Dial Direct -> Zenith -> Aviva

timpilcher

This is a very complex issue but I’ll try and make it simple.

On the 4th December 2018 I was hit on the drivers side by a lady in a very slow velocity accident just after a set of traffic lights. She of course admitted liability and we exchanged details at the side of the road. I took a load of photos and had dash cam footage of her hitting my car and ultimately causing the accident.

Now I went home and phone my insurer Dial Direct who were very sorry for the accident etc etc and started the claim process against the third party insurance company Aviva. Dial Direct assured me that it was a painless process and everything will be dealt with behind the scenes and I had nothing to worry about.

They asked me to upload the details of the accident such detailed description of the accident, photos and dash-cam footage. I did this within the hour....

They informed me that I might get phone calls from other companies asking about accident and to ignore them because this may complicate the claim process.

This is where the problems begin!!!

I receive a letter from Aviva stating who is dealing with the claim. I replied 'Dial Direct'.
Within a few days Enterprise Car Rental call me to organise a rental car and have my car repaired but they said can’t do nothing yet due to Aviva not replying to their calls and emails or admitting liability.

I then hear NOTHING at all for 18 days.....

I call up Dial Direct and they say its no longer their problem, its Enterprise Rental dealing with it. So I call Enterprise and they say they haven't done anything because I haven't sent any photos, dash-cam or details regarding the accident. I explained I have already done this to Dial Direct but they were not interested.

So I upload the details and everything else to Enterprise Rentals.
I get a call from Enterprise on the 19th December saying that they have 3 more days to get Aviva to accept liability or they close down the claim. On the 21st December Enterprise called me once more and told me accept liability or my car won’t get fixed. So now they are suggesting that I claim off my own insurance now. I said NO, it was not my fault!.

They then closed the claim and passed it to a company called 'Zenith’ who are Dial Directs underwriters.

Zenith contacted me on the 2nd January stating they will be contacting Aviva about the claim. I thought good at least things will get going now but.....I get a call from Hertz Rental saying that they are now dealing with my claim.

At this point my car was still damaged and Dial Direct, Enterprise and Zenith wasn't going to do anything about it so will Hertz Rental do anything I wonder?.

Hertz called and said could I upload the details (again) to them. I uploaded the details and got them to reply to make sure they got them this time.

I kept ringing and ringing to find out how the claim was progressing, but they kept telling me that Aviva just won’t speak to them. Hertz kept suggesting that I claimed from my insurance so I could have one of their prestige cars. I kept saying not interested in your car or claiming on my insurance, just want to get mine fixed.

After 18 days Hertz rang and told me that the dashcam footage I had uploaded was wrong, it had the wrong date, time and location. I assured them it WAS correct. It turns out that they had someone else’s footage on my case file!!!

Anyway, towards the end I lost the will to live due to being passed from pillar to post from so many companies all willing to do NOTHING for the money I paid them. A few days after this Hertz closed the claim down once again and Zenith close down there end too.

So as it stands at the moment I have a damaged car which I have to drive to work every day. Dial Direct, Enterprise and Hertz have done nothing. Aviva refuse to speak to anyone, and I lose out. I have had no letters, document or anything from anyone explaining the situation and given me dozens of sleepless nights worrying about it.

My question is this.

I want to sue Dial Direct for compensation for the hassle and time off work etc to try and get this sorted out.

I also want to sue Aviva for not trying to resolve the accident.

I just want to get my car fixed......

Any advice would be grateful regarding this situation.

Many thanks
TIM

Quentin

As you claimed against your own policy then your route now is a complaint against your insurer in line with their complaints procedure


Then if you aren't happy with their reply you can escalate to the FOS for their adjudication all at no cost to you


As far as now suing Aviva and Dial Direct you should get proper legal advice before embarking on this - you will have to pay all court fees up front for these two court claims, and would only get them refunded by the defendants if you are successful in court, and they are ordered to reimburse them along with any other award you win in court against them

timpilcher

Hi,

Thanks for replying but I didn't claim against my own insurance because I refused to.....
I don't see why I should admit 50/50 liability when it was clearly the third parties fault.

I'm going to get penalised for years and my premiums will go up which is totally unfair. Whats the point of having insurance if they are not going to do their jobs properly.

I have legal cover on my policy which Dial Direct keep giving me a false number to call. Sick to death of the whole thing. Out of every one involved I am the one that has lost out and it wasnt even my fault..

Quentin

timpilcher wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for replying but I didn't claim against my own insurance because I refused to.....

Your OP says you initially reported this to your own insurer who "started the claim process"???? Did you subsequently cancel the claim with them?

If you didn't claim off your own insurer then why do you want to sue them?

Your legal cover is for helping you get back your uninsured losses.

They won't assist you claiming against the third party for repairs that are covered by your own policy

And won't assist you regards your plans to sue insurance companies involved

As it seems liability is disputed and the third party insurer won't play ball then you either use your own insurer to claim or see if a claim handler will pursue the matter for you/instruct your own solicitor to pursue the third party.

timpilcher

Again, thanks for the reply.

I made the initial claim to my insurer when I had the accident but when after months of doing nothing they told me to claim from my own insurance for 50/50 liability.

They told me that they would NOT be able to get liability from Aviva because they cannot contact them. if I accept 50/50 then my premiums go up. Why should I do that!!!!

Ok, so I should sue the person that hit me. I guess that's the only option..

NOTE: STAY AWAY FROM DIAL DIRECT.

Quentin

You say you claimed off your own Insurers who did nothing for months.

Are they dial direct?

If so they should have sorted your repairs immediately and the liability issue in due course!

Getting liability resolved is never the initial issue when you claim off your own comprehensive policy

If for some reason your insurer could not contact the third party insurer initially that was no reason to not proceed with your repairs.

Obviously Aviva would not be uncontactable for months!

You now say you are in dispute over liability. That should not affect your repairs getting carried out.

Unless you cancelled the claim??

If you sue the person that hit you, then bear in mind that they will pass your court claim onto their Insurers to deal with and if they decide to defend it then you will be faced with their defence team against you rather than simply the person that hit you

timpilcher

Yes my insurer is Dial Direct and yes they passed me from pillar to post through 3 different companies before closing the claim.
Dial Direct passed me to Enterprise Rentals who passed me to Zenith (Markerstudy) who passed me to Hertz Rentals who eventually closed the claim.

No, my car is still damaged!!.
I was only going to sue the third party in the small claims court anyway.
So what your saying is just take it on the chin and tough luck...

Quentin

It looks like they hoped this was going to be a straightforward liability issue and passed you on to a claim handler(s) rather than deal with this themselves.

Had this gone smoothly it would have been to your advantage as no excess would have to be paid and a replacement car would be provided etc

As the claims handlers all look to have got nowhere regarding liability being accepted by the third party they were unable to help you

Go back to your insurer and explain this, and reinstate your claim.

(As you already informed your insurer this incident will be recorded against you and you will have to disclose it anyway to other insurers you approach for quotes in future you may as well claim now rather than take it on the chin!)

timpilcher

If I phone them up and try to reinstate the claim, will they just tell me to go away because I had my chance already?.

Quentin

timpilcher wrote: »

If I phone them up and try to reinstate the claim, will they just tell me to go away because I had my chance already?.

No.

If you are not happy with their response when asking for the claim to be actioned immediately then go down the complaints procedure suggested in #2 above