Insurance Excess

rachierach_2

Hello,

Im having a problem with my insurance company. Someone else hit my car and wrote it off, they took full liability and I have recieve all monies from the insurance company. I recieved a cheque from them for a £250 excess which I didnt think I had paid so I rang them and checked (being a goody goody!) and was told that there was no mistake and that they were returning my outlay and that I should cash the cheque. I presumed that the money had been deducted from my the value of my car.

I then got a phonecall demanding the money back 3 months later and was told that I knew the money wasnt mine and I shouldnt have cashed it so this was my fault. Do I have to repay the money even though I highlighted their mistake and gave them over a week to rectify it before cashing my cheque?

lisyloo

I presumed that the money had been deducted from my the value of my car.

So do you actually know what they paid you?
Surely they sent you a letter detailing it.
I would definitely check.

I then got a phonecall demanding the money back 3 months later and was told that I knew the money wasnt mine and I shouldnt have cashed it so this was my fault.

That's an outrageous attitude and I would certinaly be making a formal complaint in view of your actions.

Do I have to repay the money even though I highlighted their mistake and gave them over a week to rectify it before cashing my cheque?

If it's not your money they you do have to pay it back.
But firstly I think a complaint is in order about their attitude and secondly are your sure of what you received in their offer.
You say you "presumed" it had been deducted.
You really need to be sure of what you got.
Check your offer letter and if it still isn't clear then get them to clarify the settlement.

So in short I would definitely confirm whether it's owed and do a complaint in parallel (preferably naming the offender) and don't give them a penny until they have justified that you owe them the money and preferably they have apologised profusely but at the end of the day if it's not your money you have to give it back.

Gallovidian

Interesting; I strongly suspect that you will have to pay it back as it
is not legally yours. However they should have a record of your
previous conversations with them and if you refer to these and politely
request that as a gesture of goodwill they forget the matter, you
might just get to keep it.;)

right_track

lisyloo wrote: »

So do you actually know what they paid you?
Surely they sent you a letter detailing it.
I would definitely check.

That's an outrageous attitude and I would certinaly be making a formal complaint in view of your actions.

If it's not your money they you do have to pay it back.
But firstly I think a complaint is in order about their attitude and secondly are your sure of what you received in their offer.
You say you "presumed" it had been deducted.
You really need to be sure of what you got.
Check your offer letter and if it still isn't clear then get them to clarify the settlement.

So in short I would definitely confirm whether it's owed and do a complaint in parallel (preferably naming the offender) and don't give them a penny until they have justified that you owe them the money and preferably they have apologised profusely but at the end of the day if it's not your money you have to give it back.

I think before jumping to conclusions and telling people to complain it would be worth knowing exactly what was said in the phonecall, don't you?

Perhaps talking to the insurance company again would be a better way of reaching an amicable solution, finding out how the error occured and discussing a payment plan if necessary.

To the OP - Have a look at your paperwork, in the majority of cases where a vehicle is written off you are correct in thinking that an excess is deducted. If it is a none fault accident then this excess can be recovered from the other driver's insurance company. If the insurance company has an admission of liability before they have paid you then they may waive the excess, pay you the full amount and then recover this from the other insurance company.

Without figures and the letter it's all just specualtion but I hope it gets sorted out for you.

lisyloo

I think before jumping to conclusions and telling people to complain it would be worth knowing exactly what was said in the phonecall, don't you?

Hi right_track,

I don't have a transcript of the phone call but this looks very damning to me.

I then got a phonecall demanding the money back 3 months later and was told that I knew the money wasnt mine and I shouldnt have cashed it so this was my fault.

It clearly states that demands and accusations were made.
I'm not sure what conclusions I have jumped to but I would be reporting the person if this happened to me.

Perhaps talking to the insurance company again would be a better way of reaching an amicable solution,

Well you are entitled to your opinion, but given what is stated above then I would find that an unacceptable way for them to conduct themselves and I would want then to address that.
Not for my personal gain but so that they (or that person) does not treat people like that in future.
I'm sure the first thing they will do is to check the tapes to see if the call is recorded.

Obviously it's up to the OP to decide if they want to complain or not but I find the appraoch as stated to be completely unacceptable under any circumstances but especially where she has queried it already (and they SHOULD have noted that on the file).

Sorting out the acutal issue is of course important but because I know how long these things can take, I suggested doing it in parallel.
But I would agree with you that it's a secondary issue.

right_track

lisyloo wrote: »

Hi right_track,

I don't have a transcript of the phone call but this looks very damning to me.

It clearly states that demands and accusations were made.
I'm not sure what conclusions I have jumped to but I would be reporting the person if this happened to me.
Obviously if they have reported it incorrectly or elaborated a great deal then I don't think I can be held responsible for that.

Sorry if my post appeared a bit stroppy but as someone who deals with complaints, for a few insurance companies, a lot of the time people's perceptions of what is demanding or threatening etc, either in writing or verbally, can vary a lot! This was the 'conclusion' that I was referring to but perhaps I could have phrased it better?

I just think people can sometimes be a bit too quick to start complaining and asking for apologies, especially if they're not called for.

Obviously the OP has the right to complain is she is unhappy, as does every customer, but is it simply that she wants to get it off her chest or that she hopes to achieve something productive from it?

lisyloo

but is it simply that she wants to get it off her chest or that she hopes to achieve something productive from it?

I don't honestly know what the OPs view of it is but the potential gains are

1) To stop others being treated like that in future (I have a strong sense of fair play and altruism).

2) Potentially if there is to be any "goodwill gesture" then there is the possibility of some personal gain here.

3) There was potentially an accusation of deliberate underhand play. Personally I would want that formally recinded.

Obviously other may ahve different views and some people might not be bothered but I'm the sort of person that just wouldn't be able to leave it at that.
If true then I think it's dreadful to make unfonded allegations (assuming of course that the OP hasn't elaborated or over reacted).

I can certainly see your point about our "compensation culture" and everybody complaining about everything these days, but if true I think demands and allegations are really bad.

rachierach_2

ooh ive started some bickering here!

Just to confirm I dont usually overreact and the man was very rude on the phone pretty much exact words were:

You knew that wasnt your money and cashed it anyway. You need to return it to us when will that be? We need to you to put a cheque in the post immediately as this is not our mistake.

Who's mistake is it then? hmm. I only asked the question to find out if I had to pay it back or not which obviously I do, but seeing as it took them 2 months to send me my cheque Ill dawdle with theirs.

lisyloo

It's definitely their mistake and not yours.
Regardless of that you do have to pay it back.

You are fully within your rights to take the necessary time to establish that it is correct (as they would in that posistion) and if necessary offer a schedule to pay it back.
Of course if you dawdle too much you might get threatening letters but you are fully within you rights to take time to do whatever admin you need (after all you are not employed to do this and you may have other priorities or be unavailable).

Quentin

Don't send it back at your expense.

Write to them, detailing all the expenses you have incurred so far (include phone calls and postage). Ask them to reimburse you for all expenses to date plus the cost of returning the cheque to them via a signed for delivery service (recorded or special delivery).