Screwed over by Aviva

[shaftedbyaviva]

Almost 2 weeks ago we had a non-fault accident.

 

As we were slowing down and indicated to turn right, there was a junction on the left where the driver did not stop in time, over shooting the junction and hit the side passenger door, it has left a dint, took the skirt off and left a scrape (nothing else, easily repaired)

 

We informed our insurance company (kwikfit) who quickly passed us onto aviva (the underwriter) aviva collected the car from us 3 days later on the basis that it was going to be taken for the engineer to assess the damage to the car and repair if possible.

 

We have since found out that the car was actually taken straight to a salvage yeard nearly 3 hours away from us as the car had been written off, purely based on age and without an engineer even looking at the car, after speaking to both kwikfit and aviva, both have confirmed this, based purely on the fact the car is old (R Reg, 98)

 

We feel we was purposely decieved by both Kwikfit And Aviva on this matter, we only agreed for the car to go on the basis that they was looking at repairing the car (as the damage is so small)

 

When speaking to aviva (whom we are only dealing with now) they explained the car is a write off (have asked for an engineers report, still not recieved it) based on its age, regardless of what damage there is to the car.

 

They wanted to offer around £800 for the car, this is abysmal! I explained the fact that it is quite a hard vehicle to get ahold of and does not sell for less than £2,000, most within the range of 2.5K, How ever as ours had an LPG conversion (cost over £1,000 in itself) and expensive alloys (£900) they should also be taken into account.

 

Apparently, this is not on their list for modifications with the car, we have sent evidence to aviva to show that we did add the modifications to the car, to which they have accepted but now waiting to hear back from the underwriters again.

 

Our youngest son is disabled, my partner is heavily pregnant and we have been unable to attend our sons hospital trips due to them taking the hire car off us stating that due to the delay, the third party insurance would not cover the cost of hire car.

 

We find this an utter disgrade, our son has to been seen very often, usually once or twice a week, his school is 3 miles away, he can not walk far so at nearly 6 years old i am now carrying him to school and back everyday.

 

I am wondering where we stand on the fact that they wrote the car off without even looking at it, While it may be an R reg its bodywork was in AMAZING condition, as was all the interior, the alloys and tyres were brand new, the LPG system only a year old.

 

It is a Mercedez Benz V280 7 Seater 2.9L

 

Any help would be apreciated

[rebel11]

Hi shafted

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Write a Formal Letter of Complaint, mark it as such. Explain what' happened how they have let you down and what you expect them to do. Send it to:-

 

Aviva

Mr Mark Wilson CEO

[email protected]

 

Send a copy to:-

 

Kwik-Fit

Mr Kenji Murai Chief Executive

[email protected]

 

When you get a final answer and if it's not resolved

 

Make a formal complaint to the FOS.

 

I see the Aviva Support people are looking in, let them look into it first.

[Guest Aviva Support]

Almost 2 weeks ago we had a non-fault accident.

 

As we were slowing down and indicated to turn right, there was a junction on the left where the driver did not stop in time, over shooting the junction and hit the side passenger door, it has left a dint, took the skirt off and left a scrape (nothing else, easily repaired)

 

We informed our insurance company (kwikfit) who quickly passed us onto aviva (the underwriter) aviva collected the car from us 3 days later on the basis that it was going to be taken for the engineer to assess the damage to the car and repair if possible.

 

We have since found out that the car was actually taken straight to a salvage yeard nearly 3 hours away from us as the car had been written off, purely based on age and without an engineer even looking at the car, after speaking to both kwikfit and aviva, both have confirmed this, based purely on the fact the car is old (R Reg, 98)

 

We feel we was purposely decieved by both Kwikfit And Aviva on this matter, we only agreed for the car to go on the basis that they was looking at repairing the car (as the damage is so small)

 

When speaking to aviva (whom we are only dealing with now) they explained the car is a write off (have asked for an engineers report, still not recieved it) based on its age, regardless of what damage there is to the car.

 

They wanted to offer around £800 for the car, this is abysmal! I explained the fact that it is quite a hard vehicle to get ahold of and does not sell for less than £2,000, most within the range of 2.5K, How ever as ours had an LPG conversion (cost over £1,000 in itself) and expensive alloys (£900) they should also be taken into account.

 

Apparently, this is not on their list for modifications with the car, we have sent evidence to aviva to show that we did add the modifications to the car, to which they have accepted but now waiting to hear back from the underwriters again.

