55 replies to this topic

[Ethel]

right after 10 minutes of reading, can i just say, as an employee of HIC i am verysorry to hear of your experience.

If you could pm me your surname and postcode we will investigate what has happened for you

Many Thanks

Laura, HIC

WOAH!

If you're genuine Laura don't compound HIC's in competence by asking Bean to give out her address to an unsolicited requested on the 'net!

Why don't you PM her your details- your work email address at least? But frankly I don't think it would be in her interest to waste too much more of her time chewing the fat with HIC if they haven't seen fit to behave reasonably so far.

[LilRipperxx]

I am completely genuine, but to be honest, Hic as a broker, we do not deal with claims, we place business with insurers, it is completely out of our hands how the claims are dealt with by the Insurer..so if there has been a situation in which we have not been able to provide information it is simply because we don't have it.

Obviously everyone has their own opinion on what has happened, but pointing the finger is not helping to resolve the situation, HIC would normally ask clients to call their insurers claims number and provide the number in such circumstances, but as there is obviously considerable distress here, i am taking time out of my role at work, to try and help and see if i can unearth any details.

Pming me details would be private, and that way it is guaranteed that there will be a responce as we all know computer systems/phone messaging systems are not always 100% reliable.

Just trying to help!

Edited by LilRipperxx, 08 November 2007 - 12:55 PM.

[Dev]

ethel,

i'm sure bean is clever enough to have pm'd the details.

HIC are not incompetant, however some ofthe insurers they use might be.

[Jammy]

Well, with Beans permission could we find out who the Insurers are and either swap, or add their name to the title?

[*DJH*]

Well, with Beans permission could we find out who the Insurers are and either swap, or add their name to the title?

I'll ask Jean for you now.

[LilRipperxx]

If Bean would like to provide the details of her insurer then she may, but i am not in a position to do so.

Althought obviously there as been error along the way somewhere, be it the insurer, the salavage yard or the third partys insurer, this is just one case out of thousands and thousands that have had no problems. Im not trying to downplay this case as i agree from reading your comments, that your case has not been dealt with appropriately, but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture.

So again i will just say that i would be happy to help if bean would like me to, but without knowing the full details and going into her file, which i cannot do without her details/permission, then speculating what has occured is just going to slander companies that may or may not have been at fault!

Just my 2pence

[TwinCarb]

Not to rain on anyone's parade here but I work in the motor insurance industry and can offer you a bit of advice to save you wasting your time, it's up to you whether you take it or not.

At this stage don't bother going to the Ombudsman as they will not take the complaint on. You have to first exhaust the internal complaints procedure and get a final decision in writing before they will even look at it.

Once you have done this don't bother wasting your money on a solicitor go straight to the FOS/FSA they are the legal body that regulate all financial institutions including insurers and they offer a free arbitration service that won't cost you a penny.

Once they have made their final decision if it falls in your favour their contract is legally binding and the insurance company have to comply with their finding/recommendations.

If it doesn't fall in your favour just cut your losses because no amount of solicitors letters are going to get them to change their minds.

Another thing I would advise you on is don't make threats. Insurance companies are not scared of legal action / threats of you going to watchdog or going to the press at the end of the day they are a massive multinational company and one voice is never heard.

Reading the thread just to clear another area up the 'freedom of information act' does not cover insurers or any financial institution it is a government legislation only applicable when obtaining personal information from a government agency or body.

As for the 'Freedom of information act' the £10 that they charge you is agreed by the FSA and is under their recommendations. They will charge you this amount as they are legally allowed to do so and it is not in their interest to not charge it. The last point is when you ask for this information they have got a maximum of 40 days to provide you with this information and again this is agreed by the FSA so don't expect to get it quickly.

Sorry if this sounds a bit negative but as I see this every day I thought a bit of correct and accurate advice rather than just hear say and peoples opinions may be useful.

All the best with your claim though.

Edited by TwinCarb, 08 November 2007 - 01:56 PM.

[*DJH*]

Right, Jean has asked me if everyone could wait posting until she gets back from uni as she wants to have a read and have her say

If everyone could do that, it'll be appreciated

[Dev]

Ok i will lock this for now dan and reopen after work.

Dev

[Bean]

Jesus Christ.

This thread was not started to cause arguments. It wasn't started as a plea for help. If you read my initial post in the manner it was intended, it was a simple account of everything that had taken place that I wasn't happy with.

I believe I am fully within my right to express my experience with a company.

Not once have I threatened or even blamed an individual. It was merely a recollection and an overview of what I for-see as a completely unnacceptable way to handle a business.

With all due respect, Laura, I know you have to defend the company you work for and I appreciate the fact that there are now two sides to this. But it was never intended to be a 'don't go to HIC' post. I have said further back in this thread that I am fully aware that each case is different for others, that this could happen with any insurance company. I understand that and I respect the fact that you have had thousands of claims previously.


However.

It isn't just any claim and it isn't any other company. This is my claim, my car and ultimately my life that this has encroached upon, and I have the right to stand up and say so.

I believe the way in which this has been dealt with is truly unnacceptable. I believe that if a company cannot offer what they agreed to, then it should not have taken more customers and it should not have taken my money.


If anything comes from this, I beg of you, please let it be known to the correct people that customers have a right to know what's going on because the levels of communication are appauling.

Two prime examples of this:

Firstly - My car being moved to Chester. I was told this by the receptionist at the compound (where the car went on the night of the accident). I should have heard this from my insurance company and I should have been asked for permission to take my property and move it before the contract went out.

Secondly - I was told by the secretary of the assessors that my car was to be a category B. (once we'd trawled through the mess that was giving me the wrong details for the car and someone elses registration plate).

Can you imagine just how upsetting that was to hear that your pride and joy was never going to be given back to you, and you're told by the secretary - who couldn't tell me any more, because she didn't know!?


I do not expect to have to be the one chasing up companies. I expect them to be the ones to tell me when something is happening, I expect them to inform me of information as soon as they receive it and I expect them to know what they're doing. I do not have the time to sit by the phone for hours waiting for someone to ring me.

What I don't expect is to have a mess on my hands where someone has instructed two seperate solicitors to act on my behalf. However, I have had a phonecall from the main instructed solicitor this afternoon and hopefully this will be resolved ASAP.


As far as HIC being a broker is concerned and with reference to the actual insurers, that's not my point. HIC were the company I used to insure my car. Whether they're a broker or not, to me, is irrelevant. It has been numerous companies within the whole claim that there are issues with, and as HIC are the ones that have instructed them, then they all come under that bracket.

As for a willingness to help, Laura, I thank you.

However that was not the point of my post. I have waited until now to type about this, because it has taken this long to sort things out. The settlement for the car has gone through and as far as I'm concerned, I don't want to drag any of that back up. For my sanity, more than anything.


I am sorry for having all this in public though, it was never intended to be anything like this at all. Please accept my apologies.

[taffy1967]

Well it's a free country so thanks for airing this horror story Bean and I'm sure many of us have had problems with our insurers (I know I have), so hopefully we'll learn something from this.