Car insurance claim

rach-a88

Hi, this thread isnt really about money saving but was wondering if anyone could give me any help!?
In October last year my partner was driving his Ford Fiesta when it lost power on the motorway so he pulled over. Other cars stopped and started shouting for him to get out as the car was on fire, he got out and minutes later it burst into flames. The police came and asked for his details, after checking they confirmed he was insured and the fire was put out and car taken away.
He was insured with Ford insurance, the car was in his name, the policy had his father as the main driver n himself as a named. The car was completely wrote off, the front half was melted and his phone, radio satnav etc were ruined aswell as about £500 worth of clothes in the boot. He also had to be treate dby an ambulance for shock.
Firstly, Ford refused to give him a courtesy car as it wasnt part of his policy (fair enough) even though he has to travel from Manchester to Liverpool for work. After a few weeks the insurance got back to him and said the claim was still being processed but his car had been valued at £3,000 and he would be given a form to claim back for any of the items that were in the car.
After numerous phone calls trying to chase up the situation he heard back last month. The insurance said they would not be paying anything out as the policy was not valid, due to the car being in a different name to the main driver (the insurance also made a fuss claiming he told the police he was the MAIN driver, which he never). They then said they would look into a refund for the 18months he had been paying for his insurance, seeing as it was always void according to them. They have also refused this and are ordering him to pay £400 for the write off, burnt, melted car to have been kept on a compound for six months!!
We have also not even heard what they found the fault on the car to be, I would think any manufacturers problem that nearly killed him would mean he was entitled to some other form of compensation, but no. My partner is not allowing me to go any further as he desperatley needs his car and licience for his job, and is worried that taking any kind of action may result in him getting into trouble for driving without insurance! Help!!!

gordikin

So the car is registered in your partners name and he pays for the insurance policy which has his father down as the main driver and your partner as a named driver. Your partner uses the car to travel from Manchester to Liverpool for every day. Sounds like a classic case of 'fronting' and I'm not surprised the insurance co. is not paying out.

rach-a88

Fair enough, but at the time he wasnt using it to travel that far, or everyday, as he has just started his current job. He did use public transport as he worked in a town centre and on that particular day he was working in chester as a temporary cover which his work have backed him up on and the insurance know this. So it wasnt fronting at all, now he does use a car everyday he has a policy in his own name and a new car in his own name.

Quentin

If the reasons given by the insurer for invalidating the policy are incorrect then your partner should of course appeal, and follow the insurers complaints procedure to get the issue corrected.

His worry about losing his licence etc is unfounded unless there is more to this that is being kept from you!

vaio

He might be innocent but I can see why the insurance company think it’s fronting and are refusing to pay.

If he makes a complaint and loses he might end not getting the refund for the 18 months premium he’s paid as if the company find deliberate misrepresentation they are generally not obliged to refund the premium.

As they confirmed to the police he was insured is there a duty on the insurance company to correct their initial response to the police?

Finally, as he was using the car for business purposes, even if they accept the policy wasn’t fronting, did he have business cover as the named driver? If not then they have another reason to withdraw cover as he has told them it was being used for business purposes.

A big can of worms, don't envy you trying to sort it out.

ILW

Many policies do not cover business use or even commuting for a named driver. This may be the issue.

vaio

and, to avoid a similar event in future, make sure his current insurance company are aware of the previous incident/outcome as it will be on the claims and incidents database.

If he has another claim his insurer will check the database before paying out and if he hasn’t told them he could end up with another denied claim and if that claim involves a third party injury it could be life wreakingly expensive and make him effectively uninsurable