How long before giving up on Insurance?
Discussion
Morning Everybody. Long story as short as possible. My Father had a chap sharply pull in front of him and damage the front end of his car. They pulled over, exchanged details, insurance, e-mail address, phone numbers, the fella admitted liability at the scene and asked if we could sort this without going through insurance. No problem. The following day, my Father gets a quote of £1300 to repair his car from a body shop I know.
That same day, we get an e-mail from this fella saying he's contacted his insurance Company and the matter is now with them. Ok, no problem.
That was 3 weeks ago. We've e-mailed him asking for an update, 4 times, no reply. We've tried contacting my Father's Insurers (Saga), pretty much twice a day for the last 14 days, they never answer the phone and when we did get through they promised a call back. We're still waiting.
How long before you give up and my Father just goes and gets his car repaired? Is there anything else you suggest we do?
Thanks for your time.
Simon.
That same day, we get an e-mail from this fella saying he's contacted his insurance Company and the matter is now with them. Ok, no problem.
That was 3 weeks ago. We've e-mailed him asking for an update, 4 times, no reply. We've tried contacting my Father's Insurers (Saga), pretty much twice a day for the last 14 days, they never answer the phone and when we did get through they promised a call back. We're still waiting.
How long before you give up and my Father just goes and gets his car repaired? Is there anything else you suggest we do?
Thanks for your time.
Simon.
Simon Bags said:
BertBert said:
Doesn't make much sense. Are you saying it's impossible to put a claim in with his own ins co?
You mean put in a claim with my Father's Insurance Co, Saga? Against this chap? We'd love to but Saga won't answer the phone or call us back after leaving details.If Saga genuinely won’t respond, look for details of their complaints email/phone number and use that.
You pay them to sort exactly this sort of situation.
ETA: there is a risk that this chap isn’t actually insured and he’s BSing you about it being “with his insurers” after the quote to fix “away from insurers” was higher than he expected, if in fact he ever intended to pay anything at all.
Simon Bags said:
You mean put in a claim with my Father's Insurance Co, Saga? Against this chap? We'd love to but Saga won't answer the phone or call us back after leaving details.
I don't know whether going through your dad's insurance, or through the third party isurance, is best in your father's circumstance - but if I wanted to talk to my insurer and they didn't pick up the phone, I wouldn't let that stop me trying to talk to them. Keep at it, or escalate through their complaints procedure if necessary. If your dad wants to make a claim through his insurer, he has a right to talk to them! As said. Go through your insurance company. You have all the third party’s details. It is up to your insurance company to deal with the claim.
A similar thing happened to me years ago. I just got mine repaired, paid my excess, and then my insurance company claimed against the other party, and I got my excess back.
A similar thing happened to me years ago. I just got mine repaired, paid my excess, and then my insurance company claimed against the other party, and I got my excess back.
CraigyMc said:
Saga claims number is 08000015424. If you are saying they don't answer that I'm afraid I don't believe you.
Ok thankyou, but I assure you that after waiting in queues, saying we're x callers away from being answered, that the lines are very busy, we haven't managed to speak to anyone as yet.Actually, that's not strictly true. My Father called them at 6am the other day, got through to someone who can't deal with any enquiries but took all the details, gave us a reference number, and promised we would hear from them within 2 days. That was last Wednesday.
Simon Bags said:
CraigyMc said:
Saga claims number is 08000015424. If you are saying they don't answer that I'm afraid I don't believe you.
Ok thankyou, but I assure you that after waiting in queues, saying we're x callers away from being answered, that the lines are very busy, we haven't managed to speak to anyone as yet.Actually, that's not strictly true. My Father called them at 6am the other day, got through to someone who can't deal with any enquiries but took all the details, gave us a reference number, and promised we would hear from them within 2 days. That was last Wednesday.
Pica-Pica said:
As said. Go through your insurance company. You have all the third party’s details. It is up to your insurance company to deal with the claim.
A similar thing happened to me years ago. I just got mine repaired, paid my excess, and then my insurance company claimed against the other party, and I got my excess back.
Thank you.A similar thing happened to me years ago. I just got mine repaired, paid my excess, and then my insurance company claimed against the other party, and I got my excess back.
Alorotom said:
Ring his insurance and hassle them
Alternatively put it in the hands of a claim management company they’ll sort it (albeit at great expense) but that’s their fault for tardy behaviour.
First time I made a claim I didn't even realise I was putting it in the hands of a claims management company as it was the route my insurer preferred.Alternatively put it in the hands of a claim management company they’ll sort it (albeit at great expense) but that’s their fault for tardy behaviour.
Chat over the fence with the next door neighbour. He runs a claims management company and got mildly annoyed that I didn't consider using him, we're still friends.
I have my doubts on some of the claims management firms on who's side they're acting on but I'd tend to agree that would be a good way to ratchet it up.
cheesejunkie said:
Alorotom said:
Ring his insurance and hassle them
Alternatively put it in the hands of a claim management company they’ll sort it (albeit at great expense) but that’s their fault for tardy behaviour.
First time I made a claim I didn't even realise I was putting it in the hands of a claims management company as it was the route my insurer preferred.Alternatively put it in the hands of a claim management company they’ll sort it (albeit at great expense) but that’s their fault for tardy behaviour.
Chat over the fence with the next door neighbour. He runs a claims management company and got mildly annoyed that I didn't consider using him, we're still friends.
I have my doubts on some of the claims management firms on who's side they're acting on but I'd tend to agree that would be a good way to ratchet it up.
Just a small update. After waiting 25 minutes for someone to answer, we finally got through to Saga Claims. We were then told that SAGA no longer deal directly with Motor Claims and have outsourced to another Company (VCAS? or something like that), we were transferred and then promptly cut off.
Keep on trying I guess.
Keep on trying I guess.
Simon Bags said:
Just a small update. After waiting 25 minutes for someone to answer, we finally got through to Saga Claims. We were then told that SAGA no longer deal directly with Motor Claims and have outsourced to another Company (VCAS? or something like that), we were transferred and then promptly cut off.
Keep on trying I guess.
Call up again. Ask if the call is being recorded (it will be) and say you wish to lodge a complaint (the magic C word).Keep on trying I guess.
Ask for claims to call you back the same day or you will escalate the complaint to the Ombudsman.
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