Car Insurance

[dantheman91]

Hi All

A shite couple of months after my 23 year old Ford Fiesta Ghia was broken into and stolen but recovered only fools hot wire cars with an active immobiliser but the damage was done anyway in a quandary the insurance have paid out for the car quoted £400 - the excess i only got £250 in the end speaking to them on Thursday they now want to charge a cancellation fee which is fair but also the remainder of the policy which is £235 after they have paid out for the car which means in the end i only get £15 :scratch::rolleyes: are they allowed to do this is my question as already lost out as the car had many new parts including cam and water pump can i contest why pay the remainder for a car you no longer have? not to mention i was already skint after forking out £450 before the theft :steam:

[struth]

thats pretty shit dan. insurance companies are crap and seem to always have the law in their side, but they are not always right, trouble is most cant afford to fight them.

[Macca]

short answer probably yes they can, but check the T and C of your policy to be sure

They don't make money by paying out.

[Lawrence001]

Sorry to hear about your issues Dan. I'm a bit confused though are you saying the car is a write off as a result of the theft and so you want to cancel the remainder of the term of the insurance? What did the thieving toerags do to it?

[dantheman91]

Sorry to hear about your issues Dan. I'm a bit confused though are you saying the car is a write off as a result of the theft and so you want to cancel the remainder of the term of the insurance? What did the thieving toerags do to it?

Hi Yes its a write off after the theft as was hot wired i hope they got a nasty sting from the 12V battery only idiots would try this :lol: they did the drivers door bent it right out of shape , ignition barrel , Door Lock , Cowling yes i have cancelled the remainder of the policy but if i hadn't contacted them to cancel it would still be on going i had to do all the chasing and send everything off V5 , History and Purchase receipt just a whirlwind really i loved that motor i looked after it kept it on the road Grrrr

[Lawrence001]

I looked it up it seems it's standard that you have to pay the full year if it's written off and you've made a claim. I guess you've invoked a cancellation policy but the fee is close to the remaining pro rated premium.

There's also some admin you have to do with the DVLA or you can be fined, if you weren't already aware:

https://www.claimscore.co.uk/guides/24/motor-insurance/430/car-insurance-what-happens-after-write-off

[Mikeandvan]

'Don't worry, you're fully insured with us', 'I wish to make a claim'. 'what can we do not to pay this guy'?

[dantheman91]

I looked it up it seems it's standard that you have to pay the full year if it's written off and you've made a claim. I guess you've invoked a cancellation policy but the fee is close to the remaining pro rated premium.

There's also some admin you have to do with the DVLA or you can be fined, if you weren't already aware:

https://www.claimscore.co.uk/guides/24/motor-insurance/430/car-insurance-what-happens-after-write-off

Cool - Yep have sent a letter to DVLA clarifying its now a write off

[Puffin]

Really sorry to hear about this Dan. You do your best to keep the things you like and mean something to you and then some scrotes do that.

My wife has one of those real old muscle cars...A Chevvy Matiz:lol: It had not had a service for some time and it cost well over the value of the car. It has only done 22,000 in 13 years. I suspect it may not be a marque desired by thieves:)

[walpurgis]

That's tough Dan. I had my then van broken into years ago outside my house and use a hefty steering wheel lock in my car every day now. If your Fiesta is repairable and you were keen enough, you could probably get the parts, chances are a door the right colour will be available. Not sure where you'd stand re-registering a write-off.

[dantheman91]

Really sorry to hear about this Dan. You do your best to keep the things you like and mean something to you and then some scrotes do that.

My wife has one of those real old muscle cars...A Chevvy Matiz:lol: It had not had a service for some time and it cost well over the value of the car. It has only done 22,000 in 13 years. I suspect it may not be a marque desired by thieves:)

I loved my first car that was a Matiz :) Ferried all my gear in it :) Big old pair of £5 Kef Kits from a car boot with ease :lol: those were they days :)

[dantheman91]

That's tough Dan. I had my then van broken into years ago outside my house and use a hefty steering wheel lock in my car every day now. If your Fiesta is repairable and you were keen enough, you could probably get the parts, chances are a door the right colour will be available. Not sure where you'd stand re-registering a write-off.

Know the feeling man it did have a hefty steering lock on it they pulled that off as well Yes i thought about doing it myself and would be easy enough but again they chances of it happening again not worth the risk unfortunately :rolleyes:

[Macca]

Really sorry to hear about this Dan. You do your best to keep the things you like and mean something to you and then some scrotes do that.

My wife has one of those real old muscle cars...A Chevvy Matiz:lol: It had not had a service for some time and it cost well over the value of the car. It has only done 22,000 in 13 years. I suspect it may not be a marque desired by thieves:)

When I worked for Arriva one of the drivers was a massive afficianado of American cars, since he'd lived in Canada back in the 1970s.

One day he walked in all excited and says to me 'Have you heard? Chevrolet are coming to the UK!'

I said yes I had heard, but all they were going to be selling was re-badged Daewoos.

Don't think I have ever seen anyone so disappointed.

[Puffin]

I loved my first car that was a Matiz :) Ferried all my gear in it :) Big old pair of £5 Kef Kits from a car boot with ease :lol: those were they days :)

Well I never. In the summer I was using on many occasions it to ferry tons of wood and fence poles from the local merchants, tailgate open with a yellow HiViz wrapped around the end of the load:eek:

[dave2010]

Sorry to hear this. Possibly it was a complete waste of time having insurance with that company.

However you could try writing a fairly firm letter to their customer service department pointing out the issues, and of course that you'll never recommend their services to anyone else in future.

I had a similar issue a few years ago when thieves stole my catalytic converter. The insurance company tried not to pay on the grounds that the car was now less than the cost of the new replacement part.
In the end they agreed to pay, though sadly with Covid and the car being off the road for most of the next year, I had to scrap it anyway not too long after.

I pointed out that the services the insurance company were offering were totally inadequate for the circumstances at the time.

We needed to get the car fully loaded back up to Scotland, and a car hire replacement wouldn't have hacked it. They seem to think that a Fiat 500 is equivalent to a Toyota Prius when it comes to providing service.

No!!!!

We did get the costs covered.

Also, if you can be bothered, write to your MP, or at least say you are going to, in your letter.

They might be prepared to go a little further to avoid your bad publicity - now what did you say the name of the company was?

[Lawrence001]

You can sometimes get a result if you say you want to make a formal complaint as the numbers are monitored by the regulators and they often want to close them as quickly as possible. There's also the Financial ombudsman service so you should make the company aware you know you can go to them if you disagree with the company's own response. Don't be rude or threatening as it doesn't help, just make them aware you know your rights.

Ultimately if the terms were in the T&C's and made clear in the summary (this is now a regulatory requirement), and they didn't treat you unfairly there's not much you can do.