Car insurance company useless
04-July-2009
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Car insurance company useless

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Last month I was travelling to work on the A1124 Halstead Road at Earls Colne in Essex and on the way I stopped at a newsagents to purchase a newspaper.  When I exited the shop I witnessed a blue van reverse into my car causing damage to the rear right hand side.  It began to drive away so I ran after it and stood in front of it to stop it.  The driver got out and said that he was sorry for hitting my car and that he wasn’t looking where he was going, he apologised again and gave me his insurance details.

When I arrived at work five minutes later I telephoned his insurance company and confirmed with them that he was insured and had given me correct details, I told them what had happened and they told me there was nothing they could do until the accident was reported to them by the policy holder.  So I telephoned my insurance company, Admiral and reported it to them.  They told me to take my car to Colchester accident repairs where it would be repaired.

Admiral Insurance

As instructed, I took the car to Colchester and was given a courtesy car while mine was being repaired. When settling the bill with the garage I had to pay an excess of £300.  I questioned this with Admiral as the accident was not my fault and I was told that that I had to pay it and that it would be refunded to me when the money was recovered from the other insurance company.  Like a fool I trusted Admiral and paid the £300 believing that it would be refunded to me as promised.

The next week I received a letter from my insurance company stating that my policy was due to expire and that I should renew.  My premium had gone up by over £300 so I telephoned Admiral to ask why.  I was told that I had lost my no claim’s discount due to the accident.  Naturally I told them that the accident was not my fault and that I had given them the details of the guilty party who had admitted fault.  I was told that there was nothing that they could do about it as until money was received from the insurance company, it was counted as pending and that I should pay the extra and that it also would be refunded to me along with the £300 excess when the money was received from the other insurance company.  Again, I believed them and paid up, presuming that in the near future I would be receiving around £600 that was due to me.

At the time £600 was over half of my monthly salary and put me into financial difficulties.  But being naive I believed that I would get it back.  The next thing I heard was that the van driver had apparently contacted Admiral and admitted fault.  He told them that he didn’t want the accident to be dealt with by his insurance company and that he would pay for any damage himself presumably to retain his no clames bonus.  Admiral agreed to this without ever consulting me or even informing me of their intentions.

When Admiral sent the van driver the bill for repairs he returned their letter saying he no longer lived at that address and had left no forwarding details.  This was a blatant lie because he lived a short distance from my work and I saw him every morning.  I lived in Colchester and worked in Halstead, he worked in Colchester and lived in Halstead and I passed him on the road every morning.  I informed Admiral of this and again was told that there was nothing they could do about it and I would not receive the money owed to me until the money was collected from him in full. They also informed me that they had passed his details on to a debt recovery agency who were trying to trace him.  Even though I continually enquire about this matter by telephone I am told it is still pending, that was three years ago.  Since then I have had quotations from other insurers who quote an over inflated premium because I have an ongoing claim to which no fault has been agreed.

I would estimate that to present, building up my no claims discount again by paying the higher premiums together with the £600 owed to me I am out of pocket in the region of at least £1,000, money that is due to me because of Admiral's incompetence in dealing with this matter properly.

Article By: Aggrieved from Colchester


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contact your ombudsman that what they do they fight your case and if they think your insurance company is wrong they will make them pay,if the ombudsman says pay they are the law they have to pay,try them you dont have to pat them ,what have you got to lose
*geddes  17-Jun-2009 21:33

 
Try MMA INSURANCE, they don't want to know even if you are fully comprehensive and have legal expenses hire. Also companies to avoid like the plague are CALL 24 - 7 (especially) - a car credit hire company, and DIRECT CHOICE (brokers). Stay well away from these if you don't want to have problems!
*The Goose  02-May-2009 00:19

 
I got hit by a lorry in my Lexus, we were both travelling at walking pace but the back door and the back wing were damaged.
After 3 weeks Admiral E-mailed me to say the car was a right off and they were canceling the insurance immediately. After a few phone calls they agreed to carry on with it because the damage was cosmetic.
We need a car Because my wife is disabled so I bought a replacement immediately, I then tried to insure the new car, I could not go to another cheaper company because the existing policy has the no claims bonus, & they would not insure the car without any.
So I had to go to Admiral and have the existing policy transfered to the new car, costing me £280 a year more than the cheaper one.
They have me over a barrel at the moment, but as soon as the claim is cleared up I will be telling them where to stick the stupid parrot.
Moral is, dont use Admiral insurance, they are w@n%e)$.
*steveskeg  23-Oct-2008 18:41

 
Very poor service from Swinton Insurance - will never use this company again and would advise others not to. When changing car insurance and contacting one of their branch offices for a quote I was given misleading information and told I would get a refund of premium. On calling back to cancel my policy they changed the figure and told me that they had explained that the original figure was given only on the basis of me taking our more (highly priced) insurance with them. The person I spoke to originally had put inaccurate notes on the system so when I called customer servces to complain all they had to go on was what the office had (wrongly) recorded. Very unhelpful staff - a real 'jobsworth' experience. I am only glad that I have never needed to claim from them.
*Mrs Disgruntled  07-Oct-2008 15:09

 
If you can get enough people together, you can take Admiral to court in a class action lawsuit. Threatening to do so should be more than enough to force them to act.
*Andrew  08-Sep-2008 09:21

 
You thinks that's bad. We WERE also with Admiral and had been for 10+ years. My wife had someone drive into the back of her at a relatively low speed while she was stationary and broke our bumper. The other driver was insured and their insurance company arranged for our car to be collected and repaired no hassle at all. However, we are obliged to report the accident as per Admiral's rules and they loaded our policy by £200! No claim went through them at all but it is recorded as a 'no fault' accident and up goes the premium (I know it was £200 as if you enter the same details into their online system it comes up that much cheaper without the accident listed.)

