Eldon insurance. Car hit with stolen bike . Wont pay all damage

sam791

Can anyone help?
My car was hit by a stolen , uninsured motorbike with a false plate.
The bike hit head on and slide underneath the front of the car. I have a witness who saw the aftermath and police reports too.
Eldon sent an assessor. He looked at the damage at the front of the car but not underneath as he didnt have the equipment to do so. I sent it to my own garage who confirmed the bike caught the sump nut causing the oil to drain out thus damaging the gearbox.

Eldon sent another assessor to look at the car whilst in the garage. They have advised eldon the damage to the gearbox isnt accident related and they will not cover it. The car isnt roadworthy without the gearbox and was in full working order before.

I called and spoke with a manager who advised he will chase the witness report and police and if they match up with to my verision of events they will honour the gearbox repair. He said it would take around a week.
Called a week later and no witness has been contacted and no police report obtained and the manager i spoke with isnt in for the next two weeks.
I have made a complaint Eldon who responded a few days after
stating they will not uphold my complaint (no reference to the witness and police report).

I am beyond furious! I have made a complaint to the fsa.
Does anyone has any further advice or experience of the fsa complaints to car insurance?

paddyandstumpy

I doubt the Food Standards Authority will be interested in your complaint about car insurance.

You'll need to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

They'll only review complaints where you've exhausted the complaints procedure of the Broker, which it sounds like you have.

However, given that Eldon are a Broker, have you tried contacting the Underwriter as shown on your certificate?

sam791

Oh dear ! I obv meant Financial Ombudsman Service! (haha)
The letter of complaint is from Eldon.
Go skippy are my broker. Thanks

agrinnall

I'm not sure why draining the oil from a car that presumably had the engine switched off would cause any internal gearbox damage. If you carried on running the car after the accident the insurer might well take the view that was your decision and the damage was therefore your fault.

Retrogamer

Seems to be a bit of confusion here.

Sump plugs are on the sump and the sump is part of the engine.

Do you have any photos of the damage?
What kind of vehicle is it?

sam791

I believe it's the sump ? It's been punctuated causing the oil to leak out . I have a large 4x4. Enough space for a motorbike to get lodge underneath

Retrogamer

Hence the confusion. The sump is part of the engine. The gearbox is not the engine.

You said the gearbox got damaged because the bike hit the sump.

sam791

They described it on the report as the gearbox sump ? Sorry I'm not very technical

forgotmyname

Your not very technical which is why they are not taking you seriously.

You need to take it to someone to inspect it properly or if you think driving it will damage it you get them to come to you or get it transported to them.

Get a written report and go from there with real facts.

I find it hard to see how it damage a sump plug to leak all the oil out. My guess is that the plug was leaking from a previous oil change and you didnt notice it.

It will be very easy for them to tell how long it has been leaking.

tberry6686

Rip off the gearbox sump plug and it will drain quickly, if running at the time it will destroy the gearbox.

agrinnall

tberry6686 wrote: »

Rip off the gearbox sump plug and it will drain quickly, if running at the time it will destroy the gearbox.

But my point was if a motorbike has just become stuck under your car why wouldn't you turn the engine off long before any damage could be caused to the gearbox? And my guess is that the insurer thought the same and concluded that the gearbox was already damaged so won't pay for it.