Insurance advice please

Belloubec

Some of you may have read my previous post 'car woes' - i have a 2011 VW Golf which is currently in the VW garage being assessed for water damage and so far they are saying a new engine is required due to it being water locked and possibly a new fuse board and BCM so in reality the car is more than likely going to be written off.

My insurance company are telling me that the claim will be classed as me being at fault (we had a bad storm NYE which blew a tile off our roof and it smashed my windscreen completely. Insurance company's windscreen suppliers couldnt fix it till the following Wednesday. The heavy rain and wind continued until Monday 4th Jan and despite my best efforts to keep the car secure water got in).

Now the argument I have is that I dont see how this is my fault - I reported the incident the second it happened, I expressed my concerns about the damage that could be done to my car if it were left and my insurance company didnt care one bit. The damage that has now been caused could have been totally avoidable if they had got it repaired that weekend or arranged for it to be towed to a secure location at the time but nobody said this was an option despite me asking for it,.

Where do I stand? I have raised an initial compliant with them and they have agreed to reimburse me my hire car fees but now I know that this claim will go against me (I have never ever had to make a claim where I have been at fault) I am not going to accept it. I would appreciate some thoughts / advice.

Thanks

Talc1234

Belloubec wrote: »

I dont see how this is my fault - I reported the incident the second it happened, I expressed my concerns about the damage that could be done to my car if it were left and my insurance company didnt care one bit. The damage that has now been caused could have been totally avoidable if they had got it repaired that weekend or arranged for it to be towed to a secure location at the time but nobody said this was an option despite me asking for it,.

Can argue that you knew of the risk of damage to your car from the weather and you could have arranged for it to be towed to a secure location. However you failed to arrange this which is negligence on your part.

The insurance agreed to payout which is what insurance companies do. I can't see how a an employee in a call center is any more responsible for damage to your car than you who had the opportunity to assess the situation and act accordingly.

JayCartwright

Quite simple really, it's a fault as there is no one else to claim off.

vansboy

Im unsure how the water ingress from a cracked...this could have been sealed with strong polythene and heavy duty adhesive tape...windscreen, however badly broken, would have allowed water into the actual engine.

Electrical problems are easy to cause, though, which are quite often difficult to cure, following water ingress.

You may have to argue a lot longer to get insurers to not feel you are in error by not making better effort to minimize potential loss.

Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh.

VB

arcon5

I don't think op means the water got in through the crack... but it was at a place of repair for the crack where it was a victim of the floods.

AdrianC

So your car was damaged because of the storms. I wonder... Might the recovery people and the garages and the insurance assessors have been a bit busy with other vehicles and properties and calls at that time?

At the end of the day, the windscreen was not adequately protected after the initial damage by you.

But that's actually irrelevant to whether it counts as an at-fault claim or not. By "at-fault", what they mean is whether your insurer's hand has gone into your insurer's pocket, or if somebody else has picked the tab up. And there's nobody else to hand the bill to, so it's always coming out of their pocket, so it's always going on your record as an at-fault claim.

Belloubec

Just an update on this. After I made a huge complaint the insurance company accepted they were liable for the damage to my car. It has been written off and I have received a very good payout from them plus all my hire car costs which are £300 reimbursed.

Quentin

The original windscreen claim was a "fault claim".


Check that your insurer isn't counting this incident as two different claims, and get it confirmed in writing that your write off was a no fault claim.

forgotmyname

How did a smashed windscreen waterlock an engine?

Belloubec

Thank you Quentin, I am in the process of doing this.

Forgotmyname - the incident happened on Thursday 31st December, the storm was so bad we had heavy rain and very strong winds until the following Monday. The windscreen repairers wouldnt/couldnt come out until 6th January. I tried to protect my car with a car cover and plastic sheeting but it wasnt enough. In hindsight the insurance company addmitted that they should have paid the £444 quote i received from another windscreen company who would have come out the same night,