Tesco Car Insurance - Stolen Car Loess of PNCD

lewisdpl

My mother recently had her car stolen in the early hours of the morning. The first she knew about it was when the Police called at about 06:00.

The car is a write off.

She's been offered a reasonable payment for the car from Tesco Insurance.

However, in the few hours between the car being stolen and the police catcthing the ****** who had stolen the car (still in it) they had crashed into another car (they still carried on driving the car and the police used stinger to try and stop it and then the helicopter to track it !)

Tesco Insurance are claiming that the theft and the accident are two separate claims and are refusing to honout the protected NCD !

Surely the fact that the crash happened when the car was stolen is part of the theft.

Anyone have any experience of anything similar, or who to contact about this ?

Many thanks

Paul

Bossyboots

I would be interested in answers to this as well.

My boss's daughter had her car written off by a driver in a stolen car and the insurers for that car are refusing to pay out for her vehicle. This seems to be the opposite of what Tesco are saying in the case stated here.

Astaroth

This is wrong, the 2 incidents are both part of the theft claim.

For a whole host of reasons from IT system limitations (a theft claim system doesnt normally have fields to capture third parties/ accident screens dont have the field to ask if the thief has been caught etc) to the fact they get notified about it at a later date and the person registering the claim assumes it is a different incident as it has a different date of loss or simply because the other claim is a theft and not a AD claim it isnt uncommon for insurers to register 2 claims on their computer systems however the Theft claim should be registered as a fault claim (unless they capture the thief and get all their money back - including the monies paid to the TPs) and the AD claim should be closed non-fault as it is for other reasons that there are actually 2 claims on the system.

As to Bossyboots question.... it all depends if the thieves are caught or not. If they are then all parties must attempt to recover their losses directly from them. If the thieves arent caught then the insurer of the vehicle itself are liable for the damages (though they can recover from the thieves if they are later identified). However.... under the strictest letter of the law it is basically the courts decision if the insurers in question are the RTA insurers or not. Many insurers know full well that they are and so settle the claim without incurring the court costs that would be added to it. Others however obviously decide that given that not everyone can be bothered going to court that it is better to make everyone jump through the hoops and hope that the court fees are outweighed by the fact that some people will not bother to claim.

There is always a question of customer service in these things too... if the insurer of the vehicle that was stolen agree to act as the RTA insurer then it will certainly be a fault claim against their policyholder even if they dont claim for the damages to their own vehicle. If you had parked your car up in a public car park, locked all the doors, would you really feel it was your "fault" it was stolen and involved in an RTA? (obviously if you switch sides you wouldnt feel it was fair that your parked car was hit by a stolen vehicle and that it may end up being your fault as far as insurance is concerned - as always, depends which side of the incident you are on)

duh

This is not related..but could I seek an answer to my car insurance query with tesco?

I skidded on a wet B road. No damage to anyone/property. Only noticeable damage incurred was a dented rear door and paint damage.
Reported the accident to Tesco, who asked me whose fault it was. I said it was mine. Was that the right thing to say or should I have blamed it on the road?

The next question relates to the repairs - Tesco told me that their approved garage would repair it for me. They never offered me an alternative so I agreed. After 3 weeks, the car was returned repaired and I am told road worthy. The garage nor Tesco have told me what work they have carried out - I can see the dent has been fixed but there was talk about my suspension being bent as well.

Am I within my rights to be given a list of what repairs have been carried out and what it cost Tesco to repair my car? And more importantly - should I have agreed to let Tesco tell me which garage to repair the car in rather than insisting that I get the car repaired at the car's authorized body shop?

I realise the answers to these questions are redundant now - but it's my first accident and I need to be prepared for the next one..along with a rise in my premiums!

Astaroth

1) As there are no other parties involved the question of fault is fairly irrelevant unless you are alleging there was a defect with your vehicle etc that caused the accident. In most the insurers I have worked for the questions asked by the claim reporting lines are only used as a litmus test of what the customers views are on the matter, the actual decisions are made by the claims people that sit behind them.... you know that telling someone that they are liable is going to be much easier if they have already admitted it to the reporting line.... if you see they dont accept liability but the accident circs suggest that they are then you know you may have a more difficult call to make.

2) Most insurers maintain a network of approved repairers. Many offer special terms for customers that use these (eg long warranties on the repairs etc) to incentivise customers to use them... the biggest incentive which isnt mentioned as often as you would expect is that the garage will have a regular visit from the insurance companies engineers or have electronic data feeds to them which allows the insurers firstly to get work authorised quicker and secondly to monitor it more closely.

You can certainly ask what work has been done and how much the claim cost - it is up to you if you ask the garage directly or speak to tescos for this information, personally I would suggest the garage as they will know about the consideration on the suspension where as the insurers call centre most likely will only have the invoice and so will have to either ask the garage or the engineer for the extra information.

I personally would always use an insurers approved repairer, it is quicker and if things do go wrong you can complain to both the insurer and the garage. If however you chose your own garage and the repairs are done poorly your insurance company has no interest at all as they have no control over your garage and did not recommend them etc etc so you are on your own.

duh

Thanks Astaroth for that. Didn't know about the first bit.Will get on the backs of the garage especially since Ive just noticed the door that they repaired has a jammed window now!!Thanks again.Much appreciated.

Astaroth

If there is a fault with the repairs, notify your insurers.... they are the ones that put their necks on the line by recommending them and so are liable for sorting out their mistakes. As you used one of their approved repairers you may as well get the benefit of doing so now that there has been a problem (I suggested contacting the garage directly on the cost/ what done front as a matter of speed)