Car insurance company useless
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 wasnt 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.
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 claims 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 didnt 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
Comments from visitors
A week later, hadn't received any phone calls from Admiral, but an email informing me that they 'feel the driver of my vehicle is at fault'. I phoned them up immediately to demand to know on why they have made this decision and why I haven't been given the chance to show photographs and draw the scenario etc.. they dodged the question and told me they admitted fault.
Not at any moment from the incident have I even implied it was my fault because it wasn't.
He then told me to take it up with my claims handler who will phone me the next day. I made myself available but I didn't receive a phone call until the day after when I was at college and had work, so they left a voice mail saying call back and use this extension number. Upon doing that, it went straight to voice mail.
For over a week now I have been fuming over their decision making behind my back, without the courtesy to keep me updated.
What can I do when I finally get hold of them to make sure they fully understand how disgusted I am with this?
turgy 23/11/10 - 23-Nov-10 12:18
Comprehensive = Comprehensively ripped off!
Fully Comprehensive = Fully ripped off!
Insurance =tax - 12-May-10 15:17
Whilst having sympathy with your experiences dealing with the insurer as regards their poor responses to communication,, you must understand that they are quite within their rights to deny your son's claim.
As you yourself say “The fact that the vehicle he collided with was illegally parked on the verge appears irrelevant.” I’m afraid this is the case.
In simple terms your son lost control of his car and hit a static object (parked car) which was damaged as a result of the collision. Unfortunately it does not matter if the object should not have been there, the very fact that he appears to have admitted he lost control of his car (whether through inexperience or incompetence) means he is wholly to blame.
A painful lesson for him, unfortunately.
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)$.
Mrs Disgruntled - 7-Oct-08 15:09





