Swift cover car claim

[deborahh]

Could someone please give me some sort of advice I changed to Swift Cover on the 31st July 2007 for my insurance for my volvo and guess what happened on the 7th August I had a accident on the A64 and there were 3 cars involved and I went into the back of someone and I came off the worst the other cars managed to drive off but the police had to be called to take statements etc and my car was took to a recovery garage in York and I live in Newcastle so it wasn't exactly ideal and I had to make my own way home with 2 kids and it was a nightmare.

I contacted Swift numerous times to find out what was happening and I ended up with no car at all. It looked to me to be damage to the licence plate and also to the lights but then I was told it was a right off!! Anyway I excepted this as I was told that it was a 6 year car and uneconomical to repair and I was told I would receive a payment for my car and it would be £4250.00 but when it arrived it was a payment for £3944 which I could not understand as all of my payments were up to date when I queried this I was told that the £306 was deducted as it was a total loss claim and in those circumstances the whole premium for the year is deducted even though I have no car. The man on the phone said this was normal practice in a total loss claim or an accident when you are at fault.

Has anyone else experienced this before and is Swiftcover telling the truth?

[lyns]

I have a problem with these ignoring me also! Not to the same extremes as you but I have been asking for my proof of ncd for weeks and still not had it! Hope you get it sorted soon.

[cazzaswfc]

If you pay by direct debit, some companys will deduct the rest of the premium due for the year from your claim.

Did they automatically cancel your policy? Is it now cancelled? With some companys you can simply suspend your insurance for a short time and then simply change your policy to cover your new ( if you buy a new one) car.

[Darkangelsdelite]

Hi deborahh,

What swift cover have done is indeed standard practice within the insurance industry. I'll try and explain it as best i can without getting complicated. when you took the policy out, you entered into a 12 month contract where the insurer agreed to cover your vehicle. In doing so, they agreed to pay out for any claims you may have during this contractual period, and to put you back in the same financial position as you were when you started. In this case, they have fulfilled their part of the contract by paying out the financial value of the car, the idea being that you use that payout to buy a replacement vehicle and contine the rest of the contract. The fact you no longer have a vehicle doesn't matter, you still have a policy with them until July 08 and are expected to pay the premiums for this duration. As Cazza mentioned, some companies will deduct any remaining premiums from the settlement cheque (which is what they've done here) and others will just suspend the policy and keep debiting the monthly payments from your account as normal until you get a new car, either way the result is the same, you're tied into the contract and would not get any return of the premium. If you cancelled the policy now, you wouldn't get anything back due to the claim being made.

Hope This Helps


DA