Admiral Claims a rant

Judge_Doom

Hi,

I am after some advice.

On the 10/10/08 my car was stolen it was recovered later that night by the police and eventually released on 15/10/08 after the scenes of crimes had visited it etc.

Now as the car was stolen without the keys they destroyed the locks, ignition, steering lock, alarm and ECU. I decided to go through my insurance as I am fully comp and the excess would be £150. Compared to paying the police £150 for recovery, recovery back home and the repair costs incurred by getting the damage fixed myself (About £600).

Now the insurance company had the car collected by their approved garage and I was told they will quote for the repairs and that would either be approved or not within 48 hours by their engineers.

My car is probably worth about £1300 and I am in limbo as it may be written off as uneconomical to repair.

I rang Admiral every day last week and at first I was advised the garage hadn't sent the quote contrary to what the garage had said. They later explained there may have been a virus and the quote would be re-sent using their system which puts it to the back of the queue. On Friday evening I was assured the quote had been received and that as soon as the engineer's are back on Monday the quote would be reviewed.

This morning I was contacted and assured that the repairs had been authorised an I should hear off the garage regarding a courtesy car. The garage didn't ring so I contacted them and was told they still hadn't received authorisation and couldn't order any parts or provide a courtesy car until it had been. Admiral then explained a quote was on the system at 14:00 today and would be reviewed within 48 hours, which will take me to Wednesday.

Now the people I have spoken to have been very polite, but have been slow to resolve my claim. I have a hire car policy but that only activates once the car is deemed a write off. They were the cheapest quote and for the past two years and I have been paying them in excess of £1300 a year. Plus I like the Welsh fe-male accent .

It seems the Insurance and garage are arguing about the repair costs and I'm being fobbed off until they resolve it.

Does anybody have any advice on how I could get them to speed things up? I have already missed claiming back another month on my tax and my policy is due to renew on 5th November for a car i don't currently have.

Thanks,

Jon

afghanbill

Judge_Doom wrote: »

Hi,

I am after some advice.

On the 10/10/08 my car was stolen it was recovered later that night by the police and eventually released on 15/10/08 after the scenes of crimes had visited it etc.

Now as the car was stolen without the keys they destroyed the locks, ignition, steering lock, alarm and ECU. I decided to go through my insurance as I am fully comp and the excess would be £150. Compared to paying the police £150 for recovery, recovery back home and the repair costs incurred by getting the damage fixed myself (About £600).

Now the insurance company had the car collected by their approved garage and I was told they will quote for the repairs and that would either be approved or not within 48 hours by their engineers.

My car is probably worth about £1300 and I am in limbo as it may be written off as uneconomical to repair.

I rang Admiral every day last week and at first I was advised the garage hadn't sent the quote contrary to what the garage had said. They later explained there may have been a virus and the quote would be re-sent using their system which puts it to the back of the queue. On Friday evening I was assured the quote had been received and that as soon as the engineer's are back on Monday the quote would be reviewed.

This morning I was contacted and assured that the repairs had been authorised an I should hear off the garage regarding a courtesy car. The garage didn't ring so I contacted them and was told they still hadn't received authorisation and couldn't order any parts or provide a courtesy car until it had been. Admiral then explained a quote was on the system at 14:00 today and would be reviewed within 48 hours, which will take me to Wednesday.

Now the people I have spoken to have been very polite, but have been slow to resolve my claim. I have a hire car policy but that only activates once the car is deemed a write off. They were the cheapest quote and for the past two years and I have been paying them in excess of £1300 a year. Plus I like the Welsh fe-male accent .

It seems the Insurance and garage are arguing about the repair costs and I'm being fobbed off until they resolve it.

Does anybody have any advice on how I could get them to speed things up? I have already missed claiming back another month on my tax and my policy is due to renew on 5th November for a car i don't currently have.

Thanks,

Jon

Phone a lawyer mate they will advise best and first int is usually free,

Judge_Doom

I have been reading the reviews on reviewcentre.com and to be fair their don't seem to be many positive reviews for any of the insurance companies.

I don't think Legal advice will help as I have no intentions of taking them to court. It's not in the policy document for them to complete claims within x amount of days or to provide an efficient service. I just want a conclusive answer and either my money or my car.

It can't be too much to ask for them to sort the claims out. They get my money because legally I have too be insured and they are the cheapest. I'm 25 and now have no no-claims bonus and a no fault claim against me, even for Category 1 vehicles I'm being quoted over £1000. I can appreciate why some people don't bother with car insurance.

