anyone got 1st central car insurance?
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just regarding my ncb, at the time of the payout they seemed to be in dispute with the other party's insurance company over who was to blame, at the time of the accident he admitted full blame, but then changed his mind and dragged his heels for a while.0
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It would be better if you could give us more information so we can advise you.
This is a very basic summary of the situation I thin you are in.
An Accident is normally regarded as your fault unless you prove it is not, this is generally done by your Insurer recovering their outlay and / or you recovering your excess and sending them proof you have done this.
1st Central work at the same speed as continental drift so the chances of them having recovered their outlay (Or even actually starting the process) are quote small.
If 1st Central paid out for your claim and you paid your excess, it would be wise for you to try and recover your excess from the other Insurer.
If the above is correct let us know and we can advise you how to do this.
If the claim was paid out directly by the other Insurer the above will not apply0 -
1st Central paid out and I paid my excess. that was 5 months ago and I have not anything from them since.0
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It's not 1st Centrals problem to recover your excess, to recover it you either have to do it yourself or if you have legal cover they will do it.
Assuming the other party are no longer disputing liability it's fairly easy to do.
The first thing to do would be simply to ring the other Insurer's claims department, it's best if you have their policy number or failing that the reg number will often suffice. Your best bet is to be polite, I find asking the person's name at the start of the call and then use their name as much as possible. A good trick is to once you know their name is to say something like "(Insert their name) I could really do with your help, my own Insurers are not very helpful and I need to recover my excess and get my no claims bonus back". You can then go through the conversation with them, if their client has admitted liability or they have realised they are at fault there is a chance they may simply arrange to send you a cheque there and then, if not you can gauge their stance. Try and keep it polite as they are far more likely to help you if your polite, using their name also helps them identify with you.
If that does not work, it's a case of sending them a copy of the receipt you got when you paid your excess to the garage or if your car was a write off the letter from 1st Central that enclosed your claims cheque and noted they had deducted the excess. Your letter needs to request payment from them for your excess as your hold them responsible for the accident and then state the reason eg their driver hit you from behind. Give them a time limit of say 14 days to respond and send the letter recorded delivery.
When you receive your excess back, you need to send a copy of their letter by recorded delivery (1st Central will "lose" it otherwise) to 1st Central asking them to reinstate your no claims bonus as you have recovered your excess.0 -
ok sounds like I have some work ahead of me, I don't know who their insurance is with as it was a hire vehicle:(0
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If you know the reg number, you may be able to find it from this website for a small fee https://www.askmid.com or you could ask 1st Central who might know it by now0
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A driver drove into my car back in July and 1st Central directed me to Kindertons. They were great picked and brought my car up for repair and brought a hire car - all to my home.
However a few weeks after I received a letter from Kindertons saying the 3rd party insurer were refusing to pay the hire car and would I sign a letter to instruct their solicitors to claim it back. I have not responded as I'm scared its a scam but they are telephoning myself and my husband constantly. Is this a scam? Will it affect my no claims bonus? 1st Central have told me to sign the form but are they in cahoots with Kindertons?2013 wins - Garnier BB cream, Bella Italia £60 meal voucher, Years supply Tetley tea. £100 :j0 -
Hi
I was insured with 1st Central and used Kindertons independently when I had an accident in December as 1st central claims department were very hard to contact and were useless when I managed to get hold of them. Kindertons provided a car and contacted the other drivers insurance who admitted liability
I'm in the same boat with the other insurer disputing hire car charges, the letter asking for assistance from Kindertons said
'We must stress that this course of action will result in NO payment from yourself as all the solicitor costs will be imdenified by Kindertons'
I did query about whether this meant solicitor costs and expenses etc. or the Hire car costs itself as well and was told by Tom, the recoveries manager, that this meant the Hire Charges as well. i.e. no matter what, I would not have to pay anything so long as I cooperated with the solicitors.
I did ask him to confirm this in writing but he said they already had and I quoted him the section I have quoted above and he confirmed this was correct as it covered Hire Charges as well.
I would recommend talking to Kindertons to confirm your fears are groundless as I found them easy to talk to. Certainly it is not scam and they are not in Cahoots with 1st Central. When my claim was going through I asked the claims handler if he had the same problems contacting 1st Central as I had and he said they usually emailed a spread sheet to them with progress as they couldn't afford the time hanging on the phone. This was true of most of the insurers they dealt with.
I presume the other driver has admitted liability so it won't affect your NCD. The other insurer is just arguing hire car costs and I was told by the solicitor they are just trying to achieve a negotiated settlement.
p.s. the solicitors who are instructed are not the most chatty but when they are working under fast track small claims procedure their costs are severely limited so it's understandable.
Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss.0 -
Hello, first post.
Here is my story about 1st central insurance. They were pretty crap when I had to claim.
You would call the call centre. After a 25 minute wait, you would eventually get through to someone. Their call centre was nothing more than a message taking service...except no-one in the claims department would would return my call.
They did redeem themselves in mid January when I received a call from an assessor confirming that it was to be written off and awarded me £1700 (£1850 - £150 excess) for the car. I thought it was only worth £1000 even with the low mileage. However, it took another fortnight to get the cheque. I had already sent them a complaint letter in this time about the protracted claim.
I called one morning to ask when I would be expecting the cheque, as I had sent them all the documents by recorded delivery, as requested. I asked to speak to either 'the person who has my claim file on their desk or a supervisor'. The lady I spoke to said that it was 'her first day' *rolleyes* & that she would pass the message on for someone to call me back.
Called again at 16.30...eventually got through to someone at 16.50. I asked her to put me through to the person who has my file on their desk or a supervisor. She offered to pass the message on and for them to call me back. I refused and said that I repeated my request. On 2 occasions, she put me on hold, come back onto the line and asked me: 'if I was still prepared to wait' in the hope that I would say 'no' and hang up. Just on 17.00 I finally spoke to a supervisor, who finally confirmed that they have everything they needed and could then dispatch a cheque to me.
What an ordeal! It was just as well that I didn't desperately need personal transport at that time. A few weeks later I cancelled my policy, as I went without a car for a few months.Generation Rent0 -
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