 

Our youngest son is disabled, my partner is heavily pregnant and we have been unable to attend our sons hospital trips due to them taking the hire car off us stating that due to the delay, the third party insurance would not cover the cost of hire car.

 

We find this an utter disgrade, our son has to been seen very often, usually once or twice a week, his school is 3 miles away, he can not walk far so at nearly 6 years old i am now carrying him to school and back everyday.

 

I am wondering where we stand on the fact that they wrote the car off without even looking at it, While it may be an R reg its bodywork was in AMAZING condition, as was all the interior, the alloys and tyres were brand new, the LPG system only a year old.

 

It is a Mercedez Benz V280 7 Seater 2.9L

 

Any help would be apreciated

 

Hi,

 

I'm sorry to hear about the service you've received surrounding your claim and would like to look into things for you.

 

Can you please email me at [email protected] with the following details:

 

Your full name

Date of birth

Postcode

Claim reference or vehicle registration number

 

As soon as I have this I'll liaise with our Claims team and get an update to you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Marv

Aviva UK Social Media Support

[rebel11]

Thanks Marv

 

Hi,

 

I'm sorry to hear about the service you've received surrounding your claim and would like to look into things for you.

 

Can you please email me at [email protected] with the following details:

 

Your full name

Date of birth

Postcode

Claim reference or vehicle registration number

 

As soon as I have this I'll liaise with our Claims team and get an update to you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Marv

Aviva UK Social Media Support

[shaftedbyaviva]

I have just been informed by the underwriter at aviva that they are dismissing our claim stating that

 

We confirm that we have elected to void your policy with effect from 27 September 2013. Therefore no cover has been in force under policy number -removed - at any time.

 

I have arranged for the vehicle to be returned to you.

You will not be charged for the delivery and recovery .

 

Despite us giving evidence that we added the modifications, Kwikfit and aviva refusing to acknowledge that it is a technical error on their systems.

 

We are now being treated like we have done something wrong.

 

Have a car with no insurance and damage which is not going to be repaired.

 

A disabled son who we cant get to hospital.

 

Aviva you should be ashamed! How dare you treat us in this manner!!

[rebel11]

Hi shafted

 

Provide Aviva Support with the requested details, lets see what they can do.

 

 

 

I have just been informed by the underwriter at aviva that they are dismissing our claim stating that

 

We confirm that we have elected to void your policy with effect from 27 September 2013. Therefore no cover has been in force under policy number -removed - at any time.

 

I have arranged for the vehicle to be returned to you.

You will not be charged for the delivery and recovery .

 

Despite us giving evidence that we added the modifications, Kwikfit and aviva refusing to acknowledge that it is a technical error on their systems.

 

We are now being treated like we have done something wrong.

 

Have a car with no insurance and damage which is not going to be repaired.

 

A disabled son who we cant get to hospital.

 

Aviva you should be ashamed! How dare you treat us in this manner!!

[WarrenBuffet]

I know it's not what you need to hear but, ALWAYS ensure ANY modifications are recorded on your insurance as it is a legitimate excuse for insurers to wash their hands of you in an accident.

 

In one of my cars i replaced the OEM exhaust system with a stainless steel unit simply because it was cheaper than the OEM unit and better value, i was rear-ended and when report came back the /my insurance told me that the exhaust was a modification that was not declared and they shafted me too as a result .

[unclebulgaria67]

What was the evidence you have that the mods were advised to Kwikfit ? Is this info that was input into a comparison site ? If this is the case, you should see whether the comparison site can help, as they are liable and the Insurers have to accept the info that you gave via the comparison site. I think there is info on the FOS site about this.

[unclebulgaria67]

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-insurance.html#1a

 

Do some reading and searching on the FOS site. I am sure you will find information to help you.

[rebel11]

Your can SAR request to any party that holds Data in your name. They have 40 days to supply to with the information request.

[shaftedbyaviva]

Thank you for all of your replies.

 

We did the quote through confused.com and printed each page off as we went along, we then printed those pages off, scanned them for Aviva/Kwikfit and forwarded t hem back on.

 

The quote off confused is quite old, i will speak with them to see if they can help.

 

Aviva are -refusing- now to let us have the engineer assessment report (personally, i 100% believe there isn't one, nobody looked at the car), Digging deeper i found they sent our car to Co Parts in bedford which is an auction site, very decieving to say the least.

 

I have also now contacted the financial ombudsman

Edited February 11, 2014 by shaftedbyaviva