'robbing insurance scum' CONQUERED :-D

[Rick]

aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

my insurnace gave me their write off value for my car today

 

the princly some of £89

 

what the fook!!!

 

i went ballistic as you can imagine,.

 

it was £500 on the insurance certificate so why can they make up their own value?

 

i went mad as you can expect put in a dispute and all that

 

the only other option is that i can "BUY" the car offf them for £50 and collect it myself

 

so please tell me why i payed insurnace all year? to get nothing back

 

Any help anyone can give on howe to rectify this would be much appreciated.

 

il be writing to the ombudsman service and to someone more important at Direct line.

 

il go to the papers and the radio if i cannot get my value back for this car. This country is seriously fooked up....

[Mk2Jo]

Did you have an agreed value policy??

[Rick]

i assumed it was considering the value is £500 on all documents i have

[tim]

i assumed it was considering the value is £500 on all documents i have

 

unles you got somthing say an agreeed value then all you get is the market value,also does the £89 incluced your excess

[Mk2Jo]

No, with agreed value you have to supply them with photos and sign a form and some insurance companies require an independent valuation. Sounds like you have a normal policy and if you said the car was worth £500 that is what they'll have put it down as but they will only give you "book value" on any claim

 

I'm not an insurance expert but sounds like you need to go for the £50 buy back option - see what others on here say

[Rick]

so why ask me for a value anyway?

 

i can make 3 fold that buying it back and breaking it so that looks like what im gonna do...

 

im starting to wonder whether being a law oboding citizen is the best road to take in life.

[Rick]

and i did send them a photo of the car in its condition before it was stolen

 

and where can you buy a car for that kinda money?//

[Stu_B]

That'll be minus the excess... but still that's crap!

[Rick]

nah thats after the excess mate.

 

its such a crap system im down 400 odd quid now and some little pikey gets a slap on the wrist.

 

and i have no way of retrieving that lost money.

 

i think id rather be the criminal in this scenario

[Stu_B]

Yeah thats what I meant, the value of the car then they keep the excess & give you whats left, which is usually not a lot!!

[H.P.E harry]

nah thats after the excess mate.

 

its such a crap system im down 400 odd quid now and some little pikey gets a slap on the wrist.

 

and i have no way of retrieving that lost money.

 

i think id rather be the criminal in this scenario

 

I think id rather be the criminal in this scenario too mate, bigtime rip off. Why do you think alot of people drive around with no insurance! This country has seriously gone to pot. Makes no sense to be law obiding these days

[Vista]

If your car had been written off at the fault at another driver, you can pursue that driver for recovery of your unisured losses,

 

i.e.

 

Policy Excess

Expenses (Postage, telephone calls, loss of earnings etc)

 

Unfortunately as you're acting against a thieving scum bag who obviously doesn't have insurance your case is a little harder to resolve. If you have a legal protection policy you could try getting them to pursue him through the small claims courts, but I'm pretty sure he has to have either assets or the means to pay before they'll consider it.

 

My partner is a solicitor, I'll ask her advice tonight.

Document everything and

[Mk2Jo]

If you go for an agreed value policy (mine is £15 on top of the normal policy cost) then you would be safe. Too late now I know

[Rick]

live and learn

 

cheers vista. any help is great! i just cant afford to be at a loss at the minute

[bortaf]

feck me it's worth £100 in scrap weight aloan !

personly i'd just find the toerag and give him a dam good kicking, or failing that do what i did (or mayby not) when the younge prick at the end of me road broke into me granny and stole the stereo, i (or maybe i did't) waited 5 years till he was all growd up and had 2 kids then "somone" poured brake fluid all over his new car, then when he got it resprayed would you beleive it, it only went and happened again

amazingly the last 3 cars he's had have had the same treatment, amazing, must be carma

[Retromotorsport]

There is a cautionary tale here ... shop around by all means .. but dont go with someone just because they are cheap .. its the same everywhere in life .. cars ..homes food etc

[Rick]

insult to injury. i was just about to go over to the local 'approved garage' to check out the so called write off only to discover that direct line have shipped it to cheshire without informing me or giving me chance to retrive any belongings, etc...

 

[SAMMYBOY]

I work in a Royal and sunalliance bodyshop......People never get the amount they think there car is worth back.....Unless agreed, like my vectra, and Series 1 RS were.....photos, engineers report etc, you now get market value.....I have noticed that they tell you this when your getting a quote now too. Also the same thing happens here, soon as a car is a total, things get sent to salvage company, and they come get it real quick...Buy it........Get it sorted.....

[Jubfab]

Right then - i'll help if I can..

 

First forget about the xs for now - what was the value given to you by the assessor. Did he offer you £89 ? so this is then less the XS ? or did he offer you another amount ? (say £400 less xs = £89?)

 

What is your XS on this claim ? did you agree to an additional XS over the compulsary to bring the premium down.? Not saying you have but on low value vehicles it's just not worth doing that. I've paid extra on low value cars for a nil xs.

 

Why do they ask a PAV ? simple, they ask the question to see if they will cover. Some insurance companys will not for example offer Third party fire and theft on say a vehicle that is worth £5000 + (not saying thats the figure but thats why they ask) you said £500 so that goes on the screen. Be careful quoting a figure (your best when asked just saying market value) some polices are written that they will not pay more than the amount you quote. (not all are like that but some are)

 

It won't be an agreed value policy because Direct Line don't offer it..

