breakdown and recovery questions

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Damaged car falls off recovery vehicle: how can we allocate responsibility and secure equivalent car hire? — by Conrad Murray — last modified 2006-12-22 02:57

My Porsche was damaged in a rear end shunt which was not my fault. The crash impact bust the oil cooler and made it undrivable. The police called a recovery unit to the scene and the car was loaded to be ferried home. Whether or not the driver secured the vehicle properly is in dispute but at some stage on the journey the car fell off the recovery lorry and may well now be a total write off. The recovery firm's insurer and the driver involved in the impact are now disputing how much damage each is responsible for. I am currently without a replacement as my local dealer doesn't have a suitable vehicle in stock but they are pressing me to use a hire company who they say can provide me with an equivalent car. My insurer has offered me a hire car but the allowance they say they will pay would not get me an equivalent quality vehicle. I am concerned that the dispute between the two responsible insurers will affect the speed of my payout and that if I go for the equivalent hire car, my insurer might refuse to pay for it and leave me out of pocket. Any advice?