I couldn't pay the mortgage last week as I was £100 short in the account. As a result, the DD request was returned. It was requested again yesterday morning. Again there were insufficient funds in the account (this time by £150) but the DD was paid. Any idea why the first request was returned but the second paid?

I'm feeling a little smug.

If you post details of the car here, perhaps someone with total loss knowledge would give you a quick valuation? I'm sure if you ask Mossy nicely enough he could nip through to motor claims and pick up this month's Glass's guide? (I should point out that Norwich Union have STILL not revoked my access to HPI! Muppets!)

Cunningham's are one of the best adjusters out there. In my experience they do not "have a reputation for rejecting and disputing claims". They have a reputaton for being very good as adjusters! Remember, insurance is not an investment policy. You can only get what you've paid for! As I told my policyholders back in the day, try to think about this as a motor claim. A third party (STW) has damaged your property. What do you do? You can either claim through your own insurer (and hope they recover the costs from the negligent party) or claim from the third party directly (yes i KNOW it's not always this simple an analogy!). In your case, the third party (through their representative Cunninghams) have confirmed you will only receive an indemnity settlement. I would therefore be inclined to recommend the use of your own insurer if they settle new for old. I would also be inclined to ask them to appoint Cunninghams to oversee the settlement of your claim. As Mossy states, the outlays should be met by the other party. Furthermore, it's unlikely that one claim alone will have ANY affect on your premiums (contrary to popular belief).

Well......... RESULT!!!!!! £7402 in my account! PLUS over £500 charges taken off!!!! Happy days! Can now pay off loan (saving £150 a month) and clear the overdraft on our "other" account (saving another £50 we were paying into it). Will have to claim the charges back on our "other" HBOS account now. Will they still see me as a "financial hardship" case?! Perhaps not! Will make a contribution to the site in the next few days when I get the figures sorted out....

Depends what you're looking to cover. Luggage? Flight Cancellation? Possibly. Hospital treatment? Illness? No real need given these flights are internal. You don't HAVE to get insurance in this case. It's your choice.

You can't. Unless you have recent documents, photos, service history, etc. Essentially, the Ins Co will provide a general figure of how much they believe the car to be worth. This figure usually be from Glass's guide or similar. If you dispute this figure, you need to provide evidence. Ideally, a full service history and similar cars from autotrader should do the trick. Essentially you and the Ins Co are trying to put you in a similar position to the one you were in immediately before the fire.

One more day to go, one more day to go.....

I agree Mossy. The u/w had all the information needed. It ALWAYS comes back to "reasonable person" doesn't it?! The Insurer will argue that the p/h should have disclosed the material fact that the car was not in use as it would affect the risk/premium, etc (as you know). Was this an innocent non-discloure as far as the ph was concerned (i.e. did the p/h deliberately withold information in an effort to gain a benefit (in this case a lower premium))? Hmmmmmm

It's like watching a soap opera!

This is good news. Let's see what the broker has said/done.

Called HBOS. They confirm the acceptance was received on Tues 21st (it's amazing just how long faxes take to reach their destination!) Anyway, they also confirmed that all the new charges since early September will be returned all. That's around £500 in total. Which means nearly £8k will be refunded into my account within the next week or so. Will keep you all posted.

Yup. Ins co's need to fade out the grey areas that existed when I was at NUI. It needs to be more black and white. We MUST look at this from the company's viewpoint to understand why they've done this. It's not simply a case of thinking "...but it seems so unfair. After-all, the son was being a typical 23 year old". The Insurer is COMPLETELY within it's RIGHTS to avoid this policy (based on the info we have been given). They are not "getting away with it", or "conning" anyone, or being "typical". The conditions were not met. They policy was avoided. I feel for the mother and her kids. I really do. But I don't think the Insurer can do much more. If they did, it would be hefty ex-gratia...

Just tell them the truth. It is up to them to prove that the claim did not happen this way. The Insurer has been told something by the TV people which suggests the TV could not have been damaged the way you said it was. It IS possible for these people to be wrong and that is why a senior expert has been sent out. They will take a statement from you with more details. Their letter "for the avoidance of doubt....." is essentially saying "just because we are sending someone out, it does not mean we are accepting your claim or anything. Furthermore, we can cancel your policy or uphold any rights we have under our contract with you". Check your insurance policy booklet. It tells you in there what this means for you.

From what the OP has stated, it sounds as if the alleged fronting was not investigated properly. The discrepencies should have been queried by an investigator. There's no way this would hold up in front of a judge. What evidence does the ins co have? They have the same evidence as we have in these posts it would appear! The Ins Co appear to have suggested a case of fronting. But it's not. What they may say is that the Insured should have disclosed material facts. But I fail to see how the Insured could have benefited from disclosing the "truth". From the OP, the son is NOT the main user. It's a pity we've not been kept updated.....

The bottom line, we are assuming, it that the policy was issued with conditions. As those conditions were not met, the policy was avoided.

I agree with Mossy on this. However, there IS a possible solution. Ask for the vehicle back. Afterall, it IS the property of your friend.

I agree with Bookie. There's NO WAY it costs an underwriter £50 in time and effort to cancel a policy. Most of the work is done by the customer! We are searching for competitors, looking for cheaper quotes, calling to cancel our existing policy, sending the insurance certificate, etc, etc. Maybe we should draft our own T&C!

I agree with Bernie 100% on this.

Here's mine http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/halifax-bank-bank-scotland/149561-me-hbos.html

So, I called HBOS on Wednesday last to find out what was going on. HBOS had increased their offer to £7.4k (just HOW do they calculate their figures?!) Anyway, the acceptance form came through yesterday morning and I FAXED it back to them (from my local HBOS branch) and also sent a hard copy through the post. Will keep you posted.

Sh** You're right. Will speak to my contact and get that "revoked". I had called to find out what was going on, and was told a letter was sent 26th Sept offering £5.8k. I told "Johnathan" that I was expecting nearly £9k. I called again today and he advised that someone had got their figures wrong and he was awating confirmation of a figure closer to £9k. Told him I'd accept over £7k. Should hear by end of week. Will keep you posted.

Yeah keep me posted! They sent their standard "we cannot see any real sign of hardship, but we do not have all the info we need. Please complete and send this form" which was an income/expenditure thing. I guess what they don't have is details of ALL my creditors. There could, afterall, be creditors taking monies directly from my salary (which would be great as it's taken pre-tax). I'll give them a call later in the week and post again.

I also earn a good salary. Between me and my wife we take home over £50k. It's just that our outgoings come to more than our income. Sh*t happens. HBOS have confirmed that they are dealing with my claim as a harship case. It's just a case of waiting for their letter of offer. Since I claimed, there's been around £1000 of additional charges. It'll be interesting to see which date they take their ""5 years" from...

Called HBOS last Wednesday (24th). They will be dealing with my claim due to "severe financial hardship". Which is nice. An acceptance form is being sent for me to sign AFTER they get a detailed statement of my charges from head office. I politely pointed out - 1. That I photocopied their original list and sent it with my original claim, and 2. That it was now 16 months since I first started the process and requested my bank statements. "We have to follow procedure". Fine. Don't want to push this too much as, afterall, they ARE considering my claim. Will keep you posted.