Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
i am fully comprehensive with elephant and accidently damaged my front bumper on my ford ka. The front bumper was part of a body kit and was a modified bumper but i had informed elephant i had the modifications and it was put on my policy details. Anyway i had taken the car to one of their approved garages and got it examined, the following day i receved a letter saying the garage were approved to repair my car as long as it was economical to do so. after it being examined elephant came back and told me the garage wasn't going to fix the car as it was a modified part(the bumper) but i wasn't wanting a modified bumper put back on, i was happy for a normal ford ka bumper to be put on but they said it would be uneconomical for them to do this. they said they were going to settle with a cash in liue settlement for a sum of £540. I then phoned the approved garage to book in car for repair and was told that the price to fix my car would be double the price given to the insurers as they are given several discounts and as i will now be a cash customer the price would be very different. i then contacted insurance again and informed them of this but was told they were within their rights to settle on this amount. i am currently unemployed as i was recently made redundant and had taken out this policy to cover me for this eventuality. On first setting up account on the phone i told elephant about modifications and they never told me these were not covered, i asked them to get a copy of recorded phone call to verify that this was the case but they told me they had no record of such call although i set up account over the phone. i was also led to believe that upon my car nbeing off the road i would be covered for a courtesy car but i have now been without a car for seven days now and i am no further forward in getting my car repaired as the amount offered to me isn't enough to get car fixed. please help...
They are twisting an existing law in a way that it cannot be twisted. It comes down to the ways in which an insurance company can provide indemnity: repair, replace, reimburse and reinstate.
If you are not happy with the others options you can always ask for a cash settlement. However if you ask for a cash settlement then the insurer is only required to pay you what they would have to pay. So say Insurax (my made up insurance company) has a deal with Currys to get 30% off of electrical items because they put so much business their way. You lose your laptop (costs £1000), and Insurax says here's a replacement from Curry's (retails for £1000, but bought by nsurax for £700 as they have a deal). If you say "I don't want the laptop I want cash" then Insurax only have to give you the £700.
They are allowed to do this because they fulfilled their obligations in providing the indemnity by offering you a replacement. If you choose not to accept this for cash then they should not be penalised for it.
But guess what they are not allowed to do... that's right - they are not allowed to just offer you a discounted cash price! That's because the offer of cash would not pay for a replacement, so they have not fulfilled their end of the contract. It only works if you insist on cash INSTEAD of the option they have provided.
So they are not within their rights to settle on this amount, because actually there are very few 'rights' where this is concerned (which is why these often end up in litigation battles in court). Did you accept the £540 as the payment? It's trickier if you did because that may have shown your acceptance of the offer. Also check your policy documentation to see if it states that your bumper was excluded from cover. However I do believe that they are liable to make your vehicle road worthy - whether it is "economical" to them or not, whatever that bull**** is supposed to mean.
They are twisting an existing law in a way that it cannot be twisted. It comes down to the ways in which an insurance company can provide indemnity: repair, replace, reimburse and reinstate.
If you are not happy with the others options you can always ask for a cash settlement. However if you ask for a cash settlement then the insurer is only required to pay you what they would have to pay. So say Insurax (my made up insurance company) has a deal with Currys to get 30% off of electrical items because they put so much business their way. You lose your laptop (costs £1000), and Insurax says here's a replacement from Curry's (retails for £1000, but bought by nsurax for £700 as they have a deal). If you say "I don't want the laptop I want cash" then Insurax only have to give you the £700.
They are allowed to do this because they fulfilled their obligations in providing the indemnity by offering you a replacement. If you choose not to accept this for cash then they should not be penalised for it.
But guess what they are not allowed to do... that's right - they are not allowed to just offer you a discounted cash price! That's because the offer of cash would not pay for a replacement, so they have not fulfilled their end of the contract. It only works if you insist on cash INSTEAD of the option they have provided.
So they are not within their rights to settle on this amount, because actually there are very few 'rights' where this is concerned (which is why these often end up in litigation battles in court). Did you accept the £540 as the payment? It's trickier if you did because that may have shown your acceptance of the offer. Also check your policy documentation to see if it states that your bumper was excluded from cover. However I do believe that they are liable to make your vehicle road worthy - whether it is "economical" to them or not, whatever that bull**** is supposed to mean.
no not accepted nothing yet. getting some quotes from garages of my choice first. i have told them this as i dont want to be out of pocket for repairing my car. i'd be happy with just a normal bumper but they dont want to do this incase there is any more complications, but i thought these other complications would be covered by my policy.......i'm confused what to do. i can't accept amount they are offering as no garage will do it for this amount. they never offered to repair either ,i've only been offered the cash in lieu settlement. Can i refuse this and ask them to repair instead or do i HAVE to accept this offer.
they said they were going to settle with a cash in liue settlement for a sum of £540. I then phoned the approved garage to book in car for repair and was told that the price to fix my car would be double the price given to the insurers as they are given several discounts and as i will now be a cash customer the price would be very different.
Are they using the valuation you gave them when you got the quote (when you were asked the market price of the vehicle)? If so, that question is only used to identify anything unusual about a car (e.g, if you say your 1991 fiesta 1.1 is worth £20,000 then there is something not quite standard about the car that they would want to know about), and is NOT used as a basis for paying out.
Otherwise we really would have £20,000 cars.
I'd ask on what basis they are valuing the vehicle.
Elephant car insurance trouble
and had taken out this policy to cover me for this eventuality. On first setting up account on the phone i told elephant about modifications and they never told me these were not covered, i asked them to get a copy of recorded phone call
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Originally Posted by Wulfyn
