Car Insurance Claim Declined “without prejudice” ???

V1NNY

My car was involved in a minor accident (my fault) & my car was booked into the repair centre (recommended by my insurers) a few days ago.

Yesterday I had a brief phone call from my insurers saying that my car has been ‘modified’, they said it has been lowered (which it has not) & it has alloys wheels & a rear spoiler, which according to them enhances performance??? They then said that someone would be in touch with more information.

Today I had a call from the repair centre to arrange re-delivery of my car to me as my claim had been declined “without prejudice”??? And I was told to call my insurance company for more information.

What does this term declined “without prejudice” mean?

I have checked my policy & under terms for my car it states that “It is not modified to increase performance, speed or acceleration”. Do alloy wheels & a spoiler increase performance, speed or acceleration? I think not. I can understand if the car had been lowered (as they claim) then this would be a valid argument from them, however I can state 100% that my car has not been lowered.

What course of action can I take from this point on in? My car insurance is due to expire with my current insurer in 2 weeks time.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated

king_3

Sorry to hear that. I am not an expert on this but it seems to me they are trying to get rid of your claims withot paying out. Could you let us know who this insurer is? We could all learn from this and sb might have experience dealing with them before, hopefully scessfully.

They srely responded quickly to decline your claim. Preumably, they also denied resposibility to pay out for the third party too because your invalid policy.

Wish you good luck and do share with us your progresses please.

Sparky67

Insurers will look at any reason to decline payouts - I think its an argument, although a fairly weak and spurious one, that a spoiler enhances performance...!? If they are saying the car is lowered when it hasn't then that's not legitimate.

However, without prejudice is a "catch-all" get out clause, that means they don't need to give a reason, and if they do, you can't rely on it.

Make a written complaint to Customer Services, keep a copy, send it recorded delivery so you have proof, and give them a reasonable deadline to respond, then if that doesn't sort the problem, take it up with the Insurance Ombudsman (http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/)who will look into cases of mishandled claims free of charge (you do have to have exhausted the company's own complaints procedure first).

If its a major player, they might not like poor publicity, so comment that if this is not satisfactorily dealt with you will be contacting Watchdog etc.

HTH

Stubbarama

Without prejudice
Definition

The basic meaning is 'without loss of any rights'. It is a term used when two parties are in dispute, and one makes a settlement offer to the other. It puts 'without prejudice' on its offer to make it clear that the settlement offer should not be construed as a waiver of rights. Importantly, communication marked 'without prejudice' cannot be used in evidence in court proceedings if the attempts at settlement fail and the dispute comes to court.

Sparky67

Stubbarama wrote:

Without prejudice
Definition

The basic meaning is 'without loss of any rights'. It is a term used when two parties are in dispute, and one makes a settlement offer to the other. It puts 'without prejudice' on its offer to make it clear that the settlement offer should not be construed as a waiver of rights. Importantly, communication marked 'without prejudice' cannot be used in evidence in court proceedings if the attempts at settlement fail and the dispute comes to court.

Contrary to popular belief simply putting "without prejudice" on something does not automatically mean that you can't rely on it in court, it depends on the contents of the document.

tonyivb

You do not state if the spoiler and alloys were original equipment or not?

If they were then the vehicle has not been modified and therefore their reasons are bunk.

They may have been on the car before you bought it and you were unaware that they are modifications. You may have not declared them in good faith but the car has still been modified.

If you have added the spoiler & fitted alloys then you are on sticky ground! Alloys are lighter than steel wheels therefore performance would be enhanced. Also, the new tyre/wheel combination could have a smaller diameter which would effectively lower the car. As for spoilers increasing performance... I'm sure that a properly designed and fitted one could under certain conditions.

Hope you get things sorted!

Sk8lly

Hi, I work in a car bodyshop and deal with this all the time. When your claim is put WP, it means they believe it has been modified outwith the standard spec for that car. You then need to prove that it had been modified before you bought it, if not they may charge you an additional premium which is only normally a few pounds and then your claim is ok to proceed. Speak to your insurer and i am sure it can be sorted very quickly.

huddsta

My sister's car was written off not to long ago. Her car had tinted windows, alloys and a big backbox when she brought it. She did not declair any of this but still got her payout. Pick of the draw I guess.

Thinking about it, the alloys on my car (which I thought we're standard) should really be declaired but is it worth the exra £150 they quoted? (I already pay £1300 for TPFT)

Bossyboots

Sparky67 wrote:

Contrary to popular belief simply putting "without prejudice" on something does not automatically mean that you can't rely on it in court, it depends on the contents of the document.

You beat me to it but I just thought I would endorse your comments as they are entirely correct.

Bossyboots

huddsta wrote:

My sister's car was written off not to long ago. Her car had tinted windows, alloys and a big backbox when she brought it. She did not declair any of this but still got her payout. Pick of the draw I guess.

Thinking about it, the alloys on my car (which I thought we're standard) should really be declaired but is it worth the exra £150 they quoted? (I already pay £1300 for TPFT)

Is it worth the extra £150? It might well be if they decline a third party claim because you had not declared something which they consider voids your insurance.

aj3001

huddsta wrote:

My sister's car was written off not to long ago. Her car had tinted windows, alloys and a big backbox when she brought it. She did not declair any of this but still got her payout. Pick of the draw I guess.

Thinking about it, the alloys on my car (which I thought we're standard) should really be declaired but is it worth the exra £150 they quoted? (I already pay £1300 for TPFT)

In my experience, its normally £60-£100 difference from TPFT and FC so that maybe adviseable that way your car will be fixed if you crash it

to the topic starter: Spoiler does increase performance, it improves handling, and ususally its modifications that improve performance or desireability, ie something that makes it more attractive to theives, in which case an undeclared spoiler and alloys will invalidate your insurance