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james22008

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  1. IF it helps also - below is basically the full story. Third party driver hits out car (accepts liability too). Impacts drivers side, forces car off road. Insurance agree with blame, and declare our car a total-loss. Valued at £3500, with £2500 to be sent to us, £1000 held back for 'pre-existing damage' to passenger side. Refuted this damage, explained the accident details on the phone (that the car ended up off-road beside trees / hedges) Insurers go back to talk to engineer and relay 'new' information. Same day - get word from the engineer that offer still stands and decision is final - claim the damage can't possibly have happened during or after the accident. Contact FOS and wait a few months. FOS call by phone saying they side with insurers becasue we have submitted no proof that the car was undamaged. Asked for proof that it wasn't damaged, told that they need no proof becasue they are 'experts with years of experience' Gave diagrams to FOS showing impact of cars in detail. FOS say the side of the car can't have been damaged becasue it went in head-first so again they side with insurers. Pointed out to FOS that we never said that - and what's more, the photo we sent them of the car clearly shows the it didn't go in head first, nor did it end up head-first. (first worrying mistake by FOS) FOS then claim they side with insurers becasue a major scratch goes upwards, and the other major scratches go sideways. Have 'photo proof'. We point out that we hadn't notcied, but will go back and check. Upward scratch is actually mud We get independent anginners report, they say damage is significant, of the same age, and must have been caused by something pointing out, thin and sharp (a classic twig to me) but agree damage won't have been casued by impact with trees and must have happened during recovery, or storage. And that's where we are.
  2. Hi Gyzmo, many thanks for your help. To answer your questions. Did your report to the insurer state that the circumstances (i.e, what you said about how the scratches were caused) contain this information? It may have been your initial notification or provided later. We had not seen that side of the car as it was bunched up tight against hedges, trees etc. When the report came to us (by phone) we refuted it, explained the situation of where the car ended up and it was looked at again. They came back 5 minuets later saying they won't change their minds and that the decision is final. Did you mention the damage to the insurer BEFORE it was examined? No. As it was impossible to access this side of the car at the accident scene we hadn't seen the damage (although assumed there was some). Did you receive a written summary of the claim details? If so, did it include the incident details or damage in question? Did you sign and return it? No. We have requested several times their engineers report, both from the insurer and from the ombudsman who also has a copy. We were told this isn't possible from both parties. The ombudsman said they won't send it becasue they want to protect their prices from competitors (costs to fix damage) We are also quite sure they did not obtain a police report of the accident. (We have requested this ourselves so we can send it) What is the engineer's/ inspector's reasoning for saying the damage was not caused by the incident? A great question and one I have asked so many times. The insurers say it's 'obviously old damage, rusted etc' and the ombudsman said it was becasue the scratches go in different directions. However, this is the ombudsman's finding from looking at a single photo. We have since shown that this 'upwards scratch' is actually a splattering of mud (this is how silly it's getting - it's as if the ombudsman is doing everything to help the insurer). Our independent report does not mention this as a scratch either - so it refutes that claim. Is there any damage on the same side as the scratches and in the same vicinity? Is there any rust on the scratches? As far as I am aware, no. There are light nicks, scratches etc but these are consistent with age and are small in nature. Our independent report said it's basically 2 long scratches. One high up from door to door, the other low down (I haven't seen a photo of this one). The damage wasn't rusty (impossible as it wasn't there before). And our engineers report goes so far as to say the age is similar to the impact damage. Regarding your little hitler claim - When we were trying to track down the date that this engineer made his report, we called the salvage yard and he checked on the computer. He recognised the name of the engineer and said he was well known as a (rude word here) - which kind of worries us, so your guess seems pretty full on. The thing is honestly the ombudsman can't be of any less help - it's as if anything we claim isn't worthy of beng taken onboard. Of all the people arguing, I was there and went into teh car to get belongings. If they could see where it lay there is no way this would be questioned. That's the frustrating thing.
  3. 2 long scratches - but it's from the wing to the boot pretty much. The car scraped past trees and bushes both on entry to the ditch and when being pulled out. But apparently this is not the cause.
  4. Anybody? Is there anything to stop us from claiming twice on one accident? If our insurers are going to go down the route that this isn't damage from the accident, can we claim separately even though they have paid out for the accident damage (total loss)? We have had the damage valued at £1500 by an independent engineer
  5. Hello, I wonder if anyone can help. Our car was a declared a total loss after an accident (3rd party accepted full liability) and our insurers gave us the value of the car minus £1000 for "pre-existing damage" This damage is substantial and was not there before. They say it can't have happened during the accident and we are saying it could, and if it didn't then it will have happened in the salvage yard. We have gone through months of discussions with the Financial Ombudsman but there stance is simply that we have to prove that the car was not damage before the accident. We have 5 people who will testify this statement is true, but they say this will have no bearing on the decision. I have asked how else we can possibly prove our car was fine and they say we basically can't unless we have a photo of the car the morning before the accident. I have asked for the insurers evidence backing up their claim that this was pre-existing and was told that there is none. It's our word against the insurers, but it's simply becasue the insurance engineer is an 'expert' that they will side with him over us. Is there any way we can prove the age or nature of damage? We are happy to pay experts etc as are confident these costs (and more) will be recovered in a court of law and are 100% sure if done right they will show the damage happened during or after the accident.
