Car Insurance - Extra Services - Big Rant!

dipsy2006

Hello
Just wanted to let off steam at bit....

I've just spent about 3 weeks looking for the best motor insurance deal I can get. As I quite poor at the moment, I have gone 3rd Party, fire and theft - which I did last year - my car is quite old and so it has never bothered me before.

Anyway, I deliberated for ages about whether to do 3rd Party F&T or Fully comp - looked into the extra's each provider were offering such as legal protection and payment protection etc and decided to just go with the basic 3rd party F&T as surely that should cover me for what it says.

Anyhow, I have had a few queries since I took out the policy ie: they started it from the wrong date and I then needed to change my payment date slightly - and each time - I keep getting asked if I want to take the legal protection and do I know what it covers. Yes I do I keep telling them and yet they practically ram it down my throat - making me worry for hours and hours about whether I need it or not. I've just got really shirty with this last customer services rep who has just tried to sell it to me again and now I am annoyed.

Basically - in my eyes - what they are saying is - the insurance policy you have bought is not enough and is a pile of rubbish - therefore you should take extra protection. What I am saying to them is - if it is a pile of rubbish - then why are you selling it without the extra protection if it is necessary and shouldn't it come as standard and the policy be a higher price as standard. If it is an extra then surely it isn't necessary. They are making me worry that something bad will happen and I will be up the creek without a paddle so to speak!

Please can someone help me / offer advise - I am so frustrated and now desperately worried that I have made the wrong decision.

I am loathe to spend money where it isnt' strictly necessary at the moment because I am so broke!

Thanks
Dipsy x

Astaroth

Without legal protection it will mean that if you are involved in a non-fault accident then your insurers will be totally unable to help you.

There are other options out there for you currently such as no win no fee solicitors (but this only applies to injury over £1,000 or losses over £6,000 for non-injury cases). Consideration is that within the next 12 months these limits are probably going to go up massively.

At the end of the day, if you are happy knowing that if you are in a non-fault accident that you will be "all on your own" then you dont need the LE cover. If you prefer the idea that your insurers will either help you directly or appoint a solicitor to assist you that will never cost you more than your £20 premium (or how ever much it is) then it is a good investment.

Tim_Dodd_2

Another consideration to add to Astaroth's comment is legal aid. Speak to your local citizens advice bureau about this as there are various methods of protecting yourself legally. The variations will make a difference to what you get and what you pay for and just as importantly, when you have to pay for it (upfront or following settlement etc).

Personally, I take out legal protection but only once I've sussed out that the legal protection on offer actually stands for something and is not simply an additional policy at an additional cost which doesn't protect.

As ever, read the policy wording.

corners_2

Interested in your comments Astaroth.

My husband's van was hit by an angry driver in a road rage incident and has been told that as the police didn't attend and the aggressor is denying it, that he has to accept a 50/50 settlement or take the guy to court himself.

The insurers apparently said that there was no record kept of his call to the Police [bearing in mind hubby rang as he was concerned as to whether the guy was drunk/ill/ and his aggressive state of mind]as the other driver had left the scene. While hubby was on phone to Police , he caught the guy in traffic, and while hubby was on hands free to the Police, he asked this other driver 'What did you hit me for?' to which this guy said ''cause you cut me up".[He didn't by the way the guy started bibbing him when he was on a roundabout] According to the insurers no records are kept by the Police.

Why would you have Legal 'Protection' and who is on the side of the victim, ever?

What a nonsense!!

Astaroth

There is always a term in the LE policy that there must be reasonable chance of success. This however is something that the solicitor acting under the policy and the insurer would discuss and agree on.

Insurers are only able to obtain copies of police reports, even if the police actually attend an accident there is often nothing more to the report than a note of who the parties involved in were. Whilst it is possible for them to ask for a statement from particular officers the police will normally decline to agree to allow a statement to be written (off the record they say their officers have more important things to do than write statements for civil cases esp as it may result in them then having to take 1/2 a day off to go to court)

Your insurance company (and solicitor) is on your side. At the end of the day the average 50/50 settlement costs an insurance company in the region of £3500 and if they felt that by going to court they would reduce it to £0 dont you think they would?

Unfortunately what insurance companies do have is a lot of experience in settling claims - certainly more than solicitors - and going to court which does give them a fair ability to weigh up the probability of winning a case. Are they always right? no, obviously not, but even people who work in insurance companies are human and make errors. Whilst you may think you have a good case they obviously dont agree with you.

Whilst you may feel you are the victim the TP may be feeling exactly the same and therefore their insurers are doing exactly the same as yours in looking at the case and deciding who has the best chance of winning and then advising their client to proceed on that basis.

corners_2

Thanks for your comments Astorath, they are very helpful in understanding the apparently warped logic of Insurers, yes - they will know that it'll end up a case of 'he said she said' once it gets into court.

The incident occurred on the access road to the A14, which is single lane. The TP drove off road then rammmed into the passenger side of my husband's vehicle.

Realistically he's going to have to have fabricated some other explanation of the damage to his own vehicle for his insurers.

Thank you so much for your advice, as it has helped diffuse our anger.

dunstonh

Legal expensese I would class as a must have. In the event of the claim, all the legal work is done for you. Doing this yourself or employing your own solicitor is a nightmare and/or a cost you may not be able to recover.

Third party fire and theft is fine on low value cars but its a big risk on higher value cars.

Zebedee69

I have 3rd Party on my car as its worth about £250 quid - if It was wrote off then id just dip into my ISA for another £250 car lol!

Little known fact is that 3rd Party gives you greater cover than the RTA insurance anyway. I cant believe the people who pay Fully Comp on an old 89 Fiesta..... Why I dont know the insurance company will ony pay out the book value anyway ususally less than the policy was worth anyway!!! Not forgetting most insurers pay out less for accident cover if the car is less than £5000

If your car is worth less than £1000 then I wouldnt bother - your not going to get the full amount back anyway even with fully comp/TPF&T

If I bought a car over maybe £1500 then TPF&T

If my car was worth over £2500 + then Fully Comp Its Esp if its under 7 years old.....

Simple...

I dont believe in paying for extra cover, will they pay out? I always view these extra add ons as fluff to make you pay more money.

Kruger

I used to work for the "You dont have to be posh, to be....." lot and if you let a customer get away without taking the legal cover, you were treated with contempt.

Theres cheaper and better cover available, I've got cover through the RAC and it also covers me if I'm knocked down by a car.

Good on you for being wary though, another great scam and big sales push of insurance companis is breakdown cover.....but I wont get started on that one yet.

Mad101daN

Kruger wrote:

Theres cheaper and better cover available, I've got cover through the RAC and it also covers me if I'm knocked down by a car.

Can anyone point me to other places I could get legal cover from, other than my insurance company.

Thx

Dan

clairehi

Ive just received a letter from our solicitors offering us a Legal Expenses Insurance Policy which includes free legal advice and £50 000 of legal costs cover for £10 per year, for accident, personal injury and various other areas.

Would this be a suitable alternative to the legal expenses cover that comes with car insurance?