Insurance company sold my car without my consent :(
Discussion
hi People,
looking for some support and guidance
in brief, had a knock in my car only a minor, and opted to buy my car back ..weeks later after chasing them regularly they informed me they'd accidentally sold my car at auction !!
They took well over 8 weeks to investigate why my car was sold when I'd opted to buy it back,, and came back with .. a simple sorry its an admin error, not much we can do now .. for the inconvenience we will offer you £150 ..
that's the short version, to say they handled my claim and the issues they themselves created like a bag of poop would be an underatsnemnt
is this normal ?? any help or guidance would be appreciated
looking for some support and guidance
in brief, had a knock in my car only a minor, and opted to buy my car back ..weeks later after chasing them regularly they informed me they'd accidentally sold my car at auction !!
They took well over 8 weeks to investigate why my car was sold when I'd opted to buy it back,, and came back with .. a simple sorry its an admin error, not much we can do now .. for the inconvenience we will offer you £150 ..
that's the short version, to say they handled my claim and the issues they themselves created like a bag of poop would be an underatsnemnt
is this normal ?? any help or guidance would be appreciated
Simply put, they didn't sell your car as it wasn't your car any more - it was their car from the point they decided to write it off, and you as the policy holder don't have any say in whether they decide to write it off or not.
The fact that they may have gone back on an agreement that they would sell you a car they currently owned is a different issue but without a binding contract I don't see that you've got much comeback here. Although I freely acknowledge it is exceedingly annoying to you.
In terms of what you can do, a formal complaint, escalated, and ultimately taken to the insurance ombudsman is the course you will have to take although you do need to be clear what you want them to do about it.
The fact that they may have gone back on an agreement that they would sell you a car they currently owned is a different issue but without a binding contract I don't see that you've got much comeback here. Although I freely acknowledge it is exceedingly annoying to you.
In terms of what you can do, a formal complaint, escalated, and ultimately taken to the insurance ombudsman is the course you will have to take although you do need to be clear what you want them to do about it.
deckster said:
Simply put, they didn't sell your car as it wasn't your car any more - it was their car from the point they decided to write it off, and you as the policy holder don't have any say in whether they decide to write it off or not.
That’s a load of poop.They don’t ever own the car without your express permission, therefore can’t write it off or sell it. That is done when both parties agree the same outcome.
OP, the horse has bolted. So your only recourse is to complain further to your insurance company or take it to the insurance ombudsman.
Depends on the exact sequence of events I guess. If you'd agreed a valuation and they'd sent you the money for the total-loss, it was presumably their car from that point onward and they were under no obligation to sell it back to you. If you hadn't been paid for the car it was still yours and they have basically sold a car they don't actually own.
thanks, appreciate the feedback; I had agreed to buy the car back and was issued with a respective payout.
I think i've exhausted the escalation procedure with the insurance company .. it took them over 8 weeks to sit on it and come back with .. that life !! have £150.
I'm awaiting the final response letter and will raise with Financial Ombudsman
I think i've exhausted the escalation procedure with the insurance company .. it took them over 8 weeks to sit on it and come back with .. that life !! have £150.
I'm awaiting the final response letter and will raise with Financial Ombudsman
kambites said:
Depends on the exact sequence of events I guess. If you'd agreed a valuation and they'd sent you the money for the total-loss, it was presumably their car from that point onward and they were under no obligation to sell it back to you. If you hadn't been paid for the car it was still yours and they have basically sold a car they don't actually own.
I was assuming no agreement was made, but you are correct. It does depend on what was already agreed
Sorry take 2, multi-tasking then and wrote a sentence! - I'd agreed with my insurance company to retain the car and they covered the cost of the damage minus any fees for me to retain the car .. which is a normal process I assume.. but later; like almost 2 weeks, there was no sign of my car being returned, I chased them and they informed me that they had accidentally sold it via auction. .
deckster said:
Simply put, they didn't sell your car as it wasn't your car any more - it was their car from the point they decided to write it off, and you as the policy holder don't have any say in whether they decide to write it off or not.
Utter rubbish. You have every say. It's your car!!! If they say they want to write your car off, you can say "no thanks, I'll keep the car and you pay me less the salvage value". If they don't agree to that, you can withdraw the claim completely. They cannot write off your car without your agreement. In this case they agreed to let you keep the salvage, and just gave you the value less salvage. So the car was yours and they sold it. Technically, I image the car is still yours, and the new owner is not entitled to keep it. The new owner has a fight with the insurer who sold it. I think they call it fraudulent conversion, selling a car your are not entitled to sell.
I guess you could get a solicitor involved and begin the steps to recover your car. probably better if you get on to insurers and tell them their £150 compo needs another zero on the end, or you will be writing to DVLA, notifying the police that your car has been sold by someone who never owned it, and writing to DVLA. Also taking to social media to highlight what's happened.
Do you still have the V5 and a set of keys? If you do, and you know who has it, go and take it back (after checking with a solicitor). It's still your car.
dhutch said:
I guess in part how far you want to push it depends how significant/special/attached you are to the specific car Vs another of similar spec.
£150 sounds a rediculously small amount of compensation unless it was a £500 run if the mill shed.
To me £150 sounds like a small amount of compensation even if it was a £500 shed.£150 sounds a rediculously small amount of compensation unless it was a £500 run if the mill shed.
richs2891 said:
If the Insurance company paid you an amount less the fee to keep the car, then dont they owe you the difference ?
Or is that the £150 ?
I was wondering that , if he was paid the amount to be able to retain the car , then depending on the value of the car at the time of the accident, isn't he owed much more ?Or is that the £150 ?
What was the car value OP ?
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