prolonged total loss claim query

Matt82

Matt82

Matt82

Soldato
Joined
13 Mar 2004
Posts
16,649
hi there fellas, quick question for you.

in summary ive spoken to a friend who was involved in an RTA on 4 April 2007.

her car was written off and taken away to be stored where it is then usually assessed etc.

the claim has not proceeded and further since (ie 122 days later). in that time they have contacted her once or twice to ask where the car was stored. she did receive an invoice for storage in the post, which she forwarded to them the following day.

this has been brought up as the policy expires on 7 August 2007, i think the tax has expired too.

im going to get on the phone to them tonight and get the claim sorted asap, but IMO they have taken the michael. 4 months of policy cover have been wasted, as too have the tax.

she is not particularly clued up on motor insurance and beleived 'they were taking care of it'

what i want is for her to get the market value of her car ASAP (98 Escort GTI in case anyone has access to Glass's etc)

she used to drive up to swindon and since then has had to catch a train up there at £50 a go every other week (receipts are present).

i want those costs back at the very least because typically a total loss claim is turned around in 28days.

what compensation can be got from this monumental mess up. in short, if this matter is not raised tonight, the insurer would no doubt let it go on indefinately.
 
When my car was written off by the insurance (205 GTi 1.9) they looked in the autotrader and offered me the same as what "shed" 205's where going for ~£250 -£300.

Don't accept the 1st or 2nd offer, i got ~£470 in the end and i got to keep the car to break for spares.

The accident was cause by a woman driver in a 4x4 who flew through a red light and totaled me side on.

Edit - Took me 6-7 months to get the money for the written off car and 8-9 months for personal injury.

However i was given a brand new1.9 TDI Passat during this time. Can she not claim for this?
 
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in a total loss claim it is unusual for the insurer to provide a 'courtesy car' etc

in this instance, it is an own fault claim, but still it has taken about four times too long

anyone get other experiance of this?
 
if you wanna send me a pm with the reg and the mileage of the vehicle i can cap it for you at work tomorrow.

Has she admitted fault/was there anyone else involved? it may well take this long and longer if there was a dispute in liability, but you said it is an own fault claim, so i guess not.

I don't know where you get 28 days from to sort a claim. insurance companies will usually only chase a claim form after this date, giving between 14 days and infinity to get in touch.

see if you can get to speak to someone that doesn't sound like they have inappropriate relations with close family members, get their FULL name and direct number, and don't stop hounding them.
 
but then its not strictly her fault that it has taken them 120 days ish to turn around a claim. it took them 60 days just to recover it from the garage that scraped it off the M4, since then theyve done nothing
 
bigchez said:
if you wanna send me a pm with the reg and the mileage of the vehicle i can cap it for you at work tomorrow.

Has she admitted fault/was there anyone else involved? it may well take this long and longer if there was a dispute in liability, but you said it is an own fault claim, so i guess not.

I don't know where you get 28 days from to sort a claim. insurance companies will usually only chase a claim form after this date, giving between 14 days and infinity to get in touch.

see if you can get to speak to someone that doesn't sound like they have inappropriate relations with close family members, get their FULL name and direct number, and don't stop hounding them.
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hi there, a PM is on its way to you, thanks.

liability is not disputed, the insurer has settled 2 of the 3 third party claims.

i made the call to the insurer tonight after work, the file handler wasnt there so is calling me in the morning etc.

as for the 28day thing, thats a guideline which the ABI give somewhere, and that applied for non fault total loss claims, i remember reading it in 2005 when i used to work for HSBC doing insurance litigation but didnt have too much involvement in the AD claim processes etc. i think the guideline said that typically a total loss claim should be turned around in 28 days. ive known them turn them around much sooner

... i cannot think of any justification for it taking 4 months and i found out today that they dont even know if the car is a write off.
 
Matt82 said:
hi there, a PM is on its way to you, thanks.

liability is not disputed, the insurer has settled 2 of the 3 third party claims.

i made the call to the insurer tonight after work, the file handler wasnt there so is calling me in the morning etc.

as for the 28day thing, thats a guideline which the ABI give somewhere, and that applied for non fault total loss claims, i remember reading it in 2005 when i used to work for HSBC doing insurance litigation but didnt have too much involvement in the AD claim processes etc. i think the guideline said that typically a total loss claim should be turned around in 28 days. ive known them turn them around much sooner

... i cannot think of any justification for it taking 4 months and i found out today that they dont even know if the car is a write off.
Click to expand...

im with you on this

agreed she cant claim for the whole duration as it was a fault action

but to be no further on after 4 months is scandalous.
 
after a fair while on the phone it turns out the car was scrapped and declared a CAT B, which is apparently not showing up on MIAFTA or HPI, which gives you all sorts of faith in those systems.

the car was scrapped on 20 April but storage was paid until June, so sounds like a complete hash up
 
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