63 replies to this topic

[Jammy]

I thought Direct Line have looked like quite a good deal at the moment, with things like vandalism cover...

[Dom]

I've been with Direct Line since I started driving... only fault I have with them is they won't insure vehicles over 15 years old in Europe, which was one of the reasons I was unable to make the trip to the ring last year.

[Matt]

fortunately... everything was declared thou.. and they have now after all this time admitted this.

my problem is that it was a third part at blame anyway!!
and regardless if the modifications were declared or not.. its my right to have what my cars worth which included the modifications as they are part of the car.

even now they are refusing to send me any of the documents i have asked for.. including a non doctorered copy of the assessors report which (after consulting legal advice) i am entitled to see. The previous version had been attacked with a board marker to remove parts which might be useful to me.. such as the value the assessor put on the car, and the scrap value of the car also.

[WiredbyWilson]

sadly it is relevant if you have modified your car and not notified them, i believe they can void your insurance for it.

but as you were fully declared that isnt a prob.

worst situ i had was when i had to go to court for a claim where a guy (my 2nd cousin) tried to catch his mate that had left a few minutes earlier on roads he didnt know, lost it on a bend and buried his car in the hedge, after going up my passengers side removing my door (barin in mind i was on the verge as the first guy didnt make the bend and hit a telegraph pole - i had stopped and one passenger had already got out!

on the day of the court case - different soli and no pics of scene or cars. subsequently the soli was a totla waste of space and the claim was chucked out - leaving me to repair my car - not happy.

but then i had to mot said 2nd cousins car as i work for my uncle - let sjust say the emission swere low and wheel bolts nice and tight !!

i think it is much of a muchness and luck of draw

[CharlieBrown]

and regardless if the modifications were declared or not.. its my right to have what my cars worth which included the modifications as they are part of the car.

If you didn’t get an agreed value isn’t it their right just to give you book value, no matter of any modifications???

[JD65]

Elephant are part of Adimral

[rozzer!]

dont bother with tesco insurance either. they are a bunch of c**k smokers aswell. last 3 minis all written off by them. went with adrian flux and sofar they have been brilliant. only complaint was that the new schedule didnt arrive till the last minute when i went to tax it and my mods werent declared on the paperwork. after a quick phonecall i found out they were on their system anyway. fifi is fairly modified and still only costs less than £500 a year!

[Matt]

If you didn’t get an agreed value isn’t it their right just to give you book value, no matter of any modifications???

not quite... as it was a third party fault.. they are legally bound to pay the value of the car.. not always the market value. Which ever may be more i believe.

when i took out the insurance i could have said that the car was worth 500 pounds.. but now it could be worth triple that... and they would be expected to pay the revised value

[Jammy]

It does matter if you were fully declared or not. Otherwise people could just add things to their car after an accident and claim for them!

[A KIRK]

Everyone knows insurance companies are a nightmare.

LEts face it they are there to make money, and if that means offering a lower amount for a car they will do. IF they don't make a profit then they won't be able to insure people, and the less insurers there ar the higher the premiums will be.

Unless you can prove 100% the value of your car(lets face it a body kitted mini is more valuable to one person than another) then your have no choice to accept what ever they offer you.

Remember an insurer can always off you less, and reduce the amount they are offering if you upset them to much.

[Matt]

this is true.. in my instance everything was declared...

[The Matt]

and regardless if the modifications were declared or not.. its my right to have what my cars worth which included the modifications as they are part of the car.

But it aint.

Problem is that most insurance companies WILL NOT repair a car back to the modified state, they will repair it back to standard. It's all in policy small print. The same will apply for if a car is written off. It will only be valued as per standard state unless it's a specialist policy. It's all in the small print of most of the insurers. I was with Elephant (sister company of Admiral) and had some mods declared on my Megane. The policy stated that in the event of an accident, modifications would not be repaired like for like, they would be put back to standard if necessary.

Unfortunately, unless you've got an agreed value with a specialist insurer, you're up the creek mate!

[who_loves_the_mini?]

not quite... as it was a third party fault.. they are legally bound to pay the value of the car.. not always the market value. Which ever may be more i believe.

when i took out the insurance i could have said that the car was worth 500 pounds.. but now it could be worth triple that... and they would be expected to pay the revised value

If you do not have an agreed valuation then they will generally only pay out the amount you said the car was worth when you took the policy out. If you said it was worth £1000 but now it is worth £3000 they will normally only pay out £1k. It is up to you to increase the value or get an agreed valuation. Its a b***h but this is how they make their money

[nurseholliday]

Well it's quite obvious that everyone has different experiences. HIC have been utter not very good with me, not lifting a finger during my claim, wheras Tesco were brilliant. Tesco are underwritten by Direct Line, and even let me off the fact I had completely forgotten to tell them about my stage 1 kit! It was an honest mistake, and they said that they would calculate the extra premium (£50) and minus it from my payout to the garage. So I basically paid a £300 excess instead of £250.

[pete]

I find it quite amusing when people come on here slatting individual insurance companies and then others come on and say don't use such and such either. People would be very surprised if they knew just how few insurance companies there actually are. For instance, Admiral, Elephant,Bell and a couple more I can't remember at the moment are all the same people. Tesco, Privelege and Direct Line are all UKinsurance who also have one or two smaller companies as well.
It's not the insurance company thats rubbish it's the individual that you get on the phone and how good they are at their job. Always get the name of the person you speak to and then always go back to them. If you think they are messing you about then ask to speak to their line manager and get their name and always ask for them. If you still aren't happy then go to the Insurance Ombudsmen. I deal with claims departments for different insurance companies all day and if you are unlucky to get the company idiot on the other end of the phone then you don't stand a chance. Some companies I deal with I will even hang up the phone if certain people answer and then ring back hoping I get someone else.
If we get many more posts slatting insurance companies there won't be any good one's left to choose from.