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

Its been 2 weeks

Not really a massive period of time

I would also expect with a car like yours more consideration will be given to whether to repair than say a brand new car

You phoning every day isnt going to speed it up, it seems to me you are being a complete pain in the !!! and have phoned daily from the second it happened

Also a courtesy car is just that a courtesy whilst your car is being repaired, this is provided by the garage as part of their service and at this time there not offering a service.

Im sure you will be more than welcome to retrieve your car for them until such a time a repair is authorised.

Insurers offer "guarenteed replacement cars"

You where clearly too cheap to pay for this so dont moan that you dont get one, as others pay for the service. The garage dont even need to offer you a courtesy car at any point.

Judge_Doom

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

Its been 2 weeks

Not really a massive period of time

I would also expect with a car like yours more consideration will be given to whether to repair than say a brand new car

You phoning every day isnt going to speed it up, it seems to me you are being a complete pain in the !!! and have phoned daily from the second it happened

Also a courtesy car is just that a courtesy whilst your car is being repaired, this is provided by the garage as part of their service and at this time there not offering a service.

Im sure you will be more than welcome to retrieve your car for them until such a time a repair is authorised.

Insurers offer "guarenteed replacement cars"

You where clearly too cheap to pay for this so dont moan that you dont get one, as others pay for the service. The garage dont even need to offer you a courtesy car at any point.

Not exactly a response I agree with but seeing as this is my rant I will respond. I think two weeks is too long. I pay for a hire car policy with Admiral however I don't get it until they decide it's uneconomical to repair mine. It's at their approved garage so I would have thought Admiral would trust their quote. It's shouldn't be hard for them to compare the cost of the repair with the cost of my car.

My issue is with the excuses they are giving for it not being dealt with. Personally my car insurance isn't cheap I know people in a similar category who pay much less. I suppose my only choice is to move and alter my gender.

flutterbyuk25

Judge_Doom wrote: »

I have already missed claiming back another month on my tax .

How come?

Vehicle stolen 10/10 so if you were to apply for a refund now you would get same amount back as only complete months are refunded, i.e. you would get from November onwards refunded.

To refund you need from V14 if you have the tax disc, available from Post Office or downloadable from www.direct.gov.uk/motoringforms or if you do not have the disc then you need form V33 available from DVLA Local Office or DVLA can post one to you.

x

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

Judge_Doom wrote: »

Not exactly a response I agree with but seeing as this is my rant I will respond. I think two weeks is too long. I pay for a hire car policy with Admiral however I don't get it until they decide it's uneconomical to repair mine. It's at their approved garage so I would have thought Admiral would trust their quote. It's shouldn't be hard for them to compare the cost of the repair with the cost of my car.

My issue is with the excuses they are giving for it not being dealt with. Personally my car insurance isn't cheap I know people in a similar category who pay much less. I suppose my only choice is to move and alter my gender.

Your post is full of irrelevant information to try and justify your wrong stance

1) A guarenteed replacement car is just that - most insurers supply a hire car for 14 days (or another time period) whilst your without yours for use - if there not giving you it they obviously deem you car drivable, either that or you dont know what your actually paying for. However a replacement car is not supplied by the garage, it is by a hire company - a completely different thing, I suggest you find out which it is you have

2) 2 weeks is not a long time for an insurance claim to be processed, when you consider recovery time, time to examine the car, time to price repair, time to pass to insurer, time for insurer to consider, authorisation to garage, garage be ready to do repair. Remember all parties have more than 1 customer

3)It isnt a case of comparing quote to car, all parties will have different requirements etc plus decisions may need escalated or reviewed by assessors rather than just a simple yes/no

4)The price you pay isnt a factor here, if you didnt like your quote you shouldnt have taken it out and location, age, sex etc are clearly relevant to pricing. It seems ironic your arguing that your location shouldnt matter when your car has been stolen

Frankly I think your being unreasonable and your continual harassment of people every 30 seconds is counter productive as they will go out their way not too deal with you and thus resolve the problem

I suggest you leave them alone for a few days and if they havent contacted you say by the end of the week call them again. A phone call every day will not speed it up

Judge_Doom

flutterbyuk25 wrote: »

How come?

Vehicle stolen 10/10 so if you were to apply for a refund now you would get same amount back as only complete months are refunded, i.e. you would get from November onwards refunded.

To refund you need from V14 if you have the tax disc, available from Post Office or downloadable from www.direct.gov.uk/motoringforms or if you do not have the disc then you need form V33 available from DVLA Local Office or DVLA can post one to you.

x

Thanks, I picked up a V20 from the post office ready to arrange a replacement if it was stolen. I wasn't sure if the DVLA would recognise it from the date stolen or the date they receive the form(s). I was waiting for a decision on the car before I contacted the DVLA, it's a bit of a trek to get to the garage just for the disc.

