Direct Line rang me up yesterday, told me my car was a write-off, and let me know what paperwork would have to go where as a result.

Today I rang them back to ask them the one question I hadn't remembered to ask at the time, which is how long I get to keep the hire car they supplied me with. The woman I just spoke to had managed (or, more likely, her computer system had managed) to lose all my details, but said that the usual procedure is that I have to give the hire car back five days after receiving the settlement cheque.

That doesn't seem very long! I had guessed they'd at least let me keep it for a few weeks while I sorted out finding and buying a new car. I can of course start that process in advance of receiving the cheque – but I could easily imagine that not everybody would have the spare money to do that. So I'm less impressed with DL this week than I was last week.

On the plus side, my neck is definitely getting better. Can't credit DL with that one, though!