Gap Insurance help?

[romthebomb]

ADVICE NEEDED URGENT...!! thanks!

First call:
My sisters car was involved in a car accident over christmas hit by a drunk driver, the car was a write off/total loss. His insurance company paid out then she contacted the gap insurance for a short fall after she received all the paper work and their not happy with the valuation but cheque already banked by my sister, shes contacted about gap insurance after she received paper work from 3rd party and their not happy with the valuation. they have now told my sister to go back to 3rd party insurance to ask for a higher valuation and they have told my sister the matter is now closed the difference between the 3rd party payout and what gap insurance are asking for is £1000 please help with this matter.
( first call was made to gap insurance company after she had received paper work and cheque from 3rd party insurance. then she contacted gap insurance company on how she can claim on her gap insurance for the short fall)

next question..? thanks!

Second call: (read below)
She received a call from the gap insurance company the following day after she informed them she wants to claim on her gap insurance. She had the car for 4 months then a friend of my sisters advised her to get gap insurance. then she phoned up to ask what policy would be suitable for her and her car because she didn't know about gap insurance. member of staff from the gap insurance company advised her that agreed gap insurance policy would be the ideal policy for her. now the gap insurance company have informed her that she has taken out the wrong policy making her gap insurance invalid. to take the agreed valuation you must have owned a car up to 90 days after purchase she should have bought returned gap insurance because that gives you 180days to buy gap insurance and now the gap insurance company are saying you have taken out agreed gap valuation 90 days after you purchased your car. my sister spoke to a member of staff of the gap insurance company and now they are telling her she took out the wrong insurance which was over 2 years ago and the policy lasts for 3 years.

please advise on this matter.

thanks for all your help and advise in advance.

I am only 18 years old and im trying to help my sister with this problem without going to a solicitor who will charge her loads of money which she can't afford at the moment. any help or advice would be grateful.
Sorry about the bad english my sister doesn't know where to get help and advice from.

Edited by romthebomb on Sunday 20th January 04:09

Edited by romthebomb on Sunday 20th January 17:32

[Cemesis]

Bit tricky here. You need to look at the terms and conditions of the gap insurance policy. If the insurance company is indeed correct that its invalid due to the length of time she owned the car, then I would speak to them and explain that the policy was purchased in good faith and on the advice of one of their operators. She would have happily purchased whatever policy was required at the time.

Regarding the car insurance company, the case is closed when the cheque has been paid in so theres nothing you can do there to get more money, nor would most people even think of it if they thought they were covered by a seperate gap insurance policy.

What are the numbers (values) we are talking about here?

[romthebomb]

Hi cemesis

thxs for your reply and advice.

glass guide retail price..15700, trade price..12950...engineers valuation..14700.

gap company not happy or accepting enginers low value, they want 3rd party to increase offer close retail price.
sister tried to get the engineer to increase his valuation, he refused as he explained how he has come to his valuation, with the above figures, make, model, spec of car, mileage etc etc, he has the experience, knowledge in his field. he will not be increasing his valuation.
so my sister agreed to his figures and banked the cheque and then contacted the gap insurance company, to inform them she will be claiming on her policy and she will be forwarding all relevant paperwork to them asap..recorded delivery.
she was told to contact 3rd party to increase low offer...1st contact with gap insurance company
next day sister recieves call from gap insurance company informing her she has purchased the wrong policy and it can be invalid.
she informed them she was advised by their member of staff, that agreed value gap insurance is the best policy for her,car, based on all the information they asked her.

gap agreed valaution on my sisters car is 24750.

look forward to your reply and advice again..thxs again

[romthebomb]

Help needed please...

Gap insurance company refusing to pay my sister out on the policy due to wrong policy purchased and she did not inform them of the private plate change... Which was done on the day of the accident..she put her plate on the car after work 6 pm and 3rd party wrote her car off late evening

[surveyor]

The only GAP policy I have ever seen was very strict that the gap provider was to negotiate with the insurance company.

In the case of being sold the wrong policy I don't really understand what you are saying. You should however ask for a copy of the tapes for the sale call, and also ask for details of their Complaints Procedure.

Ultimately you can complain to the FSA as this is a form of insurance - but I would be concerned re accepting the payout without discussion.

[aw51 121565]

Hindsight - alternatively, utter (or AKA ) cynicism - says your sister should have refused the first offer; she would have got where she wanted/needed to be (and possibly better off ) by arguing the toss over the inevitable "low ball" initial offer from the insurers with no difficulty (the low initial payout offer is par for the course ).

But she is financially where she is now - and the "not notified" change of number plate is almost certainly a "go away" excuse for her GAP insurer not wishing to engage at this stage ... A complaint to them might - or might not - focus their collective minds, as the car is worth the same - it is the same car - regardless of what number plate is attached .

Refusing the third party insurer's offer and asking for a reasonable settlement would have been the way forward ; that ship has now sailed . I suspect she has a steep uphill battle, especially as the GAP insurers are BSing at this stage and not engaging...

[romthebomb]

Thanks for the advice so far. Quick update.... Third party have made a increased offer after my sister emailed them more info on why she thinks the car value is higher than their valuation and she admits she made a honest mistake by accepting their offer and cashing the cheque before contacting the gap company, ie low mileage car for its age, low number of owners on log book, she fitted new tyres on car, at a cost of nearly thousand pounds, recent full service by main dealer... Cost close to £400, , just before the accident. Third party have offered a £300, gap have informed my sister to refuse it.

[romthebomb]

One more thing ....my sister has informed the Gap insurance company that the policy purchased, was recommended by their expert sales staff and policy was purchased in good faith, based on the info requested by the company's staff member. This was not my sisters fault. If she new what gap policy was best suited to her needs,she would of purchased it on on-line without speaking to a expert in gap insurance.

I think they are trying to get out of paying the shortfall and trying to blame my sister for them selling her the wrong policy and by saying she did not inform them of the private plate change. Couple of hours before the accident my sister had the plates put on. Log book, mot , car insurance documents where all changed with here private plate number on them and she was going to inform the gap company the next day as well.

Thanks for the advice so far