Car Insurance Claim. What a pain.

[devonwoody]

Around 40 years ago I was involved in a motor accident (two youngsters came out of a side road and collided with me) I had just put a new engine in the car (it was a taxi) and the insurance company wanted to write off at a ridiculous low value, I hired a car and twelve weeks later and many arguments they agreed to repair the car and pay the hire charges, they did not want the hire charges to go up any further.

So if you know you are going to win, hire a car and let them sweat!

(preferably from your brother) :wink:

 

[doorframe]

Well, it's all over now. A week ago Tesco Insurance called to tell me they've written it off, and they've instructed a salvage agent to collect it within the next 3 days so I'd better remove any personal belongings. The offer was £635. The valuation is fine, but I told them they go forth if they thought they were taking my car. They were also not the slightest bit interested that I had a quote to repair for £400. After a few very heated phone calls they generously allowed me to 'buy' my own car for £60. I wonder how much it would have been if they'd managed to remove it from my possession.

So, the cheque has arrived for £575, along with a couple of letters. One tells me I need to get a VIC, or I can't get a new log book. Don't need a new log book, so who cares. The next owner will be the scrappy (when the time comes). The other letter tells me I can't use the car if it's in an un-roadworthy condition. A cracked bumper isn't quite the end of the world so again, who cares.

I've had a verbal assurance (supposedly recorded phone call) telling me the renewal (due Feb 8th) premium, and it's pretty much the same as last year. We'll see if that changes on Feb 8.

The only other contact I had was from their legal department, who called at least 5 times trying to get me and swmbo (and my son) to claim for whiplash, stress and more.

And yesterday some parasite called with what appears to be a new scam. The conversation went like this...

Parasite... Hello Mr Doorframe. I'm so sorry to hear about your minor accident on the 26th Dec.

Me... Who are you?

Parasite... Please can you confirm you are Mr Doorframe.

Me... No. Who are you?

Parasite... I have come good news for you. Please can you confirm you are Mr Doorframe.

Me... No. This is your last chance, who are you?

Parasite... The other party's insurance company have 3 cheques for you. One for each member of your family. There is a new law that says because you are the innocent party you are entitled to compensation. I can arrange for you to receive the cheques. They are already written out and just need to be released. For a small fee I can provide this service.

Me... Go forth you parasite.


He was certainly English, with a Northern accent. Anyone else heard anything like this?

 

[marcros]

you may want to check the VIC bit, or it could bite you:

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-identity-check/overview

doesnt look too onerous though.

good result I think.

 

[Baldhead]

Well, it's all over now. A week ago Tesco Insurance called to tell me they've written it off, and they've instructed a salvage agent to collect it within the next 3 days so I'd better remove any personal belongings. The offer was £635. The valuation is fine, but I told them they go forth if they thought they were taking my car. They were also not the slightest bit interested that I had a quote to repair for £400. After a few very heated phone calls they generously allowed me to 'buy' my own car for £60. I wonder how much it would have been if they'd managed to remove it from my possession.

So, the cheque has arrived for £575, along with a couple of letters. One tells me I need to get a VIC, or I can't get a new log book. Don't need a new log book, so who cares. The next owner will be the scrappy (when the time comes). The other letter tells me I can't use the car if it's in an un-roadworthy condition. A cracked bumper isn't quite the end of the world so again, who cares.

I've had a verbal assurance (supposedly recorded phone call) telling me the renewal (due Feb 8th) premium, and it's pretty much the same as last year. We'll see if that changes on Feb 8.

The only other contact I had was from their legal department, who called at least 5 times trying to get me and swmbo (and my son) to claim for whiplash, stress and more.

And yesterday some parasite called with what appears to be a new scam. The conversation went like this...

Parasite... Hello Mr Doorframe. I'm so sorry to hear about your minor accident on the 26th Dec.

Me... Who are you?

Parasite... Please can you confirm you are Mr Doorframe.

Me... No. Who are you?

