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Compensation offer for poor service - to accept?
mayi80
Posts: 8 Forumite
I have had a poor experience from one of the major car insurers, their level of service was substandard.
The backstory is there was a very minor incident about a year ago, and the other person made a claim against me, that part is all fine.
The problem is the insurer didn't properly tell me about it, never confirmed what had happened and that they had paid out etc. As a result I was under the impression that there was no claim, i still had no claims discount, and had been going around getting quotes for new insurance, that had I proceeded (luckily I didn't) would have been fraudulent.
I was really angry about this, and I think rightly so. Its wasted a lot of my time too.
The insurer has offered be £150 in compensation in respect of their poor service and the fact they didn't do it properly.
But I wonder if anyone has any experience of anything similar. If they've broken the law, should I expect my full annual premium back (about £600), since they've not delivered the service I was paying for? The alternative has been suggested I could take it to the financial ombudsmen. I understand maybe the inurer will get charged by the ombudsman anyway, so at what point is it cheaper for the insurer to just to pay me? I think I should get back as much of my premium as possible, gven they simply didn't do their job.
Or am I lucky to be offered £150 and should I bite their hand off?
The backstory is there was a very minor incident about a year ago, and the other person made a claim against me, that part is all fine.
The problem is the insurer didn't properly tell me about it, never confirmed what had happened and that they had paid out etc. As a result I was under the impression that there was no claim, i still had no claims discount, and had been going around getting quotes for new insurance, that had I proceeded (luckily I didn't) would have been fraudulent.
I was really angry about this, and I think rightly so. Its wasted a lot of my time too.
The insurer has offered be £150 in compensation in respect of their poor service and the fact they didn't do it properly.
But I wonder if anyone has any experience of anything similar. If they've broken the law, should I expect my full annual premium back (about £600), since they've not delivered the service I was paying for? The alternative has been suggested I could take it to the financial ombudsmen. I understand maybe the inurer will get charged by the ombudsman anyway, so at what point is it cheaper for the insurer to just to pay me? I think I should get back as much of my premium as possible, gven they simply didn't do their job.
Or am I lucky to be offered £150 and should I bite their hand off?
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Comments
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If they've broken the law, should I expect my full annual premium back (about £600), since they've not delivered the service I was paying for?
They have not broken the law. They still provided the cover. They failed on administration.The alternative has been suggested I could take it to the financial ombudsmen. I understand maybe the inurer will get charged by the ombudsman anyway, so at what point is it cheaper for the insurer to just to pay me?
As you have had no financial loss, you are just looking at a inconvenience payment. These tend to cap out at around £450 for really major issues. I helped a client on a case that had issues going over 10 years and resulted in them making financial decisions based on wrong info that cost them a fortune. The FOS awarded £250.
Insurers factor in x% of complaints going to the FOS. At their level, they dont look at individual complaints to try and avoid the FOS fee. Also, the insurer can withdraw their offer if you go to the FOS.
You could go back to them and say that you feel £150 is insufficient and that £300 is more acceptable for the length of time it has taken. Good change they will accept that to close the case.I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0 -
Bite their hand off for the £150 it's a very good offer.
You cannot expect them to return your car Insurance premium as you have received the service they offered eg they agreed to pay any claims for the twelve month period.
They have not broken the law.
The new policies you applied for would not have been obtained fraudulently, however most Insurers ask if you've been involved in any accidents or incidents. If you had not answered this question truthfully eg you said no then you would have lied to the Insurer as obviously you have been in an accident / incident. You not answering a question correctly about accidents / incidents would be your own fault and not your Insurers0 -
The problem is the insurer didn't properly tell me about it, never confirmed what had happened and that they had paid out etc. As a result I was under the impression that there was no claim, i still had no claims discount, and had been going around getting quotes for new insurance, that had I proceeded (luckily I didn't) would have been fraudulent.
/QUOTE]They have not broken the law. They still provided the cover. They failed on administration.
As you have had no financial loss, you are just looking at a inconvenience payment.
Surely it's more than just inconvenience. If they didn't even tell the OP that there had been a claim, then OP wasn't given the opportunity to put their side and maybe dispute it. Therefore they paid out (and hence caused OP to have higher premiums in future) when they may have been able to dispute it and OP may have been able to keep NCD.
Not saying OP would have kept NCD etc as OP seems to be saying there was an accident, but nevertheless if they haven't given OP the chance to dispute it surely that's more than just poor admin?0 -
If they fail to tell me there have been claims though, then that means I am getting quotes elsewhere and potentially committing fraud myself through no fault of my own. So surely isn't it a bit more serious than inconvenience?0
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If they fail to tell me there have been claims though, then that means I am getting quotes elsewhere and potentially committing fraud myself through no fault of my own. So surely isn't it a bit more serious than inconvenience?
Surely you were declaring the accident and the fact someone made a claim against you. The only missing piece was the amount of the claim and you could have asked your insurer how much it cost.
Take the £150.0 -
Surely you were declaring the accident and the fact someone made a claim against you. The only missing piece was the amount of the claim and you could have asked your insurer how much it cost.
Take the £150.
I probably will take the £150 here, and thanks to everyone for the replies.
But the answer here is no I genuinely didn't know there had been a claim against me until my renewal documents arrived and I had lost the no claims.
To add a bit more detail - they asked if there was an incident, I replied that no I didn't think there was, it was barely a touching of bumpers. From that point onward I heard literally nothing. No confirmation, no phone call, no letter, no increase in premium, nothing at all. About 9 months passed, nothing at all. So I presumed that there had been no claim, and I think reasonably so.0 -
*Rainbow*Warrior* wrote: »The problem is the insurer didn't properly tell me about it, never confirmed what had happened and that they had paid out etc. As a result I was under the impression that there was no claim, i still had no claims discount, and had been going around getting quotes for new insurance, that had I proceeded (luckily I didn't) would have been fraudulent.
/QUOTE]
Surely it's more than just inconvenience. If they didn't even tell the OP that there had been a claim, then OP wasn't given the opportunity to put their side and maybe dispute it. Therefore they paid out (and hence caused OP to have higher premiums in future) when they may have been able to dispute it and OP may have been able to keep NCD.
Not saying OP would have kept NCD etc as OP seems to be saying there was an accident, but nevertheless if they haven't given OP the chance to dispute it surely that's more than just poor admin?
Exactly, I tried to dispute - my insurer didn't try for me.
And because I heard nothing, I assumed that my insurer had gone back to theirs and then it had amounted to nothing,,0 -
The backstory is there was a very minor incident about a year ago, and the other person made a claim against me, that part is all fine.But the answer here is no I genuinely didn't know there had been a claim against me
You knew there was a claim against you. You just didn't know it had been paid.0 -
You knew there was a claim against you. You just didn't know it had been paid.
In about 20 years of motoring, I've never had a claim against me (in fact still haven't my wife waas driving ) so I simply didn't know how it works.
I was aware there was potentially a claim, but because I'd not heard anything I presumed it had amounted to nothing. I think that's reasonable, especially since the insurer didn't do what they shoud have.0 -
Did you declare this accident to your new Insurer?0
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