Insurance car hire issues

<p>I'm not really happy with the service I've been getting from Discovery with regards to my motor vehicle claim.</p> <p>I was involved in an accident on Saturday, the 10th of December and immediately put in a claim with Discovery. I was assisted by Metro Police at the scene, they took the statement and I was given a phone number of one of the police stations to call by the Tuesday to get an accident report number. On the Monday I was sent a car by Avis as I had the car hire option on my policy. I was told that it was valid for 30 days. I was given my accident report number by Wednesday or Thursday and sent it to Naailah Enveralli who was processing my claim. She later sent an email saying the case number was incorrect. I gave her all the information she requested together with the contact details and I received an sms on Friday, the 23rd of December that my claim was authorised for repairs.</p> <p>I called the panelbeaters to verify that all was in order and I was told that they would only be able to work on the car on the 9th of January when they resumed work. When I tried to call Naailah about this, her phone just rang and went to voicemail (this happens all the time when I call the direct line displayed on her email). Fast forward to the 9th, I called the panelbeaters to find out how long the process would take and was told that the parts would be ordered that day and that it was quite a big job, that the car would probably only be done by the week of the 23rd of January. I called Avis about an extension and was told to call Discovery and they told me that'd call me back. The following day, on the 11th, I called again as I still hadn't been called back and was told they'd look into it. All this while, I'm being assisted by whoever answers the phone and not my claims consultant as she is either busy on another call or her line doesn't go through. After another 4hrs of silence and a call from Avis requesting the car to be returned, I called Discovery again and was told that there's nothing that could be done, I had to return the car. In the meantime, Naailah, tried calling me while I was busy on another call. She didn't get hold of me and left an email saying "we cannot extend the rental of the vehicle, please return it". I again tried calling Discovery this morning and asked to speak to management. I was told that the manager was still busy on another call and would get back to me after relaying the story to the agent that answered the call. I again called Discovery a few minutes ago and the consultant who answered was very helpful and told me the reason why the rental couldn't be extended was because Discovery could not be held liable for the delay in authorising the claim because of the many holidays we had in December and they were not working then. The panelbeaters cannot be held liable because the parts could not have been ordered earlier anyway, even if they hadn't close of the festive season because the place they ordered parts from closed from the 15th of December to the 9th of January.</p> <p>Now, with all this information, does that mean I am liable for the costs of the car hire since I had the accident at the wrong time of the year?<br />The vehicle is still in my possession a day later but I feel that I need to get proper assistance from Discovery. I cannot be expected to now organise my own means of transport when:<br />1. I don't know how long these repairs will take since they are still waiting for the parts <br />2. The delay in the car being repaired and the fact that we all took a break over the festive season is not anyone's fault, I don't think it's fair that I be penalised for it.</p> <p>After numerous calls asking to speak to someone with management, this has still not been resolved. I haven't spoken to anyone at management, no one has had the courtesy to return my calls or at least answer when I call and all I'm being shown is the middle finger - this is really what it feels like Discovery is doing right now.</p>