Car Insurer Claim nightmare - help/advice needed?!!?

korean_boro

korean_boro

Active member
Ello folks..

So I know this is a bit of an 'adulting' scenario but I'm at the end of my tether and wondering if anyone else has experienced this and how you resolved it?!!?

Hit a lovely gangrenous rotting baby deer roadkill back in April.. unavoidable but it messed up the front splitter of my car and after a vomit inducing quick cable tie fix I logged the claim on the 20th April. Was told they'd be using a repair service at Stoneacre and I got messaged by the repair shop requesting photos and evidence of damage. I sent this through on the 20th April and was told it was sufficient and they'd be in touch to arrange the date of booking to get it all sorted.

it's now July 11th almost THREE MONTHS and I've still not had any movement... I've called each week (sometimes twice a week) I've contacted them through the online chat section and spoken with many many different customer service people. They are all telling me each week ... 'The repair team haven't sent the estimate through' or 'it's been escalated' or 'we're still waiting to hear back, we've logged a complaint and escalated it'

ON LOOP... :mad::mad::mad:

Today they suggested sorting it myself and finding a 'non network' garage but work is hectic and I just don't have the time to ring round / visit garages for quotes.. I drive for work and cover a lot of distance so getting it booked in for a specific location and date is tough! I feel like the extortionate annual fee warrants not having to do the work myself!

I'm honestly at the end of my tether and my insurance is auto renewing next week .. to change companies will add £1k annually to the policy so that's not an option.. I feel trapped with these jokers and I was exploring the idea of complaining to the Insurance Ombudsman.. but am unsure if this is going to speed anything up or a waste of yet more time and energy!

What would YOU do? answers on a postcard...

Cheers :oops:

*Update - they've logged a complaint which will be investigated in 8 weeks hahaha
 
Repair shop had my daughters 3 month old car 14 month to do a repair… they were waiting on a seat cover of all things.. was a night mare to sort as garage blamed supplier and insurance company were useless… I got complaint upheld and a few hundred quid compo but she had a courtesy car throughout… it’s a shame you didn’t declare car underivable and they’d have picked it up for you and gave you a courtesy car…
 
Yeah you live and learn eh! I have an MOT next week so if they fail it on unsafe front wing.. maybe they will sort a courtesy car and it'll speed things up!

Just feels so brutal paying a company lots of money to provide a service and they are useless and have you bent over... grrrrrr
 
Who's your insurance with?

Like everything now, parts are becoming hard to find/expensive so garages are reluctant to give quotes early, but your insurance company should also be putting pressure on them or letting you look around earlier on the process.

But given where you are with it now, putting in a complaint is what you should do, as you can't go to the ombudsman before completing their claims processes.
 
Chris_Boro said:
Who's your insurance with?

Like everything now, parts are becoming hard to find/expensive so garages are reluctant to give quotes early, but your insurance company should also be putting pressure on them or letting you look around earlier on the process.

But given where you are with it now, putting in a complaint is what you should do, as you can't go to the ombudsman before completing their claims processes.
Click to expand...
Yep complaint logged.. 8 weeks before I can go Ombud it up... it's with 1stCentral.. previously very good the first year I had a policy with them! Wouldn't recommend at all after this experience!
 
find out the executive office complaints address, ceo email address etc and fire off a well worded email about how it's impacted you and you'll be taking it to ombudsman as soon as complaint is logged, for which they'll pay £550

Those complaints never go to the ceo etc they're just teams of complaints people that sort things out but they tend to get things done. Be polite, not rude, but be direct in the fact that you will be escalating it - also do a SAR request for all call recordings stating you will be Including them in your escalation evidence.

Grease the wheels by tweeting them and writing 1* trustpilot reviews

I just went through all this for a motorhome crash gf had in late April with gap insurance; Zurich were a total shambles and were obviously hoping I'd just go away. Kept telling me on phone they had what they needed then emailing me later saying they needed something else.

Eventually got it paid out and £150 compo for time wasting
 
korean_boro said:
Yep complaint logged.. 8 weeks before I can go Ombud it up... it's with 1stCentral.. previously very good the first year I had a policy with them! Wouldn't recommend at all after this experience!
Click to expand...

