Tesco Car Insurance - HELP!!!

pixbrook

I am having an absolute nightmare with Tesco Car Insurance at the moment and would appreciate other people's views on the story I have to tell:

A week ago Saturday (bank holiday weekend) I had a car accident. Someone went into the back of me whilst I was at a standstill. The impact of the hit was hard enough to set off their airbags. My boyfriend and I both suffered from whiplash but fortunately no one was seriously hurt. Furthermore, it happened right infront of a police car so the drivers couldn't do anything but claim full responsibility.

When I got home I called Tesco immediately. The person I spoke to on the phone was so rude and obnoxious I had to pass him across to my boyfriend to continue before I lost my temper and started screaming obscenities down the phone to him. I have to admit I was still in a bit of a state from the accident. Finally, the cretin had full details of the accident and it was understood that the garage would be in contact in the next 24 hours as well as a car rental company to take my car away and provide me with a loan car. The car was taken away on the Tuesday; I got a courtesy car on the Wednesday.

Now, my car is a 2004 Seat Ibiza. The visible damage on the car was the back panel, back bumper, badges etc., the drivers door which had dropped and wouldn't close properly because the force of the impact had travelled through the car and !!!!!!ed the alignment, and the passenger seat which was broken from the force that my boyfriend was thrown back into it. This is what I could see straight away.

Having spoken to my brother-in-law (car dealer) and brother (car fantatic), both of which would be able to stand in a garage and listen to all of the speil from the mechanics and actually understand what they mean when they talk about chassis etc., they also mentioned that if the car door at the front was out of place that the chassis alignment and suspension would need attention too.

When the car was picked up I pointed out the door and seat immediately to the mechanic. The insurance inspector came out on the Wednesday and as a result of the assessment work began and parts were ordered.

On Friday i had a call from the garage saying that all work had halted because once they had begun work on the car they realised that it was alot more damaged than what was originally accounted for in the initial assessment and therefore there was a need to call the inspector out again. I asked how much the current damage was costing and the figure was at £1700. I also got a list of what that had accounted for - the door and the seat had been missed off this and I had to bring it to the garage's attention again.

The insurance inspector came out again yesterday, Monday, and as a result, work has begun again, despite the fact that the cost is now up to £2019. Everyone I have spoken to now - an insurance broker, another garage, my brother and brother-in-law - are all absolutely flabberghasted that Tesco are insisting on carrying on with the repairs and have not written off the car when it can't be worth more than £3500!!! Tesco are stating that their cut off point is 60%.

I can't help but feel totally helpless and knowing that I am going to get a car back which I am not going to feel safe and confident in driving ever again, when it'll be a nightmare to sell in the future and how can I be sure that it won't be an insurance write off? I feel that Tesco are ploughing on regardless of the cost because they know that the other party have claimed full responsibility and not acting in my best interest as their client!

My boyfriend now wants to go to the ombudsman and I have to say I'm inclined to agree with him.

What do you guys think??

dogbot

My boyfriend now wants to go to the ombudsman and I have to say I'm inclined to agree with him.

You can not just go to the FOS. First you must exhaust the insurer's official complaints proceeding.

Write them a letter and post this and email it to them. Mark it official complaint. Be sure to stick only to the facts, be polite and keep it clear, short and simple. Make sure you include the claim and policy number. Clearly state what you are looking for in any complaint - e.g. you want another engineer to look at it.

I would suggest that, before you do this, you get an independent engineer to assess the car for you if you are worred that the insurer's engineer has not picked up all of the damage. Have you spoken to the garage themselves and asked what they think?

I feel that Tesco are ploughing on regardless of the cost because they know that the other party have claimed full responsibility and not acting in my best interest as their client!

This is unlikley and if true extreamly foolish on the part of Tesco. To recover the costs they need to minimise (mitigate) the loss. Chances are that is what they think they are doing by trying to repair not T/L the vehicle.

If it were me I would do the following:
- first go to the garage and have a talk to their repairer and see what they think. Chances are they will have stripped the car by now so you should be able to see more of the damage.

- If they agree that the damage is significant then get them to call the engineer and discuss the matter. If the engineer doesn't agree, put in a formal written complaint, and ask Tesco to get an independent engineer out to look at the vehicle.