Right to complain about Direct Line's service?

Monko7

Hi all

I recently damaged my car in flood water and had to process a claim through Direct Line. After 3 attempts to get to my car, the recovery vehicle finally got there and took it to the garage. After about a week, the garage called and advised that they had deemed it a write-off, and that they would contact Direct Line to let them know. A couple of days later, I still hadn't heard from DL, so called. I was told that they had to have their engineer go out and assess the car, and this could take anything up to 7 days. It just so happened that I got a call later that day, from the engineer, saying that it was indeed a write-off and he gave me his valuation. He asked if I was ok with this and, after I accepted, he advised that he would let the claims team know, and I would receive my cheque within 5-10 days. He also advised that I would receive information on transferring my private registration plate.

At this point, without a car, I had been spending just under £25 per day on public transport to get to work. So, I made the decision to go out and buy a cheap car, just to see me past my debt-free date - based on the fact that I'd be getting the cheque within a reasonable time.

3 weeks after my call from the engineer and I still hadn't received anything so I called them up. After being on hold for 20 minutes, the call was answered and I was taken through security. The guy I spoke to put me on hold for another 5 mins before asking me how much the car had been valued at. I was so confused by this question I was tempted to add a couple of thousand on to the figure just to figure out their reasoning! He advised that the cheque hadn't been requested, and that there were still further checks to be done before this could happen. He then asked for my mobile number and said that he would make sure the cheque was requested 'tomorrow' and call me back to confirm. To his credit, he did, but I am now looking at another 10 days or so before I can get the cash for this.

I apologise, this went on longer than I'd hoped it would, but if you're still reading, does anyone reckon there are grounds for a complaint and/or compensation here? I'm just so glad I made the decision to purchase the car rather than continue with the public transport as my debt-free date would've been pushed back considerably! :rotfl:

Thanks in advance folks.

arcon5

Compensation for what?

InsideInsurance

How many days has it been since the inspection?

Personally I'd have asked if they could have done a bank transfer rather than a cheque to speed up receipt of the monies - in fact I thought Direct Line did this as standard these days anyway.

You always have the right to complain just as you always have the right to escalate the complaint to the FOS if you arent happy with the response or 8 weeks passes before their response.

On the plus side, at least you think their valuation was fair from the outset!

Direct Line always used to be one of the quicker companies to get the cheque out in the post but that was mainly due to their process being to pay first, ask for spare keys/ V5c etc afterwards where as some insurers have several letters going back and forth before the cheque is raised. From memory the target did used to be around 2 weeks from inspection?

In my claims days we used to accept other insurers taking up to 1 month, if they took longer than that we would then be asking questions. We were approaching this from the angle of having to provide their customer with a hire car as our customer was at fault for the incident and out liability for that is tied to when they get the money.

dotdash79

Write to them stating out the facts and why you aren't happy. They then have 8 weeks to respond after that you can go to FOS.

Monko7

InsideInsurance wrote: »

How many days has it been since the inspection?

Personally I'd have asked if they could have done a bank transfer rather than a cheque to speed up receipt of the monies - in fact I thought Direct Line did this as standard these days anyway.

You always have the right to complain just as you always have the right to escalate the complaint to the FOS if you arent happy with the response or 8 weeks passes before their response.

On the plus side, at least you think their valuation was fair from the outset!

Direct Line always used to be one of the quicker companies to get the cheque out in the post but that was mainly due to their process being to pay first, ask for spare keys/ V5c etc afterwards where as some insurers have several letters going back and forth before the cheque is raised. From memory the target did used to be around 2 weeks from inspection?

In my claims days we used to accept other insurers taking up to 1 month, if they took longer than that we would then be asking questions. We were approaching this from the angle of having to provide their customer with a hire car as our customer was at fault for the incident and out liability for that is tied to when they get the money.

The inspection was carried out on the 5th January - my main issue is that I was told at that point that the cheque would be with me in a maximum of 10 days. I don't even think there was a mention of working days at this point.

Yeah, I had hoped for a little more if I'm honest, but then, who wouldn't. Assuming this car I've got lasts me the year, then the whole thing has actually helped bring my DFD forward so I'm happy in that sense. I just haven't been overly impressed with the service I've received from DL so far.

Thanks for all this though, it definitely helps. :beer:

colino

Go through their procedure and complain, something doesn't add up here. As with most decent companies a car that has been for a swim gets written off, the owner agrees and a cheque gets sent. Can't think of a reason for delay. Have they asked for information/documentation that you haven't supplied?

InsideInsurance

Monko7 wrote: »

The inspection was carried out on the 5th January - my main issue is that I was told at that point that the cheque would be with me in a maximum of 10 days. I don't even think there was a mention of working days at this point.

Not sure who mentioned working day on this thread either? Though given 10 working days = 2 weeks and the technical teams in insurance companies tend to work mon-fri then I wouldnt be surprised if they hadnt meant it would be 10 working days.

colino wrote: »

Can't think of a reason for delay. Have they asked for information/documentation that you haven't supplied?

Time of year is the most obvious one, back log caused by all the Xmas holidays and higher sickness rates combined with the increased rate of claims that you always get in winter.

Could be they have asked for things that werent provided by the OP but then they'd have mentioned that in the chaser call. DL are going through masses amounts of change due to being carved out of RBS and taking the opportunity to get off of a system built in house in the early 80s and join the 21st century. I've not heard of this causing issues beyond moral in the change/ IT teams but theres always a possibility.

Can always be as simple as an engineer miss filing their report/ forgetting to hit the submit button/ having gone off sick etc

Monko7

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Not sure who mentioned working day on this thread either? Though given 10 working days = 2 weeks and the technical teams in insurance companies tend to work mon-fri then I wouldnt be surprised if they hadnt meant it would be 10 working days.




Time of year is the most obvious one, back log caused by all the Xmas holidays and higher sickness rates combined with the increased rate of claims that you always get in winter.

Could be they have asked for things that werent provided by the OP but then they'd have mentioned that in the chaser call. DL are going through masses amounts of change due to being carved out of RBS and taking the opportunity to get off of a system built in house in the early 80s and join the 21st century. I've not heard of this causing issues beyond moral in the change/ IT teams but theres always a possibility.

Can always be as simple as an engineer miss filing their report/ forgetting to hit the submit button/ having gone off sick etc

I know nobody mentioned working days on the thread, I just meant that I was told the cheque would be with me in 10 days, meaning the 15th.

I appreciate that there may be a backlog, but telling me that at the time would've been appreciated. I went out and bought a car based on the information they gave me being accurate. And it wasn't. They also haven't asked for anything from me.

It's just been a bit frustrating that I've had to do all the chasing in this, that's all. Hasn't felt like marvellous customer service.

Thanks for all the advice though.

pathtofreedom

Did they not give you a courtesy car when it was first flooded, or wasn't that part of your cover. If not I don't think you can try and claim back the extra travel costs.

loskie

Possibly the engineer was at fault because he was not in a position to tell you how much you would get and how long it would take. I would suspect that he should have disclosed the value to the claims team only and that they take it from there. I guess he was only tying to be helpful but maybe acting without authority.