[karlh]

Why are insurance companies such ?

As some of you might know my scooter got nicked a few weeks ago. I've just been informed that the claim is being considered and they're likely to not pay out.

The reason for this is that about a year ago I had a knackered old car nicked but the insurance company told me there was no point claiming as the excess was more than the value of the car.

Now, to me that isn't a claim, I didn't claim on the insurance. However as I didn't declare this to the bike insurance company they can decide not to pay out.

I rang the car insurance company and was just told by the customer service bod that I shouldn't need to declare it, then she puts me through to the claims department who say that it is a claim but is classified as a no claim! I asked how I'd know that them telling me not to claim does in fact result in a claim and apparently it's because I reported it.

According to the claims fella it could depend on how they worded the "do you have any accidents, claims or convictions" question - if they included "incidents" then I'm stuffed but if not I might be ok.

Now either I'm very stupid or confused but how the hell do you know what's going on?!

What a start to the week!

 

[ronaldmacdonald]

Thats just taking the p1ss mate, I would have done the same thing, in my book if they dont make any payment then its not a claim - they have incurred practically zero cost. If they try that on I would go straight to the ombudsman because it sounds like they are trying i on. Be prepared for a lenghty battle though as they love dragging this stuff out.

Scum for sure.

RonaldMacdonald

 

[Ade]

Karl

Sorry to hear that you are getting messed about. Do not accept what they are telling you. As you did not claim, you have not done anything wrong. There is the insurance ombudsman that can mediate in these matters, hopefully it will not come to this.

It may be a negotiation tactic, so make you feel happy whatever money that offer you for the bike, but stand your ground.

What is the name of the insurance company?

I hope it works out

Good luck

Ade

 

[TAFF]

Yes, hope you get what you should, Karl.

As Ade says - what Insurance Co is this?

 

[karlh]

Apparently they're deciding whether to pay a proportion or not at all. Either way I'm not happy - wtf is a no claim claim all about, makes no sense [^]

My bike insurance is/was with Highways Insurance, car insurance is with Admiral.

Cheers for the advice, I'm going to make use of my Which Legal subscription (knew it would come in handy one day!) and will contact the ombudsman if they bugger me about.

Karl.

 

[Ade]

quote:

Originally posted by karlh

Apparently they're deciding whether to pay a proportion or not at all. Either way I'm not happy - wtf is a no claim claim all about, makes no sense [^]

My bike insurance is/was with Highways Insurance, car insurance is with Admiral.

Cheers for the advice, I'm going to make use of my Which Legal subscription (knew it would come in handy one day!) and will contact the ombudsman if they bugger me about.

Karl.

Best of luck with this.

 

[karlh]

quote:

Best of luck with this.

Cheers mate. Aint looking good at the moment though. Spoke to the brokers I got it through and they said they're within their rights to refuse payment as I should've declared this - even though it resulted in no claim.

I'm glad I didn't prang the Cooper S my wife hired for the weekend, who knows what mess I'd be in []

 

[The Walrus]

Highway what can I say I used to work with them when I worked in insurance, not a great company to work with either will try anything to get out of paying for a claim they love high risk driver's charge you a fortune for the cover then dont pay out when you make a claim.

I know this is not what you want to hear but be prepared for a long wait even if it does go in your favour. []

 

[karlh]

quote:

Originally posted by The Walrus

Highway what can I say I used to work with them when I worked in insurance, not a great company to work with either will try anything to get out of paying for a claim they love high risk driver's charge you a fortune for the cover then dont pay out when you make a claim.

I know this is not what you want to hear but be prepared for a long wait even if it does go in your favour. []

Great, sounds like I've got fun ahead!

I honestly didn't realise that when a company tell you there's no point in claiming that is in fact a claim and should be declared!

Now I've been told the reason they've refused to reinsure me is because of this and they're "questioning my morals" which is the grounds for refusal to transfer the policy to another bike.

Questioning my morals, cheeky f*$kers.

I've been told to declare every motor related incident in future, an incident being what exactly? If I told them about the number of times someone's clipped the wing mirror alone I'd be stuffed!

Ah well, I've been told to wait between 6 & 8 weeks for a final decision, something to look forward to eh?

 

[The Walrus]

TBO you only need to admit to the claim if you ever contacted your insurance company or the person with whom you had and accident contacted there's, as if you or the other party speaks to any of the customer service's or claim handling departments then they will hold this on file indefinately usually it is no more than 5 years.

