Had a cycle stolen on the 14th march 09, informed the police and contacted M&S(underwritten by Aviva), whom I pay my premium to.

Was then told that a company called Ival would phone me. Nope.

After i rang them and gave them details, was told to send in all the receipts.

This was done within one week of the theft.

Since then I've received one call to book a call? only to ask why one of the receipts had been amended by the shop, which was quite obvious if they'd read the receipt.

I have phoned Ival several times only to be told that they are waiting to here from the insurance company for a reply to their email, after contacting M&S myself, I have been told that they have received no email. Why doesn't anybody follow things up?

When I asked how I would go about complaining, the M&S call center staff told me to contact Ival and complain to them, but surely I am paying M&S for their service, not Ival?

How long is a reasonable amount of time to wait for a claim to be settled?

Why does it say in the M&S Key Benefits booklet......

"Painless Claiming.

If you suffer a loss, the last thing you need is stress from your insurance company. So if something goes wrong, all you need to do is pick up the phone, tell us what's happened, then sit back whilst we do all the running around."

So far, Ive lost a lot of sleep, made a lot of phone calls and it looks like I'll have to cancel my cycling holiday in June as I have no cycle to cycle with.

It is M&S you complain to. They instructed Ival, who are M&S's agents. As such, M&S is responsible for the conduct of the claim, including that of it's agents.

I would not bother phoning because you will more than likely get poorly trained, target stressed staff. Write in requiring a response within 14 days - head it as a complaint as well so that you can go to the FOS if need be.

Actually gyzmo is incorrect, Ival have been appointed to deal in full. If you have a complaint Ival will resolve this. If you send a complaint to Aviva, they will forward it to Ival, who will subsequently contact you to discuss. Aviva work in partnership with Ival, like Asprea, Cunningham Lindsey and Crawfords. You're best option is to contact Ival and discuss over the phone, if you do not get the answer you want then request to be passed to a lead advisor or for one to call you back.

If your willing, could you attach the receipt for the bike on here? (obviously removing any sensitive information), I would like to see, from a third party point, what the problem is..

You could also send a PM to 'beccus' and ask her to look into this for you?

Sorry? I don't think so. M&S are the insurer and it is with them that the OP has a contract. M&S appointed an agent and M&S are responsible for their actions.

And it is also best not to speak on the phone - it needs to be put in writing so that it can be produced as evidence if necessary. Phone calls have a habit of not being recorded or located, so it has the potential of one word against another. A letter leaves a paper trail and can be produced in evdience quite easily.

Write if you like but it will be forwarded to Ival to be resolved in the first place.

Let them do so if they wish, but responsibility lies with M&S. If they wish to go about it in a certain way then that is their choice. If it causes delays or inconvenience then they must be accountable for the way they deal with it. It is not the OPs problem - it is for M&S to sort out and not for the customer to decide who should be taking responsibility for what.

I'm not suggesting the OP decide where to send their complaint, they were advised by M&S Staff to send to Ival and if they wish to send it to M&S instead, then be prepared to have to wait a little longer for your issue to be resolved. The logical opinion would be to do as advised...not the opposite...

That's akin to a seller telling you to go to a manufacturer for a fault that they are responsible for.

M&S are the insurer, a claim has been made again M&S. Ival are not the insurer nor has a claim been made against them. M&S can make a simple phone call.

M&S are responsible. Its as simple as that. If they delay by writing to Ival then they should be answerable for it.

Ok lets use your example in my favour, you buy a Sony TV from Comet, the TV stops working within 2 weeks. You think its logical to go to Sony because they make it, so you call them and they tell you to speak to Comet as they handle the product. I'm saying it best to go to Comet..your saying Sony...

M&S are not a supplier, they are the so-called manufacturer. Ival are the supplier, not the manufacturer...Hope that makes it easier to understand?

No, you've got the wrong end of the stick. You have taken my example too literally, but in such an example M&S would be the seller and Ival the manufacturer.

The point being that the people you have a contract with are sending you to some third party when they should not be doing so. I can only repeat what I have already said - it is M&S's responsibility.

agreed - M&S responsibility

You can complain all you want but Ival wil deal with the complaint first - there is no changing this

Oh I give up. sometimes there is no telling someone.

Yep, could have told you that from the start...

Gyzmo,

The phrase containing the words, 'banging head and brickwall' spring to mind.....

regards

gizmo ur 100% right i-val are not the ones to complain to as the lovely person at Aviva told me as they are mearly subbies as aviva cant be assed put simply...

i've got an on going battle after 2 bikes where stolen a large amount of tools and other items its got to the point where ival are saying phone aviva and aviva are saying phone ival six weeks this has been going on for a bit ****ed off now.....

That's why I keep saying to go to the FOS.

The reason I say that is because is insurers insist on providing the corporate equivalent of battery farms of employees (call centers with untrained staff), then they pay the consequences when claims or complaints are not dealt with properly, as inevitably they will be.

In that case, use the complaints procedure and make them suffer the consequences of having to be forced to do what they should do in the first place.

was going to take the FOB's services until i-val contacted me (nearly had heart failure...) and told me they would be willing to pay out £x as this was my limit, however looking back on the policy it states the limit is twice what i-val think.....

aviva has been in contact to change this so will see in the morning if i-val have changed there quote....

am starting to be happy about the whole situation!!!!