STOLEN!!! Please help!

Ian_W

gayle21 wrote: »

One thing though, Scottish law is different but hopefully not in this case.

AFAIK the FSA regulate Financial Services UK wide and the FOS adjudicate on individual complaints on the same basis. Financial co's like insurers are bound by this system so forget the legal route for now and go for a complaint - you must exhaust the co's procedure before the FOS gets involved.

Zenith is now off my list.

Hintza

You mean they offered you less than £1,000?

Gloomendoom

It's a bit late now, I know, but next time (if there is a next time) you might consider taking out an agreed value policy. It makes sense if the vehicle is non standard or unusual in any way.

Bart

I had the same problem when I wrote off a Renault 21 Savana 7 seater. My car was one owner from new with full service history, I was offered £150 when I argued I was told the same look in Autotrader. After some "heated" phone calls I told them to find me a replacement, same in every way (make, miles, trim, history, etc) they declined and upped the offer to an acceptable amount. Worth a try, I hope it works out for you.:beer:

gilbert_and_sullivan

Not knocking the OP whom i have every sympathy with, but it's when payout time comes that you find out if your insurance company is of any use, none of them have any trouble receiving money.
best of luck with this.

If you get another Landie try NFU, they paid me out over top book when my Landcruiser was written off due to it's excellent pre accident condition (helpful local office read out the engineers report), like your vehicle it was in perfect condition before.

orchidpepper

Well I have contacted the financial ombudsman and they will write to the insurance company. Oh, I made a mistake, the policy is actually with AVIVA but taken out through Zenith.

They actually automatically renewed my poilicy and took the funds from my account for the vehicle I had reported stolen. When I called up to complain I was told I had to be insured until the claim was resolved!!! I asked to speak to someone else and the policy is now cancelled but come on!!!

So, the Financial ombudsman will write to Aviva and if Aviva have not made me an acceptable offer in the next 8 weeks I've to fill out a complaint form and return to FO.

I feel a bit more positive now......

LandyAndy

Gloomendoom wrote: »

It's a bit late now, I know, but next time (if there is a next time) you might consider taking out an agreed value policy. It makes sense if the vehicle is non standard or unusual in any way.

I agree. Mine is through Adrian Flux. Valuing Land Rovers is very much on an individual basis because of the amount of added kit some carry and the variations in trim and body style.

vaio

And also worth noting that under FOS rules they have to make a reasonable offer initially. Could be hard to prove but if they initially offered say £100 which subsequently got increased to £1000 then I’d say that’s in breach of the rules and a complaint would succeed and compensation/costs would follow.

Dave_Z

gayle21 wrote: »

When I called up to complain I was told I had to be insured until the claim was resolved!!! I asked to speak to someone else and the policy is now cancelled but come on!!!

Rubbish! My claim through Aviva hadn't been settled when my renewal came through. I made extra sure they didn't get any of my cash again.

Aviva must be the most incompetent insurer in the world. Can't even begin to describe the stress i was put through after having an accident last year. Their recovery company even stole my sat-nav! A few months later when i changed cars, they didn't bother changing my policy to the new vehicle, despite explicitly confirming the change on the phone.

I found that the best way of solving things was to sit down and write a strongly worded complaint to their head office (there's a form on their site). I did this twice and i got paid for my sat-nav and got a 'good-will' payment for them not changing my vehicle details. Once i got in touch with them they got back to me very quickly and were very apologetic and helpful. Just a shame when you call up the normal call centre it seems to be a bunch of untrained half-wits in Delhi or somewhere.

Bottom line, you couldn't pay me to go with Aviva again. Ever!

blued

Hintza wrote: »

You mean they offered you less than £1,000?

Without even knowing any of the details I can tell you that a roadworthy 1994 Defender is worth more than £1000. 80's models go for that on ebay without MOT!