Hi there

I just want some advice on how i should take my claim and if anyone else has had trouble with Admiral Insurance.

At the start of May i had my Fiesta ST stolen from outside a pub. I reported this to the police straight away and told the insurance company the following morning as it was late at night when it was taken.

Basically i have been waiting nearly 4 months now and paid well over £2k off the car and im still non the wiser than when i first made the claim.

Admiral appointed an investigator to come round and see me, of which he came round on a random day without notifying me and got me out of bed as i work nights and i had to go through the interview half asleep.

I cannot find my spare key as my mum has lost it when she brought it out to me when i locked my main key fob in the boot of my car by accident (bloody auto arming locks), we have looked everywhere but just cannot find it along with other things like my birth certificate and other important documents.

The police have investigated the theft and have said that the car was loaded onto the back of a low loader and taken away and that they cannot do anything else until the car turns up and they can send it for ferensics.

I emailed Admiral last friday stating that i wanted to go make a complaint as per there complaints procedure so that i can take this to the financial ombudsman regardless of wether the claim is settled or not as i have not had 1 lowsy phone call or letter from them since i made the claim.

Every time i phone i get told that the file needs to be reviewed and that theyll call me when they have sorted it, the last few times they said they sent the key fob off to be tested and are awaiting it coming back.

On monday i got a letter from them stating that they have had the key back from the examiner and he has quoted that the key fob has not been used in the last 6 months and that the overall mileage of the car is less than 3000 miles. And unless i send them the other key which i dont have, then they will rethink there stance on this incident.

This is complete and utter rubbish! i have used the car every day almost without fail with that key fob and mileage was well well over 3000.

So yesterday i emailed them again notifying that i still have not had a correspondence on my complaint and that the examiners report was aload of rubbish. I have sent them a scan of a reciept for a new tyre which had my mileage at 6900 back in december and that my work will provide written and video evidence if need be that i used my car daily for work.

So now i am awaiting there next move.

I have got a bad feeling that they are going to refuse to pay for some daft reason.

So now i am left with thoughts that i am going to be left with a £15k debt on my head which is still outstanding on finance and no car.

I am not usually paranoid but i remember the look of the investigator and his car which seems pretty rare on the roads and ever since i have seen him about a few times. I finish work late at night and ever since i have been followed by various suspicious cars, i have gone round in circles and they still follow me, cars that pull over at the side of the road and do a u turn and follow me about, i just have the feeling every move i make is being watched. Do they ever follow people about?

I have been diagnosed with major deppresion and anxiety since this has happened and i blame the insurance company as the main contributing factor.

After reading through this what do you think my next move should be?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Danny

Hi there,

I am afraid you have a problem.

The forensics made on your car key have shown that the key has not been used in the last 6 months. I suspect they are not saying the overall mileage of the car is 3000 miles, they are probably saying the key has only done 3000 miles.

I'm afraid your best chance (apart from the spare key turning up) is to ask for them to get a second opinion and send to another examiner. If they refuse this, then ask for the key back and commission an independant report.

If it backs your story up you should be fine.

Another thing - you advise the police have advised that it was loaded onto a low loader - do they have any proof for this - cctv, etc. If so ask your Insurance company to get a copy of the report. the loss of the key might be non material.

With regards to the Inspector following you - I can assure you it wont be him.

He will be an engineer, engineers usually work 9-5.If you have bumped into him it will be a total coincidence. Regarding being followed, it will be an investigator. Investigators are pretty costly - between £500-£1000 / day, so Insurance Companies only request 2 days (typically) surveillance... If the investigator thinks he has been caught out, he will abandon the surveillance and the company will try again another day.

For costs reasons it is unlikely the INsurance company will be monitoring you on the off chance you go to the stolen vehicle.

Hope this helps

Danny,

I am in the same boat you was in with the same company.

I was wondering if you had any update on what happened in your case where you couldn't find your car keys, or if you could give me some advice.

Did admiral pay you out in the end and what happened?

My topic link is titled "Car stolen but misplaced the spare keys." if you wanted to have a look.

Your help would be appreciated

Raj

They won't be sending out a private investigator to spy on you for theft claim, not unless this is your forth claim in a row or somethng.

It's all about the key, one thing about the forensic test on keys is their not very consistent, it's too a inconsistent science, one person could use their keys for everything, opening doors etc, where the next could use the fob for that. One person has grubby hands, keps the keys in their pocket, the other is pristine, you get the idea.

You have to disprove their allegations.

To carry out the correct procedures they would have had to have the key examined by a forensic locksmith there arnt many about so chances are they just used their own forensic guys to look at it.Ask them for a copy of the report on your key together with the qualifications of the man who examined it,if hes not a forensic locksmith i doubt hes qaulified to make an official judgement.

If he is a forensic locksmith these blokes are good at their job and can tell a lot by the markings on the key and you are probably facing an uphill struggle.Good luck with your claim.

HI,

I have used the same key from when i collected the car after i purchased it, and have never used the spare keys hence why i have probably misplaced it. im going to have another look for the keys and by the end of the week i will tell the insurance company if i can or cant find them. What would be the next step and how long do these forensic tests take?

Cheers

I once had a claim which i was eventually paid out on.To keep it short i bought a tool on the morning of my accident and had the reciept,had the accident in the afternoon.The insurance companies specialist said the tool was months old so obviously he Knew nothing or he was part of the insurance companies [problem] to wriggle out of paying.

Sometimes they just bluff you to get out of paying.I would say if their investigator is not a forensic locksmith then hes not qaulified to make an assumption on the key, as i said ask for his qaulifications as forensic locksmithing is a very specialised field and not many people are trained in this field.To answer your question how long do the tests take ,the answer is not very long it involves examining the key under light and magnification to look for marks made from the components ie pins or wafers etc in the lock.However sometimes with the newer cars with computers they can place the key and fob in a cradle and get information from the key on the computer but as long as you have been truthfull with them this information would correspond with your case history.