Car insurance query

tberry4118

Sandtree said:

tberry4118 said:

Sandtree said:

Whats your actual question?

Presumably it was found burnt out in the field? Assuming this is the case then back in my days we would have to change the claim type on our system to fire because not all of our network repairers etc were able/willing to deal with fire claims and the changing of the type (that required IT intervention) made sure the companies appointed were appropriate. This was just a systems issue and made no difference to customers. 

My question is, is it normal procedure to take so long to settle and is it normal for them to take ownership of my car when they haven't even made a decision as to whether I would be paid out or not 

The duration you mention is fairly long but these things are highly variable and thats before you add the complexity of a pandemic. 

It is normal for them to want to get a burnt out wreck out of storage that has to be paid for into a scrap merchant as quickly as possible. If they have fraud suspicions then clearly they aren't going to tell you about them. Never dealt with a claim where a burnt out wreck is declined as a claim but suspect the resolution would be payment of the scrap value net of any storage.

I was aware their was fraud suspicions, hence them telling me I need to be investigated by a private investigator. She shut my case within 24 hours and the police are treating it as a theft. My claim handler said he needs to tick a few boxes on his side to process the claim. It has been proved their is nothing fraudulent. Surely the investigators report and police reports stand for something?? He asked me to then transfer ownership to them so they could process the claim. I then get a call off of someone who told me she doesnt even deal with motor theft and she rudely tells me its up to them whether I get paid or not. I have no idea whats going on 

tberry4118

Sandtree said:

tberry4118 said:

Sandtree said:

Whats your actual question?

Presumably it was found burnt out in the field? Assuming this is the case then back in my days we would have to change the claim type on our system to fire because not all of our network repairers etc were able/willing to deal with fire claims and the changing of the type (that required IT intervention) made sure the companies appointed were appropriate. This was just a systems issue and made no difference to customers. 

My question is, is it normal procedure to take so long to settle and is it normal for them to take ownership of my car when they haven't even made a decision as to whether I would be paid out or not 

The duration you mention is fairly long but these things are highly variable and thats before you add the complexity of a pandemic. 

It is normal for them to want to get a burnt out wreck out of storage that has to be paid for into a scrap merchant as quickly as possible. If they have fraud suspicions then clearly they aren't going to tell you about them. Never dealt with a claim where a burnt out wreck is declined as a claim but suspect the resolution would be payment of the scrap value net of any storage.

If they STILL had suspicions they wouldn't carry on with the next steps of the claim would they? I dont know how this works. Its the first time I've ever had to claim for anything and hopefully the last 

Sandtree

tberry4118 said:
Surely the investigators report and police reports stand for something?

Have they asked for a copy of the police report? If so then there is your likely source of delay because those things take weeks on a good day and months on a bad day (and are rarely worth the paper they are written on). The police will also only share the report once their files are closed (ie they've admitted they won't catch the thief or prosecution is concluded).

I would say police reports were a nice little earner for the police but with how much messing about there is involved I'd be surprised if its break even... send the cheque for the amount requested get the cheque returned asking for a different payee, send new cheque and get cheque returned asking for it to be made payable to the original payee, resent original cheque and get it returned saying the price has now changed GRRRR

tberry4118

Sandtree said:

tberry4118 said:
Surely the investigators report and police reports stand for something?

Have they asked for a copy of the police report? If so then there is your likely source of delay because those things take weeks on a good day and months on a bad day (and are rarely worth the paper they are written on). The police will also only share the report once their files are closed (ie they've admitted they won't catch the thief or prosecution is concluded).

I would say police reports were a nice little earner for the police but with how much messing about there is involved I'd be surprised if its break even... send the cheque for the amount requested get the cheque returned asking for a different payee, send new cheque and get cheque returned asking for it to be made payable to the original payee, resent original cheque and get it returned saying the price has now changed GRRRR

My claims handler did say the police were very unhelpful. They even told the insurance company to stop hassling them and pay out for the claim 😮 the police called me and told me the investigation was closed. He even laughed and told me my parts were probably being used on someone else's car. My claims handler has managed to get the police report so I dont think it is that that is holding it up. My claim handler said it is being reviewed by the team leader as their are alot of parts to this claim. That all sounded fine to me but a lady then called and said I might not even be paid without giving me a credible explanation 

jimbo6977

tberry4118 said:

Sandtree said:

tberry4118 said:
Surely the investigators report and police reports stand for something?

Have they asked for a copy of the police report? If so then there is your likely source of delay because those things take weeks on a good day and months on a bad day (and are rarely worth the paper they are written on). The police will also only share the report once their files are closed (ie they've admitted they won't catch the thief or prosecution is concluded).

I would say police reports were a nice little earner for the police but with how much messing about there is involved I'd be surprised if its break even... send the cheque for the amount requested get the cheque returned asking for a different payee, send new cheque and get cheque returned asking for it to be made payable to the original payee, resent original cheque and get it returned saying the price has now changed GRRRR

My claims handler did say the police were very unhelpful. They even told the insurance company to stop hassling them and pay out for the claim 😮 the police called me and told me the investigation was closed. He even laughed and told me my parts were probably being used on someone else's car. My claims handler has managed to get the police report so I dont think it is that that is holding it up. My claim handler said it is being reviewed by the team leader as their are alot of parts to this claim. That all sounded fine to me but a lady then called and said I might not even be paid without giving me a credible explanation 

In the same way as the sun "might not rise tomorrow" until it does, your claim "might not be paid" until the moment the appropriate person at the insurance company signs off the settlement offer. So if this box isn't ticked on the file, some hot, tired, fed up, WFH, 3-kids-round-their-ankles, call centre bod could tell you "the claim might not get paid."

Other than that the only possibility is some kind of non-disclosure. I've not done this sort of work for years but when I did one of the hold-ups could be driving licence checks with the DVLA - I would hope these are more automated than they used to be, but if not, given the DVLA staff are mostly not at work at present, this could be the problem, but if so then the claim handler at the insurer should be able to tell you. 

AdrianC

New thread on the same claim...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6287228/car-insurance-nightmare