55 replies to this topic

[Bean]

Hi Guys!

I know I’ve posted alot for advice about my insurance claim with Charlie, and a HUGE thank you goes out to all those that have helped me.

But, I thought I’d let you know the full story of what an utter mess this insurance claim has been. And how incompetant a ‘professional company’ can actually be.

I was going to write the whole fiasco out, and if you want me to, I will. But for now, just so its easier to read for people and it’s clearer - i’ll do an overview.

(Please bear in mind that the crash happened 7th August. I was not at fault and the dizzy cow who crashed into me admitted fault)

It’s a long post, I’m very sorry. But please stick with it. It does make for interesting reading, even though its been hell going through it.


So, from the top:

They:

Contracted to have my car moved without my permission:
From the recovery compound that it was taken to, after the crash - to Universal Salvage in Chester. It was to be moved to 'free storage' miles away from my home. No one thought to tell me. The only reason I found out was because I went to the breakers in Hereford where he was, only to be told by their receptionist.

Took 3 months to send a settlement cheque:
This is where the claim gets really ‘interesting’.

The insurance company told me that because the car was ‘only a mini’, they wouldn’t bother sending an engineer out to look at my car to determine the category, they would simply write it off by looking at some pictures. And of course, I rang up the engineers straight away and told them I wouldn’t accept this and I would not accept an offer based on photos.

The engineers then told me that this was not the case and that an engineer would be sent out.

I spoke to the secretary of the company and she told me that my car was a category B write-off, even though the engineer hadn’t written a report yet. But she ‘didn’t know any more about it’ so couldn’t tell me.

I then spoke to the managing director of the assessors and told him I was not happy with the way it has been dealt with.

From that date, the engineers took about a month and a half to file a report on Charlie. They had to be prompted by fax (because of a phonecall I made directly to the insurers).

Gave me false (?) information:
To this day, I am still not sure if the dizzy cow is insured or not. One set of letters tells me that I will be put through a claim on the MIB, the other set is from her insurance company on her behalf. I phone up my insurance company and no-body knows. I have given them all the details I know and the reference numbers of the letters I have received, but I have heard nothing back of whether she is or not.

The latest is: I might have to go to court. Apparently they’ve sent a letter to her insurance company (which apparently she has even though she’s not insured??). If they don’t pay (which I presume they won’t, because she’s not insured??), my insurance company will take her insurance company (?) to court, with their own set of lawyers and I will have to go and give evidence for it.

Screwed me and the car over:
That’s to put it simply. When Charlie was moved to Chester, I was told that he was there because it was free storage. Fair enough. Two months later, I get a phonecall asking me to give them permission to crush my little car. Apparently there was a time-limit for free storage and the time was nearly up. I was not told this. I was also told that if I disagreed to have him crushed, then I would be liable for any charges.

Obviously I argued this point, as it’s not my doing that it had taken two months and I still had no sign of a settlement.

I then had an offer of £600 for him come through.* Now, I wasn’t going to accept this. However, I had then been told that even though I had disagreed to pay for storage charges, they would be taken from my settlement cheque anyway. So I had no control over it. It was either agree to £600 and pay no storage or get more and lose what extra I got on storage charges anyway. So that was that.

(*I was also informed that I had previously agreed the £600 with the assessors. I had done no such thing. The assessors had told the insurance company that ‘we had spoken and I had agreed’)

I was told by my insurers that if I wanted any bits (They knew full well that I wanted the wheels, seats and steering wheel) that I would have to talk to the salvage yard. So, I rang the salvage yard and they informed me that they don’t break cars, they either sell them or crush them. Seeing as Charlie couldn’t be sold, they said he would be crushed. By this time, it was too late to go back to the insurance company, as that would have held things up even more.... thus incurring storage charges, which I would be liable for, meaning I would end up with literally no settlement money.

And that was that. They crushed Charlie and sent me a cheque for £250. (I have a £350 excess)

NEVER ring you back:
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve tried to get an answer from someone, only to be told that they’ll “get back to me”. And they never do!! EVER!! I know it’s not a huge thing in comparison to being lied to and screwed over - but it’s bloody frustrating when all you want is a simple yes/no answer and you spend hours waiting for something that is never going to come!

IGNORE Emails:
I have emailed the insurance company and asked for a details breakdown of my claim. I have asked for exact dates as to when they received information and when that information was processed. I want to see for myself just why it’s taken 3 months to get to get a cheque. I have also asked for a copy of Charlie’s engineers report. So far I have had nothing from them. This has been almost a month now and I haven’t had any response.

Don’t communicate:
I have been passed from person to person, company to company and not one of them knows the state-of-play with my claim. I haven’t had one straight answer from anyone. So far I think I’ve counted 10 companies that seem to be dealing with my claim. Each one of those doesn’t talk to the other one, they don’t know what has been said between each other. Most of the time, you spend hours repeating yourself to different people and re-tracing steps that really should have been dealt with months ago.


And now for the personal injury:

I had my medical interview relatively quickly in comparison to some of these claims you hear about. (I can’t remember the exact date, but it was about 4 weeks after the crash). As far as I was concerned, the report was being compiled and I had done my bit.

