The recovery stage is where accident management revenue is actually realised. Every pound of credit hire, repair, storage, and recovery cost must be pursued from the at-fault insurer systematically, with protocol-compliant evidence, or it becomes an irrecoverable loss.
Accident management companies provide services upfront — credit hire vehicles, repairs, recovery, and storage — and then pursue the at-fault insurer for reimbursement. This model means the AMC carries the full financial exposure until recovery is achieved. If recovery fails or is significantly reduced, the AMC absorbs the loss. For many AMCs, the gap between billed and recovered amounts is the single largest drain on profitability.
At-fault insurers have sophisticated strategies to reduce or reject recovery claims. They challenge hire rates (arguing basic hire rate versus credit hire rate), dispute hire duration (claiming the claimant failed to mitigate), contest liability (arguing contributory negligence or split fault), reject storage charges (arguing unreasonable duration), and question repair costs (using their own engineers' assessments). Each challenge must be met with documented evidence assembled during the earlier stages of the claim — evidence that is often incomplete because intake and service delivery processes did not capture it.
The procedural requirements add further complexity. The Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents, the Civil Procedure Rules (particularly CPR Part 36 and the small claims track), and the MIB agreements for uninsured and untraced drivers each impose specific requirements on how claims are notified, documented, and pursued. Non-compliance can result in cost penalties, reduced settlements, or claims being struck out entirely.
An effective recovery workflow starts long before the billing pack is sent. It begins at FNOL, where the evidence needed for recovery — fault indicators, need documentation, vehicle matching decisions, and hire period justification — is captured as part of the service delivery process rather than assembled retrospectively. By the time the case reaches the recoveries team, the evidence pack should be substantially complete.
The recovery workflow itself must enforce Pre-Action Protocol compliance, manage negotiation timescales, track offers and counter-offers, and escalate to litigation where cost-effective. Each case needs a clear recovery strategy based on its characteristics: straightforward clear-liability cases follow a fast-track negotiation pathway; disputed-liability cases may require additional evidence gathering; and MIB claims follow their own distinct procedure.
Critically, the workflow must give recoveries handlers visibility of their entire caseload — which cases are due for follow-up, which have offers pending, which are approaching limitation, and which need escalation. Without this visibility, cases drift, deadlines are missed, and recovery rates decline.
Follow these steps to create a recovery process that pursues costs systematically, maintains protocol compliance, and maximises your collection rate.
The recovery pack should be built progressively as the case moves through FNOL, credit hire deployment, and repair. By the time the case is ready for billing, the pack should include: the hire invoice with GTA-compliant rate calculations, vehicle matching evidence, need documentation, hire period timeline with milestone dates, repair invoice or total loss valuation, recovery and storage invoices with dates, engineer's report, and all correspondence with the at-fault insurer.
For vehicle damage claims that fall within the Pre-Action Protocol, send a compliant letter of claim to the at-fault insurer. This must include the required information about the claim, the damages sought, and the evidence supporting your client's case. The Protocol requires the defendant's insurer to respond within a fixed period. Track this deadline and escalate if no response is received.
Create a staged negotiation process: initial demand, insurer response, counter-offer assessment, and settlement authority. Define clear authority levels — handlers can settle within a percentage band of the billed amount, anything below that threshold requires team leader approval. Record every offer and counter-offer with the handler's rationale for acceptance or rejection.
Map the most common insurer challenges and create response templates backed by evidence and case law. Typical challenges include: hire rate reduction (counter with GTA compliance evidence), hire period reduction (counter with repair/total loss timeline), need challenge (counter with need questionnaire and evidence of use), and storage duration challenge (counter with timeline showing reasonable disposal period). Systematic handling prevents ad-hoc concessions.
Claims against uninsured drivers follow the MIB Uninsured Drivers Agreement and have distinct procedural requirements including specific notification deadlines and evidence requirements. Claims against untraced drivers follow the MIB Untraced Drivers Agreement with its own separate procedure. The workflow must identify MIB cases at FNOL (from the MID check) and route them through the correct pathway with appropriate documentation prompts.
When negotiation fails, assess whether litigation is commercially viable. Consider the outstanding amount, the strength of evidence, the specific insurer's litigation behaviour, and the likely track allocation (small claims, fast track, or multi-track). CPR Part 36 offers should be considered strategically — a well-timed Part 36 offer shifts the costs risk to the defendant if they fail to beat it at trial.
Track recovery rate (recovered ÷ billed), average days to settlement, cases by status (pre-demand, negotiation, litigation, settled), and leakage by cause (rate reduction, duration reduction, liability dispute, evidential failure). Use this data to drive improvements in upstream processes — most recovery failures have their root cause in inadequate evidence capture at the FNOL or service delivery stage.
Send the initial demand as soon as the hire period ends and the billing pack is complete. Delay in pursuing recovery suggests to insurers (and courts) that the claim is not a priority, which undermines urgency arguments about hire periods and storage. It also increases the risk of hitting the limitation period (six years for contract, three years for personal injury, but commercial pressure means cases should be resolved well within that).
A CPR Part 36 offer is a powerful tactical tool. If the at-fault insurer fails to beat your Part 36 offer at trial, they face cost consequences including indemnity costs and additional interest under CPR 36.17. Time Part 36 offers early in the negotiation — they demonstrate willingness to compromise while creating cost pressure on the insurer to settle.
Cases where fault is disputed require different handling. The recovery strategy must factor in the risk of reduced or zero recovery. Consider obtaining independent witness evidence, police reports, or CCTV footage before committing to litigation. Disputed-liability cases often benefit from early Part 36 offers that reflect the litigation risk.
Insurers often make blanket challenges — reducing every hire period by a set number of days, or applying a standard rate reduction. Do not accept these without examining the specific case evidence. A concession made without evidence becomes a pattern that insurers will exploit across your entire book of business.
Although the AMC is pursuing recovery directly, the claimant remains involved. They may receive correspondence from the at-fault insurer, be asked for statements, or need to attend court. Keep claimants updated on progress and prepare them for any involvement required. Consumer Duty obligations continue throughout the recovery stage.
Hire invoices, need evidence, matching records, and timelines are generated from operational data.
Handlers have defined authority bands; settlements below threshold require approval.
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