Budget insurance woes!!

bobi22

Hi,
Just a short(ish) tale of woe. Hopefully somebody can impart some useful advice after reading.

In January, my wife was driving her car one dark, wet evening & slowed down to avoid an animal running out from a garden. The chap in the car behind didn't stop in time & crashed into the back. (writing both cars off.)

My wife had a passenger in her car who had a nasty bump on her head & an Ambulance was called, along with the Police. My wife & daughter were not injured at all. It was all dealt with very quickly; the chap admitted it was his fault and a recovery truck brought my wifes car back home the same evening.

All good so far.

Her insurance was with Budget & he was with Zurich.
To be fair, Budget were very good initially. As one of my daughters is disabled, they provided a "hire car" for my wife the next afternoon & a main dealer came & took her car away for assessment within an hour of phoning.

Within two days the assessment was that her car was a write off & two days later they made a very good offer. (within £100 of top book price)

All in all, considering she had never ever been in an accident after 20 years of driving, a painless experience.

Here's where it gets interesting.................

We decided to buy a Zafira to replace the Citroen that was a write off.
Trouble is that it is an Opel Zafira, not a Vauxhall Zafira. It was a one owner car, low miles & originally provided by Motorpoint UK & was a uk spec car- but it was classed as a grey import as it was an Opel.
Budget wouldn't insure it even though we definately would have stayed with them after the good service they had provided up until then.
The previous owner had it insured with Direct Line & so my wife had no problem insuring it with them also.

Now........
because the claim was still waiting to be fully settled, Budget wouldn't allow my wife to close her insurance straight away. Ok we thought; for a bit of peace of mind & considering how efficiently they had been up to now - we didn't mind paying an extra premium .(on a car that she now didn't own & was scrapped)

Now, three months later, they still wont let her stop paying the monthly premiums?
They also, will not provide proof of many years no claims bonus & Direct Line have now written to my wife stating that - "if proof of no claims bonus is not submitted within 10 days", my wife will have to pay an extra £110 for her insurance.

She has been paid in full for the old car?
Zurich say that as far as they are concerned, the matter is closed?

Budget say that they are waiting for Zurich.
Zurich say that the matter is closed.

Thay won't talk to each other?

Every time my wife phones, emails etc she can only speak to someone in India or South Africa and they will not let her talk to a supervisor.
She has been left on hold/cut off time after time.

We always make sure that we are courteous, pleasant to customer services etc.

The worst bit is that, as she took out a "credit agreement" she cannot even put a stop on Budget taking money out of her current account every month - again, for a car that has been scrapped & she has been paid in full for?
She thought she had a direct debit, but it turns out that it isn't - so tuff luck!

So beware monthly payments to car insurers - you may not get what you think you are getting. Read the small print!

Sorry this is a bit long winded, just needed to get it off my chest!

My wife still has to pay the premiums on a car that she doesn't have! etc etc!!!

Anyone got any suggestions to get this concluded?

Quentin

Check your policy to see what happens in the case of a write off.

Some policies say that should that happen, then the policy ends (with no refund).

As you are paying by instalments (rather than one lump sum), then they may be correct in continuing taking the payments (which are to repay the loan taken originally via the credit agreement).

raskazz

It is absolutely standard term in contracts of motor insurance that if a claim is submitted in the policy year, then even if the policy is subsequently cancelled the full annual premium is due. Often the insurer deducts any outstanding premium from a settlement cheque in accordance with this term. As they have not done that in this case, the instalments will continue.

She should have really checked with her insurer that they would be able to cover the replacement vehicle before commiting to buy it.

BenL

Hhhmmmm, I think with this one I am on Budgets side.

You have an annual policy, you have made a claim so have utilised the policy. Budget are entitled to all the premiums.

As Quentin has correctly said, the monthly premiums are to pay the credit agreement.

The insurance has been fully paid for by a loan using this credit agreement.

You monthly payments go towards this loan not directly to the insurance cover.

Can you make a lump sum to budget to pay the rest of the policy? They should then provide you with the NCD proof.

bobi22

Even though the accident was not her fault & all money's payed out have been paid by Zurich?

So, in effect, she has claimed off Zurich, not Budget, surely? OR - She hasn't claimed off anyone - Budget have claimed off Zurich.

I just wish that when you take out these policies, you were made more aware of the consequences of agreeing to such terms. I bet most people don't realise the implications involved.

anyway,
regards for your thoughts. (even though I don't agree with them )

Quentin

If she claimed off the third party insurance, then there would be no problem.

But she claimed off her own policy - and they paid up, all in accordance with the policy.

They also gave her time to read the policy when she first bought the insurance, and would have let her cancel at the time if she didn't like what she read.

Sorry you don't like what you read here - but at least you did bother to read up!

mattymoo

Budget are the insurance brokers who have arranged the policy on her behalf with Zurich. The claim was against her own policy and NCD will have been affected unless she had protected NCD.

A bit surprised by the refusal to insure the Opel though. Its not exactly an exotic import and parts are pretty standard between Vauxhall and Opel. Most insurance brokers and indeed insurance companies have the facilities to do this kind of business, albeit not normally online.

Quentin

mattymoo wrote: »

Budget are the insurance brokers who have arranged the policy on her behalf with Zurich.

That's not what is stated in the facts of this "shortish" tale! See the op.

mattymoo

I stand corrected. Still cannot see why Budget could not find someone to insure a grey import though. Not much cop as a broker in that case.

Quentin

We don't know why they refused to insure it - was it the car they didn't want - or something else?

giger

There are a few things going on here, some good, some not so good.
As pointed out, in the event of a claim, the insurance company are entitled to the full years premium. Many ask for this upfront if you pay by instalments BEFORE they will look into the claim, so be thankful you have been able to carry on with the instalments and not had to fork out for the remainder of cover in one go.

Sounds like Zurich have settled, now Budget need to settle internally. Unfortunately when there are a few middlemen involved things can take longer.

It may be a standard thing that none of budget underwriters will insure grey imports. 9/10 underwriters will offer policies with different t&cs and prices through intermediaries than what they would offer direct. Also there is a chance that Budget do not allow imports full stop even if the underwriter would allow it.

I guess in reality you should have continued to use the hire car, or check with Budget before buying the new vehicle. Unfortunately claims can be a long drawn out process.

When the claim is settled though, it will be a none fault claim on your part and the costs will be recovered from the other parties insurance. This will not affect the NCD once it has been settled, but you will lose the NCD for this policy year.

It is well worth continuously chasing this with the claims dept. as believe it or not, it can make a difference. Unfortunately the next battle you may have is for a settlement that you are happy with and represents market value of your vehicle. Don't be afraid to reject the first offer and provide proof of the vehicle value via autotrader ads etc.

I may or may not have worked for one of the companies involved here in the past