HELP! - Direct Line Negligence Claim

I was unfortunate around 8 months ago to have a vehicle suffer light fire damage to the offside wing which was duly put out with water by the fire brigade. Thats when I experienced the full ineptitude lumbering jack ass of a company that is Direct line.

1) The car was recovered and sent to the incorrect garage (Ford Body Shop) who advised me that they didnt have the facilities to diagnose the cause of the fire.
2) the engineer argued for around two weeks that the vehicle was not going to the dealer of my choice due to the cost - when I advised him that he was putting cost saving over safety thats when the issues started.
3) the car finally was recovered to my dealer who have serviced the car since I had it
4) the engineer refused to authorise the dealer any more than one hour to inspect and quote for it - they advised the engineer that they would need around 5 hours and that it was likely that other issues would arise from water ingress in the engine.
5) the engineer refused the work and then advised that the cause of the fire was electrical breakdown caused by rubbing of the loom - as this was not covered by the policy alledgely and no furhter diagnostics could be done without this being repaired we paid for the electrics to be repaired.
6) the engineer then further refused a partial engine strip as recommended by our repairers.

Eventually the vehicle wound up at another repairer who put right the fire damage to the wing and engine bay. The car went back twice in all - after it suffered from overheating problems within 30 mins of us collecting it.

I now have a vehicle that has depreciated over the last 8 months - has not been adequately repaired and is undriveable - I am advised that the overheating issues are not related to the fire however this didnt occur in the 5 years I've owned the car previously. When the car originally suffered extreme heat damage the over flow tank melted and it lost its coolant on the motorway the insurer has said I am responsible because the warning light would of come on and I should of stopped - however I have spoken to two engineers who have advised that without water in the system the lights would have come on as the sensors wouldnt of worked.

In all Direct line have paid out

1) £2,500 on repair work
2) £1000 on car hire
3) £1,500 on body repairs caused by recovery

the car was worth around £4,500 - so it just doesnt stack up.

Should I get another engineers report done?
Direct line wont give me their legal departments details to pursue this and are being obstructive

Any help on this would be greatfully recieved especially in reltaion to proximate causes etc and please advise if u need any further clarification

[mooreda]

i really think you should put together a formal letter of complaint explaining how disgusted you are with the claims service you have received and bullet point everything from start to finish. Tell the insurer what you want with regards to the outcome of your complaint and if necessary complain to the Ombudsman.

Thank you for this - the post was really just an overview - it goes on from here like being contiually threatened to have the hire car taken away due to the insurer not renewing it - to being advised that my childrens safety were of no concern to the engineer as he was there to keep costs down - the bottom line is I need to get an independent engineers report carried out to be able to effectively go to court however two engineers have advised that due to the length of time taken when the incident occurred to now (the car has covered 15 miles since the event) they wouldnt be prepared to get involved)

I am at a loss on where to start on this one

UPDATE!


The vehicle is now sat on my drive after having bodywork repairs carried out that occured during recovery - however it is undriveable as it over heats -

Direct line are refusing to acknowledge that the problems were in any way related to the original claim - they have suggested that I pay for an independent engineer to inspect the vehicle - I am at a loss to know what to do

I have another vehicle but I want to take action now against Direct Line due to the amount of time taken to sort it out and that the vehicle is not in the condition it was prior to the fire damage.

Can I just go straight to a small claims court?

Please help on this one as I am so out of pocket now its caused major arguments between myself and my wife and I'm fed up with large companies frankly taking the ****

[Darkangelsdelite]

I've only got a general knowledge of claims so hopefully one of the other insurance experts will come along and correct me, but from my understanding of it, the claim will only be covered if the original cause of the incident is covered. (I.E, if the fire was caused by wear and tear and general mechanical failure which is excluded by most motor policies), then the steps taken by D.L would appear to be correct in that they will only repair the damage caused directly by the fire and nothing more.
In regards to their legal dept, i'm pretty sure there's a clause in there which states you cant use your legal cover against the company you have your policy with. As i said, i'm not a claims expert by any stretch of the imagination so parts of this could be slightly in-accurate.

