'robbing insurance scum' CONQUERED :-D

[Rick]

ok cheers, 300 wouldnt be so bad at least its something

[Rick]

still no joy with this.

 

the second engineers opinion was even less than the first.

 

King bastards, then never had the balls to phone me either

 

iv just said to direct line 'just give me the car back'

 

so iv managed to persuade them to send me the car back in whatever state its in (i cant even view the state cuz they shipped it off 150 mile away)

 

so now for all my troubles im getting a wallet busting £33 back and a car that can never go back on the road

 

i just hope i can make a decent amount breaking/scrapping it myself

 

 

 

if you got any ideas on how to get a bit more back let me know cuz im certainly not happy.

 

moral of the story: avoid direct line cuz\ you cant get in touch with anyone , they dont keep in touch with you, and their approved engineers are piss takers

[Gibson]

what happened too it in the first place? sorry for my stupidity but i cant find it anywhere....

[Rick]

was nicked and involved in a poliuce chase where it did a bit of ramming.

 

how much ramming i dont know yet

[Rick]

o yea iv also got a document from direct line saying i have £0 excess, yet they want to charge me £100 excess...

 

aparently 'the computers have been updated' or so i was told.

im so getting shafted here

 

whats the deal?

[Jubfab]

To help you any further I need to know what it is and why they value so low. Next step is the FOS but before you do did you find examples to justify an increase? why is is low ? are they saying lots of pre accident damage ? What increase are you wanting?

[Jubfab]

To help you any further I need to know what it is and why they value so low. Next step is the FOS but before you do did you find examples to justify an increase? why is is low ? are they saying lots of pre accident damage ? What increase are you wanting?

[Jubfab]

To help you any further I need to know what it is and why they value so low. Next step is the FOS but before you do did you find examples to justify an increase? why is is low ? are they saying lots of pre accident damage ? What increase are you wanting?

[Rick]

ok i spoke to enginner today he explained it to me.

 

basically the inisurance by law have to restore the car to perfect condition which would of cost 3000+ aparently as they have to use gen parts and panels/.

 

they also had to repair damage previous to the car being nicked which was a scratch on the bonnet and some damage on the doors that really didint need doing/

 

so now im getting it back tomoz after negotiating with them.

 

which is more on the brighter side.

 

id be interested to know if its possible to put a 'written off' vehicle back on the road though beings as theres no real mechanical damage just bodywork issues that existed before the car was stolen/

 

as the insurance assure me that you cannot put a cat B car back on the road.

 

i dont know how truthful this may be?

[Cookie]

No chance of putting a cat 'B' back on the road from what I know m8, my buddy bought a rover coupe a few years back that was accident damaged and a mess, I know he lost the car, can't remember how, but I think he was refused a log book from DVLA and they catergorily told him to take it off the rd, but i think eventually he was sopped by the old bill and had it confiscated

[Vista]

basically the inisurance by law have to restore the car to perfect condition which would of cost 3000+ aparently as they have to use gen parts and panels/.

 

I don't know about the rest of it, but the part about them having to use genuine parts and panels is total cobblers.

 

The last time I had a car accident damaged and repaired by insurance was about 1996 (Mk3 2.8i) and the insurance company initially refused point blank to use genuine Ford panels. I refused to allow it to be repaired with anything else and they eventually caved in and bought it all from Ford, so clearly they can use reproduction parts when it suits them.

[Rick]

typical...

 

at least i can say i have learned something from all this

 

1/ get an agreed value

2/use an insurance company that you can walk in and speak to

3/take the wheels off the car before leaving it at night cuz when things go wrong, nobody thats supposed to gives a shit .

 

[X-pack-Glyn]

Dont forget.....

 

4/ Full salvage rights, thats my no 1 priority, if ANYTHING happens to mine it gets recovered to my own adress, possesion is 9/10ths of the law!!!

 

oh, and direct line are shite!!!

[Rick]

oh, and direct line are shite!!!

 

yeah just avoid any insurance company that operates over the phone. you can never get to speak to the right person, and it costs a fortune in phone calls cuz they cant be arsed to phone you

[Rick]

 

got me car back:

 

other than a bent axle and rear end damage and the obvious steering column being ripped off its in better condition that i expected.

 

i just pisses me off that i have a repairable car that has been written off as never to be roadworthy...

 

iv repaired worse

[Jubfab]

don't know why i've got a tripple post there !! but i had problems last night trying to reply to this thread so that might be why !!

 

Firstly cat b is a guidline - you can out Cat B's back on the road. They will always be recorded as such and it's likely that the DVLA will want to inspect before they do allow a log book. I have personal experiance of this and know of a few cat b's driving around. My anglia has a scrap marker on it but they have still given me a log book !!! (thats another issue for me to sort cause it's been scrapped as a volvo !! anyway back on subject!!!)

 

It sounds like you have an engineer that dosn't know what he's doing, yes you have to follow the ABI code when catagorising damaged vehicles. and rule of thumb is repair costs more than double it's pav then b applies. but it's more to do with structural damage / or end of life vehicles (this dosn't look like an end of life vehicle.

It looks a very easy repair using second hand parts. It certainly looks more than £200 car !!!

