Insurance paid out but I still have car!!

Insurance paid out but I still have car!!

Author
Discussion

TROOPER88

Original Poster:

1,767 posts

180 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
Hi guys
I am posting this on behalf of a friend at work; it is a very strange situation. I will try and keep it as short and to the point as possible.

May 2014: A motorcycle crashes into the front of his TVR whilst on a roundabout. The damage is to the clam/shell at the front. The car is not driveable due to radiator/fan damage. The motorcyclist leaves the scene instantly and no registration plate was recorded by my friend.
The police were not very helpful but were notified.

The insurance company declared total loss without inspecting the car.
He contacted his insurance company who eventually send out an assessor in June who mentioned that the car was repairable. They say that if they were to repair the front clam would take 6 weeks to be delivered. My friend wanted the car to be repaired but the insurance company were not willing to offer a courtesy car/hire car for the 6 week period.

My friend is not happy about this but had no option but to accept the settlement figure of 13k.

July 2014: BACS payment received for full amount whilst my friend still had possession of the car.
This is in itself to me seems strange; would they normally have recovered the vehicle before sending payment?

A few days later a letter arrives stating that the salvage and title would now pass to the insurer. Please can he send them the V5, keys and MOT.

My friend felt that the claim from the start was mishandled for a few reasons but mainly because he was forced to accept the total loss situation. As well as this he was not happy about not being offered a hire car, they did not take positive steps to identify the driver of the motorcycle, they lied a couple of times (originally stated they had viewed cctv from the scene but later denied this).

Over the following weeks via e-mail and telephone my friend continued to dispute the case as he felt he has been treated unfairly and.

The car is still outside my friends house.

Yesterday my friend called the insurance company to investigate whether there is a possibility that he could keep the car and repair it at his cost.

To his and my surprise he was told the following which has been subsequently e-mailed to him:



Following our conversation I am Emailing you as requested to confirm the following:

Your vehicle was deemed a total loss and has received a category D marker against it.

The total loss settlement was sent to you

Should you wish, you can look to use the settlement sent to you to repair the vehicle.

Following the repairs you will need to have a new MOT for the vehicle to ensure its roadworthiness.

The category D marker will remain on the vehicle.

The VIC I mentioned on the call is only applicable to Category C and upwards therefore is not needed for your vehicle.

Kind regards



As you can see this totally conflicts the letter received in July that they sent.

The above makes out that he can keep the car and do what he likes with it?

From what I can see this case is a massive lack of communication between the departments involved at the insurance company?

Even so, what would you advise?
Ok, he keeps the car, spends 3k repairing it and then next month the insurance company want to take it back?

It makes no sense...

Cheers





TROOPER88

Original Poster:

1,767 posts

180 months

Friday 29th August 2014
quotequote all
Hi Chaps
I know my friend is reading the thread so thank you.

All the facts in my original post are correct.

I see it as a complete lack of communication within the insurance company.

I will advise he writes them a letter to put the case to bed.

He will of course be many thousands to the good as he keeps the car.

Cheers