Car Insurance Claim Nightmare
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If she was travelling to the gym- social, domestic and pleasure- how did the insurance company find out she had a Saturday job?
Who told them?0 -
Thank you to everyone for your help.
I think we may go down the complaints route for now as I really can't see them cancelling her claim over something so minor but that said I understand they could. I also understand that insurance companies always say to never admit blame but thankfully we have a witness.
It's the being in limbo that is frustrating. We can't get her a new car whilst ongoing and even if we could we don't know if she is insured. We are not entitled to a courtesy car unless car is repairable (99.9% sure it isn't) and as I said they wont even tell me if the car has been looked at. I have since read extremely worrying reviews about this company. Surely there must be a timeline on a decision? Also, if we were to cancel the claim how would we know what costs the insurers have incurred? Are they going to charge us for a car recovery even though they are the ones holding up the process? Surely they would have to notify us of this? Sorry about all the questions but you guys seem to be very knowledgeable. Thanks
Hi,
You aren't going to like this but you must be a bit more patient.
Sadly many insurers do seem to drag their feet but often speed up when a complaint is made. This is because a failure to respond to the internal complaints procedure can incur greater costs subsequently. Three weeks sadly isn't that unusual. By coincidence this week I have had to use the complaints procedure with a bank for both myself and my wife when we were trying to transfer ISAs and encountered problems. Within 24 hours of completing the online complaints form for her and me it was resolved and she got £25 and I got £50 compensation for needing to complain. Not suggesting yours will get resolved as quickly but formal internal complaints have a faster-track review process in order to avoid the ombudsman process. To answer your specific question, if you cancel the claim, you are withdrawing your claim on your insurers and also your insurers ability to reclaim costs from the third party and you are therefore assuming responsibility. You can then risk ending up in a perfectly avoidable squabble with them.
You can be reasonably confident that cover will not be witheld over the Saturday job. Presumably you are referring to the insurance application form where her occupation was ticked as student. She is a student and students often have Saturday jobs.
At the moment the claim hasn't been refused and whatever you do, don't cancel it and start getting busy until you know what the situation is.0 -
They asked her when she gave her accident statement. They asked lots of questions.
When she took out the policy on a comparison site/on the phone they (broker) didn't ask her about part time work. Just put down she was a full time student.0 -
Hi,
You aren't going to like this but you must be a bit more patient.
Sadly many insurers do seem to drag their feet but often speed up when a complaint is made. This is because a failure to respond to the internal complaints procedure can incur greater costs subsequently. Three weeks sadly isn't that unusual. By coincidence this week I have had to use the complaints procedure with a bank for both myself and my wife when we were trying to transfer ISAs and encountered problems. Within 24 hours of completing the online complaints form for her and me it was resolved and she got £25 and I got £50 compensation for needing to complain. Not suggesting yours will get resolved as quickly but formal internal complaints have a faster-track review process in order to avoid the ombudsman process. To answer your specific question, if you cancel the claim, you are withdrawing your claim on your insurers and also your insurers ability to reclaim costs from the third party and you are therefore assuming responsibility. You can then risk ending up in a perfectly avoidable squabble with them.
You can be reasonably confident that cover will not be witheld over the Saturday job. Presumably you are referring to the insurance application form where her occupation was ticked as student. She is a student and students often have Saturday jobs.
At the moment the claim hasn't been refused and whatever you do, don't cancel it and start getting busy until you know what the situation is.
I know and agree. Patience is not my strong point but this has infuriated me :mad:I have emailed them with a read receipt for now.Yes she is down as full time student......0 -
What is the nature of the part time work. Some insurers do not quote for people working in pubs even if they do not drive to the job.
If the part time job is on their do not quote list they will be waiting for the comparison site to confirm if your daughter has previously declared the part time occupation then removed it to lower the price or get quotes from other insurers. If she has done this expect them to cancel her policy.0 -
I know and agree. Patience is not my strong point but this has infuriated me :mad:I have emailed them with a read receipt for now.Yes she is down as full time student......
Follow the formal complaint process and not an informal email.
Simply state that you are complaining at the delay of confirming that the claim has been approved and the delay is causing uncertainty and hardship. State that the resolution you are seeking is confirmation of the claim’s approval with a reasonable time line for payment or repairs - or precise reasons for refusal.
Good luck.0 -
A complaint normally nudges an almost immedicate and prompt review of the file and a phone call within a few days to discuss resolution in order to avoid formal onward expesnive conplaint.
The OP is dealing with a company who knows that the their insured is now without transport and has been for weeks
What makes you advise relying on a complaint for a fast resolution?
The Policyholder should follow the complaints procedure, but realise it isn't bound to be resolved in days, especially bearing in mind the time elapsed already since the policyholder has had no transport.
When making a complaint you need to be prepared for the long run.
The FOS allows the insurer 8 weeks to respond!
If the op's daughter can get an AMC to deal with this for her things will move quickly! And whatever the outcome of the underwriters deliberation on the claim will be irrelevant if it's resolved directly with the third party insurer.0 -
She works up to 4 hours in a garden centre and no she has not declared anything other than being a full time student as she was never asked otherwise........until now0
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Cancelling a claim against your own insure does NOT mean you are assuming responsibility at all!...... To answer your specific question, if you cancel the claim, you are withdrawing your claim on your insurers and also your insurers ability to reclaim costs from the third party and you are therefore assuming responsibility......
You can be reasonably confident that cover will not be witheld over the Saturday job. Presumably you are referring to the insurance application form where her occupation was ticked as student. She is a student and students often have Saturday jobs.
At the moment the claim hasn't been refused and whatever you do, don't cancel it and start getting busy until you know what the situation is.
Claiming against the driver to blame's insurer is straightforward if liability is not disputed as appears the case here.
But should liability be disputed by the third party insurer, then you can open the claim again with your own insurer
But in this instance a 3 week delay in dealing with the claim is unacceptable, especially as the policyholder's car is unusable
Using an AMC would get things moving immediately with the third party insurer - and as there was apparently injury to the innocent driver plus passenger a compensation claim looks likely, which would have to be made directly to the third party insurer anyway!0 -
Usually you are asked about any part time employment as well as full time occupation when applying for insuranceShe works up to 4 hours in a garden centre and no she has not declared anything other than being a full time student as she was never asked otherwise........until now0
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