Motor Insurance Claim

pammmy

Hiya
Can anyone help with my query?

Had an accident 2 wks ago. Rearend shunt, car is a right off, other driver accepted liability.

Tasked my insurer to deal with the claim. Now I can't agree a settlement figure and the insurance company want to take the remainder of unpaid premium off the the settlement figure when we do agree.

My insurance was renewed with said insurer 2 days prior to the accident. Insurance was to be paid over 10 monthly installments. 9 months left to pay.

I feel my insurance company is ripping me off. After all how can they expect to insure me on a car which they have taken away (written off). Can they do that?

The amount they are offering me in settlement is not going to cover the cost of a replacement car so I will be without wheels for a period of time. Surely the best option would be to freeze the payments until I can afford to buy another old/middle aged car?

Wish I'd gone with the other drivers insurance company (the driver of the car that hit me) when they offered to settle with me direct. (A lesson learned).

Comments please.

pammmy

Can I take a complaint about this to anyone?
Office of Fair Trading?
An Onudsman?

Could always use Watchdog I suppose.

vaio

there is a FOS document that covers valuations, a search of the forums will soon uncover it

on the policy ending, some companies do that on a total loss pay out and you do have to pay the premium for the whole year.

There are two ways round it, either cancel your claim with your company and deal direct with the third party insurance company or continue the claim with your company and then add the lost premium to your claim against the third party.

dealing with the other company is probably best as they will be happy to give you a hire car whilst everything is sorted out.

If you want to be really mercenary there are claims handling companies who will be only too happy to take your case over and cash-backs of £300 are easily available going up to £500 if you were in the car and have any whiplash/soft tissue symptoms

vaio

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html#9

dacouch

Please click spam on beemuu's post as they have inserted a link to help there own website

Quentin

Are all the cynical spammers ending up in this thread?

Spam button job!

ian_h

There are 2 issues:
1, The Valuation - You can usually push for a fair(er) settlement by providing evidence of similar vehicles from the likes of auto trader etc.
2, The payment method - When a claim is paid it is on the basis that the annual premium has been (or will be paid) - as so many people take it upon themselves to cancel a DD after receiving £X for the car based on them paying £Y most Insurers now simply deduct the outstanding balance to stop the insured "doing a runner".

One or two Insurers dont do this, and most allow you to use up the remainder of the insurance year provided you replace the vehicle within 14 days.

AndrewSmith

The reason your insurer is going to deduct the remaining outstanding premiumis as follows:

Motor Insurance is an annual contract. You agree to insure with the insurer for a period of 12 months paid up front.

The majority of 'pay monthly' insurance deals are nothing of the sort. What actually happens is that the insurer will effectively 'loan' you the annual premium to pay for the years insurance. You are then repaying their loan over the next 10 or 12 months, however they decide to apportion it.

All they are doing is reclaiming the outstanding debt for the loan they have given you to pay for their years cover. The insurance policy is still in place and you are able to transfer it to another car. In fact some will allow you to continue paying monthly if you do this.

It should all be in the small print of the term and conditions of the policy.

vaio

AndrewSmith wrote: »

The reason your insurer is going to deduct the remaining outstanding premiumis as follows:.....

Because they can, it's a nice little earner for them

If you claim off you own insurance company and they write your car off then they can end the policy leaving you to pay the rest of the premiums as well as having the fun of taking out a new policy with an “open” claim against your name.

You can add the lost premium costs to the claim against the third party but probably the simplest thing to do is cancel your claim with your company and get in touch with the third party company direct. That way your existing policy will just run as normal and should be able to be transferred to your replacement car.

If the third party are anything less than helpful there are any number of claims handling firms who will happily take your case on (and some will even give you a couple of hundred quid cashback for the privilege)

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html#9 covers everything you need about valuations

jbrown104

I don't actually think they're doing anything wrong in asking you to pay your premium!

Whether you pay for a policy in one lump sum or over 10 or 12 months, you've agreed to pay £1,000 for your insurance that year. The fact that they've offered credit facilities is neither here nor there. If you paid the £1,000 upfront for the cover, and had the benefit of the cover (you've crashed and they'll cover the claim), why do you believe you are entitled to a refund?

Like the above poster said - put another vehicle on risk and pay the premiums and they'll cover this other vehicle til renewal. OR don't put another vehicle on risk and continue paying the monthly premium. It's up to you!