Car insurance scam!!!

patman99

Everyone is assuming the car was a total loss payout due to crash damage.
There is the possibility that the vehicle may have been stolen then recovered after the insurance had paid-out.

This may well show on an HPi check, but have no mechanical or structural damage to it.

Let's see if the op does a full HPi check to see if there are further details lurking somewhere.

Gloomendoom

Quentin wrote: »

Unfortunately anyone can post on MSE, as we are all warned at the top of every page, and incorrect advise like this does get left up and has to be corrected by other posters.

Incorrect advice has to be corrected by other posters.

tomba_2

***Babbawah 27/07/2015*** In reply to your list:
1) I viewed and drove the car after contacting esure for quote and pre-warning them that a new car was imminent.
2) 2 years Direct Line cover was produced for this very car.
3) Pre-quoted from insurance....car then viewed, driven and checked over (immaculate!)....deal was then finally conditional on the click through "get vehicle report" eBay link for £8.99 (no point doing this before as I hadn't seen and wanted the car). I never considered "total loss write off" as I was really checking to see if any HPI / Finance outstanding.
4) My own company...esure.
5) topcashback blanket quote...and I wondered why this scam was allowed by lots of insurers if they "consult each other".
6) Nobody. Esure would not have paid out had I taken their insurance policy and subsequently made a claim as they would then have discovered the "total loss write off" and declared a "nil vehicle value" (THEIR WORDS).

Hope this clarifies things.

tomba_2

***vikingaero*** In reply:
This was my initial £8.99 extract:
Insurance write-off Recorded as an insurance write-off
Recorded by insurers as the subject of a total loss claim due to damage. Contact the seller for more details
I thought it may be an error so I contacted HPI directly and got this email:
[FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial]Good Morning[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial]Thank you for your email.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial]D*****N is recorded on the HPI Condition Alert Register as an insurance write off. It may have been written off prior to the current keepers purchase of the vehicle.[/FONT]
Kind Regards
Grace

I was gutted as I loved the car and nearly splashed out £8300 on an insurance "lemon". :eek:
Yes...managed to knock the price down due to higher mileage, 2 bald tyres and the fact it had been on sale for 4 weeks already.

tomba_2

***UPDATE*** The car is re-advertised on eBay at reduced price of £8,500 and also on Gumtree.
i guess all potential buyers are doing their homework first and clicking through the eBay "vehicle status report" at £8.99 a pop to eBay....nice little earner for them!

arcon5

EdGasket wrote: »

A car can be written off for a dented wing/door or a cracked bumper. perfectly alright to drive. As per my previous post, my own car was twice written off and I continued to drive it; just banged out the dents. However a £9K car must have had some serious damage to be written off so yeah, best avoided.

Paid out by who? Third party insurers? As that's completely different

Geodark

tomba wrote: »

***Babbawah 27/07/2015*** In reply to your list:
1) I viewed and drove the car after contacting esure for quote and pre-warning them that a new car was imminent.
2) 2 years Direct Line cover was produced for this very car.
3) Pre-quoted from insurance....car then viewed, driven and checked over (immaculate!)....deal was then finally conditional on the click through "get vehicle report" eBay link for £8.99 (no point doing this before as I hadn't seen and wanted the car). I never considered "total loss write off" as I was really checking to see if any HPI / Finance outstanding.
4) My own company...esure.
5) topcashback blanket quote...and I wondered why this scam was allowed by lots of insurers if they "consult each other".
6) Nobody. Esure would not have paid out had I taken their insurance policy and subsequently made a claim as they would then have discovered the "total loss write off" and declared a "nil vehicle value" (THEIR WORDS).

Hope this clarifies things.

but were you insuring it as a catd/catc and telling them at the start that it was a write off or were you asking that if you insured it as a non write off, then they found out that it was a write off would you still be covered? As long as you disclose at the time of taking out the insurance that the car was a writeoff then I don't see why you wouldn't be covered. I know a couple of people who are driving round in catd, one of them was hit from behind and managed to make a claim ok.

Aretnap

eSure are one of the handful of insurers who won't insure a car which has previously been written off - I think one of the assumptions they ask you to agree to is "the car has not been written off" or something similar. It's one of the many reasons for not using them.

The large majority of insurers don't ask or care whether a car has been written off, and the only difference it makes is that in the event of it being written off again the payout may be reduced to reflect the fact that its market value is lower than that of an equivalent car which has never been written off. The Financial Ombudsman says that the deduction should not generally be more than 20% (link).

robbies_gal

did u mean op if u hadnt declared it they wouldnt have paid out-which makes sense to me

if they knew it was a write off insure u then didnt pay out then yes thats wrong