starts from being able to tell them the car is at ....Cedars 304-312 Lynton Road, SE1 5DD. Insurance assessors can see it there, whichever repairers they demand can fetch and hopefully (fingers legs and eyes crossed) fix it from there, and I can collect it from wherever it might be in London. DV