 

Let me know what the value they offered you and i'll try and help you further (not what the cheque is sent to you for).

 

Ref the car being moved, yes they should have told you - they do this to stop storage charges. If you stopped it being moved they will charge you the excess storage. If you decide to keep the car they should return it FOC. ref your belongings again they should return this recorded delivery. The car goes into safe storage and the storage guys don't touch em until 'salvage has cleared' whos it gone to? (JSM ?)

 

Ref ombudsman, don't do owt yet. Answer the above and i'll advise you further....

 

[Rick]

cheers boss

 

i was offered 189 - 100 excess , no additional excess

 

if i choose to buy back the vehicle will i have to get it from cheshire? ideally i would like to have viewd the car for myself to see if its worth buying back

(to break and sell the parts which will earn me more than they can pay me for it)

 

they are really crap at informing me. iv been expecting more calls today that just havent happened again...

[Jubfab]

cheers boss

 

i was offered 189 - 100 excess , no additional excess

 

if i choose to buy back the vehicle will i have to get it from cheshire? ideally i would like to have viewd the car for myself to see if its worth buying back

(to break and sell the parts which will earn me more than they can pay me for it)

 

they are really crap at informing me. iv been expecting more calls today that just havent happened again...

 

right first things first you have to remember the value given was £189 not £89 - you agreed to pay the first £100 of any claim when you took the policy out.

 

Second, you need to decide if you want to keep the car or pursue an increase in value. Ask what salvage catogory has been placed on the car.

A is scrap B is Breaker C is total loss (you'll need a VIC check if it's C to put back on road - you have to pay for it I think it's £50 ish) or finally Cat D (the nice easy one!!)

 

They should deliver it back if you want to keep it and you should demand it's done at no extra cost to you (they should do)

 

I know how DL engineers work and they are measured on values given, some DL engineers don't give a stuff when it comes to values and say 'thats it - take it or leave it' (there not all like that) If the car had at least 3 months MOT and had no obvious faults then it should be worth a minimum of £300 (depends on the car - I dont know what it is obviously. I'm assuming run of the mill car?)

 

Get all your evidence together to justify an increase, remember get like for like. Don't pick low mileage, newer, higher spec cars then yours - they will just throw it back at you and so will the ombudsman.

Get as near as damit like for like - similiar age, mileage & condition. Use all sources, mags, completed ebay auctions, adtrader, autotrader etc etc.

Also use current ads, if theres a number on the ad they may ring it, you won't look good if the ad is 12 months old !!

 

Once you've got all your evidence, tell DL your disputing and send your evidence in, don't deal with the original engineer, ask for a second opinion they will then refer to another engineer if they don't increase let me know why and what reasons given. You can go to ombudsman (it costs DL for you to do this, dosn't cost you owt) but don't use this 'card' yet - save it...

 

Right that should keep you busy for a couple of days, if you want any more info get in touch....

[Rick]

it was cat B and they said they will get a second opinion...

 

il see how that goes before i take it any further, iv also written a nice letter to the head of the claims department involved

 

il take it as far as i have to to get a reasonable payout. i know im not gonna get my full amount back but i dont like to be insulted and ill-informed when all i want is my car back or some money towards a new one/

 

cheers for the advice

[Jubfab]

it was cat B and they said they will get a second opinion...

 

il see how that goes before i take it any further, iv also written a nice letter to the head of the claims department involved

 

il take it as far as i have to to get a reasonable payout. i know im not gonna get my full amount back but i dont like to be insulted and ill-informed when all i want is my car back or some money towards a new one/

 

cheers for the advice

 

If it's CAT B you can't have it unless you have a disposal license. DVLA frown in insurance companys changing CAT B's so don't hold your breath on that one..

 

Yes the payout has to be fair and reasonable, unless the car is a complete shed £189 sounds very low. The problem you have is the engineers quote guide prices which in my opinion are useless for older cars. It's condition that dictates a value. Also why £189 ?!?!? why not £200 nice round figure? and guide prices are exactly that (a guide !! -it's not difficult LOL and it's not an exact science!!). It sounds like you have been unlucky with the engineer thats seen your car. If you don't get any joy get back in touch...

[Rick]

im awaitng a phone call from the engineer... whether i get it is another thing.,

 

i appealed the valuation and another engineer is to look at it. but this adds another week to my waiting time

 

thanks for your help you are being very helpful. iv never had to deal with this kind of thing before

 

edit:

 

the car was not a complete shed id spent 200 on new engine parts, tyres etc for the MOT., it was perfect working order when stolen, or are they valuing it in its damaged state?

[Jubfab]

the car was not a complete shed id spent 200 on new engine parts, tyres etc for the MOT., it was perfect working order when stolen, or are they valuing it in its damaged state?

 

I wasn't suggesting it was I've not seen pics or know what car it is. If you have done work to it, get your invoices ready for when engineer calls. Some engineers see 'old car' and value at book money (which is nowt on anything older than 10 years) then he jumps in his '07' plate Passat and moves onto the next job ...

Like I said before, owt 'average' with MOT is worth £300 of anyones money more depending on condition / mileage etc..