Beware the broker who you used will always throw the fact that they sent you a contract which detailed this regardless of what there represantive said, unless you can get hold of the recorded conversation from your previous insurer as most companies will monitor the calls such as this in particular within the customer services and claims handling lines for exactly this reason, normally it is so they can catch you out.

It could be worth a try to see if you could gte hold of this to put the ball back in there court as they are legally obliged to supply you with the correct legal information in these matters which would have been to declare the accident.

Good luck may the force be with you !!!!

 

[ronaldmacdonald]

quote:

I honestly didn't realise that when a company tell you there's no point in claiming that is in fact a claim and should be declared

This is a reasonable defense, I think you have to go back to the initial application form you completed and signed off. Basically they should define their definition of a claim at the time of application. You could argue that a claim involves some form of compensation, consider this defintion which is typical:

"Claim" means a right to payment, whether or not the right is reduced to judgment, liquidated, unliquidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unmatured, disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured, or unsecured.

Basically you could offer the "what would a reasonableperson interpret a claim as" if they have provided no definition on the form/back of the form. This is not black and white and you would have a high probability of winning and I suspect they wouldnt want the cost hassle esp if its a trivial amount (less than a couple of hundred squid).

Play them like a fiddle and dont let them get away with it, its naughty that they are now refusing you insurance because that is deffo a question on most application forms. Sounds like they want to do you up like a kipper for some reason although they are on flimsy ground if you wanted to push it.

RonaldMacdonald

 

[karlh]

Well wonders will never cease, I heard from Highway just now and they've very kindly decided to pay me some money!

If I had declared this claim that wasn't a claim I'd have got £2,110 because I didn't they've offered £1,485

She wasn't very happy that I asked her to put it in writing as I wanted to seek advice and said that was the underwriters final decision and it wouldn't be changed.

I guess I should cut my losses and take the cash and count myself lucky I'm getting anything by all accounts!

I asked why insurance companies don't check these claims registers before issuing the policy and apparently it's not cost effective for them to employ someone to research this information before hand. Sounds like a way to make money to me.

I've been told to declare any incident with an incident being "something you might ask the insurance company to pay out for" regardless of whether you go ahead with the claim or not.

Time to note down those wing mirror, trolley, and kerbed alloy incidents []

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

better than nothing, i had something simular, i had to pay the extra that the premium would have been before they paid me!!

Have you spoken to GISC?

 

[karlh]

quote:

Originally posted by LiQuOrIcE

better than nothing, i had something simular, i had to pay the extra that the premium would have been before they paid me!!

Have you spoken to GISC?

That's what they've said basically. I'm actuially quite surprised, different story to what they said yesterday!

Who/what is GISC?

 

[LiQuOrIcE]

General Insurance Standards Council

www.gisc.co.uk

most insurance companies are members of them.

Tell them about your problem and they will tell you where you stand on this whole incident thing.

Can they prove they said incident and not claims? did they record you? if so, did they let you know they were recording you?

 

[The Walrus]

Why are they saying this that if you had declared this accident they would pay out a higher value for the bike, surely it is worth what it is worth, is this the difference in the premium if not I would press them to pay you the market value regardless of the claim that you did not claim for.

I guarantee you they would have quoted with the incident included as this is the buisness they are interested in.

Also if this is there legal stand point then they would have no obligation to pay you anything, I think that they are standing on thin ice and are aware of this but are taking advantage of your good nature.

So to summarise kick there ass and dont take this s**t they are giving you !!!!

quote:

Originally posted by karlh

Well wonders will never cease, I heard from Highway just now and they've very kindly decided to pay me some money!

If I had declared this claim that wasn't a claim I'd have got £2,110 because I didn't they've offered £1,485

She wasn't very happy that I asked her to put it in writing as I wanted to seek advice and said that was the underwriters final decision and it wouldn't be changed.

I guess I should cut my losses and take the cash and count myself lucky I'm getting anything by all accounts!

I asked why insurance companies don't check these claims registers before issuing the policy and apparently it's not cost effective for them to employ someone to research this information before hand. Sounds like a way to make money to me.

I've been told to declare any incident with an incident being "something you might ask the insurance company to pay out for" regardless of whether you go ahead with the claim or not.

Time to note down those wing mirror, trolley, and kerbed alloy incidents []

 

[The Walrus]

They are part of Lloyds not the bank so they will be a member of the GISC if not the Insurance ombudsman or how ever you spell it will def have some duristriction over them, think what you could get with that extra £600.