Ecar/Southern Rock/Eldon Insurance Incompetence!!!

My car was stolen on the 13th June 2009 from outside my friend’s house, I did the normal course of action. i.e phone the police the moment I noticed. The police did their usual absolutely no investigation and dished out a crime number etc. The following morning I contacted my supposedly insurance company, (I was insured with ecar insurance who are underwritten by Southern Rock and claim is handled by Eldon Insurance ltd near Newcastle), I passed all the requested details including crime number and incident number. The lady I spoke to asked me to send my keys, V5, insurance certificate, MOT, service history,finance agreement and driving license to them which I duly did the following monday (15th of June 2009). I ask the lady if the documents and keys will be safe by post and she said yes if sent them via recorded delivery. Unfortunately for me, I had my service book and MOT in the car not to mention my laptop, dissertation work, cheque book and 1100 pounds.

The following monday (15th June 2009), I went to BMW to retrieve a service record for my car which they did provide by using the car keys to pull up the record. I also contacted the dealer from which i bought the car who gave me a number to contact to get the MOT. Two days after i was called from insurance company that they received the documents without they keys and the license of the other named driver on the policy. I argued about sending the keys and said I was not told to send the license of the other driver which I promised to do the next day. Initially I thought the guy was unserious of them not receiving the keys, so I ignored and made sure i sent what was left (the license of the other driver). I left it another week before contacting them again for an update, this time i was told that they are still waiting to receive the keys. At this point i figured out that these guys were up to something funny. We argued on several occasions that at a point I decided to contact Royal mail about the matter. They asked me to fill and send to them a lost item form which i did immediately. It took weeks to here from RM who suggested I claim for the keys by producing my receipt. At this point I noticed I had misplaced my receipt. I phoned royal mail to let them know the claim on my car is much more important to a claim for the keys. I expected them to be able to pull up the weight of the parcel using the tracking number they provided, all my effort was frustrated by royal mail.

I kept on calling my insurer who arrange an investigation from a company named RGI to meet and question me. A guy from RGI came, asked me questions for which I had answers to. After several weeks of waiting to hear from my insurer, I called again and was told they were still waiting to hear from RGI. I immediately called RGI and was told they had sent a report to my insurer. I phoned my insurer afterwards and was told the report may have arrived that it usually takes up to 2 weeks to process. A week later I contacted lawyer who took 160 pounds for consultation and file opening but did nothing about my case. I was out one day and received a call from a guy who said he was from the anti fraud department of Eldon insurance. We arranged to meet the following day at my place. We met and went through the whole story again, I believe they were looking for inconsistencies in my story, but unfortunately they did not find any. They concluded that I may have arranged my car to be stolen following a previous claim I made in December 2008 when I was hit on my drivers side by a DHL truck for which they did not even help until I referred the matter to financial ombudsman to handle. They left that day reminding me of the keys, I told them they have my keys and should follow up with RM. The guy called me same day saying “I have good news for you” that he went to RM and there is hope for me. At this point I thought my problem was over.

I waited again forever, still I did not hear from them. I called again and was told the person in charge of my case was not available. After a while on the same day, I was called back with issues regarding the tint on my car and change of my job. Most times, they complained about the value of the car saying it was expensive and they needed more time to investigate the matter. I got advice from a friend who suggested I contact my local MP to help in this matter, but all my effort still did not help. By January this year I traveled to the states for a course from where I am writing this story. Prior to my trip I contacted an insurance broker who recommended a specialist on matters like this to help me.

After many weeks my insurer sent me an email on March 16th 2010 saying the loss has not taken place as I described and will not be able to offer any financial assistance to me because I did not provide the keys,. Secondly, that they got a report of the keys being used on the car at a different time from what I stated, and that I also told them a member of the metropolitan police came and saw me with the keys. These guys gave several excuses to delay me for 9 months and finally concluded as mentioned above. I really appreciate the comments I have seen on this forum, at least this will give any judge an insight on what these guys do in the practice of rendering financial services to their customers. They want to eat their cake and have it.

Please any help will be useful in fighting this battle.

Thanks

The car is a 2005 BMW 3 Series. I had no idea of special delivery, moreover, I thought recorded delivery was the best option. To be honest, I never heard of special delivery until this mess happened.

Cheap food is bad food.

The car has not been recovered till date.