Section 75 - arson - insurance

Anon19

Please can anyone help I have no idea where I stand.

I purchased a car in August. 
The car developed a fault. This was over 30 days but less than 6 months so I was entitled to a repair. The dealers refused to repair the vehicle and refused to discuss my complaint with me in anyway. Aside from the initial replies saying they would not be taking any action, they have completely ignored the complaint. After two weeks passed I started a section 75 claim with my credit card company. This was 4 working days ago and I have not received a reply yet. 
The police then knocked on my door to tell me my vehicle had been set on fire, it will be written off. I have contacted the insurers but not heard back yet. Can anyone advise on what I can and should do please? I am worried I am going to be at a loss of thousands of pounds through no fault of my own.
I am awaiting advice from citizens advice who had already advised me to start the section 75 due to the breaches of the consumer rights act.

thanks in advance

TheSpectator

No expert but would have thought the insurance claim would take priority.Why would you at a loss of thousands ifvit's insured?

Anon19

TheSpectator said:

No expert but would have thought the insurance claim would take priority.Why would you at a loss of thousands ifvit's insured?

Do you have any suggestion as to what to do with the section 75? 

I’m worried about being at a loss because it’s unlikely the insurers are going to pay me what I paid for the vehicle, plus a very large excess (they add a whopping £500 to standard excess for me being a new driver plus the fact it’s a fire) means I’ll have less money that what my current credit card bill is 

TheSpectator

Speak to the card company. How would you evidence your claim, do you have a mechanics report for example to show the faults? Obviously that would be impossible to get now.

Brie

I would suggest you go through with the insurance claim - you have to in fact as to not claim would make your insurance invalid I believe.  

Ensure that you get fair value for the car - the insurers will likely offer you a low figure so do go back with proof of what it would cost you to get like for like.  Look at what autotrader has for the same make, model, mileage.  

Let the S75 continue - obviously it will take more than 4 days for them to deal with this as they have to give the car dealer the chance to respond to queries but if they don't then they should pay your money back.

Once everything is settled I'd set aside any excess money that has been received on the off chance something gets reversed at some point.  Use the price of the car (card refund) to buy something new and put that new car on your current insurance policy.

Anon19

TheSpectator said:

Speak to the card company. How would you evidence your claim, do you have a mechanics report for example to show the faults? Obviously that would be impossible to get now.

Thanks ive already sent them all relevant evidence including an independent garage report

MEM62

Brie said:

Let the S75 continue - obviously it will take more than 4 days for them to deal with this as they have to give the car dealer the chance to respond to queries but if they don't then they should pay your money back.

How is that going to work out?  There is no longer any car.  If the garage had a sudden change of heart and said "OK, bring it in and we will repair it" the OP can't.  If the card company wants a technical report the OP will have to explain to them that it no longer exists.

The OP should proceed with the insurance claim as that is now the appropriate route to compensation for the vehicle's loss.   

DullGreyGuy

Claiming a full refund on S75 and also having a Fire claim on your insurance would be undue enrichment, aka fraud. 

What was the problem with the car? Did you have any estimates for fixing it? What was the purchase price of the car?

You should claim off your Car insurance, make sure they know that it was recently purchased and how much you'd paid for it. Yes in theory they should have the first bit from when you took the policy out but the people in Claims arent going to automatically think to check how long you owned the car. 

Insurers dont just randomly set a value for the vehicle, the motor trade have various guides (CAP, Glass's etc) which dealers, insurers, finance companies all use for setting the valuation. Inevitably there is some element of judgement on what is "good" and what is "fair" condition etc. 

To do things exactly by the book you should disclose to the insurer the problem the vehicle had, the insurer will then reduce the settlement by £X to represent this problem, and £X is then what you should adjust the S75 claim to. Most people would probably "forget" to

born_again

You are going to have to report this to card co. 
As per above they could tell you to take it to a dealer to be fixed, rather than them paying out in full.

Just be aware there is going to be some suspicion over what has happened, in terms of the car being burnt out. Given the ongoing case.