Judge_Doom

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

Your post is full of irrelevant information to try and justify your wrong stance

Wrong? My car was stolen and the people I pay to reimburse me the cost are being inefficient.

1) A guarenteed replacement car is just that - most insurers supply a hire car for 14 days (or another time period) whilst your without yours for use - if there not giving you it they obviously deem you car drivable, either that or you dont know what your actually paying for. However a replacement car is not supplied by the garage, it is by a hire company - a completely different thing, I suggest you find out which it is you have

I have a hire car policy on my premium but it is only provided once the vehicle is deemed not to be repaired by Admiral's engineer's, probably provided by a linked hire firm. I am also aware a courtesy car would be supplied by the approved garage if they are advised they should complete the repairs. Until then I am in limbo.

2) 2 weeks is not a long time for an insurance claim to be processed, when you consider recovery time, time to examine the car, time to price repair, time to pass to insurer, time for insurer to consider, authorisation to garage, garage be ready to do repair. Remember all parties have more than 1 customer

Hang on 2 weeks is, the car was collected once released from police compound and quote forwarded to insurer within five days. Advised decision from engineers within 48 hours of receipt of quote so I should have known last Wednesday. Original quote from garage went missing advised a computer virus. So quote re-sent on Wednesday. Admiral evenually confirmed receipt of quote on Friday afternoon after contacting them on Saturday.

3)It isnt a case of comparing quote to car, all parties will have different requirements etc plus decisions may need escalated or reviewed by assessors rather than just a simple yes/no

The two parties are Admiral and their approved garage who they should trust to provide a fair quote. Obviously they will factor in the cost of the courtesy or hire car, storage, transport & breaking.

4)The price you pay isnt a factor here, if you didnt like your quote you shouldnt have taken it out and location, age, sex etc are clearly relevant to pricing. It seems ironic your arguing that your location shouldnt matter when your car has been stolen

I know the price wouldn't prejudice the service I receive from Admiral, I have read other people's reviews. I dislike the price I pay due to my sex, age and location all of which I do not wish to change and find it unfair I am penalised for these reasons. Obviously this has nothing to do with my argument but it makes me feel better when composing a rant.

Frankly I think your being unreasonable and your continual harassment of people every 30 seconds is counter productive as they will go out their way not too deal with you and thus resolve the problem

I also work in a call centre and would wish this was true. However it is a fact of life that those who shout the loudest getter faster results. If I had not rang (according to the earlier conversations) Admiral would still be waiting for the quote and the garage would be waiting for a response.

I suggest you leave them alone for a few days and if they havent contacted you say by the end of the week call them again. A phone call every day will not speed it up

I would wait but I need my own transport and a decision on whether I need to buy another car as I don't live anywhere near I work.

My reason for being upset is this morning I was told by Admiral it would be fixed. The garage haven't been informed of that and when I contacted Admiral back they explained the decision hadn't been made which puts me back in limbo.

Believe me if I could catch the theif I would not care about this service.

cogito

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

Its been 2 weeks

Not really a massive period of time

I would also expect with a car like yours more consideration will be given to whether to repair than say a brand new car

You phoning every day isnt going to speed it up, it seems to me you are being a complete pain in the !!! and have phoned daily from the second it happened

Also a courtesy car is just that a courtesy whilst your car is being repaired, this is provided by the garage as part of their service and at this time there not offering a service.

Im sure you will be more than welcome to retrieve your car for them until such a time a repair is authorised.

Insurers offer "guarenteed replacement cars"

You where clearly too cheap to pay for this so dont moan that you dont get one, as others pay for the service. The garage dont even need to offer you a courtesy car at any point.

Don't be ridiculous. The OP is receiving appalling service and you think he should put up and shut up. If he can't get satisfaction from the claims handlers who obviously couldn't care less about him, he should go over their heads and get a supervisor involved.

Judge_Doom

cogito wrote: »

Don't be ridiculous. The OP is receiving appalling service and you think he should put up and shut up. If he can't get satisfaction from the claims handlers who obviously couldn't care less about him, he should go over their heads and get a supervisor involved.

Now resolved as the garage have received the authorisation, maybe I should have trusted them when I was contacted yesterday morning.

I never stated that the claims handlers couldn't care less. The service I received from the call operators has been excellent they were/are a very pleasant group. The issue was/is with the system they use to correspond internally as it seems to be slow.

I appreciate all comments including LinasPilibaitisisbatman's as it has given me an opportunity to defend my point of view. An argument with myself would be pointless and/or eccentric.