Insurance write-off rip-off.

[R2D2]

Hi all, feel like we've fallen in a Black-Hole here   :shock:

Here's how it is at the moment:

11.30pm sat 14th my boy's Disco gets stolen

11.35pm Police informed 

01.30pm sun 15th Boy's girlfriend's car gets bricks through 2 windows (was parked next to now absent disco)

1.25pm sun 15th Call from police saying car found abandoned in pub carpark in (some place in Hampshire)   :dance:

2.00pm Sun 15th We arrive at said pub to assess damage .. 2 rear door quarterlights broken, Ignition samashed, vandalism to front trim and... wait for it.. Dixon Bate towbar plate.ball missing???

2.15pm Call police with crime number and told that if he wants police to follow up on theft they will have it recovered to secure compound.. or if not to take it home... He's now suspicious 'cos of second "incident" (g/f's previous aquaintance  ..Valentine'snight.. get the picture..) So after 45min wait watch it go off on a lorry. :'(  :'(

Fri 13th  :shock: call from police saying finished with vehicle, so call insurance to arrange payment for recovery and pick-up from compound to assessors  (150.00 + 20.00 per day from police notification)

Mon 16th car collected from police and taken to another secure compound for insurers.
Numerous calls made but no updates

Wed 18th Letter recieved asking for log-book,  keys, MOT Certificate, How much we value car at, last service date, Where serviced, Purchase receipt, Where purchased And assessors told by Insurance not to estimate cost of repairs.. :-.

Now I thought we owned this vehicle, and just want to get it back and return it to good use but it's like he's being victimised for being a victim.. I can see someone profiting from this and it's notgonna be us!! [-X   [-X

[Llanigraham]

How old is the Disco? Will affect how they look at the case.

Have you actually asked the Insurance Co for an explanation?

[R2D2]

Yeah.. alledgedly getting 2 phone calls tomorrow. Should never have asked for police case 'cos they haven't taken any of our prints so don't really know want they will do. 

Probably just keep prints on file eh?

Cheers

[crazymac]

There is a little clause that many don't know about.

When an ccident is not your fault, then you can insist that your vehicle is repaired!!

Now, I appreciate that this situation is not an accident as such, but equally its not your fault!!

[R2D2]

That's nice to know thanks.

But theyv'e taken almost two weeks so far to do nothing, so I'm wondering how long it would be 'till we saw it again.

Causing us all grief giving him lifts here and there he works from 0530 'till 1100 pm most days.

[R2D2]

NIG insure him through Adrian F@*x,  they normally make you jump through hoops before repairing or paying out?

[karlo]

My Zafira got wrote off (non fault) and NIG was as good as gold, had a bit of argument with the assessor but that's normal? 

[Gordo]

With these kinds of case you're better to contact the insurer in writing (letter, fax or e-mail) and keep copies for your records. Make it clear what you want them to do.

Car insurers are regulated by the Financial Services Authority, and they must treat you fairly. If you end up making a formal complaint and don't get satisfaction you can go to the independent Financial Ombudsman Scheme and they'll review it from a neutral position.

It sounds as though the Police have contacted the insurers to say they have your son's car, and they've taken it from there. Something similar happened to me when I had a car accident and the Police arranged recovery. It was written off (it rolled) and I never saw it again.

[muddyoffroader]

my brother in laws vectra was wrote off by someone mounting the kurb and smashing the rear wheel into the fuel tank, it took 11 months for them to pay out, the best thing of all is the only phone call he got from his insurers was 5 months after it happened reqesting the logbook, key's and any other paperwork as they had sold it on (without him even getting his claim through) he went to see a solicitor who rang them and told him to also ring twice a week and try to record the calls (its illegal to record calls with there permission so if you do record them ask the other person on the phone if they are okay to have the call recorded) so that if the insurers denied saying or doing anything wrong the proof was on the recording. it went to court and they ended up paying him twice the cars value plus his court costs ect. i think that they just dont like paying out these days

oh and he had a fine from the dvla because the car had not been sorned when the tax ran out

[discowoman]

We are having the same at the moment, SWMBO's corsa was stolen and we found it dumped about 200 yards away (downhill) with knackered door - wing - bumper and suspension, Police arrived and sent it to a compound for SOCO to print it- 3 days later we get a letter asking us to go and remove any personal belongings -except that when we get there the car was taken by a salvage yard 2 days BEFORE...then we get the letter asking for £150 recovery and £20 per day - so I rang them and had a few 'words' and was told to ignore the letter as its a computer generated jobby that gets sent to every registered owner of a vehicle thats dragged in..
Still trying to find out where the car is - and working out how a car that we havent even been told whether its wrote off or not can be sold to a salvage yard without our permision....Only good thing is that her insurers all speak English and appear to have been born here too !!! Unlike mine who need subtitles 

[Yoshi]

my brother in laws vectra was wrote off by someone mounting the kurb and smashing the rear wheel into the fuel tank, it took 11 months for them to pay out, the best thing of all is the only phone call he got from his insurers was 5 months after it happened reqesting the logbook, key's and any other paperwork as they had sold it on (without him even getting his claim through) he went to see a solicitor who rang them and told him to also ring twice a week and try to record the calls (its illegal to record calls with there permission so if you do record them ask the other person on the phone if they are okay to have the call recorded) so that if the insurers denied saying or doing anything wrong the proof was on the recording. it went to court and they ended up paying him twice the cars value plus his court costs ect. i think that they just dont like paying out these days

oh and he had a fine from the dvla because the car had not been sorned when the tax ran out

I think it is legal to record a phone call without the other persons consent if you are a private individual.  AFAIK its companies who have to have permission to record the call.

[Gordo]

Quite a few companies automatically give permission for you to record the call by having the announcement "This call may be recorded".

[carbore]

Why not ask them, politely, what the process is and what the estimated timescales are? Make sure you take copies of any documents you send and keep a log of all times and dates for conversation and a call ref and/or operator. Decide how frequently you want an update and stick to it.