Parasite... I have come good news for you. Please can you confirm you are Mr Doorframe.

Me... No. This is your last chance, who are you?

Parasite... The other party's insurance company have 3 cheques for you. One for each member of your family. There is a new law that says because you are the innocent party you are entitled to compensation. I can arrange for you to receive the cheques. They are already written out and just need to be released. For a small fee I can provide this service.

Me... Go forth you parasite.


He was certainly English, with a Northern accent. Anyone else heard anything like this?

Exactly the same has happened to me. Several years ago an ambulance reversed into me and cracked the front bumper, I was in the car at the time, well over a year later I too got a phone call along the same lines as your call, I was told there was £1500 in a holding account, all I had to do was say I had a couple of sleepless nights, when I told the lady on the phone what I thought about her she hung up. I got another phone call several months later, exactly the same, again I told the lady what I thought of them, again they hung up. I wish I had gone along with them because I would have found out who it was ringing me so I could expose them for what they are.........pineapples, pineapples, pineapples, pineapples etc etc. no wonder insurance prices are going up, I wonder how many people have 'succumb' and played along for a few pieces of silver.

Baldhead

PS pleased you managed to keep your 'Write Off', hopefully you will have many more years of motoring with it, then YOU can decide when it's written off.

 

[JustBen]

My dad once had an old Opal Manta which was written off twice.
(1st was a cracked front spoiler, 2nd was a cracked rear bumper)

He bought it for £250, got £500 each time from the insurance and then sold it for £600.

He's got more jam than Hartley!

 

[mind_the_goat]

My daughter recently had a minor accident, mutual dented bumpers. Insurance company was involved and the other party received a quote for £600 to repair the damage. In the meantime we offered to pay for damage, as it looked minor. Another quote was given, £60 and the repair involved use of a hairdryer to soften and reshape the bumper.
The company that gave the first quote tried to keep the job by claiming they had already ordered a new part, even though no authority had been given, words were exchanged.
It still took a while to get the threat of a clam off the insurers records, but we did manage to retain the NCB.
So, one of the reasons insurance premiums are so high is because insurance companies allow themselves to be taken to the cleaners by the garages they recommend. This makes no sense to me at all.

 

[RogerS]

Glad you got it sorted, doorframe.

One question, though. Did we ever resolve in this thread whether or not one can insist an insurance company repairs a car even though they deem it 'uneconomical to repair' and want to write-it off ?

This issue seems to me so grossly unfair. You could have just spent £1k on new tyres and a repair and then some eejit reverses into it...the insurance company want to write-it off and give you £1600 so you are seriously out of pocket given what you have just spent on it.

 

[devonwoody]

Glad you got it sorted, doorframe.

One question, though. Did we ever resolve in this thread whether or not one can insist an insurance company repairs a car even though they deem it 'uneconomical to repair' and want to write-it off ?

This issue seems to me so grossly unfair. You could have just spent £1k on new tyres and a repair and then some eejit reverses into it...the insurance company want to write-it off and give you £1600 so you are seriously out of pocket given what you have just spent on it.

My view on this is the same.

If I had a problem again and I knew I was not at fault in anyway, I would do what I did thirty years ago.

Sue the other party personally and only deal with that person, let her then send your claim on to her insurers but only deal with her and only accept the situation that returns you to the condition before the accident.

You cannot loose can you, even if you go to court. (In the meantime hire a car if yours is unroadworthy, it don't arf make them move quicker)

 

[MMUK]

I've made some serious money buying cars back from insurance companies at scrap value. Don't knock it.

 

[doorframe]

Roger, I tried to get them to agree to a repair at £400 right from the start. It was very clear that they had one thing only on their agenda.... WRITE IT OFF!!!! But what they also wanted was to remove the car from my grips. They wanted to take it away for the damage assessment. I point blank refused to allow this as I knew I would never see it again or I'd have to pay over the odds to get it back. I made them assess it on my driveway. The guy who assessed it said the condition and mileage and minor damage were such that he could see no reason not to repair, so he'd like to arrange the flat-back to take the car then and there. I still refused to let it go out of my sight until the ins comp had confirmed they were going to repair, not write off.

