On sunday I suffered a vehicle collision which I have documented elsewhere.

I am insured by Direct Line, the other driver is insured by Admiral.

I have a videotape of the other driver admitting liability and saying that he “didn’t see me” even, so I thought things would be relatively cut and dried.

On tuesday, whilst I was working/ill, I received lots of voicemails asking me to call Admiral Insurance.

On wednesday, early, I called them back. An extract of the conversation is follows:

…you can tell that video is a bit of a thing with me. Very convenient.

Anyway – so they are clearly admitting liability, and they keep phoning me back, daily, to try and get me to book a hire-car with them to replace my vehicle whilst it is being repaired.

This is known as “capturing business” – apparently it’s a common practice amongst insurers.

So today – friday, 2:45pm-ish, I called Direct Line and asked them whether Admiral had told them they were admitting liability.

I got put on hold by Direct Line while they phoned Admiral themselves; the result being “they cannot say yet, because they are still gathering information”.

Which is in stark contrast to the statement that their agent made more than 48 hours ago; and it’s important because if I want Direct Line to sort everything out to me to the extent which they promise – and with less complexity, and without fronting any money in terms of insurance excesses – then I need to get Admiral to say to Direct Line the same thing that they said to me.

Welcome to the YouTube generation. Your move, Admiral.