Hastings Direct Problems

connie1985

Hi All,

I know some of this is of my own making, but I could really do with some advice on how best to deal with this now.

Took out Hastings Essential comprehensive insurance policy in March 2010, had a fault accident in May 2010.

Car was deemed a total loss, they then called to try and arrange to take it away (before i had recieved any money for it) which i refused as it was still perfectly driveable and I needed the money to replace it before they could take it away.

After many phone calls, and being put on hold, they will call me back etc, etc they finally made me a first offer of £1200 which was a bit under the market value of my car, they sent me out a cheque for this amount minus my excess with a letter assuring me that i was not accepting this as a full and final offer by banking it etc etc.

I then received a letter from them stating that i owed them £290.57 for the remainder of the policy which they should have deducted from my settlement but didn't. I wrote back and said that in that case i was not happy with the amount that i was paid out for my car and i wanted it reviewed.

I never received any response from Hastings, and so stupidly (i was moving, changing jobs etc) thought that they had just decided to let it go as it was their mistake and forgot all about it.

I yesterday (8 months later) recieved a text message from Credit Resource Solutions asking me to call them with a reference number starting with HAST so i guessed it was about this issue. When i called them and explained the situation they said they could understand where i was coming from and i should contact Hastings Direct.

Sorry for the long post, i just have a couple of questions and i wondered if anyone could answer them.

1. Can Hastings Direct legally pass the case to a debt collection agency without writing to me at all for 8 months? (i know they haven't written as all my post is forwarded from my old address). Surely they have to inform me before this happens?

2. As i have never agreed the settlement for my car with Hastings, could i still try and negotiate a bit more money for it? Or is there a set time limit for these kind of things?

I will pay the outstanding amount for the insurance premium if i have to, but i am not willing to pay referral to debt company fees etc when the company concerned have not contacted me at all regarding this for a substantial length of time, and in fact never replied to my last letter to them.

As i said before, i know most of this is of my own making, but could just really do with some advice.

Thanks

Quentin

1. Yes they can pass on the debt for collection. You do owe them the money.

2. You can still attempt to increase their offer.