Insurance refusing to pay out, refusing to accept liability for lost key and looking for advice

jaykurb

DullGreyGuy said:

chrisw said:

If they're refusing to pay out then surely there hasn't effectively been a claim on the policy so it should be able to be cancelled.

There has been a claim, just because it was declined doesnt mean it wasnt a claim not that they havent incurred costs assessing the claim

Yes I feel this is the route they are going to try. Although, no one has even looked at the car so I can only imagine the cost incurred to the insurance company is minimal. 

Wonka_2

jaykurb said:

 Secondly, we now need to get the car repaired or sell it as it is, either way  we need the keys. 

Not that it has any influence on the principle of the claim (or not claim) - what is (or was pre-incident) the value of the car. There's limited (legal) desirability for flood-damaged cars and very difficult to successfully repair

jaykurb

Wonka_2 said:

jaykurb said:

 Secondly, we now need to get the car repaired or sell it as it is, either way  we need the keys. 

Not that it has any influence on the principle of the claim (or not claim) - what is (or was pre-incident) the value of the car. There's limited (legal) desirability for flood-damaged cars and very difficult to successfully repair

Around £5k. Yes I have a few mechanic friends and they have mentioned the range in costs is vast. However, the engine is not seized and there is scope for a potentially economic repair. Although, I think I want to see the back of it now as who knows what can happen after a repair. 

Herzlos

Do you have any proof of delivery for the package containing the paperwork and keys they claim not to have recieved?

jaykurb

Herzlos said:

Do you have any proof of delivery for the package containing the paperwork and keys they claim not to have recieved?

So I have proof they recieved the letter, they don’t deny that. However they do deny the key was in there. Unfortunately for them, I sent the letter recorded delivery and the weight of the letter was recorded. After recieving the documents back (minus the key) the letter weighed around 40 grams less (around the weight of my key). I can’t believe i’m having to weigh letters to prove my case but just shows how far this company will go to evade responsibility.

DullGreyGuy

jaykurb said:

DullGreyGuy said:

chrisw said:

If they're refusing to pay out then surely there hasn't effectively been a claim on the policy so it should be able to be cancelled.

There has been a claim, just because it was declined doesnt mean it wasnt a claim not that they havent incurred costs assessing the claim

Yes I feel this is the route they are going to try. Although, no one has even looked at the car so I can only imagine the cost incurred to the insurance company is minimal. 

It depends on their setup, if they outsource claims handling then the fee for a repudiated claim is the same as the fee for a claim of the same value had they not repudiated it. Were it not there would be a moral risk that the claims handlers would payout on the claim to get the higher fee. 

Motor tends to be flat fees but Home and other lines the fees tend to be stepped which again creates the risk because a claim settled at £20,000 gets them another £150 over a claim settled at £19,999.99. Fortunately claims adjusters like doing their job properly and a claim under £20k always feels better than one just over.


To the real problem at hand however, you need to get the exact wording in your policy that your insurers are relying on to deny cover. As has already been posted, the FOS have a fairly high bar on exclusions for "carelessness" so its worth looking at the cases already linked to and others and compare it to your own and your own wording and then put a complaint in.

Note however the FOS does not create precedent so finding another case with similarish features doesnt mean they are bound to come to the same conclusion... though they often do. 

SaverRate

Who is the insurer please?