Hastings Direct car insurance, total loss deductions advice!!!

Jazzabellaalfa

Hi guys!!

New here, just looking for some advice on my recent claim with hastings direct.

I had to break on the m5 in the fast lane as a dog was loose running into oncoming traffic and the van behind me had to break but subsequently crashed into the back of my car 😭 it is an Alfa GT black line that I had wanted for some time and had only owned for less than a month!! Anyway, I had some whiplash etc, the dog was caught and totally ok. I claimed through my insurance and gave them the van drivers details and the dog owners insurance details.
They collected my car, gave me a courtesy car, few days later it is declared a total loss. Fine, not happy but fine.
I called after it was collected for a digital imagery thingy and they offered me £3,260 which I wasn't happy about as I wouldn't be able to replace my car for anything less than £4k and that would involve me travelling quite some distance for it. So I came back to them to ask the procedure to not accept that offer. I was told that they would pay the offered amount as an interim payment minus the excess and minus the amount outstanding for the rest of the years insurance which is £75 excess and £588 outstanding direct debit!! Now, it's a non fault claim, how is it fair that I end up with a much worse car as a result? I checked the policy documents and it states in the event of a total loss claim from damage to my car where it is uneconomical to repair they MAY deduct the remainder of the years insurance. "May" sounds vague to me, it also makes me think that possibly they may not have to, can anyone advise on this matter?
Spoke with them today and they were very "computer says no" about it all.
I was also told when they offered me the original amount that it's not a like for like policy? I thought lawfully it is an insurers obligation to leave you in a position after the accident (especially non-fault) pretty much identical to the one you were in prior to the accident? And they must provide you with an amount to enable you to replace your car with another of a similar age, model, spec etc from your local area? Are they able to say it's not a "like for like" policy? I really do not know anything and I'm struggling to find out via the internet! Any advice greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance 😊

Quentin

Fault and non fault make no difference to the way your claim is handled by your own insurer. (Assuming you mean blame and no blame)


You are entitled to the pre incident market value of the car, and any other uninsured losses you have to pay yourself you need to pursue the third party for (including your excess and whiplash claim).


If you have legal cover with your policy you can use that for dealing with these claims, or as far as the injury claim is concerned you may wish to appoint your own specialist compensation solicitor.


Make a case for a better settlement by finding ads for similar aged models to yours - but bear in nmind asking prices in ads are not the market value as they are inflated to allow the vendor to reduce the price when haggling

InsideInsurance

It is common practice for insurers to deduct outstanding premiums from total loss settlements as you'll find it hard enough to get people to pay up each month when they've a car to insurer let alone trying to get another 9+ payments for a car thats sitting on a scrap heap now.

Some insurers dont do it when you are transferring the remainder of the policy onto a replacement vehicle so if you are going to buy a new car immediately and continuing cover from this policy it may be worth a call

rs65

Para 9

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html#9

AngryBird1

I am having big problems with Elephant Insurance (part of Admiral) after they declared my car a total loss after a third party rear ended me. They offered me £1290, when all cars on Autotrader anywhere near me are £1595-£1995. I wrote a formal complaint letter and 5 days later they call up and offered me £1325. I was livid. It's not fair that I should end up out of pocket when it's not my fault.
A colleague had a similar thing happen to her over the summer, but she was insured with LV and they offered the full local Autotrader price first time. I advise anyone to steer clear of insuring comprehensive through Admiral as you may as well be Third party cover only.