Hastings direct, TOTAL loss

[Merc100]

Ok so I waited ages to get my mini, it was a Mini Cooper 1.6, I loved it for a whole 2 days! Got it on finance and got to drive it twice.

 

A snowplough reversed into my work car park on my side of the road while I was coming out. He took the blame for the crash at the time then changed his mind (as they do!) my solicitors are dealing with that but in the mean time my car was declared a write off.

 

The car is worth around £13000 but I was quoted from the total loss department working for Hastings direct £9500 max! I explained that the claim is going through still and it's not my fault, that if my finance settlement figure is more than £9500 which I predict it is.. That I should not have to pay the difference.

 

I understand I will have to pay the excess as it states in my policy and my solicitors will refund me back when the time comes but I do not understand why it is acceptable to have had a car for 2 days, someone crash into it and write it off, then for me to have to go without, lose out on my car completely, have to pay £600 (the monthly finance charges)for a car I drove twice!

 

Then have to pay the difference of the settlement as they only quote my car as being worth £9500?! I don't think that's right and I'm not made of money! So for someone else's stupid mistake I have to settle for a crap run around and fork out more money for a car I do not have anymore! What do I do and how can I get justice??

Edited February 20, 2013 by ims21

[Hastings Direct. Joe - Soc]

Hi Merc100, Thanks for taking the time to post about your experience. I am sorry to hear about your accident, I would like to help you get this matter resolved. If you can get in contact with me and provide some details about your policy I would be happy to liaise with the claims team for you to help you get a satisfactory outcome to this situation. [email protected] Many Thanks, Jamie

[lmeister]

Don't get down about it Merc100 you will get this sorted eventually and Hastings are okay if you get to speak to the right people. From my experience you need to prepare for battle and don't back down but remain calm and professional with them.

 

The problem is that the other party has not admitted liability which means Hastings are trying to minimize their costs. If the accident is then found to be your fault and Hastings have to pay out they have saved themselves some money. But.........

 

You are entitled to the Market value of the car. Your last line of defense is to take this to the Financial ombudsman(fos) but that's a last resort as it will be a slow process. However make Hastings aware you know about this and use the information on the FOS website to your advantage e.g.

 

'In most cases, we assess the market value as the retail price which the policyholder would have had to pay for a comparable vehicle at a reputable dealer, immediately before the date of the damage/theft'

*The forum wont let me link but look on the FOS website for motor-valuation.html#2

 

 

Hastings use Glass's guide for their valuations like most of the motor trade. Go online and pay a few quid for a full evaluation which you can use as evidence about how much you would have to pay from a dealer to buy a similar car. Your case is even stronger since you only just bought the car.

 

You have been given the initial 'cheeky settlement offer'. You need to dispute the valuation of the vehicle and demand they re-evaluate based on your glasses valuation and pull some adverts from Autotrader for similar vehicles. Remember the FOS market value definition, your looking for main dealer examples, not private. Keep on at them your looking for them to "take this to stage two evaluation". Now you will get a funny phone call where someone will pretend to type in loads of options about your car and do a few "computer says no" moments. They will come back with a better settlement figure but make sure it matches or very very close to your market value. If they still wont offer a reasonable settlement, say you are prepared to go down the FOS route. This will cost Hastings £500 if that route is used, so they should be open to some negotiation on the settlement.

 

Best time to ring up is just after 8am to avoid the long waits on the phone. Speak to anyone not just your claim handler. The people I spoke to in claims were all fine with some actually very helpful but there was one exception. I will refer to him as 'Bieber', he's very good at his job trying to make you accept the lower settlement. He will make you think that's the only option, but just decline, get off the phone and ring back a few hours later speaking to someone else .

 

Hastings is just a big company with some internal processes that are not great and probably just a victim of their own success. If you look on insurance comparison websites they have alias company's and are the cheapest by miles which is why we all use them.

 

Despite a battle I'm actually now a happy customer and hope you get this sorted out asap. Sorry if I went on a bit thought the information might be useful for others.

Edited February 28, 2013 by lmeister