Aviva - Disappointed and let down

InsideInsurance

Peter999 wrote: »

Turns out that they wrote to the other insurance company and that's it - they've done nothing else but have taken away my no claims bonus. I explained the above to the claims person - no problem he says, I'll contact them now and will phone you back.

Unfortunately this is fairly normal practice; write back to the TPI advising that you deny liability and involvement in any incident as you were not anywhere close to the location at the time. Diary the file on 3-6 months and close the case non-fault if you hear nothing else.

Insurers almost universally will count an open claim as a fault claim hence its impact your NCD whilst the file is still open.

In response to your complaint they should either contact the TPI again and get an update from them or simply close the file non-fault given the length of time its been but with the caveat that they'll have to reopen it should they be approached again.

The problem with option 1 is that some insurers are very difficult to get hold of on the phone. Unfortunately insurers dont have magic hotlines to each other and end up queuing the 20 minutes or so that you see people complaining on here about having to do. When you're a call centre agent queuing for 20 minutes rather than answering calls is rarely compatible with your KPIs and so often insurers end up writing to each other

Peter999_2

I understand what you are saying, however, I know for when I phoned on 30th June they got straight through to the other insurance company (this is how she found out the crash was in Newcastle).



I've got a response to the Aviva Social email, they wrote yesterday morning to say they were looking into it. However, not heard anything since and its getting closer and closer to renewal. Not impressed at the moment.

InsideInsurance

Peter999 wrote: »

I understand what you are saying, however, I know for when I phoned on 30th June they got straight through to the other insurance company (this is how she found out the crash was in Newcastle).

It'd be unusual for the initial letter of claim not to mention a location of an accident.

Unfortunately some claims people dont try to be as helpful as others. I like arguing with people, I kept a log of good numbers to call other insurers and knew which numbers to avoid at all costs. Some of my colleagues didnt like arguing on the phone and also had become pessimistic on the chances of getting through to people so just send out letter rather than really trying on the phone.

Ironically Aviva were one of the worst ones to get hold of on the phone because in my claims days it was so fragmented that many branches had bespoke systems with no centralisation and so unless you knew which branch to phone no one else would be able to help. That was over a decade ago so hopefully things have improved.

OnanTheBarbarian

Aviva are an utter disgrace to get hold of when it comes to claims as most of the claims operation has been offshored to India and they also like to hive various components of a claim off to different departments, who don't speak with each other.

So you get given a contact number for the injury claim, but if you call them or email them about say the vehicle damage element they can't help and often can't get you through to the relevant dept. When you email them, if the subject matter does not concern that particular person, it seems they rarely pass the email onto the correct person, they just do nothing.

As a result costs of hire vehicles etc increase to stupid levels because of the fragmentation of the claim. But there will be a team of heroes in a boardroom meeting somewhere that will say it is still more cost effective to operate like this.

[Deleted User]

Peter999 wrote: »

I understand what you are saying, however, I know for when I phoned on 30th June they got straight through to the other insurance company (this is how she found out the crash was in Newcastle).



I've got a response to the Aviva Social email, they wrote yesterday morning to say they were looking into it. However, not heard anything since and its getting closer and closer to renewal. Not impressed at the moment.

Hi Peter999

Please accept my apologies for the delay in getting back to you. We're still waiting for our claims team to respond with an update once they have investigated this further. Please rest assured we haven't forgotten you. I'll make sure I chase this for you today and will email you as soon as I have an update.

Many Thanks

Stephanie

Aviva Social Media Team

Peter999_2

Just an update.

The claims team phoned me this morning and have confirmed that this was mistaken identity. Apparently the real driver's insurance company had already admitted liability and its already gone through.

The claims team thought that was it, but obviously I'll need a new renewal quote as the premium should be a lot lower. The claims team will now pass it back to the customer service team and they should get back to me today.

6 days left before renewal.

Quentin

Now you've got this confirmed you can go for quotes elsewhere using your correct NCD - if they require proof of NCD you will get it in time to send off. (And if you don't, you know who will be paying any costs you incur!)

Peter999_2

Yes, I will get quotes from other companies.

Customer services have just phoned me and have updated my no claims bonus. The new quote is 48% more than last years premium! A massive increase.

I've just checked with Direct Line and their quote is less than half the price of Aviva. Oh well, looks like the choice has been made for me.
The chap from customer services has promised that it will not auto-renew, at least that's something.

Directline here I come.

Quentin

Peter999 wrote: »

The new quote is 48% more than last years premium! A massive increase.....

Looks like they have their own way of getting rid of someone who goes public with their complaints!