Worst ever experience with car insurer

karenh69

To cut a long story short, on 8th November a white van driver reversed into my car while I was waiting behind him in traffic. He admitted liability and was very apologetic. I got his details and took photos of both vehicles. I rang my insurer, Esure, as soon as I got home and gave them all the details. They told me I would get an email confirming this, with a claim ref no.
Two days later, no email, and my car's steering was making a loud grinding noise rendering it undrivable, so I rang again. They gave no excuses, just said they would update the info and send the email. Two days later, still nothing so rang again. This time they agreed to arrange a hire car as I was supposed to get a courtesy car, but told me they only had one approved repairer in my area who was too busy to take on anymore work and they didn't want to use the next nearest one, 50 miles away. They asked me to find a garage and get them to do a fully costed estimate to send to Esure. I was put on the spot so agreed initially, but had no luck finding one, and due to me having a disability, this caused a lot of stress which badly affected my health. My anxiety was so bad I couldn't face talking on the phone so I emailed Esure to explain my situation and ask them politely to do the job I paid them for. (I also wanted a paper trail, and just as well I did!)
They ignored my emails.
I had to get to a stage 2 complaint before I heard anything. I was called out of the blue by the original garage who were too busy, asking me to send them photos of the damage. I did this and explained about the steering. A week later the complaints resolution dept eventually rang me to apologise and uphold my complaint. (This was nearly 4 weeks after the incident and my car was still broken down at the end of my street!) They offered me a small amount of compensation and I said I would provisionally accept it but wanted to speak to my husband first. I also told them I hadn't heard anymore from the garage. Within minutes I had a call from Esure's engineer telling me my car was a total loss! I asked for a copy of the engineer's report/estimate (as I was suspicious) which he agreed to. They quoted me a fair value for the car and a price for buying it back as salvage. I told them I might be interested in buying it back (for my husband) but needed to discuss this with my husband also. This was on a Friday. It was followed up by an email to confirm and asking for my log book and MOT cert to release the cheque. I emailed the complaints guy to say that once I had seen the report I would be able to make a decision. By Wed I'd heard nothing but then got an email from the hire car company telling me that as a cheque had been sent to me for the total loss, they wanted the hire car back within 7 days. I emailed them to explain that they must be misinformed but they could take the car as I had managed to buy another car the day before. The next day I received a cheque from Esure minus the salvage value! I immediately tried to email the complaints guy again to query this and was apparently blocked, so I sent it to customer service instead and included a Subject Access Request as well. I also asked for my complaint to be looked at again as was promised if I wasn't happy.
I am still waiting for a response.
To top it all, I then had an email from the insurer of my new car to tell me that Esure had registered my claim on the CUE as my fault!
The third party's liability had never been disputed to my knowledge. So I emailed Esure yet again to ask them to correct this. I am still waiting and my new insurer is planning to increase my premium and excess as a result, unless I provide proof of third party fault. I have emailed them to explain.
All this stress has exacerbated my health condition almost to the point of a breakdown. 
Next stop is the financial ombudsman. 
Fortunately for me, I studied law and completed the Citizen's Advice training, so know how to deal with consumer problems, but I have never had to deal with such incompetence, ignorance and disrespect from any company. 
STAY AWAY FROM ESURE!

jimbo6977

And breathe. 

You've done well to secure a replacement vehicle so you can remain mobile. 

Until the van driver's insurer admits liability there is a possibility that they won't, hence the new insurer's attitude. 

Sandtree

Almost universally claims are recorded as "fault" when they are opened as there is always a risk that the insurer cannot recover their money - fault in insurance terms is defined by having a net outlay at the end of the claim rather than who is to blame for the incident itself. Once the cheque has been banked the file is then closed non-fault. Some will change it mid claim once indemnity and liability is confirmed with the TPI but that means running a small risk for them.

You dont mention what the value of your vehicle is? Hypothetically if its sub £1,000 it doesnt take more than a few scratches to cause it to be a total loss and the "report" would be little more than the output from the Glass vehicle valuation tool and the photos of the damage. If the damage is substantial and you are reporting mechanical issues (which are billed at a much higher labour rate than bodywork) it may not be necessary to do all the leg work on repair costs to know its beyond economical repair... most insurers use Autodex which they put in make/model of car areas of damage and it comes out with an industry view of man hours and parts costs so the engineer can do reasonably accurate repair cost calcs without a garage estimate.

karenh69

My car was valued at just over £2100. Tbh it's not the fact that it was written off. It's the way they've treated me, ignoring emails, sending a cheque out minus the salvage value before I'd even made a decision. They are now trying to renew the policy! I thought once a total loss was declared, the policy is terminated anyway. 🙄
Ombudsman it is then!

Sandtree

karenh69 said:

My car was valued at just over £2100. Tbh it's not the fact that it was written off. It's the way they've treated me, ignoring emails, sending a cheque out minus the salvage value before I'd even made a decision. They are now trying to renew the policy! I thought once a total loss was declared, the policy is terminated anyway. 🙄
Ombudsman it is then!

Most companies target their staff on the speed they close files, plus as this is a non-fault claim they have a duty to help you mitigate your losses. By settling net of salvage doesnt mean you cannot decide you dont want the salvage and then get a second cheque for the remainder but means ball is continue to roll towards the end.

Many insurers will allow you to transfer the remainder of the term of the policy onto your replacement vehicle, if its cost effective to do this or cancel the policy can vary and some won't be happy to cover your new choice of vehicle (eg went from your last car to a brand new Rolls Royce Wraith)