Insurance - a heartfelt warning!

[EMPI VeeDuvb]

Good afternoon all,

I'm a long time lurker on this forum, but have never posted before - I just wanted to share a cautionary tale about insurance...

About 2 months ago I was involved in an minor accident - a car pulled straight out in front of me from a side road and i ploughed into the side of them, I'm sure that the other driver was fully at fault, but as the other driver and 2 independent witnesses both said I appeared to be travelling "at speed" the claim was settled 50/50.

I was driving my 2003 S40 diesel which sustained damage to the front wings, bonnet, bumper, grill and radiator - the other car (an Astra) had severe damage to all the O/S panels.

My insurer (Admiral) sent someone to examine the car - he had a look round, took some photo's and told me the car would be a write off and that they would be in touch with an offer and to arrange collection. Before he left he remarked that the stereo looked like an aftermarket one - I told him it was, and that after the original Volvo stereo had broken I had fitted one that I had in the shed from a previous motor - nothing expensive or fancy.

Anyway, a week later I hadn't heard anything and so phoned them to query this - the guy I spoke to said there was a problem with my claim and he would get someone to call me back.

A couple of hours later I took a call from someone from their fraud department - he told me that they would be declining my claim because I had fraudulently insured the car without informing them of some modifications - when I asked which modifications he told me that I had upgraded the stereo and fitted non-original alloy wheels.

I agreed with him that I had changed the stereo, but only because the old one had broken. However, the wheels were genuine Volvo items and were fitted to the car when I bought it. I was informed that as part of the claim they had requested the original build spec for my car from Volvo UK - they had supplied this and confirmed that the car was originally sold with 15" wheels and that the current 17" wheels had been fitted at a later date.

The end result of this is that Admiral have refused to pay out for my car, have billed me for 10 days hire of a courtesy car (£800!), cancelled my insurance and lodged a fraud marker against my name.

Last year my insurance cost me about £200 fully comp, the cheapest quote I can now get with a history of cancelled/fraudulent insurance is £2100 to insure a Fiesta - Third Party only. I also have a classic Beetle which I have previously insured on an "agreed value" policy for under £200 per year - the classic insurance comapny I was with have now cancelled this policy and I'm looking at another £2,000 to insure the Beetle...

A family friend who has always worked in insurance has helped me to appeal this via Admiral and the ombudsman, but to no avail - I have now discovered that I will have to declare the cancelled insurance for the rest of my life, and that it is unlikely that any mainstream insurer will ever touch me again.

Ironically, I only moved to Admiral on a friends recommendation, even though my previous insurer (Hastings) were brilliant the only other time I had to claim (after a hit and run when my car was parked up).

[V40DSchariot]

That is absolutely awful. Just another way of normal people getting shafted!
I think as insurance is compulsory and your breaking the law by not having insurance, the government should be stepping in to stop this criminal overcharging and bring some commonsense to what is a license to print money.
I had a young lad run into the back of me, because it still hasn't been finalized and I had to renew my insurance, it comes up as a fault incident, so I have to pay more and no doubt the young lad is paying s**tloads more.

[cheshired5]

If your insurance cancel you, do you get a refund of your year's premium because they haven't actually been providing you with anything?

[EMPI VeeDuvb]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

If your insurance cancel you, do you get a refund of your year's premium because they haven't actually been providing you with anything?

I guess if there hadn't been a claim paid, then probably yes (minus whatever sort of admin fees etc. they would apply). In my case there was only a couple of weeks left to run, so any refund would doubtless have been swallowed up anyway...

[kieran40]

Crooks they really are

[stuartrf]

After recent problems with admiral insurance I will never use them again they are scum

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by EMPI VeeDuvb

I guess if there hadn't been a claim paid, then probably yes (minus whatever sort of admin fees etc. they would apply). In my case there was only a couple of weeks left to run, so any refund would doubtless have been swallowed up anyway...

I don't get how they're saying your policy is invalid and cancelled due to the stereo non disclosure but they've paid the third party.
Either you have a policy with them and they stump up for everything or you don't have a policy and they don't pay anyone.
If I caused a bump tomorrow, Admiral wouldn't pay the third party because I don't have a policy with them, so why pay the third party on yours?
I find their stance on their own liability very odd.

[Haizum74]

I find this highly suspicious that they wouldn't pay out and cancelled everything and put a fraud marker on you just because of a different stereo and wheels (not even sure the s40's came in 15's) that you were not aware weren't 'genuine' at the time you bought a second hand car, especially as it was 2 months ago yet you put a complaint in to Admiral and got a reply and then went to the ombudsman to complain and got a reply. All in two months?

[PETE S40]

Used admiral plenty of times and never had a problem.. they are currently sorting a claim on my behalf against the tosser who put me out of action for 5months.. declare everything! Chances are the set of alloys and stereo wouldnt even have effected your premium.

[ilikewatch]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

I don't get how they're saying your policy is invalid and cancelled due to the stereo non disclosure but they've paid the third party.
Either you have a policy with them and they stump up for everything or you don't have a policy and they don't pay anyone.
If I caused a bump tomorrow, Admiral wouldn't pay the third party because I don't have a policy with them, so why pay the third party on yours?
I find their stance on their own liability very odd.

I think that this is because in their role as RTA insurer they have to pay out to a third party even if the original policy turns out to be invalid. If this wasn't the case then insurers could weasel out of most claims by citing the fact that the policyholder had invalidated the policy (by speeding, drinking, not maintaining their vehicle etc. etc.)