Insurance company want full premium 3 months into policy after total loss

[advocat]

Hi all

 

I have a taxi which last week was written off by my insurance companies assessor. Another driver on my "policy" crashed the car with no other cars involved. Basically his fault. I took all the documents into the insurance office today to proceed with the claim. I was then told that if I did not buy another car and have it insured with them that the remainder of the premium would be deducted from the settlement figure. This came as a bit of a shock, but I have read posts on here and on other sites basically saying they can do this so that isn't my main point.

What annoys me and I would like some advice on is that when I took out insurance with this company I was never given details of the policy, only a certificate of motor insurance.

 

So if they start quoting parts of the policy do I have a leg to stand on by telling them they should have provided me with the details of the policy when I took it out?

Also they would not allow me to buy back the car, saying that the insurance company does not allow this. this annoyed me as well because I was given a quote to repair the car privately and it was not excessive.

The way I have been adding things up, they stand to make a tidy profit from this and I will recieve around £400 if I accept their offer and they deduct the full premium.

 

I would appreciate any advice on this

 

Thanks in advance

[unclebulgaria67]

They had to provide you with the policy details at the time you bought the policy per FSA rules. Just providing the certificate of Insurance is not adequate. The chances are that if you made a complaint, they would say that they did supply the policy documents.

 

Suggest that you speak to the Insurers claims manager, saying that you are considering involving the FOS, as you are unhappy with the way you have been treated. If you have not signed away the salvage to the Insurers, it is not their property yet. Check whether you have signed over the salvage. If not, you may be able to get it back. If they have already disposed of it, then you may be able to use this to gain a better settlement.

[Mwynci]

UB67 is right, on the flip side though check what your policy cert says, if it starts going along the lines of "this is to be read in conjunction with your policy document" then insurer will have the argument of why didn't you ask for a copy when you received only the cert.

The bit about the salvage is spot on, they have to let you keep it regardless of total loss catagory (not that you may be allowed to put it back on the road), it's always yours until you confirm otherwise, if they have disposed, they have opened up a can of worms, with the FOS offering about £300.00-500.00 in compensation for this right now. Again a flip side, if they can give it back, they will make a further deduction from your settlement for what they can achieve from their salvage firm.

 

[advocat]

Thank you both for your replies. I haven't signed away the salvage, the only document I have signed was a claim form with details of the accident, the signature was only a decleration to say I was telling the truth. They did however ask for my V5 which I gave them, though I didn't fill any part of it in transfering it to them. I have checked the certificate and all it says (with regards to the policy) is "This certificate is not a statement of cover given by the policy. For details of the insurance cover, reference should be made to the policy."

I will call and ask for details of who to complain to, because these details are also apparently in the policy document. I found this out from a sheet of paper with the insurance certificate.

Thanks again, I'll let you know how I get on

[raydetinu]

surely the ampount of payout for the right off should enable the insured purchase a car of similar value or at least its market value. ( depends on the wording of the cover). You should have been given all the contract insurance cover details and would have 14 days to reject after receipt if you took it out on line or over the phoone.

the insurance co is paying out for the loss/right off of the vehicle so it must now belong to them, which you have to sign over to get your payout.

The insurance cover is therefore complete and the full premium is due for the year.