Car Ins. Claim Ins. Co. Ignoring letters and settlement requests

[nightnajjers]

A family member had a total loss motor claim in June of this year. The insurance company made an offer and sent a cheque in July. The offer was refused.

 

 

A further increased offer and cheque was sent about a month later, which was also refused.

 

 

At the end of August another increased offer and cheque was sent, the offer was also refused.

 

 

In the response to the last offer and cheque, another £300 was asked for (at the end of August).

 

 

All the above rejections were made both in writing and via e-mail.

 

 

The insurance company have not responded since the end of Aug. despite two reminders (letters and e-mails) politely requesting that they answer mail and deal with the request for the extra amount.

 

 

They seem to be just ignoring the issue.

 

 

Has anyone any ideas on how we might gee them up a bit and bring matters to a conclusion?

 

 

Thanks for any ammo:-)

NN

[MARTIN3030]

Has the cheque been returned ?

You should send a letter by recorded delivery keeping a copy.

Email is not the best way to deal at this stage.

 

Will move your thread to Insurance forums.

[nightnajjers]

Hello Martin

Thank you for moving to the correct place and your answer.

 

All letters were sent recorded delivery and the three cheques were cashed in Sept. On each of the 3 letters accompanying the cheques it stated that cashing the cheque does not predjudice your claim.

 

NN

[MARTIN3030]

Ah ok thanks for clarifying.

So first was for 1st offer then subsequent ones were for £300 ?

[unclebulgaria67]

Just submit a written complaint to the claims manager by recorded delivery. Ask them to consider the claim settlement and if they will not up the offer to issue their final response. You can then ask the FOS to arbitrate on the value.

[nightnajjers]

Thank you for the help

 

Just to clarify, The first offer was for £1,250. The second offer was £2,000 and the third offer was £2,150. All the cheques were retained until 14th Sept. when they were paid in the bank. After the last offer was refused as final settlement, a recorded delivery letter was sent to that effect and another £300 was requested as a final settlement, since then 2 letters have been written as a reminder and both ignored..

 

we will write to the claim manager and see if that evokes a response. What would be a reasonable amount of time to allow the claims manager to deal with a request before going further?. It is not a problem waiting for a settlement if we were kept informed as to how long it would/might be and not ignored.

tnx

NN

[unclebulgaria67]

The Insurers have 8 weeks from the original complaint to deal with it. After that you can ask the FOS to arbitrate.

 

So it depends on how long this has been going on for.

[Dragons Dennis]

Are you saying that they sent you 3 cheques, one for £1,250, one for £2,000 and one for £2,150 and that you have banked all 3 of those amounts?

[nightnajjers]

UBulgaria.

The start of claim was at the beginning of June. A complaint has not been made yet. The last cheque was received at the end of Aug and the offer to finalise was refused in writing and via e-mail.

 

Two letters have been sent since then asking for them to finalise the claim. both have been ignored.

 

D. Dennis, No, sorry that should be The total of the three cheques sent and banked was £ 2,150

 

nn

[MARTIN3030]

Ok understood.

What you need is a final response.(but it appears that their last letter to you suggests that they have given it ?????)

If 8 weeks has elapsed since you asked for resolution then you are free to contact the FOS.

However its likely (in fact certain) that they will want to see some evidence of any final response or else your efforts to get one.

Personally I would send a 7 day LBA advising that you consider they have had ample time.

Theres nothing to stop you (and you have nothing to lose) by logging a complaint immediately with the FOS.

You will then have a case number and by the time they send you a complaints form with a unique ref number allocated,the other side should have either responded or else ignored.

May also be of benefit to look at their complaints policy either on their website or in the policy docs.

You should have been sent a copy already.

[nightnajjers]

Thank you M30

 

Their last letter gave 14 days to refuse their offer. A refusal letter was sent via recorded delivery at the end of Aug and was well within the 14 day period given to reject. two letters have been written since as reminders, the last one being sent at the end of Sept. Nothing has been heard from them.

 

I think we will do as you suggest and give them seven days and take it from there....

 

Everybodys help is appreiciated, thank you

nn

[nightnajjers]

Hello

 

This situation has still not been resolved.

 

I wrote a letter the the Claims manager, which resulted an someone calling me ( dont know if it was the claims manager). Anyway they insisted on just being argumentative and argueing about no claim discounts which which i was fully aware of anyway. I waited for a reply from the claims dept and I am still...

waiting.

 

As far as I am concerned the insurance company still owes me £300 which is what i asked for to complete my settlement.

 

For various reasons have only just got round to chasing this up.

 

Can I just ask them for the full amount i consider they owe me? giving them 7 days to either, reject my claim, or make their final offer.

 

And if they do nothing (as is usual) can i just file a claim in the small claims? for what i consider the amount they owe me ie. £300. or at least a conclusion.

 

 

Appreciate any help

 

NN

[unclebulgaria67]

As 8 weeks have passed since you made the complaint official, you can go straight to the FOS. As the FOS could take ages, you could send the Insurers a letter giving them 7 days to resolve to your satisfaction or you will proceed to the FOS. Once the FOS receive the complaint, they will contact the Insurers on your behalf.

 

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

[nightnajjers]

Hello UB67

Thank you for your reply help and advice.

 

By one of those strange quirks of coincidence the morning after I posted this question, i received a reply and an offer of final settlement from the insurance company for the full amount of £300.

 

Or was it a coincidence?? spooky!

Or could it be due to the fact that the policy is due for renewal in about two weeks. Nah! I am just being too cynical:roll:

 

Cheers all

NN