I wouldn't touch Admiral group (Admiral/Churchill/Elephant) with a bargepole. You never know how good your insurance company is until you try to make a claim.
My 07 170TDI MK5 Golf was clattered by a bus at 2 weeks old (was 12 feet from where I parked it when I arrived back at the car from picking up a takeaway). Car was lawfully parked. Clear cut case of non fault, bus company did not dispute it. Then Albany assistance (the legal cover) went into overdrive. Provided me a basic 1.9TDI SE Golf and charged the bus company £78 a day for it . I had to sign some bollocks to say I was liable to pay if the settlement costs were refused and went to court, then judged extortionate. I got a free insurance policy to cover my liability. My car was given to Benfield body shop. They got all parts in after a week, then sat on it for 5 weeks without starting the job (I suspect on the instruction of Albany insurance so they could fill their pockets with the car hire costs) I kicked up a stink and it was then done within 2 weeks, to a woeful standard (it was pissing with rain and dark on pick up so I didn't notice how bad it was until the following morning with metal shards in the car, oily handprints on the headlining, a dangerous brake fault and items that had been in the car were missing (I pulled them on that on pickup - they said they would look for my stuff - never found).
You hear all the time about fraudulent whiplash claims forcing insurance up, but the insurance company do all they can to screw the other side for as much as they can get with ridiculous hire costs. 3 weeks after my car's return my renewal was due - it had almost doubled from £450 to £850 for a non fault claim that resulted in no loss of NCD. I didn't stick with Elephant.
When my Scirocco got hit by a car under similar circumstances (I was in it this time, parked up, waiting outside wor lass' place of work), it was a Churchill driver. Funnily enough they rang me before the tow truck arrived to offer me a courtesy car and avoid the opportunity of being shafted by my insurance. I was given a £50k Merc M-class courtesy car but my neck was too wrecked to drive it for 2 weeks.
