Help! Tesco insurance c*ck up, costing me hundreds

shaned1985 · 18 May 2017 at 1:20PM

I'm hoping some of the experts here can help me with some advice of what to do.

Last September, a Royal Mail van hit my stationary car. First accident ever. They took full responsibility, it was very cut and dry and Tesco confirmed this to me in early October. They assured me that they'd accepted fault, everything was in hand. They also assured me that I need not make any further phone calls and that it would all be sorted swiftly. Still, I specifically asked to be kept informed of any hiccups further down the line via email or phone call (A request that they have just confirmed is indeed on my file).

Months go by and I hear nothing. I (maybe foolishly) assume that this is standard procedure and that it would be sorted out.

My renewal for this years insurance (Due in June) has just arrived and has increased from £450 to £900. So I make a confused phone call, only to be told that they claim is still open as they haven't been able to recoup the money yet. They then say that they'll issue their solicitors to get on this immediately.

I asked them what correspondence they'd had with me in the last 7 months and they confirmed that they hadn't kept me up to date and apologised. I also have a feeling that without my phone call they wouldn't have been issuing solictors today, as they claim to have done. It would probably have been left to sit, as I assume it has done for months.

I keep getting thrown back and forth between the Claims department and the Renewal department, neither side saying that they can help with the increased premiums.

What are my options here? They've failed to keep me informed - which is a specific request on my file. They also have it on file that liability was taken by the other part in OCTOBER. Yet, because of their incompetence i'm now going to be paying an extra £450 next month?! It's been over 7 months and they haven't been able to recoup money from an accident that was accepted as 100% the other party's fault?! It's not like they took responsibility a few weeks ago. They took responsibility before my Halloween decorations were up last year!

The guy I just spoke with also confirmed that they should have issued solicitors a long time ago and he apologised. Which is great, but an apology doesn't make up for my premiums being doubled.

Apologies for how badly this all reads. I'm just beyond angry.

Is there anybody out that can help me? Please?

[Deleted User] · 18 May 2017 at 1:32PM

Once payment is made, any additional premiums will be refunded to you,

shaned1985 · 18 May 2017 at 1:43PM

Thanks, zx81, I know that to be the case, I just don't really have the money to be paying the additional premiums. Their incompetence leaves me in a tight spot.

agrinnall · 18 May 2017 at 2:31PM

You can make a complaint about the failure to progress the claim and communicate with you which may result in an ex gratia payment, but it's unlikely that anything can be done to reduce your premium now to the level that it will be once the claim is closed. If you can't afford to pay the full amount perhaps you could switch to monthly payments, it may be a bit more expensive overall but you need to at least be paying something now if you want to be covered.

Aretnap · 18 May 2017 at 2:52PM

Unfortunately it is not unusual for routine claims to take months to settle.

You can also shop around and try and get a cheaper premium - which is always a good idea, but especially so when there's been a change in your circumstances (the cheapest insurer for someone with a clean record isn't necessarily the cheapest for someone with an accident or two).

You will have to declare the unresolved claim to any new insurer, but it would be worth getting two quotes, one with the claim declared as unresolved (or at fault) and one with it declared as no-fault and your NCD restored to see what the difference is. You should get the new insurer to confirm that they'll refund the difference if/when the claim is finally resolved - and be prepared to do a bit of legwork in terms of passing on paperwork when it is as Tesco won't automatically inform your new insurer.

Blibble · 18 May 2017 at 7:50PM

Your premiums would be increased until the claim is closed and your insurer not at a loss; this would be once they recoup the money from the third party insurer.

Could you switch to monthly premiums, and if Tesco accept liability / fault for the complaint could they reimburse the interest / extra money spent by you paying it monthly as well as the total difference in premiums?

Mungo76 · 19 May 2017 at 10:14AM

Ask your insurers for the details of Royal Mails insurance co/handling company (or are they self insured?), there's no harm in you giving them a ring and asking if they can process this faster. Tesco will probably come in at a can't give you that due to data protection issue, don't accept that.

The worst they can do is tell you to get lost. The flip side is they may also tell you that Tesco have made no contact at all (which makes appointing a solicitor a fob off), this will at the very least give you a bit more ammo to throw at them when making the complaint.

Tesco are just being useless, you need to put them on the back foot, it may be cheaper for them to get an admission of liability and allow your NCB.

shaned1985 · 24 May 2017 at 10:50AM

I just wanted to thank everybody for all of the advice and for taking the time to reply, it's really appreciated.

In regards to admission of liability, they had that in October (This was confirmed again yesterday morning) Supposedly the hold up has been that Royal Mail have disputed the cost of the garage vacuuming and washing my car, this is what has held it up for six months.... :rotfl:

Help! Tesco insurance c*ck up, costing me hundreds

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