Adrian Flux Breakdown Cover Total Disaster

philallen

Hi everyone
I was sold European breakdown cover to get a British van back from France (where I am currently) which got stuck here for over a year without an MoT due to the pandemic. It was declared SORN, and as DVLA were unavailable on the phone due to covid for a long time, I could not tell them it was declared off road in France, therefore it was declared off road on the English system despite it being here, as this was my only option because of having to do it online. When my situation improved, and I eventually managed get hold of Dvla, they told me I could legally get the van home for the MoT if I found an insurer. I used Adrian Flux, who insured me with European breakdown cover with full recovery back to the UK if necessary. I have the recording of when I took out the quote which they sent me themselves later on, where they clearly assured me several times that I would be fully breakdown covered in case I broke down, which was necessary anyway in order to stay legal in such a case or the van would be stranded on a public road with no MoT (and it being declared off road in UK). Unfortunately the van had a minor problem with a brake pipe, which rendered the brakes totally inefficient. I called the breakdown recovery company used by Adrian Flux, who said they were unable to assist me because they said Adrian Flux should not have given me breakdown cover in my situation. I complained to Adrian Flux for mis-selling me the policy and leaving me in a precarious situation, and I demanded that they honour the contract. They fibbed over and over inventing shameful reasons to deny my claim for cover, all easily proven as outright lies from the phone conversation that they sent me to "prove" their own reasons for denying me the cover. I am now stranded in France with the van parked illegally with Adrian Flux being absolutely liable for the situation. They actually admitted liability on one occasion on the phone, which unfortunately was the only call I didn't record myself though I have a log of the call that they made to me on my phone. They admitted having mis-sold me the policy, and the breakdown recovery company who I had meanwhile stayed in touch with were also informed by Flux that the cover had perhaps been mis-sold to me. The breakdown company are ready to help me and seem to be on my side, but they apparently still need a final confirmation from Adrian Flux. However Adrian Flux then back pedalled, once again trying to wriggle out of it with another pathetic excuse. I have so far lost £40 on phone bills from being kept on hold, £150 on a ferry ticket, €38 on a dog worming tablet which will need to be administered again thus overdosing my dog (UK dog travel laws say they must be administered within a 5 day window before the ferry crosses), and most of all the uncertainty of my van, and the fear of it being towed away and disposed of should the French authorities have a problem with it. The longer this goes on the more loss of earnings I suffer too as I am already very late for work in England, which requires the van for me to be able to work. Money is limited as it is, and i cannot see what I would do if this isn't soon resolved. I have been through the complaints procedure which has been a farce, and they refuse give me a complaint reference number for the ombudsmen. The ombudsmen who I spoke to also seemed to be playing the same game as Flux, fobbing me off saying he could do nothing. I am waiting for a 'final response letter' from the complaints department which has yet to arrive before I can continue, how long it will take who knows. Also the complaints department number shown on the website, which is obviously a different body than the department who I have been speaking to over the phone, said they do not deal with my particular type of policy when I called them. The actual complaints team linked with customer services who I have been speaking to do not give out a number to call directly. The final excuse this complaints team have now stuck with was that there was a 24 hour cooling off period before the cover came into force, which even if it was true (which it isn't) then this detail was not mentioned to me when I took out the quote, and I have the recording where I specifically asked (twice) if I was covered for breakdown for the journey to the ferry from the 6th to 8th November, to which they said a definite yes (both times). This is the most stressful situation I've ever been in and my life is practically over without a resolution. The FCA, MBI, ABI, Trading Standards and the CAB have all been contacted with a letter similar to this post, the FCA being the most useful so far though they said nothing can happen until i recieve the final response email from complaints. I think that is most of the vital information. Thank you for reading and any thoughts would be appreciated.
Philip Allen         

Sandtree

The FCA will be talking about the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) process which requires that you either have a final response from the company or 8 weeks have passed since your complaint was registered, whichever is sooner. The FOS will at times "write a letter for you" before this but it is a stock letter with lots of preset text about the rules on complaints (ie final response within 8 weeks etc) and 3 lines where the call centre agent you;ve spoken to (they arent Ombudsman, those are the third line staff who deal with complaints after either customer or financial services company rejects the outcome decided by an Adjudicator) can summerise your complaint. Having seen a fair few of these in my time, they are rarely any good (and to be fair to them, try and write all the above in 3 lines between phone calls).


You talk about losing earnings etc... how much would it cost you to get the van back to the UK yourself? Any consideration of compensation is always going to factor in your mitigation of losses... you cannot hope to claim £250/day for lost work for 8 weeks if the tow home would be £750