Classic insurance claim, ins co giving me the run around?

[Dazaa]

A year ago someone in a van swiped the side of my 70's Chevy pickup truck, insured with Footman James. Other party admitted fault and FJ were happy with me suggesting my own body shop as their own approved places wouldn't work on american cars for some reason. I got a quote, FJ adjuster was happy and approved the claim, cue a year of no progress due to the panel being out of stock, then I was told by FJ to buy the part at my own cost which I refused and eventually just told the bodyshop to deal directly with the FJ adjuster as the only place that stocks the part gives a shipping quote that only lasts 24 hours, so by the time i'd get the quote and send to FJ the quote would have expired due to FJ taking too long to reply. A whole load of headache. Have just received an email from FJ saying my policy won't cover the cost of shipping for parts outside of the UK and offering a 3k cash settlement. My bodyshop quoted around 7k for the repair, which would involve removing the bed, replacing the entire bedside, repairing a dent in the door and the cab corner. There is no way 3k even comes close to how much work is involved in this repair, and why am I being told my policy won't cover it a year later when the other party is the one paying for it?

This is my first experience with a claim and fee like FJ think I will just take the settlement and go away, but I want my truck repaired back to how it was.

Any advice?

[Turbobanana]

Dazaa said:

A year ago someone in a van swiped the side of my 70's Chevy pickup truck, insured with Footman James. Other party admitted fault and FJ were happy with me suggesting my own body shop as their own approved places wouldn't work on american cars for some reason. I got a quote, FJ adjuster was happy and approved the claim, cue a year of no progress due to the panel being out of stock, then I was told by FJ to buy the part at my own cost which I refused and eventually just told the bodyshop to deal directly with the FJ adjuster as the only place that stocks the part gives a shipping quote that only lasts 24 hours, so by the time i'd get the quote and send to FJ the quote would have expired due to FJ taking too long to reply. A whole load of headache. Have just received an email from FJ saying my policy won't cover the cost of shipping for parts outside of the UK and offering a 3k cash settlement. My bodyshop quoted around 7k for the repair, which would involve removing the bed, replacing the entire bedside, repairing a dent in the door and the cab corner. There is no way 3k even comes close to how much work is involved in this repair, and why am I being told my policy won't cover it a year later when the other party is the one paying for it?

This is my first experience with a claim and fee like FJ think I will just take the settlement and go away, but I want my truck repaired back to how it was.

Any advice?

While I totally sympathise OP, I can't help but think FJ are trying to draw a line under this if it's taken a year to get, well, nowhere.
Isn't there an insurance ombudsman you could try? Any non-OEM panels available, stateside or otherwise? Panels from a breaker's yard? Better than nothing, surely.

[No ideas for a name]

Dazaa said:

A year ago someone in a van swiped the side of my 70's Chevy pickup truck, insured with Footman James. Other party admitted fault and FJ were happy with me suggesting my own body shop as their own approved places wouldn't work on american cars for some reason. I got a quote, FJ adjuster was happy and approved the claim, cue a year of no progress due to the panel being out of stock, then I was told by FJ to buy the part at my own cost which I refused and eventually just told the bodyshop to deal directly with the FJ adjuster as the only place that stocks the part gives a shipping quote that only lasts 24 hours, so by the time i'd get the quote and send to FJ the quote would have expired due to FJ taking too long to reply. A whole load of headache. Have just received an email from FJ saying my policy won't cover the cost of shipping for parts outside of the UK and offering a 3k cash settlement. My bodyshop quoted around 7k for the repair, which would involve removing the bed, replacing the entire bedside, repairing a dent in the door and the cab corner. There is no way 3k even comes close to how much work is involved in this repair, and why am I being told my policy won't cover it a year later when the other party is the one paying for it?

This is my first experience with a claim and fee like FJ think I will just take the settlement and go away, but I want my truck repaired back to how it was.

Any advice?

Not really following this since it appears the third-party will be paying.

In difficult cases, I would have thought that you might have to project manage it a bit.
It sounds to me like you should just buy the part and ship it direct to your chosen bodyshop.
They do the work and bill your insurer who then reclaim it off the third-party.
I realise there might be a cash flow issue if the parts are expensive and you don't have the spare cash.

I have bought hard to source parts for repairs before and given them to a body shop - who then reimbursed me, then went on to cross charge that to the insurance.

[Ian Geary]

I recall reading in a newspaper money column about someone in a similar situation: insurance co overing about 40% of the cost of repair (which they has to arrange themselves) on a "take it or leave it basis".

The newspaper got involved, and they "reviewed" their cash offer up to the required amount, plus £100 or so compensation.

Might be worth contacting one? Probably quicker than the ombudsman.


Ian

[OutInTheShed]

Dazaa said:

A year ago someone in a van swiped the side of my 70's Chevy pickup truck, insured with Footman James. Other party admitted fault and FJ were happy with me suggesting my own body shop as their own approved places wouldn't work on american cars for some reason. I got a quote, FJ adjuster was happy and approved the claim, cue a year of no progress due to the panel being out of stock, then I was told by FJ to buy the part at my own cost which I refused and eventually just told the bodyshop to deal directly with the FJ adjuster as the only place that stocks the part gives a shipping quote that only lasts 24 hours, so by the time i'd get the quote and send to FJ the quote would have expired due to FJ taking too long to reply. A whole load of headache. Have just received an email from FJ saying my policy won't cover the cost of shipping for parts outside of the UK and offering a 3k cash settlement. My bodyshop quoted around 7k for the repair, which would involve removing the bed, replacing the entire bedside, repairing a dent in the door and the cab corner. There is no way 3k even comes close to how much work is involved in this repair, and why am I being told my policy won't cover it a year later when the other party is the one paying for it?

This is my first experience with a claim and fee like FJ think I will just take the settlement and go away, but I want my truck repaired back to how it was.

Any advice?

Is this a classic policy with an agreed value?
Have you had any communication with the other party's insurer?
If they are admitting liability, they may settle reasonably.

However, no insurer wants to be offering unlimited, open-ended blank cheques for repairs. Their liability is probably limited to the market value of the vehicle. Which is open to interpretation.

The problem is, with a 70s vehicle it's very hard to totally separate 'repair' costs from 'restoration' of parts/areas which were imperfect pre-accident. There are rules about 'betterment'.
You won't want to compromise on how the vehicle goes back together, they don't want to pay for a restoration.
The risk is, the vehicle gets written off.

[Stevorocket]

Use the government insurance ombudsman, phoned Monday gave all the info over the phone and on email, got paid out £33000 on Thursday.

The claims dept wouldn’t even answer the phone, left it ring ing for over 5 hours.

Crapped themselves when the ombudsman phoned, they can get fined thousands for not sticking to the insurance rules laid down by government.