You can only go to the Ombudsman if it passes 8 weeks without a resolution being offered or after going through their whole complaints process if you don't accept their initial decision.

Either way the Ombudsman only start their own investigation after your insurer issues a final response to your complaint as any company is fined straight away it gets to that point.

I've never heard of that insurace company, all insurance companies are great if you never have to use them, but once you do the smaller companies tend fall short as they simply don't have the resources or influence the big names do.
 
korean_boro said:
Ello folks..

So I know this is a bit of an 'adulting' scenario but I'm at the end of my tether and wondering if anyone else has experienced this and how you resolved it?!!?

Hit a lovely gangrenous rotting baby deer roadkill back in April.. unavoidable but it messed up the front splitter of my car and after a vomit inducing quick cable tie fix I logged the claim on the 20th April. Was told they'd be using a repair service at Stoneacre and I got messaged by the repair shop requesting photos and evidence of damage. I sent this through on the 20th April and was told it was sufficient and they'd be in touch to arrange the date of booking to get it all sorted.

it's now July 11th almost THREE MONTHS and I've still not had any movement... I've called each week (sometimes twice a week) I've contacted them through the online chat section and spoken with many many different customer service people. They are all telling me each week ... 'The repair team haven't sent the estimate through' or 'it's been escalated' or 'we're still waiting to hear back, we've logged a complaint and escalated it'

ON LOOP... :mad::mad::mad:

Today they suggested sorting it myself and finding a 'non network' garage but work is hectic and I just don't have the time to ring round / visit garages for quotes.. I drive for work and cover a lot of distance so getting it booked in for a specific location and date is tough! I feel like the extortionate annual fee warrants not having to do the work myself!

I'm honestly at the end of my tether and my insurance is auto renewing next week .. to change companies will add £1k annually to the policy so that's not an option.. I feel trapped with these jokers and I was exploring the idea of complaining to the Insurance Ombudsman.. but am unsure if this is going to speed anything up or a waste of yet more time and energy!

What would YOU do? answers on a postcard...

Cheers :oops:

*Update - they've logged a complaint which will be investigated in 8 weeks hahaha
Click to expand...
Write a negative review on trust pilot/google reviews and google the email for the managing director and email him direct.

Normally step 1 gets it bumped up.

What insurance company is it?
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
find out the executive office complaints address, ceo email address etc and fire off a well worded email about how it's impacted you and you'll be taking it to ombudsman as soon as complaint is logged, for which they'll pay £550
Click to expand...
To find a CEO/CCO email address of a company go to https://www.ceoemail.com/

The details for 1st Central Insurance Service can be found here

The Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of 1st Central Insurance Service is Ben Tomasetti. His email address is ben.tomasetti@1stcentral.co.uk

Always remember that Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Chief Commercial Officers (CCOs) etc... are people, just like us. They'll respond to an email depending on its tone and content, so think about what you want to say carefully before you click send.
  • Be polite.
  • If you are able to say something good about the company before you express your disappointment, do it. It's a great way to get your reader on side.
  • Stick to the facts. Try not to let any emotion or judgment spill out.
  • Don't use threats.
  • Shorter is better. Keep the information concise and to the point.
  • Include any customer reference numbers or invoice numbers you have.
  • Include a brief history of the issue and any correspondence so far, if it's helpful.
  • Use names of people you have spoken to if you have them.
  • Do not accept being passed back to customer services, unless it's with a named person and with a promise of follow-up.
  • Explain clearly what you want as a solution or outcome.
 
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ThatFragranceGuy said:
find out the executive office complaints address, ceo email address etc and fire off a well worded email about how it's impacted you and you'll be taking it to ombudsman as soon as complaint is logged, for which they'll pay £550

Those complaints never go to the ceo etc they're just teams of complaints people that sort things out but they tend to get things done. Be polite, not rude, but be direct in the fact that you will be escalating it - also do a SAR request for all call recordings stating you will be Including them in your escalation evidence.

Grease the wheels by tweeting them and writing 1* trustpilot reviews

I just went through all this for a motorhome crash gf had in late April with gap insurance; Zurich were a total shambles and were obviously hoping I'd just go away. Kept telling me on phone they had what they needed then emailing me later saying they needed something else.

Eventually got it paid out and £150 compo for time wasting
Click to expand...

