Insurer not investigating claim

Hersden

On 20th June 2022, a taxi drove into my cars open door in the gatwick airport drop off zone. There are plenty of cameras there so I immediately informed my insurer and followed the proper procedure. Several weeks later admiral asked if I wanted them to request the footage, this was the first red flag I can remember. I had to pay £600 excess which is the complaint I have.

The footage was obtained and I had verbal confirmation from someone at admiral, that they had seen the footage and agreed that what I had said had happened. They passed this on to a third party legal firm Horwhich Farrelly (HF) and gave us details. For the next 18 months, whenever we followed it up we were told the claim was progressing and the other party was disputing, but it was being worked on. We were never able to get beyond a receptionist at the law firm.

In January 2024, after one of my many follow ups, we were told that HF had not actually managed to open the video file. I could not believe this, but was fobbed off by admiral saying they were taking it seriously bla bla.

April 2024 I followed up again, HF had still not managed to access the video ( I understand this sounds unbelievable but its true).

I submitted a complaint and did receive some compensation in April 2024 for admiral ignoring email, but the crux is that they are saying its in hf hands and so they can't get involved. This leaves me over two years out of pocket, with admiral unwilling to do anything and hf incapable of opening a file.

I paid for the motor legal protection, which as I understand will cover my excess if I have reasonable chance of winning, which I think I do given there is a video.

Where do I stand, can admiral fob me off indefinitely and say its out of their hands or at some point do they have to take responsibility for this third party who are clearly incompetent?

DullGreyGuy

Legal Expenses cover covers the costs of lawyers to help you attempt to recover your uninsured losses (eg excess, hire car, injury, loss of earnings etc), it doesn't cover paying the losses themselves. 

Have you asked Admiral who's recovering their outlay? Are they doing that themselves or have they asked the LE firm to do so?

Have you asked for a copy of the footage? Whilst it shouldn't be for you to provide tech support etc ultimately sometimes its easier to as in the corporate environment someone cannot just download a copy of handbrake or other free video conversion software to change it into a playable format. 

Hersden

Thank you, I will go back to admiral with those queries. Normally takes them a few weeks to respond!

To add insult to injury I have just sold the car today coincidentally, and when it was collected the dealer immediately questioned the door and said that it had been poorly fixed by Admirals local repair partner which has taken over £1,500 off the price.

liveletlive

I'm sure if you follow my messages you will notice a trend, my 5 year has been treated for leukaemia and Ive had to try and claim on a few insurance policies.

The industry is a mess they try to avoid paying for anything and they won't proactively offer cover offer cover based on their terms, you have to find it in your terms and. take it to them.

My experience with the Financial Ombudsman has been just as horrific at one point an investigator stated.

"When the policy wording is not clear we believe the fairest options is to allow the insurer to clarify"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing so I aggressively challenged it and the investigator revoked their statement.

But thats the thinking inside FOS.

DullGreyGuy

liveletlive said:

I'm sure if you follow my messages you will notice a trend, my 5 year has been treated for leukaemia and Ive had to try and claim on a few insurance policies.

The industry is a mess they try to avoid paying for anything and they won't proactively offer cover offer cover based on their terms, you have to find it in your terms and. take it to them.

My experience with the Financial Ombudsman has been just as horrific at one point an investigator stated.

"When the policy wording is not clear we believe the fairest options is to allow the insurer to clarify"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing so I aggressively challenged it and the investigator revoked their statement.

But thats the thinking inside FOS.

And what has that got to do with the OP's thread @liveletlive? 

Their insurer have fully covered what they are required to do... they've paid out on the claim and they've instructed solicitors to help the OP. The OP's complaint is as much about the third party and their solicitors. 

Appreciate you've an axe to grind but simply complaining about the insurance industry and FOS on every post that even mentions the word insurance isn't helpful to the other posters. 

cw8825

liveletlive said:

I'm sure if you follow my messages you will notice a trend, my 5 year has been treated for leukaemia and Ive had to try and claim on a few insurance policies.

The industry is a mess they try to avoid paying for anything and they won't proactively offer cover offer cover based on their terms, you have to find it in your terms and. take it to them.

My experience with the Financial Ombudsman has been just as horrific at one point an investigator stated.

"When the policy wording is not clear we believe the fairest options is to allow the insurer to clarify"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing so I aggressively challenged it and the investigator revoked their statement.

But thats the thinking inside FOS.

Is this necessary?