Motor Insurance company chasing me for money 3 years after case closed.

Ravsta7

Hi all

In April 2009 my car was crashed into (written off total loss cat d) whilst parked, along with other cars that were parked. The insurance company payed out with an estimate of approx £3600. As the vehicle was recovered by my local garage at the time I asked if I could buy back the vehicle, they agreed this was possible and deducted the cost of £700 off the total amount payable which reduced my setlement to £2900 approx. I banked the cheques, received confirmation letters of closure of the case. Thats it. (all in 2009)

Then last week I received a call from the claims department advising me I hadn't paid the £700 for the vehicle. I explained I had. Unfortunately I only recently threw away all documentation. I asked the Claim Handler how such a big Insurance company could let me walk away with a vehicle without paying for it, but they did not respond with a straight answer and actully overlooked that question during the conversation.

I have now received a letter advising me of the same, and I am now beginning to get very worried. Can anyone please help or advise what I can do, if what they are doing is even legal and if I have a leg to stand on in prooving I am telling the truth.

nb: this insurance company have been having difficulty in retrieving costs from the third party.

Here is the contents of the letter I received:

"Date of Incident: 25 April 2009

We have noticed from our files that we have not received the salvage amount agreed of £700.00 please can you contact us to confirm if still intend to make payment for this amount.

Should you have any queries regarding the content of this letter, please contact the handler on 0871 ******* ext. *****.
Calls to 0871 numbers are charged at 8p per minute plus network extras.

Yours sincerely "

forgotmyname

How did you pay for the policy, Installments?

Was the CHQ lower to cover unpaid premium and the policy excess etc?

Ravsta7

Yes I paid in installments and the cheque was less than the total settlement agreed for the vehicle- £700 less.

forgotmyname

But did you take into account the balance of the premium which would still have to be paid.

How many months left at what price? What was the policy excess?

Maybe someone their end thought the same. They paid you minus £700 for the balance and excess etc. And thought that was for the car itself. But it wasn't.

molerat

From now on do everything in writing so that you have a paper trail of correspondence. Send them a letter stating exactly what you think the situation is, ie agreed settlement of £x with a salvage value of £700 and chq received for £x-£700, ask how they have come to the conclusion you have not paid and wait for them to respond.

Ravsta7

You maybe right as at the time they told me my settlement would include the £700 off the total and I assumed it was this when the cheque came through.

I didn't take anything into account, they sent me the cheque which I thought was minus £700 for the car and then they sent me confirmation letters saying "case closed" (which I have now binned). The onus I would have thought would be on them. I cannot remember any details of the insurance I took out.

I will send the letter today and let you know of the response, thankyou for your responses.

forgotmyname

The onus is on them but im guessing as its been pulled up now. Its possibly right.

Fingers crossed. Of course your poor and cannot pay that amount in one go. You can afford £5 a week though. As long as you dont mind paying them for 3 years.

Ravsta7

Case Closed People Pheeew!!!

the letter I wrote to them:

"
In response to your letter dated 06/09/12, I clearly remember having discussed this over the telephone with the advisor, whom stated to me that the salvage price could be paid for out of the total settlement. Having received my total settlement cheque minus £700 confirmed this and so did the advisor after querying to be double sure. I subsequently received confirmation letters of claim closure. I have always known this has been paid for.

I now feel it is prudent for me to request under the Freedom Of Information Act all documentation with regards to my claim so I may take this forward with the Financial Ombudsman. Please provide me with an application/procedure to follow so I can attain this.

I am still uncertain after raising the question after our telephone conversation end of August 2012, as to why Admiral would let me keep a car if they believe it has been paid for since 2009, and if a mistake was made on your behalf then why do you feel after 3 years this is morally and ethically correct?"

Ravsta7

Date of Incident: 25 April 2009

Thank you for your recent email.

I can confirm that we did take the £700 salvage value from your settlement figure.

We therefore do not require any payment from you. We are sorry for the miss information given and any inconvenience this may have caused.

magpiecottage

The Freedom of Information Act is not relevant to your private dispute with an insurer.

The Data Protection Act would provide you with rights to the information but even without it you can ask them for all the information they hold relevant to their claim against you.

However, you seem to have elicited the outcome you wanted.

Whether you wish to make a complaint of "distress and inconvenience" is up to you.

forgotmyname

So your £700 richer, Wheres the free bar