Insurance woes

[steve j]

3rd August I posted a thread on the damage to my bonnet after a minor accident, please bear with me and my tale of woe, I am insured with a very good broker at a well known racing circuit, they have been very helpful and supportive. Liability has been admitted by the other party, so it would seem a straightfoward claim for minor damage. Not so! my insurance underwriters are making things very difficult indeed for me by saying, 2 areas of damage were not caused by the accident. The damage is minor, i.e. cracked indicator lens, scuffed paint, a crack next to the number plate, and two small areas of crazing on top of the bonnet, which are in dispute,one area just inboard of the headlamp and one on the wheelarch. Also the bonnet was knocked out of alignment, I couldn`t open the bonnet until I relieved the pressure by loosening the hinge bolts. The approved garage have quoted approx 2,000 for the repair as the bonnet will need respraying. I have been offered a paltry 800 then 850 as an in lieu payment which I refused, I was also expected to contribute to the repair bill, I believe it`s called an embetterment payment, because the finshed article would be in better condition after the repair. All of these problems have been caused by the assesor from my insurance, I am fuming, it makes me wonder what the hell they are doing. Anyway, rant over, anyone got any suggestions.

[S3 David]

Hi Steve. Thers's a guy on PH called Anniesdad who I think specialises in this type of thing. Drop him a mail as judging by other posts he seems to give sound advice. Good luck!

[Barkychoc]

Tell them the entire pistonheads membership is watching this thread with interest.
From what you've said so far I think I may look elsewhere next year, even if it is a bit more expensive.
(Tell them this too!)

Chris

[Barkychoc]

A sudden thought occured to me - do you think it is possible they are looking to recover the full cost of repairs from the 3rd Party but hoping they can get you to take a part settlement, and trousering the rest of the cash?

I'd speak to the third party insurers directly - I had an accident in my company car not long ago - the third party admitted liability - they were happy to deal direct as it cuts down on paperwork.
My insurers were not involved at all.

Can't do any harm giving them a call and asking whats happening at their end.

Chris

[steve j]

Barkychoc said:

A sudden thought occured to me - do you think it is possible they are looking to recover the full cost of repairs from the 3rd Party but hoping they can get you to take a part settlement, and trousering the rest of the cash?

I'd speak to the third party insurers directly - I had an accident in my company car not long ago - the third party admitted liability - they were happy to deal direct as it cuts down on paperwork.
My insurers were not involved at all.

Can't do any harm giving them a call and asking whats happening at their end.

Chris

Hmm not tried that yet, the brokers manager is going to lean on my underwriter. If that doesn`t work then out come the big guns, even thought about e.mailing quinton wilson in the sunday mirror and naming and shaming the culprits.

[clive f]

go for it steve, insurance companies are all nice an pretty until the unfortunate day comes when a claim has to be made, then the chisseling sods look for the smallest detail which will lead to minimum or even no payout on your claim no matter how honest you are with them.

some insurance companies may be very good, but until you experience the other side of the coin you don`t know how they are going to react, you would think it would be a simple process at times, but I guess its all down to how much money they can make out of the 3rd parties insurance, and look for a way to only give you the smallest portion that they can get away with.

just my 2p worth