Compensation from insurance company

lawstudent

Basically its a long story and I have included the letter I wrote to the insurance company below because this is probably the quickest way to explain all of my problems. I have been given £100 compensation and I was happy with this but my sister and mother have said they are not sure this is enough considering what the consequences could have been. I don't want to be greedy but do you think this is OK considering everything? I was actually really upset when I was told I had been driving uninsured because I hate people who do that.

Sorry for the long read...

Dear Sirs,

I am writing in relation to the many problems I have had renewing my insurance with you. My renewal date was the 10th July 2012. I contacted your renewals team well in advance of this date to get a quote on the model of car I was planning to buy, a Mazda RX8, and received a quote close to the £1000 mark.

On the 6th of July I then contacted your renewals team again whilst at a dealership to discuss a car I had found and wished to purchase. At this point I was told that despite this car being exactly the same in all material respects to the one I was previously quoted for I would be expected to pay £300 more! This was eventually reduced to £200 more but I was still reluctant to pay this much.

I therefore rang off and called back later after having purchased the car. It was at this point that I spoke to a frankly incompetent member of staff in your call centre. I negotiated for a better discount and she explained she would tweak my quote and see what could be achieved. She could not work out how to look up my car using the registration number so asked me numerous questions about the car including whether it was a “coup” (I informed her it was pronounced coupe [MSE will not let me do the e-acute]) and whether it was a diesel (they do not even make this car in a diesel).

She then told me she had completed a new quote and my new price was £1600! I explained at this point that this was even more than before and that I would reluctantly just pay the price I had been quoted previously that day. At this point she informed me she had deleted that quote and had no way of altering the current one to the previous price. Leaving me stuck with a car I could not insure and very distressed.

I asked several times to speak to a manager at which point she would say she would arrange this and then came back saying she had discussed something with her colleagues and tried to fob me off. I never got to speak to a manager but heard one telling someone off in the background (very unprofessional!!).

Eventually I was informed, after spending over half an hour on the phone – a large proportion of which was on hold – that the operator I had previously spoken to had been able to recover the price I was originally quoted. At this point I updated my payment details and paid (or so I thought). Before leaving the dealership I checked by asking the lady several times whether I was insured to drive the car away today and she said yes. I asked for an email to confirm this in case the police stopped me and she said one would be sent automatically.

I waited for this email presuming it was on its way for three days. At which point I became suspicious and checked my credit card. It had not been charged. I called your call centre again and was told – to my horror – that I had been driving uninsured for three days!

I think this is disgusting and it has rather upset me. I have taken members of my family out in my new car. The thought that they or anyone else who might have been injured should (heaven forbid) we have had an accident might not have had access to any treatment or facilities they might need as a result of this makes me feel physically sick.

Further the thought that the car I saved for two years to buy could have been confiscated by the police and I could have been given six points on my driving license making me practically uninsurable has troubled me also.

I had been very happy with the service I received from Elephant in the past, which is why I decided to stay with you despite being quoted cheaper prices by alternative providers. In the past I had recommended you to friends and colleagues but unfortunately I feel I am no longer able to do this.

I implore you to listen to any recordings you have of my conversation with the lady in question. She must be stopped before somebody finds out they are uninsured when it is too late.

I look forward to your response to this matter. I feel it is my duty, should this matter not be resolved satisfactorily, to report this incident to the Financial Ombudsman Service to ensure that this does not happen to anybody else.

rs65

considering what the consequences could have been.

I would be happy with £100. What could have happened doesn't really matter - as it didn't.

dacouch

Compensation is for inconvenience, you can't claim compensation for what might have happened.

£100 is fairly generous for this type of mistake.

If you had an accident etc you would have made a similar complaint and asked the Insurer to listen to the calls. Being an Insurance company they would be able to issue a letter to satisfy the police and pay any claims

phill99

So. Lets have a scenario. You drive the uninsured car, get stopped by the old bill and they take it off you. Because that you couldn't get to a job interview the next day. The job was paying £50k and you just knew that the job was yours for the taking. Because you didn't get the job, your currently unborn and unconceived son wont be able to go to university and instead will end up as a career criminal with a £00 a day smack habit. Therefore you want £2million in compensation.

Unfortunately, compensation in your case doesn't work that way. Its limited to the inconvenience at the time. You wern't harmed, nobody was injured and its all been sorted. £100 is more than adequate compensation for being mildly p!!sed off.

Are you being greedy? Yes. You're lucky to get £!00

Draw a line under it and get on with your life and stop throwing your teddy. If you try and milk it, something tells me there will be a marker on your file and come renewal next year they will want £3k as a premium to encourage you to go elsewhere.

lawstudent

OK it wasn't called compensation, this is exactly what they said but the name is neither here nor there.

"In summary I am unhappy with the way we have dealt with your policy. Clearly this is not acceptable and not the level of service we expect to provide our customers. I am sorry we let you down. By way of apology for the stress caused because of our error, I have sent a cheque to your home address for £100.00. This will be with you in up to ten days. While this is by no means meant to detract from your experience, I hope it goes some way towards making amends."

phill99

So its a goodwill payment. Substitute the word "compensation" for the word "goodwill" in posts #2, #3 and #4 above, and they will still stand.

lawstudent

Why do some people come on here to be rude to other people? I did not say I was going to ask for any more money I wanted to know what other people thought would be appropriate and then decide how to proceed. LEARN TO READ. I specifically said I do not want to be greedy. Grow up and stop being so rude.

mikey72

Some people just don't like word compensation (Normally until the cheques in their name, then it's ok)
However, it's fair, they messed you about, you deserve it. It's probably about the right amount. £50 covers a mix up in paperwork, you did have the potential to be caught committing an offence. You weren't caught though. So £100 seems reasonable. If you had been caught, they would be paying out more, paying any costs if the car was impounded etc.

phill99

If you don't want honest answers, don't post in an open forum.

lawstudent

No I just don't want YOUR answers because you are RUDE. Everyone else has been perfectly courteous. Manners cost nothing, didn't your mother tell you that? Also learn to write properly.

phill99

Now who is being rude?