However, I then got another letter saying that they ‘had arranged my medical examination’. So, I rang them up, saying that I had already had one and that it should be being processed. So they told me they’d get back to me (!). I then had ANOTHER letter telling me they had arranged an appointment for me!! So, I rang them again and asked for an explanation of what on earth they were playing at.

Apparently, they couldn’t find my medical report. So I told them the doctor who did the examination and the detais of when and where. It turned out that the doctor wasn’t even on my list of ‘recommended GPs’ and they didn’t know where he came from.

I then received a letter from another company, saying that they have my medical report and that they want to settle my claim (for a, to be honest, rubbish amount of money for the amount of pain I was in). Meanwhile, I got another letter, saying that they ‘have arranged a medical examination’.

Obviously, utterly confused, I rang up my solicitor who is supposed to be overseeing the whole claim.

We then found out that I apparently have two sets of solicitors acting for me? They’re both trying to do the same job at the same time. I’ve only ever spoken to one solicitor and neither of us know where this other company came from or who gave them the order to take my claim on.

So, while the two solicitors fight out my claim and who is going to take it on from here.... I’m a sitting duck. I have no idea who to talk to, which company to ring, which department to ring, who my lawyers are, whether the dizzy cow was insured, whether I have to go to court and where the hell my money is.


My feelings at the moment: I’m frustrated, drained, confused, angry etc etc etc. And who do I tell? No idea, because I don’t know who’s handling my claim anymore.

It has been three months to the day today since the accident. Charlie’s been crushed, I’ve STILL got back and neck pains, I have a court-case on the horizon and all I’ve had is alot of aggro and a £250 cheque.



In conclusion.... (and I’m so sorry it’s been such a long post). I am completely disgusted at this company’s attitude towards its customers. They are only interested in taking your money and making you ‘legal’ to be on the road and after that, you get nothing. If a company cannot provide a service that a customer pays for, it is completely unacceptable. In this case, HIC have made promises that they couldn’t keep. I paid £390 for a fully comprehensive policy and the ONLY thing that has run smoothly in this claim is the hire car (which I was kind enough to save them money on, by sourcing another car for myself, even though I didn’t need to).


Believe it or not, I have cut it down a great deal. But I have included the most important things, I think. The others are just pure examples of complete and utter incompetence.

Never before have I come across a company that is so disorganised and clueless. And I hope to God that I will never have to experience ‘customer service’ like this again. I will be taking this matter further and I will be writing to the correct authorities with details of my experience.

I know that alot of people are insured with HIC, so I just wanted to make my experience with them known.

Thank you for reading and I hope people take something from it.

[jim295]

Wow all i can say is i hope things turn up for you soon.

Also you've scared the hell out of me as i've got insurance with HIC and i cant afford to change over!

[cowboy]

this goes to prove one thing. when you are dealing with any kind of insurance company or any company that phones you, the first thing you want to do is to get all the information about the person who is phoning you first. there name company number(every employee has a company number, its on their pay statement atleast) and time of call, when you have finished talking to them before they hang up go over everything with them to insure you have all the information available and tell them you will be sending them an email with a referance to the phone call

beleive me when you do this things move quickly.. and you have a file on them about every phone call and who you have spoken too....

[biggav]

are HIC miniworld insurance??? send a letter to mini magazine?
I'd be sending letters to all magazines anyway... then burning the HIC stand at any forthcoming mini show.

[nurseholliday]

ooh err. I started a policy with them 3 weeks ago. Was about to sort out my Agreed Value this weekend.

That's really upsetting to read and I hope you're not too traumatised! It makes me think while Tesco were £70-90 more expensive I've had such positive experiences with them in the past I shouldn't have switched away from them.

[rozzer!]

havnt used tesco insurance before then have you! my last mini was reversed into by a guy in a transit. damage was a bust headlight, bust wing, bust section of wiring loom, bust grille. car was taken to an "approved!" bodyshop where it was place in a class "b" writeoff. i was like what the hell! apparently it was because it had "oversills, and the doors were different colours!" the other guy reckoned i hit him up the back and this went back and forth till it was taken over by the independant solicitors where after 2 years it went to court. the court was situated about 5 minutes walk from where my father died due to a heart attack back in 2003. needless to say i was not happy. won the case in the end on a technicality of breaking distances! the transit would need some sort of super break to stop where he reckoned he was! my barrister informed the court that "he would have gone accross the road and into the person in front of him's driveway at the speed he was travelling at as it is a larger vehicle therefore needing longer time to brake!" the other kicker was where i am partially deaf i had to ask them to speak up slightly. i informed them of this at the start and had to ask half way through the hearing aswell. the judge was very apologetic and i think this may have swung it a bit aswelll! originally i got paid out £150 for my car after my excess was deducted. io got this back and a bit more but after the solicitors had got their payment. i got about £500 roughly for it. i didnt do it for the money, i did it because the guy called me a liar and i dont agree with it!

moral of the story is : - go through an independant claims department as they dont give you the shaft.

Edited by fifi the shiney, 07 November 2007 - 07:35 AM.

