Car Vandalised - What is the Situation with Cover until my Claim is Settled?

[AVHeisenberg]

My car was vandalised.
I have Comprehensive cover.
My Insurer has assessed it as a write-off.
My Insurer is being difficult to deal with, taking weeks to answer basic questions and not answering others at all.
For instance the salvage company told me about the Write-Off Assessment weeks before my Insurer would tell me anything, despite my queries to it, I still have not been contacted with any pre-accident valuation, much less a copy of the Assessor's Report, and my query about cover now and going forward has received no answer at all.
From this behaviour, it seems I can expect a long period of delay before this claim will be settled.
My policy only includes Courtesy Car hire for roughly 1 week.
If I buy a car during this period, how should I arrange Insurance cover? By new policy or transfer of existing cover with my Insurer?

 

[Sue Ellen]

Sounds as if you need to make a complaint and let them know that you will be progressing it on to the Ombudsman after you have exhausted their internal complaints system.

 

[mathepac]

This is one of the concerns I have with the Ombudsman service, what if the insurer won't engage in the claims process? Is this grounds for a complaint to the Ombudsman?

 

[AVHeisenberg]

Thanks Math and Sue.
I have started a complaint. But it's being handled the same as my claim. In the space of 3 weeks all they've told me is that they'll look into it. Repeated emails have been ignored.
The Ombudsman gives them 40 working days to handle my complaint before I can escalate it, which at roughly 2 months is a fair amount of time to be without a car for work or daily tasks.

 

[Ravima]

Hi AVH, I sympathise with you. It does indeed seem unusual to be treated thus. I wonder if there might be a problem with the Policy? Is there? If it is a standard car, in your own name and the policy is also in your own name, there should not be a problem. If the policy was taken out recently it might raise a query though. You say that the car was vandalised. In my opinion, it seems strange to write off a car from vandalism. Is there something behind the vandalism? have you been a victim before and did you disclose/not disclose to insurer? The circumstances could be causing further investigations as Gardai need to be contacted for their official reports. If car was burned, insurers may be waiting for fire officer report as well.

To answer your second question, if you buy another car, you should contact your present insurer to put it on cover. Bear in mind that they are only obliged to offer TP cover and might not offer Comprehensive, if there is something behind the matter.

 

[mathepac]

By new policy or transfer of existing cover with my Insurer?

Transfer existing policy to new car. If the insurance company are dragging their feet, put everything in writing to them, including the date & time the cover transfers to the new car. Insist on cover documents by return.

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

You say that the car was vandalised. In my opinion, it seems strange to write off a car from vandalism. Is there something behind the vandalism?

Vandalism to the point of write-off is pretty serious.

@AVHeisenberg is of course the victim here but my guess is that this has raised all the red flags for suspected fraud.

 

[Leo]

Vandalism to the point of write-off is pretty serious.

I can only think of low value car with deep scratching / damage to multiple panels to the point where an insurance assessor just prices for replacement.

The insurance authorised assessors and repair shops all charge top price. I got a ding on my first car that was assessed as a £1,500 repair, approaching the value of the car, but a local panel beater fixed for less than £100.

 

[peteb]

My car was vandalised.
I have Comprehensive cover.
My Insurer has assessed it as a write-off.
My Insurer is being difficult to deal with, taking weeks to answer basic questions and not answering others at all.
For instance the salvage company told me about the Write-Off Assessment weeks before my Insurer would tell me anything, despite my queries to it, I still have not been contacted with any pre-accident valuation, much less a copy of the Assessor's Report, and my query about cover now and going forward has received no answer at all.
From this behaviour, it seems I can expect a long period of delay before this claim will be settled.
My policy only includes Courtesy Car hire for roughly 1 week.
If I buy a car during this period, how should I arrange Insurance cover? By new policy or transfer of existing cover with my Insurer?

You wont get a copy of the assessor report. As such you arent entitled to it. Insurers wil tell you that you are perfectly entitled to appoint your own assessor.

 

[T McGibney]

I got a ding on my first car that was assessed as a £1,500 repair, approaching the value of the car, but a local panel beater fixed for less than £100.

A few years ago I had a similar estimate for replacement of 3 or 4 scratched panels after another car gently slid into me at very low speed after almost braking to a stop. My local garage serviceman took out polish and a chamois rag and in seconds wiped away all but one of the scratches, leaving the last one all but invisible and not worth spending money "fixing".

 

[Leo]

A few years ago I had a similar estimate for replacement of 3 or 4 scratched panels after another car gently slid into me at very low speed after almost braking to a stop. My local garage serviceman took out polish and a chamois rag and in seconds wiped away all but one of the scratches, leaving the last one all but invisible and not worth spending money "fixing".

And insurance companies don't seem to consider the low cost solutions like that. Cosy relationships with their preferred repair network perhaps.

 

[DirectDevil]

Transfer existing policy to new car. If the insurance company are dragging their feet, put everything in writing to them, including the date & time the cover transfers to the new car. Insist on cover documents by return.

Be extremely careful about how this is done.

For avoidance of any confusion the insurance company must clearly be seen to agree to the transfer of cover to the new car as distinct from informing them of a transfer of cover. They are not bound by a policyholder's notification of a new vehicle to go on cover.
If OP is insured through an insurance broker they might have some delegated underwriting authority to put the new vehicle on cover.
Mathepac is entirely right about getting documentation to evidence the transaction and to have everything in proper order.

OP, please be clear that if the present vehicle is deemed to be a write-off the insurance underwriters may say that the policy does not operate any longer as the subject matter of the insurance - the car - has been destroyed. For that reason,I would not drive the car if the insurance company has informed me that the car is a write off as you might be unintentionally driving without valid motor insurance.

I would send a formal complaint by registered post to the insurance company. Get the name of the claims manager or the details of their customer service department. Include, as part of your complaint, the uncertainty created in the preceding paragraph and the extremely poor quality of service you are receiving. Ask them for a final decision so that you pass the entire matter to the Ombudsman. Send a copy of that complaint to the Ombudsman.

All of this is most unfortunate and infuriating but I am sure that is was not an uncertainty of a type countenanced by the original Heisenberg