Car insurance nightmare

tberry4118

DB1904 said:

tberry4118 said:

DB1904 said:

tberry4118 said:

DB1904 said:

tberry4118 said:

Goudy said:

It was settled quite quickly after the standoff over where is was left.
They asked, I told them I had nothing and it went quiet. They asked again, I told them and it went quiet.

Eventually I just asked what is it I could do to prove it was where I left it, they asked for any doorbell camera footage which I told them I didn't have, even if I did, my door isn't on the street anyway (they actually checked on Google maps while I was on the phone to them, my car was even in the image in the same place!).
I kept repeating if I'd have any I would have given it to them straight away anyway.

They then started asking about on street CCTV. I just said if they was any, the council or police certianly wouldn't hand it over to me and they best ask them themselves. 
After those few roundabouts they seemed quite happy.

All in all it was about 6 weeks start to finish.
I don't think I had any contact with their fraud team, just the loss adjuster who in the end turned out quite helpful and helped me claim for some other things left inside the car.

You need to remember the insurance arranged collection by a breakdown agent or garage, they themselves will probably never see the vehicle as it's stored in a garage pound somewhere.
If they need to inspect it, they won't do that themselves but send an independent engineer.

The insurance company are only working with the things sent to them, what you, the police, the engineer etc report to them.
If there is anything that rings their bell, they will probably need others to investegate for them, which takes time, particularly now.
They could be waiting weeks if not months for info from say the DVLA.

They sent their own  engineer 3 weeks after the car was found and he has said the car is green, but the police emails show it as white and ive spoken to the police and they confirmed the paint that was left was white. Ive sent them everything. Theres nothing more I can possibly do. I guess its just a case of waiting now. My claims adjuster told me he had the police report weeks ago but the man from the fraud team said they haven't spoken to the police at all. I just don't know anymore 

So if their engineer has seen it, what have they said about the engine and chassis numbers?

The engine had been removed, as well as other parts but the police confirmed it had my chassis number on it and thats how they identified the car back to me 

So what's the issue with colour then, is there more to this story?

The car that I bought was previously green,  i had it resprayed white. i also sent off the colour change to DVLA. It got stolen, the police found it and called me, the insurance company are saying the car that was recovered is green. But the police photographs show alot of white paint still remaining and a bit of green in the footwell. The car was left in a sewage field behind a locked gate for 15 days in the rain before the insurance company took it. In the official police photos its white and not much rust however the photos that the insurance company took, most of the paint has come off and the car is covered in thick orange rust. The car definitely was white in the police photos 

Which police force are we talking about?

It was a sergeant from essex police 

teachfast

A car doesn't rust or change colour in two weeks. There is more to this story.

The_Fat_Controller

@teachfast, suggest you go set your car on fire and then see how quickly it rusts when the bare steel is exposed !

The OP's car was burnt out.

tberry4118

teachfast said:

A car doesn't rust or change colour in two weeks. There is more to this story.

I think you'll find a car that's been burnt out will rust very quickly. The car didn't change colour. If you take time to read the post, the car had remains of white paint when the police found it. by the time the insurance company collected it it was mostly gone and there was a tiny bit of old green paint in the footwell 

AdrianC

tberry4118 said:

Herzlos said:

tberry4118 said:

AdrianC said:

So a RRC. Appreciating classic, and - in good nick - worth real money these days. But sheds are still dirt cheap...

No wonder they're looking closely at it.

Was it on a classic policy, or a vanilla one?

Yes it was a golden oldie, not many of them about anymore.  What do you mean sheds are dirt cheap? 
It was on a classic policy

What he means is you can buy a knackered one for a few hundred quid, leave it behind a gate and then claim £15,000 on the insurance.

Behind the locked gate bit is suspicious, but presumably the police will be looking into that part as it's not relevant to the insurance company.

I think you're going to keep jumping through the hoops and trying to find as much evidence of the previous state of it as possible - photos of it on your driveway, etc, should they ask further questions.

I can buy a knackered one and leave it behind a gate, really!??? So how did there engineer value it at 15k.
Why have I sent them cctv footage of my car parked outside my house and me and my children going out in it on different occasions. It makes no sense. It was also on cctv being stolen at the farm and you can see it definitely wasn't a rotten one, it was the one I insured 

Exactly. Their suspicion may well be that while the one on film is the one you insured, the one found is not.

tberry4118

AdrianC said:

tberry4118 said:

Herzlos said:

tberry4118 said:

AdrianC said:

So a RRC. Appreciating classic, and - in good nick - worth real money these days. But sheds are still dirt cheap...

No wonder they're looking closely at it.

Was it on a classic policy, or a vanilla one?

Yes it was a golden oldie, not many of them about anymore.  What do you mean sheds are dirt cheap? 
It was on a classic policy

What he means is you can buy a knackered one for a few hundred quid, leave it behind a gate and then claim £15,000 on the insurance.

Behind the locked gate bit is suspicious, but presumably the police will be looking into that part as it's not relevant to the insurance company.

I think you're going to keep jumping through the hoops and trying to find as much evidence of the previous state of it as possible - photos of it on your driveway, etc, should they ask further questions.

I can buy a knackered one and leave it behind a gate, really!??? So how did there engineer value it at 15k.
Why have I sent them cctv footage of my car parked outside my house and me and my children going out in it on different occasions. It makes no sense. It was also on cctv being stolen at the farm and you can see it definitely wasn't a rotten one, it was the one I insured 

Exactly. Their suspicion may well be that while the one on film is the one you insured, the one found is not.

So how will it get resolved. Ive sent them everything I have. My car was stolen theres no question about that. The police have said the one in the field is mine and that it was white. Ive told the police what the insurance company have said about the colour and they laughed and said they know how to contact us if they want confirmation 

AdrianC

How long had you had it?

Ultimately... 
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs

tberry4118

AdrianC said:

How long had you had it?

Ultimately... 
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs

7 months
I dont think I can go to the ombudsman until they have given me a decision.
They haven't denied my claim, they said they would be satisfied if I send them my phone bill which I did.
I dont know the process of an insurance claim but I can see this dragging on 

tberry4118

AdrianC said:

How long had you had it?

Ultimately... 
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs

If they seriously suspected fraud would they not have denied my claim straight away? and im sure I would have had the police at my door 

AdrianC

tberry4118 said:

AdrianC said:

How long had you had it?

Ultimately... 
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs

7 months

And you're absolutely sure it's not even got a mildly hooky past...?

You checked all the stamped VINs etc were all present and correct?

I dont think I can go to the ombudsman until they have given me a decision.
They haven't denied my claim, they said they would be satisfied if I send them my phone bill which I did.
I dont know the process of an insurance claim but I can see this dragging on 

Hence "ultimately". Right now, you don't have much choice but work with them.