I think the way it works is this...

1. Get the car away from the owner.
2. Get a hire car to the owner.
3. Write it off and sell the salvage to a salvage company that they have a regular deal with. (I can get minimum £300 for a drive-able banger, so why can't they). If it's CAT C it doesn't have to be crushed.
4. Pay the settlement.
5. Charge the 3rd party ins comp for all costs including bloated car hire charge, bloated collection charge, bloated admin charge, bloated any other charge they can think of.
6. 'UP' the poor sods premium and score a few extra £'s into the bargain.

They obviously won't make a fortune out of my old banger, but if they do this for every old banger it must add up nicely. If they just paid the £400 repair bill what do they earn from the 3rd party?

The most annoying thing is that this was MY ins comp. They were supposed to be acting in MY best interest.... weren't they? At all stages I felt I was the guilty party, not the poor innocent sod doing nothing wrong. The saving grace in all this is that we're only talking about an old banger, and a few hundred £'s either way. If I'd been driving an expensive car (that'll be the day!!) I expect I would have been seriously peed off!!!

So, NO. It appears you can't make them repair back to pre-accident condition. You can only accept the settlement and and repair it yourself. I came out of it OK, but that may not always be the case.

 

[devonwoody]

So now you can understand why innocent drivers claim whiplash, they get the amount they should have got to repair their car.

 

[Baldhead]

The most annoying thing is that this was MY ins comp. They were supposed to be acting in MY best interest.... weren't they? At all stages I felt I was the guilty party, not the poor innocent sod doing nothing wrong.

Insurance companies do not act in the customers best interest, they look after themselves first, if that means screwing you the customer, then so be it. I don't think for one minute they would be bothered if you took your custom elsewhere.

Baldhead

 

[marcros]

i suspect that you cant necessarily make the insurance company repair it- they will stick to things like "its aganst company policy", "it isn't economical", "the computer says xyz", they are a company, there to make a profit. However, beneath the insurance, the driver at fault will have a legal responsibility to cover your losses. You may have to do pretty much as devon woody said. You dont have to claim off the other party's insurance, they just have it in place to pay out in case of accident, ie it is for their benefit, not yours. The same as you may have a savings account in case you need house repairs. Insurance is a legal requirement, and is set up so that for most it is the first point of contact.

in theory, you could still claim off an uninsured driver, although you are likely to find that they had no money, hence no insurance. Also, in theory, your car could be half crushed, and you would be entitled i law that it was repaired to the same standard as it was vefore the accident. Most people would be reasonable in that case, and accept that it wasnt sensible to repair such a car, unless it was a one of a kind vintage ferrari etc. Then, no doubt it becomes a bit more difficult.

 

[doorframe]

Well, today was Insurance renewal day. The quote they gave me, £234, was valid until close of business today.
So I called them up only to be told, "Sorry, you can't renew as we haven't received a copy of your new MOT". And if it's not emailed to them today I'll need a new quote. But they won't give me a new quote till they see the new MOT.
At no time in any correspondence have they mentioned I will need a new MOT before they will re-insure.
So, down to the MOT while-you-wait. And what a long wait it was. The whole world was out getting MOT's today.
Luckily the old girl flew through with just an advisory about the wishbones.

It's ruined my plans for the weekend but at least this sorry saga now seems at an end. =D>

 

[marcros]

A full ending then, and what you wanted. Have you got the v5 through yet or does it not need one?

 

[doorframe]

I've still got the complete original V5. They did try to get it from me earlier on in the 'negotiations' when they were so determined to take the car. Shouldn't be a problem getting Tax with it, but I'll find out in October! If I ever sell it it'll need a new V5 after a VIC, but it's never being sold until it goes to the big breakers yard in the sky.