That's not how it works. Executive complaints, unless it's about the conduct of the company, employees etc, will still start at the same point all other complaints do. Only exception will be if that person is a VIP or sufficient to potentially impact their reputation significantly.

As I mentioned above the Ombudsman will not get involved at all unless you've completed the companies FULL complaints process or it breaches 8 weeks without a resolution being offered, the £550 fine is only applicable after those points.
 
Redlips said:
Write a negative review on trust pilot/google reviews and google the email for the managing director and email him direct.

Normally step 1 gets it bumped up.

What insurance company is it?
Click to expand...
Yeah I did a 1star trustpilot review and was contacted.. it got escalated and the cycle continued! :(
 
Chris_Boro said:
That's not how it works. Executive complaints, unless it's about the conduct of the company, employees etc, will still start at the same point all other complaints do. Only exception will be if that person is a VIP or sufficient to potentially impact their reputation significantly.

As I mentioned above the Ombudsman will not get involved at all unless you've completed the companies FULL complaints process or it breaches 8 weeks without a resolution being offered, the £550 fine is only applicable after those points.
Click to expand...
Not in my experience. I've spoken directly with executive complaint teams regularly via email, I've worked for 2 banks and one insurance company that has dedicated teams that pick up on social media and ceo/c suite email complaints.

You're right that they won't kick in the Ombudsman until a final resolution response is issued but by making it clear you are going to follow that process and that you know how it works they are usually keen to resolve before it gets to that step.
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
Not in my experience. I've spoken directly with executive complaint teams regularly via email, I've worked for 2 banks and one insurance company that has dedicated teams that pick up on social media and ceo/c suite email complaints.

You're right that they won't kick in the Ombudsman until a final resolution response is issued but by making it clear you are going to follow that process and that you know how it works they are usually keen to resolve before it gets to that step.
Click to expand...

Executive complaints will get bumped, and generally go to more experienced agents, but that's it as anything else will be outside of process and the Ombudsman really, really do not like that. I know because I dealt with FOS complaints.

The only thing you may get is an instant offer of goodwill which, again is rare.
 
Chris_Boro said:
That's not how it works. Executive complaints, unless it's about the conduct of the company, employees etc, will still start at the same point all other complaints do. Only exception will be if that person is a VIP or sufficient to potentially impact their reputation significantly.

As I mentioned above the Ombudsman will not get involved at all unless you've completed the companies FULL complaints process or it breaches 8 weeks without a resolution being offered, the £550 fine is only applicable after those points.
Click to expand...
Put MBE or Sir as your signature
 
UPDATE - I was contacted by their 'Senior Complaints Handler' they apologized and said they'd got the email sent to the CEO and had escalated it and are now looking at garages and will offer me a courtesy car!

Result.. thanks peeps the help has really worked it would seem :)
 
korean_boro said:
UPDATE - I was contacted by their 'Senior Complaints Handler' they apologized and said they'd got the email sent to the CEO and had escalated it and are now looking at garages and will offer me a courtesy car!

Result.. thanks peeps the help has really worked it would seem :)
Click to expand...
Works every time for me. I am usually going round in circles with customer services or standard complaints teams but never had an issue where this hasn't gotten it resolved. As long as you're polite but clear it gets you out of their hair and helps grease the wheels

The banks and Insurer I have worked for absolutely did have dedicated teams that monitor social media and c-suite "inboxes" and would have greater levels of authority to resolve a complaint before it goes any further.

Glad you got it sorted anyway. Like I said we had 2 months of wrangling with gap insurance cover on a £1500 excess, after getting nowhere reported complaint and was told 8 weeks for response. Couple emails later and phone call from them to say complaint been escalated and paid out and £150 compensation for inconvenience.

Shouldnt have to be that hard but some companies are as difficult as possible - this one has a 1* trustpilot score with every reviewer saying the same thing about delays or claims denied despite loads of evidence provided.
 
korean_boro said:
UPDATE - I was contacted by their 'Senior Complaints Handler' they apologized and said they'd got the email sent to the CEO and had escalated it and are now looking at garages and will offer me a courtesy car!

Result.. thanks peeps the help has really worked it would seem :)
Click to expand...
Great news.
 
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