One of our customers tells how we helped them make a car accident claim

The kids finish school at half past three and it was a freezing cold, wintry day so I gave myself a bit of extra time to get there. I hopped into the car and set off on the three mile journey to school, not in any rush at all and looking forward to bringing my boys home and getting them out in the snow to play.

The roads were horribly icy and the snow was coming down in droves so I took it really, really easy. There weren't many people on the roads that day; I guess most of them were inside in the warm. I wish I had been too!

Anyway, I'd just left my village and I was heading towards town, driving along this narrow, windy road that snakes down a hill and has a wicked bend at the bottom. I've driven around that bend countless times over the years and I know how dodgy and unforgiving it can be, especially if it's icy. Everyone in the area knows about it too. So that's why I went right down into second gear as I approached it, gave the brakes a bit of a squeeze and got my speed right down.

The next thing I know there's a car coming around the bend on my side of the road, skidding on the ice and heading straight for me. I didn't even have time to beep the horn before it smashed head-on into the front of my car.

The noise was terrifying and the jolt was horrendous. I remember being thrown forwards and banging my head on the steering wheel but luckily I had my seat belt on otherwise I don't know what would have happened. I had a box of eggs on the seat next to me and they had smashed themselves all over the windscreen. I guess that could have so easily been me if I wasn't strapped in.

So I got out of the car and had a look at the damage and, oh dear, it didn't look so good. The whole of the front end was bent and crumpled and looked like it had been rammed by some sort of giant bulldozer instead of some kid in a clapped-out banger. There was glass and bits of plastic all over the road and I just sort of stood there looking at it all for a second before, and I don't know why, bursting into tears.

It was at that moment, as I rubbed away the tears, that I noticed something warm and sticky running down my cheek. I had a look at my hands and saw they were covered in blood; my blood. I found that I'd cut my forehead quite badly when I hit my head on the steering wheel and on top of that my neck was aching a fair bit too. It wasn't a nice situation to be in, stood there with a wrecked car in the middle of a snowstorm, blood pouring from my head and two little lads who needed to be picked up from school.

As luck would have it another one of the mums was taking the same road to school and stumbled across the mess that we'd made. She agreed to pick up my boys and take them back to hers until I got everything sorted out. A few minutes later a police car and an ambulance arrived and started to sort everything out. I was taken into the back of the ambulance and the paramedics checked me over. They said I had a nasty cut that needed stitching and probably a whiplash injury too. So off to hospital they carted me and the police arranged for the car to be picked up and taken away. A couple of hours later I was back at home with six stitches in my forehead, a horrible-looking black eye and a collar around my neck to help with the whiplash.

That evening when my husband got home with the kids he suggested I should make a compensation claim against the driver of the car that hit me, so I went on the Internet and came across Car Accident Advice Line. I found that they'd not only help me get compensation for my head injury and the whiplash, but would also provide a replacement car until mine was repaired or declared an insurance write-off. I liked what I was reading and so I gave them a ring that very evening. I spoke to a lovely girl who explained everything and told me that I wouldn't have to pay a single penny to use their service. This seemed a little odd to me and I thought there must be a catch, but as it turned out there wasn't.

They agreed to take my case on and arranged for me to have a courtesy car which I kept until a cheque came through the post for the value of the one that was destroyed in the smash. With the exception of going to see an independent doctor, there really wasn't much I had to do in order to make the compensation claim.

Although nothing can take away the small scar above my right eye that's a permanent reminder of that snowy day, I felt the amount of money was fair and was definitely adequate compensation for the pain and hassle I'd gone through. The girl on the phone was right, the whole thing really did cost me absolutely nothing and I didn't have to pay out a single penny in order to get the compensation that I felt I rightfully deserved.

I told one of my friends who had a road accident to go and speak to Car Accident Advice Line and she was just as pleased with their service as me. Hopefully nobody else I know will have an accident in the future, but if they do there's only one company I'll be telling them to call - Car Accident Advice Line.