  6. Hi - I joined a golf club in Manchester last year and have been unhappy there since the start - nothing major but I'd prefer to play elsewhere. My annual fee (£550) is paid by monthly direct debit with an 8.5% credit charge on top - nothing was agreed or signed about cancellation policy but they are saying if I quit I have to pay the remaining yearly fee in whole and remain a member until that year is up. In theory I understand the logic (as they will insist they lent me the yearly fee) but in absolute terms I didn't agree to this, nor did I sign anyuthing with this policy. They say it was explained to me, I say it wasn't. Is there a automatic rule here that one should pay as if it was a loan (there a angle), or does it count as if it was a monthly subscription to something (such as gym)? Do they have a legal leg to stand on? I don't want to do them wrong, but I also don't want to pay for something I am not going to use either.
  7. Sorry but your mistaken. The fee Direct Line charge (lets say for arguments sake it's £500 a year for my car) is for 12 months of insurance provided by them. Should I wish to cancel my insurance due to selling my car after 2 weeks of taking out the policy, by your logic one will have to pay £500. This isn't the case.
  8. I have just found out that we have to keep paying our insurance (£40 a month) even though we have no car to insure any more!! This is absurd.
  9. Thanks Lex, it's not a problem at the moment was just wondering as we will be moving in a few months (then it may be a problem).
  10. DL is our insurer - all we have from him is a policy number (the police said they will be round to give us details but they never came and now they say they can't due to data protection) We have no proof but sure we can get from our neighbors and possibly work CCTV the morning before accident. Is it for us to prove it wasn't damaged before the accident or for them to prove it was damaged before the accident (i'd be surprised if they could because it wasn't!) I understand the rozzers putting in more time to serious death accidents, but they also put more time into issuing speeding tickets and stopping people with a broken tail light. By nearly killed I mean if there had been a tree in the ditch or if he'd have caught her head-on (a matter of inches) it could have been a sad scene. For all we know this guy could have had 10 points already for this kind of driving and if so I'd like to see him punished in some way. If it was a pure accident then I'd have no interest in pursuing it.
  11. Hello - we are currently renting without any kind of contract or agreement. We did sign a 12 month agreement about 3 years ago but when it ran out we just agreed to carry on. The landlord is now selling the house so we must move as soon as it sells. My question is regarding the deposit - when it was first done it was appalling in so much as they missed 100 and 1 things. We amended it and sent copies to the letting agent and the landlord directly. Would / could the fact that we have no contract affect our deposit? As far as I ma aware the letting agent was employed only for the deposit and the letting is in itself private.
  12. Crikey - I'd like to hear you say that when some young hooligan without a license or insurance crashes in to someone you love because they were driving poorly - that would constitute 'an accident' but I doubt you' be so quick to "get over it"
  13. Hello, I am having some trouble with direct line and it's causing us a huge amount of stress at what is (for other reasons) a very stressful time. We had an accident 3 weeks ago in which our car was hit (drivers side) and forced into a ditch (passenger side) by a car that had lost control in bad conditions. Our valuation came through last week and they have deducted just under £1000 pounds for damage that they say could not have been done in the accident. This damage is to the passenger side and is approximately £1000 pounds worth. The other damage pertains to a damaged fuel cap which they say was in very bad state. (the damage to the other side is about £5k's worth and is being accepted as part of the accident) Now, the car was in perfect condition before the accident - I know this. So either the damage happened at the accident OR it's happened during transit or at one of the 3 salvage places the car has been to in the last 3 weeks. I have obtained photos and it looks like someone has reversed into the passenger side - I am no expert but I am sure there is some possibility this was actually done at the scene of the accident by the verge or trees in the ditch the car ended up in (you couldn't get round the side to see at the time) So my first question is what do we do from here? Regardless of when it happened it certainly wasn't on the car before the accident - the assessors are very adamant it's old damage and even went so far as to say it was rusted (this is impossible surely, and since then I have obtained pictures showing no rust). I do have photos from the scene of teh accident - but only showing the right side of the car where the impact damage was. You couldn't get around to the other side due to tress / bushes. One thing the photo does show is that the fuel cap is in perfect condition right after the accident - in their salvage photos it's been tampered with and this si something esle they are claiming was done before the accident. My second question, kind of unrelated so I may need to start another thread is regarding prosecution of the driver at fualt. He very nearly caused a death that day and the police do not seem to care. We have phoned them no less than 15 times and have just been fobbed off each time with "wait and you'll hear from us". Upon asking the likely outcome, they say he may be offered free driving lessons of some sort! No points, no fine!! Surely not? Can we press charges in any way? The police are quick to fine speeders but not someone who nearly kills someone.
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