Originally Posted by Darkangelsdelite

I've only got a general knowledge of claims so hopefully one of the other insurance experts will come along and correct me, but from my understanding of it, the claim will only be covered if the original cause of the incident is covered. (I.E, if the fire was caused by wear and tear and general mechanical failure which is excluded by most motor policies), then the steps taken by D.L would appear to be correct in that they will only repair the damage caused directly by the fire and nothing more.
In regards to their legal dept, i'm pretty sure there's a clause in there which states you cant use your legal cover against the company you have your policy with. As i said, i'm not a claims expert by any stretch of the imagination so parts of this could be slightly in-accurate.

Thanks for the response this is a long and lengty technical case so I'll try and keep it real short with the most relevent parts.

1) the car suffered light fire damage that melted the plastic filler tank - the cause was electrical chafing.
2) the car had been driven along a motorway and only "caught" when it was stopped on a driveway
3) However it is likely that the vehicle lost its coolant on the motorway
4) The car was reparied unsatisfatorily as direct line obstructed the case form start to finish and despite being advised by two garages that they recommended a partial engine strip they would only allocate one hour labour costs for invesigative work
5) The reason for not paying out for additional work is that they say there is

a) no direct link between the fire and the mechanical failiure
b) I was negligant in not stopping when the car overheated despite teh warnign light not coming on - I have been advised by tow engineers that the warning light wouldnt come on due to the system would need coolant in the sytem to make the light work.

I am stuck with a car that I could sell on but am really loathe to pass the problem onto a new owner. The car needs additional work due to water entering into the engine - either caused by the fire brigade pumping gallons through the engine bay or damage to the engine caused by the heat and fire damage which is more likely.

So despite £4,500 in repairs carried out the car still needs in excess of £2,000 to make it safe and roadworthy.

I have another car as this claim has taken 8 months to process - and I am happy to go to court without any legal assistance relating to the policy.

The question is

Do I write the whole episode off and lose £4,500 which i cannot afford to do
Do I get an independent engineers report and threaten legal action
What is the chance of getting my money back off Direct Line bering in mind the whole case has been negligently handled?
Do I just go to the ombudsmen?
Or the papers - to be honest I'm fed up with being mugged off by companies like Direct Line so am quite happy to give them some serious negative PR.



PS anyone with Direct Line the cut price cheapo insurer would be well wise to re-read there policy in realtion to car hire if you have an accident and waht your policy actually covers - if you have a poilicy with them over a number of years please re-read it and dotn assume that youa re covered for everything you thought when you 1st took the policy out.

Originally Posted by rils

Thanks for the response this is a long and lengty technical case so I'll try and keep it real short with the most relevent parts.

1) the car suffered light fire damage that melted the plastic filler tank - the cause was electrical chafing.
2) the car had been driven along a motorway and only "caught" when it was stopped on a driveway
3) However it is likely that the vehicle lost its coolant on the motorway
4) The car was reparied unsatisfatorily as direct line obstructed the case form start to finish and despite being advised by two garages that they recommended a partial engine strip they would only allocate one hour labour costs for invesigative work
5) The reason for not paying out for additional work is that they say there is

a) no direct link between the fire and the mechanical failiure
b) I was negligant in not stopping when the car overheated despite teh warnign light not coming on - I have been advised by tow engineers that the warning light wouldnt come on due to the system would need coolant in the sytem to make the light work.

I am stuck with a car that I could sell on but am really loathe to pass the problem onto a new owner. The car needs additional work due to water entering into the engine - either caused by the fire brigade pumping gallons through the engine bay or damage to the engine caused by the heat and fire damage which is more likely.

So despite £4,500 in repairs carried out the car still needs in excess of £2,000 to make it safe and roadworthy.

I have another car as this claim has taken 8 months to process - and I am happy to go to court without any legal assistance relating to the policy.

The question is

Do I write the whole episode off and lose £4,500 which i cannot afford to do
Do I get an independent engineers report and threaten legal action
What is the chance of getting my money back off Direct Line bering in mind the whole case has been negligently handled?
Do I just go to the ombudsmen?
Or the papers - to be honest I'm fed up with being mugged off by companies like Direct Line so am quite happy to give them some serious negative PR.



PS anyone with Direct Line the cut price cheapo insurer would be well wise to re-read there policy in realtion to car hire if you have an accident and waht your policy actually covers - if you have a poilicy with them over a number of years please re-read it and dotn assume that youa re covered for everything you thought when you 1st took the policy out.

Please chaps and chapesses I really need to some help re the red bits above