matt85

Right, yet another insurance related fu*k-up thread

Basically i had a shunt in my trusty old Ford Orion about 3-4 weeks ago (not my fault- i got rear-ended, he admitted liability). So they take said car away on a van a week on friday ago and i havent heard much since despite trying umpteen times to get through. Co-incidentally that was the same day i bought a 205 GTI which they wanted an extra £205 to insure, which they have since invoiced me and rang me for (funny how they didnt hang about there isnt it?).

Since i was only TPF+T they pass this onto another company (Auto Indemnity, which is where it gets confusing) to pass on my claim to get some money back. Whenever i ring them they say it is still being assessed (the car is a write-off its as clear as day). And then i get a call of my insurance company asking me for the balance of the policy (the £205) and this is where it gets really funny...Whenever i ring my insurance company with the claim number to ask what the score is they claim 'Its not one of ours, Sir', 'Well, whose is it?' 'Oh it might be Auto Indemnity's as we pass TPF+T's claims onto them blah blah blah...Me: What the? Can someone tell me whats going on for Chr*st sake?

So.. they have CHARGED ME £940 to insure the Orion in the first place (im only 19 but even so), they have TAKEN my car from me AND they have the bare faced cheek to DEMAND another £205 while THEY sort it out (money which was going to be raised from selling the Orion).

Confused? Tell me about it..

They rang me again today to ask about the money. My response? 'Youre not getting another penny from me until you sort out this bl00dy claim. Goodbye...'

How much longer should this take because this incompetent bunch of muppets are really passing me from pillar to post. I really am at my wits end. No-one contacts me to tell me how its going, when i ring nobody knows what the score is and besides having paid almost £1000 to insure a car worth a third of that the amount of ****ing about for what should be a totally textbook straight forward claim is unbelievable. How much longer do these things usually take to get sorted?


If it doesnt get sorted soon im going to name and shame.....

imlach

Hmm....while customer service over the phone sounds not great, most of the above is not really their fault...

1) They charged you a £940 premium to insure an Orion which you obviously agreed to pay. How is this their fault?

2) They've TAKEN the Orion from you? However, you say it is a write-off, so why would you want it? If it is a write-off, they give you the money, and they keep the car (unless you come to some agreement whereby you take the car from them).

3) Presumably they are demanding £205 from you for a separate agreement regarding insuring a Peugeot 205? Did this agreement become null & void because, and through no fault of theirs, you had someone crash into the back of your Orion??? I suspect not. Do you really want to risk being uninsured on the 205 by withholding payment?

Finally, insurance settlements take time. 3-4 weeks is not unreasonable in reality.

So....what is your beef?

matt85

I think youre missing my point.

What im trying to get across is that they have taken a sh*tload of money from me, taken my car (which is probably laying around somewhere at the end of a very long queue) and because its not handled by them they couldnt give a toss. But instead of sorting this out they just want to get more money out of me.

I just think they have their priorities wrong here.

BTW- The Pug IS insured i just checked.

Clarebabes

I think they have to have the year's policy paid for before they settle. I paid for 12 months insurance when I took out my policy and got no refund of the balance for the year when the car got nicked.

My claim took 6-8 weeks, to the end of which I was nearly crying down the phone to them to sort it out...

Dracoro

So if you crash just after taking out the (payed in installments) policy, you'll have to wait the best part of the year until the claim gets settled?

Reffro

Why would you want a refund of the balance. Surely you just assigned your next car to the same policy?

I crashed a car whilst fully comp, and whilst paying insurance monthly. It was a right off, they paid out within 3 weeks.I already had my next car by then, which they had already assigned to the same policy. No full years premium to pay or any bollocks like that. In fact because the new car was a lower insurance group, my monthly payment even fell.

Clarebabes

No! They cancelled the policy immediately. Had to take out a new policy when I got another car.

And no, you don't have to wait best part of a year, but if you pay by installments, you have to pay the balance. Waiting for the best part of a year would just be ridculous

Dracoro

I agree, but many people pay by installments coz they can't afford the lump sum. I guess they deduct it off the payout?

Clarebabes

Dunno, with mine, the policy had to be paid for before they'd pay out at all. Perhaps it was just mine, but I'd check your small print.

I wish I had, they wouldn't refund me the 8 months left to run They did give me a slight discount on my next policy which went up £300 from the original. It's just not fair! I have a good record and just because someone decides to take what's not theirs, I get shafted!

MattN

Obviously you have to pay the full premium before they pay out! Other wise you've not paid for the goods (normally though they deduct the o/s amount from the payout). Your policy continues for the rest of the year as this is what you have paid for (in full at this point).

Clarebabes, if you paid the full premium which you had, that premium covers you for 1 years insurance, irrespective of making a claim. That's how it normally works but there's probably exceptions.

As for this thread. I cannot see the problem either. You bought a 205 and agreed to pay an extra £205, which is now owed, pressumably you are using the 205, the price of which was £1200 of which you've only paid 900 odd, sounds fair to me they want money.

Reffro

I think you guys need to think about changing insurance companies, because mine did payout the full amount, the policy was still in force, and I just added my next car onto the policy, and carried on paying my installments as before.

Clarebabes

Who is it then? Mine is Elephant.co.uk

Reffro

I'm with CIS, not the cheapest around, but they are very good.

matt85

Well, i have contacted them today again and its starting to look a little clearer. They say it is being sorted but because they passed it onto a third-party to settle for me its not actually my insurance company that will issue the pay-out, its Auto Indemnity. So basically Auto Indemnity owes me the money and i owe my insurance company, which, as it happens, is Highway Insurance.

At least it looks as though im getting somewhere as they said my car has been declared as a total loss so i will get a cheque within 10 working days.

Very confusing but t least they said that the cheque is on its way to me so im quite happy.

Nexuas

I was guessing this was highway, as you mentioned auto indemnity...

I am with them and my car is currently in being repaired after a none fault claim.

TBH I can not fault them at all, at the start of the process they (Auto indemnity) spoke to me on an almost daily basis, telling me what was going on, who had said what etc... I had a claims operative and every time I phoned up I could speak to the same person who knew all about my claim etc... but 90% of the time they phoned me to let me know the score, and when the thrid party denied the accident had happend they wrote the right kind of letter, to refresh his memory. All I can give them is a big thumbs up.

Sorry you have not had the same experience.

However other than the original call to explain the accident had happened, I have not spoken to Highway at all, so can not comment on there procedures/phone manner...