vehicle replacement protection

very_worried_1975

I recently was involved in a car crash which was not my fault the third party has been charged with causing the accidient and was drink driving, he was very over the limit....
I have vrp (vehicle replacement protection) which is like gap but covers a high amount of vehicle price. they have offered me a payment which is less of 3200 of which they should be paying out, they are saying that they will only cover £1500 of factory or car dealers accessories.. When you purchase a mini you buy the basic car, then you have optional equipment like sat nav chili package etc...... I was told that the insurance VRP would cover me upto £22,000, when I took the insurance out at the dealership, also was reminded of this total £22,000 when I went to see them about buying a new car...... however this is not so, can anyone help me....as I believe that optional equipment is that and is not accessories, I have also checked the wording in the dictionary and the words are two different things

would love to hear your advice xxxxx
(sorry I hope i have written ok my first post)

Oscar_The_Grouch

Hi there

I hope you were not injured in the accident....

This gets complicated, so let's start with the basics:

English law uses a principal called INDEMNITY. Without going in to too much detail, this is the value of your car before the accident but including all the extras. Your motor policy works on the same principal and this means that whatever your car insurers pay you, they will recover from the insurers of the drunk driver (and the Road Traffic Act means that they cannot deny responsibility even though their policyholder was drunk).

The VRP policy is another matter. The issue you have here is that the sales person will get a bonus based on the additional equipment that you were sold for the car at the time, as well as a bonus for selling you the extra cover. Whatever you get paid by the VRP insurers, however, is not recoverable from the drunk git or his insurers, as it does not meet the principal of INDEMNITY.

With me so far class??!!

Here is what you need to do:

Get your insurers to give you a detailed breakdown of their valuation of the car, including all the specified extras.

Pass this to the insurers of the VRP policy and advise them that you were not advised of the limits on the policy when it was sold to you and that you feel the policy was missold to you.

Copy the letter in to the dealership, advising them that you are not happy with the service they gave you when they sold you the policy and that you feel you were mislead by the sales agent.

Both companies should give you a letter within 8 weeks that says something along the lines of "this is our final decision and here is a copy of the FOS leaflet". If they don't, or if you disagree with their decision then phone the Financial Ombudsman Service and make a complaint about both companies!!

Good luck