One day a write off, next day not!

jane-_4

My car was hit from the rear by a driver who admitted his fault. That was 2 weeks ago tomorrow. I reported the accident to my insurers and was told an engineer would call to asess the damage. 4 days later I get a call while in work from a salvage yard who have sent a lorry to pick the car up as it has been written off but no one told me. I phone insurers who say it has been written off. I go home from work to meet the driver, lovely chap, told me all about his previous car in which there was bio hazzard tape all over it as the driver had soiled himself in every bodily function possible...leave it at that....he excused his smell and said he may smell a bit but had used some Brut to cover it up...I do not joke folks! He shows me the paperwork saying its scrap, signs my registration doc, sold for scrap, loads the car and bye bye. I was told to look for another car and an offer would follow last Monday/Tuesday,,,it didnt but sure it would be soon. Today, I get a call from the engineer who had visited the scrap yard and says the car is repairable. I said its been scrapped and he said someone has made a mistake then. Phoned the insurers and told them and they eventually told me someone had made an assumption it was to be written off and done it without the engineers report. I have a reg doc now signed that the car is scrapped, Ive sent the tax back and travelled about 240 miles round trip looking at similar cars and planned to do the deal on Sunday. No one has returned a call to me today, Ive had to do all the chasing and all I get is we are very sorry. Dont get me wrong, I want my car back, all nice and happy again, but I would like it cleaned after the salvage incident and some fuel money wouldnt go amiss. How can I handle this in the best way? Thank you.

chanz4

You need to raise a complaint to the company

jane-_4

Yup, just done this, I have found a complaints email address. Does anyone think its too much to ask for the car to be cleaned in a proper way and some compensation?

forgotmyname

I wouldnt do it via email. Formal complaint letter in writing sent recorded delivery etc.

jane-_4

Point taken thankyou.

dacouch

Have a good read of this link from the Ombudsman and use the relevant parts against your Insurer http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

Christopher7

Hi Jane
When you called your insurer to report the claim, the claims handler had to make an initial call as to whether they felt the car would repair or be written off based on the information you provided about the extent of the damage.

If they thought it would repair they would have instructed a garage to collect the vehicle. it would seem that the Handler, in your case, thought the car would be a write off, so he instructed a salvage company to collect your car.

The handler should have explained that the car could still end up being repaired once it was assessed by a motor engineer and should have told you not to start looking at new cars or sending the tax back until you had received confirmation from the engineer.

I hope this gives you a bit of background on the processes, good luck with your complaint against your insurer.

mikey72

Christopher7 wrote: »

Hi Jane
When you called your insurer to report the claim, the claims handler had to make an initial call as to whether they felt the car would repair or be written off based on the information you provided about the extent of the damage.

If they thought it would repair they would have instructed a garage to collect the vehicle. it would seem that the Handler, in your case, thought the car would be a write off, so he instructed a salvage company to collect your car.

The handler should have explained that the car could still end up being repaired once it was assessed by a motor engineer and should have told you not to start looking at new cars or sending the tax back until you had received confirmation from the engineer.

I hope this gives you a bit of background on the processes, good luck with your complaint against your insurer.

The claims handler doesn't decide to scrap it or not. The handler should have actually sent out an engineer to correctly assess the vehicle, but if you read the op's post that was skipped, and someone raised the paperwork to scrap the car, and had it taken away to a recycling facility. As the op has said, two entirely different routes, and I would be looking for a full clean, and reimbursement of my out of pocket expenses.

Christopher7

mikey72 wrote: »

The claims handler doesn't decide to scrap it or not. The handler should have actually sent out an engineer to correctly assess the vehicle, but if you read the op's post that was skipped, and someone raised the paperwork to scrap the car, and had it taken away to a recycling facility. As the op has said, two entirely different routes, and I would be looking for a full clean, and reimbursement of my out of pocket expenses.

Mikey, read my post again, i said the handler had to make an initial call as to whether it was likely to repair or be a write off based on the description of the damage provided by Jane. I said this could change once the engineer assesses the car.

The paperwork that the salvor gave to the client would be the standard collection documents that they use. They wouldn't go back and ask the customer to sign the collection document once it had been confirmed a write off.

mikey72

Christopher7 wrote: »

Mikey, read my post again, i said the handler had to make an initial call as to whether it was likely to repair or be a write off based on the description of the damage provided by Jane. I said this could change once the engineer assesses the car.

The paperwork that the salvor gave to the client would be the standard collection documents that they use. They wouldn't go back and ask the customer to sign the collection document once it had been confirmed a write off.

Read the op's first post again.

jane-_4

I have a conclusion. I complained to the insurer in writing and they responded today.

The insurer has instructed that the car is to have a deep clean. I have spoken to the repairer and they are finding the best they can to do the job.

Also they offered £50 for out of pocket expences but I have managed to push that up to £100.

They are also going to expedite the paperwork to get the car back to me asap.

Thank you for all your advice and support everyone.