[rozzer!]

ooh err. I started a policy with them 3 weeks ago. Was about to sort out my Agreed Value this weekend.

That's really upsetting to read and I hope you're not too traumatised! It makes me think while Tesco were £70-90 more expensive I've had such positive experiences with them in the past I shouldn't have switched away from them.

see my post on tesco! had 3 claims through them and they are a bunch of arses!

[CharlieBrown]

Bean,

Do you have to appear at court? They have already paid you and its not in your benafit to go is it?

I think you can complain to an insurance ombersman??? (or someome like that) I guess someone will know more.


Also you are legaly entitled to find out what information they store on you, Freadom of information act, you have to pay a bit but they are legally obliged to get you the information, ie everything they have on you. I imagine it would be an absolute pain for them but you might finally get the information you need.

Sounds like you have had terrible service and you ahve every right to kick up a fuss.

I take it you didnt have an agreed value on the mini?

[*Raz*]

Aww Bean, you've had a bad run of it I thought mine was bad!! I know how you feel though, especially about the lack of communication!! Its SO stupid!! Ive emailed them, no reply. Phoned them ''We'll get back to you'' or ''Im sorry we cannot release the information yet'' blah blah blah!! Ive lost count with the amount of companies I have spoken to! I was writing a moody letter to send to my insurance company and was about to send it when they rang to say they will send my money. FINALLY, even though the man that hit me has said he didnt crash into me ?!?!!

I really hope this all sorts out for you

You really should kick up a fuss about this all. I know you have millions of letters sent to you etc, but just write a letter exactly what you have told us, with dates etc. Your like me, you have paid for fully comprehensive but got a 3rd rate service, its absolutely ridiculous!!

xXx Raz hug!! xXx

[Foxy Mini]

They will always send letter about going to court if the other persons nsurance company has not paid or responded, it's just a scare tactic most of the time, so don't worry too much about that.
I can't believe how badly your case has been handled!

I'm now with Adrian Flux, nicest insurance company I've ever dealt with... so far

[Amy]

I'm now with Adrian Flux, nicest insurance company I've ever dealt with... so far

Adrian Flux is HIC and Miniworld insurance's sister company

I've been with HIC on and off for the last ten years and to be honest I've had nothing but great service from them, they dealt with my brother's claim swiftly and an assessor viewed the car and gave him far more than market value for a mini of it's age.... We were impressed then, and they haven't let us down since.

I'm so sorry about the mess they've made of your claim though Bean, no matter how good they've been for anyone else, situations like yours are unacceptable and should NEVER happen.

Perhaps the young lady who recently joined TMF from HIC might like to make a comment about it.... she might even be able to finally sort things out for you. After all, I doubt this is the sort of publicity they want!

[Bean]

I take it you didnt have an agreed value on the mini?

Unfortunately, no I didn't. And I regret it hugely!

Do you have to appear at court? They have already paid you and its not in your benafit to go is it?

They will always send letter about going to court if the other persons nsurance company has not paid or responded, it's just a scare tactic most of the time, so don't worry too much about that.

This is the latest thing that I am unclear about. I'm just waiting for the letter to arrive up here at Uni and I'll ring them. I figured it might be a scare-tactic, but with the whole mess about her not being insured, it does seem like it's a huge possibility. I mean, if they've invalidated her insurance for any reason, they're not going to want to pay out. If they don't pay within 30 days ( i think ) then its court



It's not that I wanted to 'scare' anyone as such, or put them in doubt of their own insurance really. I didn't mean to make anyone uncomfortable. Sorry if I did. I just wanted to explain my personal experience with them and how I will certainly not be using them again. I understand that it may be different for different people and that all insurance companies have unsatisfied customers etc.

But it is unacceptable and I just thought you should all know and take it on board.

[yorkshirechris]

poor Jean & poor Charlie.

I really hope that you get some sort of compensation for the injuries you have sustained, I know it goes nowhere near compensating for the stress and anxiety you've been through but at least it'd be something good to come out of all this.

Keep persevering, and make sure you tell everyone about what has happened to they lose more customers... even if just one person decides against being insured with them thats £hundreds that they've lost because of their incompetance.

[ginger_monkey]

I was with adrian flux with my van a few years back. My van got broken into in the ford yard over night as it was having work done on it. They said that i had to get my own insurance for a courtesy van while mine was off the road. Adrian flux was like "yeah, no worries we'll sort that" but then they realised that the courtesy van was worth more than mine (which was obvious as my van was worth £1500) they said sorry can't help you! I battled for a little while and they just simply said NO! The people you speak to are very nice and seam very helpful but the company themselfs are not too hot. So I swore I'd never give them another penny.

Anyway Bean I'm sorry your having to go through what you are. Life would be some much easier if insurance companies didn't hate giving money away like they promised. No matter how small. We will always have a problem with using our mini's as all they want to do is write them off. It's like they all hate mini's and want them off the road. BOOOO to them...

Good luck to you.

Hope no one else has to go through it as bad.

[Dev]

Bean you have my sympathies, they wrote my car off three times before actually looking at what had been done to it and deciding it was repairable.

useless.

Not as bad as another company i used that took 4 years to settle a claim.

Jackman had a worse experince