I called and argued with them because we were totally innocent and Admiral weren't even involved at all in the damage repairs but they were adamant. Over the years Admiral have made 10's of £000s off my wife and I (we were both insure with Admiral before we even met) with no claim ever being made. More fool them for losing our business this way.
*Tim H  04-Sep-2008 14:00

 
I was driving on the south boud lane of I-75 when I noticed a black SUV swerving into my lane. Before I knew it, he bumped the right side of my vehicle and forced me into the HOV lanes pillers. I immediately dialed 911 and told them what happened. I continued to follow the vehicle while telling him to pull over. Needless to say, he kept going and even old me no he was not going to stop. Well I took down his license plate number and gave it to the police dispatcher. My car was a wreck. It was covered in damages from the pillers. The police came out and took my report and cited the man with hit and run and a few other charges. I then took my car to a mechanics shop to get an estimate for his insurance company. Over a month later, I got in touch with his company and sent them a copy of the police report that I paid for. Now here is the thing. Since this was my only transportation, I took the car to be detailed with helped inlook a lot better. I.e removed the black marks and abrasions. His company came out ( a month later) and took pictures. I then get a call from his agent saying that they are not going to pay for my car because they did not see where his car impacted mine. His insurance company is State Farm. This has caused me a lot of grief. I am not seeking personal damages, like someone else would, I just want my car fixed. So what can I do now? Anyone please help me with this.
*Sweetpotatopye  25-Jul-2008 22:57

 
I used to be insured with Admiral. never ever ever again. every detail (change of address, change of car, claims etc) was an utter nightmare, and each dept didnt nkow what the other was doing or what info was held about me. e.g. the tow truck was sent to my old address even though they sent me letters to my new address! Utter shambles. Tell everyone to stay well away from them. Have you contacted the ombudsman about your experience with them?
*fatsheep  02-Jul-2008 13:48

 
Hi, I feel really sorry for you, just yesterday my pride and joy got bashed outside my house by a lorry or car with trailer, they left a trail of mud and I reported it to the police, unfortunately, they could do nothing as there was no witnesses and I had not heard it happen, was gutted that they did not even bother to come and look, I live in a small town, and I bet police presence might have scared someone in to coming forward, my insurance company has said that I have to pay £400 and it will be noted on my insurance that it was my fault!! Why do we bother!
*unhappy  06-Mar-2008 07:32

 
hi these insurance company's are cheats last month my car got stolen at the time it got stolen I was in a different country I went for a holiday so basically I wisent there.
So I came back saw my car is missing I reported to the police and insurance company.
Everything was going smoothly. Then one day I saw my bank statement the insurance company took 250 a month for my insurance. Before the incident I use to pay 108.00 pounds a month.
So I called the insurances company up loyeds tab and explained everything they said because the car
Got stolen and I've put a claim through my 6 years no claim bonuses has gone and my insurance premium has gone up. I told them that it wasn't my fault that the car got stolen so why do I have pay the price. All they said was sorry Mr Ali it's in our policy we can't do nothing about it.
I was so gutted.
Next they sent me a payment of 500 pounds for my car which 350 pounds is just the access so that means I get 150 pounds. And my car is worth 4 thousand pounds. So I called the insurance company again told them that my car is worth 4000 pounds I just received payments of 500 pounds which 350 pounds is just the access. then they told me sorry mr ali ill talk with the engineer and tell them to check the valuation of the car again in the mean time you will receive a check of 150 pounds put check in your account if the valuation goes up ill send you a another check . If it doesn't then I am sorry I can't do anything else. That what the insurance company told me. these insurance company's a so useless we pay full insurance to cover our damages but we don't get nothing back in return not even our full damage worth so what's the point of doing insurance then..
*ALI  27-Feb-2008 14:24

 
I have my insurance with Tescos and they have been superb!

I have broken down twice and within 30 mins, Greenflag were there to take us all home, broken car and all.

I also had a 4x4 land on the top of my car. Car written off, courtesy car supplied, the monies of the current value of my car, into my bank in less then two weeks.

Change your insurance company if you are not happy.
*Sodger  16-Nov-2007 20:13

 
My husband had a quite traumatic accident where he was car number 3 in a five car pile up on a motor way. He was not a fault, just wrong place at the wrong time. We paid the deductable and thought it would be dealt with quickly. He was booked in for the operations needed to fix his shoulder from the accident and we waited. He went to rehabilitation and finished physio and we waited. A year later we still had no answer. We didn't buy a new car, as we were waiting for the money from the smashed one and my husband refused to drive again. A year and a half later it went to court and we were finally awarded thousands to replace the car and for expenses and damages. The sick part of all this is that the insurance company demanded the rest of the year's payment (5mos) at the time of the accident but we have not owned a car since. My husband moved jobs so he doesn't have to drive and I'm insured on a different policy. We've paid for almost half a year's insurance and they won't refund it and say 'we'll carry it over to your next car'. But he's given up driving and they've given up caring. I've since switched companies and email the old one once a week demanding the money back.
*Bye Bye Money  16-Nov-2007 15:34


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