Auditors

[Hoodles 1]

Hi

To cut a long story short my GF had her car broken into and then set alight a few weeks back when she had parked it in a car park for the night. (parking is rubbish where we live so best option)

We filed a claim and the insurance made their initial offer for the car (approx £1100) which, after taking extortionate excesses and the rest of her premium, ended with them saying she owes them about £80.

Her car was a little Y reg saxo, limited edition & about 60,000 miles which is not that much. The car itself was in great condition with no dents and an almost clear service history. When she bought the insurance she valued the car at £2000.

She rejected the original claim and, on their request, found 4 or 5 saxos for sale with the same spec, similar mileage and all within a year of the Y reg. They were all selling for approx £1600/£1700.

The insurance she is with is Hastings Direct who have now told her that if she rejects this claim it will have to go through to the complaints department.

Does anyone have any experience with pursuing a better insurance offer or can offer any advice on what might happen with the complaints department?

Its a long shot but she is constantly firing questions at me and asking my advice and I have none to give so I am hoping that someone on the great PS.com can give me a glimmer of hope and hopefully quieten her down until at least Saturday after Sarries beat Leicester and I have been able to watch the game in peace!

[GoneForgotten 2,494]

Reject the offer and show that your reasoning is reasonable. If it ever goes to abitration or you have to wind up suing them at every step you need to demonstrate how you did your very best to find a reasonable path through the process. I had this issue but from the other side and someone elses insurance and via a solicitor. The courts tend to look more favourably on people who try to be reasonable. Show your workings (example cars) and say what you want to have happen. If they still talk rubbish at you, suggest you'd like to resolve the matter without talking to a solicitor but accept that you may need to (after all it might be £50 well spent) get one to draft a letter.

Also, as yourselves how much you want out of the insurer. If they comes back with something in the right ballpark and still reject it, even if it's a bit lower you may have to wind up taking it, rather than arguing the toss over every penny.

[Ian1975 77]

Insurance companys are there to indemnify you, ie put you back in the same place as you were before the loss occured. If your finding that the same model similar mileage etc is alot more than your claim payout you will need evidence of this, for example ebay listings, trade-it, newspaper adverts. Most insurance companies are reasonable and will deal with it accordingly, although that doesn't always happen though. It's definately worth pursuing and don't give in. You have the insurance ombudsman and can always write to the FSA.

[Hoodles 1]

I doubt it will go as far a suing them but as far as we can see we have been reasonable in what we have done. From what I can glean the guy dealing with it is fairly nice and has said that if she sends in her service history he might be able to offer her £1600 but that's only if everything is squeaky clean, whilst the service history is pretty clear I am not sure if she has all the MOT's etc to back it up. I am going to suggest that she accepts when it hits around the £1500 mark but sadly the £400 odd quid she would get out of that is going straight back to her parents who lent her some money to buy a new car.

Its just frustrating that they always try and offer you the least amount they feel they can get away with. Thanks for your advice guys!

[Special66 5]

It won't get as far as court trust me.

Referring you to the complaints department is SOP for many insurance companies. The idea is that they offer you a low price to weed out the less well informed. They then up the offer in order to make you feel like the winner and hope you will take it and go away. Then your claims handler can't take it any further. They will be curt with you and say you must take it. Your only option is to then complain about the offer you have received and essentially another handler with more authority will review your case. I managed to get £2500 over my first offer by doing this after my car was written off.

This is the time consuming part. You must evidence that you can't buy the exact spec car for the money they have offered. Use auto-trader, glass's guide, ebay and even second hand dealers to get a range of prices, assuming they are over your initial offer. Do not look at private sellers as prices are lower. I showed that I could not buy an exact replacement (as they were required to give me) of my car for the offer they gave me, ie some lower miles, some higher, different spec, no cruise control, mine was a sport and had a 2inch spoiler!! Its a pain in the a**e but can be done easily. In my case the complaints handler asked me what i thought was reasonable, I told him and he offered it 20 minutes later. Cause them trouble and for £700 they will shut you up as it's easier. Also they have insired the car as worth £2000 and you pay the relevant premium, therefore they should pay you that amount. Remind them of that fact and they should not be able to dispute that.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[Ian1975 77]

Sorry just need to point out, that although you said your car is worth £2K there is nothing insurance contract to say that they have to pay you that FACT! Alot of the time when you insure a car if the value is under £10K it wont affect your premium if you say it's worth £500 or £8000, so they are not underwriting your policy on product value, they are unbderwriting it on risk, although it's not the same for every company and each company has there own way of underwriting. You also need to bare in mind although for example you £2K 6 months ago there will be further depreciation and increase in mileage which in turn lowers the value. They need to Indemnify you that is all! Like I said out put you back to where you were before the claim occured or as near to it as possible. Sounds rubbish you say its worth £2k, and you only get £800 unfortunately that's insurance for you.

[Hoodles 1]

Have just been looking at the Ombudsman....def not trying to say that when tired or drunk!

I understood that they should be replacing the car on essentially a like for like basis but should you be getting the value of the car as a payout and then having the excess taken out or should they pay out the value of the car plus the excess so you are left with just the cars worth? (Not the best explanation but its been a long day)

That's very true about the insured value, will mention that to her.

Whats more annoying about this whole process is that its just down to one guy and his selfishness. He broke into her car and couldn't find anything worth stealing so he torched it without a second thought. In some ways it would be easier if the car had been crashed into whilst parked or something else had happened that was an accident rather than a malicious act.

[Garion 0]

I am not sure if she has all the MOT's etc to back it up.

Check your vehicle’s MOT status and history online

All you need is a V5C or an MOT certificate and VRM.

[Ian1975 77]

Hoodles yes mate value of replacement minus the excess equals the payout. I know what you mean one selfish so and so has such a knock on effect, time, money hassle, inconvenience the list goes on and on.

[hairbearuk + 0]

I've heard of similar horror stories when dealing with Hastings Direct.. they give you a terrific quote to get your business, then do you over when you make a claim!!

This is such an example, not too different from the OP's