Ace Europe... ever heard of them?

scarletwoman

Hi all,
don't know if anyone can help but i'll ask anyway. My mother lives in Belgium. So did my father until the end of last year when he unfortunately passed away following a house fire. My mother is currently trying to rebuild her life (and her house). Now my father had an 'accidental death' insurance policy taken out with Ace Europe. Since my father died they have asked for all sorts of medical reports, police reports, they sent an independent expert to interrogate my mother but they still haven't told her whether they would pay her any money, although he died about 6 months ago.
I'm sure it takes time to deal with something like that but we have to chase them all the time and all we got from them was 2 letters and an email. they keep promising they'll get back to us but they never do.
Has anyone ever used their services or alternatively, is it normal for this type of case to take such a long time to resolve? There was a police investigation which ruled out arson and deemed the cause as accidental.
Any help would be appreciated.

lisyloo

I have made 2 claims on a travel policy (they were personl holiday claims but it's a business policy).
I've had good service and good cover.

I would write a complaint letter from your mother and get her to sign it.
Send it in line with their formal compalints procedure.
The lack of communication is unacceptable, if there are genuine hold ups they should still keep you informed.
I would personally send it recorded delivery for an extra 77p (or whatever the equivalent is in Belgium).
In the UK there is an 8 weeks timescale before you can go to the independent financial ombudsmans service, so often this gets things moving and often it goes to a seperate department.
I have no idea how it works in Belgium, but a formal compalint would seem to be the way to go.

Sorry for you loss - this is the last thing you need.

scarletwoman

Thanks for your reply, I'd also have to add that when my mother took out the policy, it was thru a French store similar to taking out a policy with M&S. The main point being that they communicated with my mother in French, which is the only language she speaks. When my father passed away, her case was first being dealt with in their Brussels offices, in French. It has now moved to their Antwerp offices, and 90% of their staff only speaks Dutch and English, which means that unless my mother manages to talk with the right person straight away, she cannot communicate with them at all! Which I find absolutely incredible.
Anyway I'll try with the complaint first, cheers!

lisyloo

which means that unless my mother manages to talk with the right person straight away, she cannot communicate with them at all!

Surely not.
Surely she can manage a "parlez voous francais" or "do you speak french" to be put through to someone.

Either way putting it on a formal footing by letter eseems to be the way to go.
If there is any sort of complaints process like the UK (and I suspect it's regulated in some way) then they won't be able to ignore it and there will be timescales.

mateo22uk

Surely not.