 

I would contact Direct Line and tell them that you are not accepting the offer and you dispute that the vehicle is a CAT B (should be a CAT C in my opinion) as for the complaints procedure (by law they have to tell you about the FOS) wait for the letter to come through then reply stating your case. They then have to reply with a final letter before it is reffered to the FOS - just for info it costs Direct Line for you to complain (dosn't cost you owt!!) 9 times out of 10 they will up the offer if you mention FOS ...

 

On a final point - no they don't have to 'by law' fit genuine parts they can fit what they like but must contact you for your approval (unless written into the policy). It won't be long due to enviromental issues that second hand parts have to be fitted to cars. It's happening now with some insurers.. (but again they ask first) .

 

make sure you record all calls and keep copies of letters - suggest only send recorded info.

 

let me know what happens

[Rick]

right o mate thanks for all that!

 

so me accepting the car back is not going to void anything?

[Rick]

right got back in touch with them.

 

i told them i was disputing the catagory of write off along with the £183 payout (-100 excess (although i have in writing £0 excess))

 

she said its written off this way to protect my no claims or somet which is better for me in the long run

that sounds fishy for 1

 

however

iv been told that if i can produce an independant report saying its repairable then they can investigate further.

 

now is this something i can get any garage to do for me? i know a lot of people that could write me such a report if thats the case

 

as far as repairs go. to put back on the road i need another axle (as this ones been bent twice now) and a rear light/

 

i can make all body repairs myself at my own expense

[Rick]

as for preparing a case im watching auctions on similar cars on ebay and will print the final sale status at end of auctions for proof.

 

i will also look in autotrader and the newspaper for some other sources of sale prices

[Jubfab]

right then -- protecting your no claims bonus (how do they work that out? value the car as low as they can so they don't pay you owt !!) you might as well not claim full stop if thats the case !!

 

What they mean by an independant is an independant engineer, a report costs £75 > £150. they say this so it puts you off. If you have a mechanic mate get him to put an estimate together using second hand parts. quote sensible prices.

I.e 2nd hand tailgate £40 2nd hand rear axle £50 2nd hand lights £10

repair rear panel and boot floor and paint all parts to match

fit 2nd hand steering column £40

Labour £300 pm £100 = £540

above is just an example - but it's to show that fitting genuine at approved shops etc = £2000 + but in the real world car clearly repairable. hence why I say it should be a CAT C ...

keep pushing it - say you have had enough and you will take it all the way via FOS if thats what it takes. make sure you record what they say and when (get names) by what there doing you should have a good case..

[Rick]

i have no means of recording phone calls but i have been taking down names whenever possible, just to make a point of 'meaning business'

 

i shall get a report of somesort written up and special delivery it off to the relevant person along with another letter.

 

if i hear nothing after a few weeks then il phone them and request information about FOS and making a case against them.

 

it shouldnt really have to come down to this but i dont like to be out of pocket for something i was legally insured against

[Rick]

iv had a good look at the car today.

 

the back quarters have actually been moved forward about 10mm on each side closing the gaps up on the rear doors, so im guessing there could be a lot of work involved pulling it all back out to an acceptable state.

 

i may give up on the catagory change appeal now its not worth fighting for.

 

what is though is the the payout.

 

iv been watching various ebay auctions and on autotrader site and the going rate for my model of car with similar or more milage, same tax and mot

 

is approx £350-500

 

theres one for breaking which is £200 alone

 

making my payout of £189-£100 excess considerably lower./

 

this i would like to appeal against further/

 

now do i contact direct line and inform them im going to put a case to the FOS should a satisfactory fail to be offered to me.

 

or do i put a case straight to ombudsman?

[Gibson]

contact them. tell them you would like all of the ombudsman details as you intend too make a claim. dont blackmail them by saying unless they offer you what you want. just ask for the details with the intention of making a claim and see what they offer you

[Rick]

well this is going in the post tomoz,

 

what dya think? i tried not be threatening.

 

 

As of yet, I still have had no correspondence from yourself or Direct Line regarding my complaint underlining the poor service I have received from the company.

 

I write once again, to remind you of the issue I had regarding the ridiculous valuation of my vehicle.

 

I have investigated the matter myself and picked out a handful of examples to back up my complaint, which you may find enclosed with this letter; all the relevant information has been highlighted for your convenience.

 

All examples are of cars bearing similar age, mileage and condition so that there may be no disputing my evidence.

 

I will now leave it with you along with my final request of a final offer in writing from yourself or a direct line representative. I would also like to request information on the FOS complaint procedure so that should my complaint fall once again upon deaf ears, I may begin to pursue the matter further.

 

*Please note; All communication between myself and Direct Line has been copied and/or recorded for later reference should an alternative offer not be sufficient to compensate my insured losses.

 

Once again, may I remind you that you should have no hesitation in contacting me on the number above regarding this issue.

 

I hope we can negotiate a reasonable and fair decision.

 

 

Regards

 

R.Corfield

[jimbo]

That sets just the right tone I reckon. The only thing to include is a period a time that you expect them to react within.

 

Perhaps give them 3 days to confirm receipt of the letter, and a total of 14 days to reply with the decision/information requested.

 

Or maybe 7. Any thoughts anyone else?

 

Jim