Sister recently had her car smacked in the supermarket. Woman who hit it waited for her to come back and admitted liability and handed over insurance info.
Churchill (my sister's insurance company) now say that despite the other insurer paying the bill and taking total liability, they will consider it 1% their cost to cover the costs of dealing with the third party's insurer. Thus sis loses her no claims! This is despite her fully comp insurance and legal protection cover. They claim it is 'standard practice'.
I've advised her to contact the ombudsman and also Citizen's Advice. Anyone heard anything similar? I'm absolutely furious on her behalf, and feel a small crusade coming on after my recent minor victory over Ye Olde Sony Shoppe in the case of the crap CD player.
On or around Sun, 18 Apr 2004 20:39:03 +0100, Tim Hobbs enlightened us thusly:
bloody crooks.
Mind, this sort of fuvg is why I tend to go for the optional leagle expenses doofrit and protected bonus. But you only get the latter once you have full bonus, of course. and it's a con, the above, I mean, anyway. If they've incurred expenses in dealing with the claim, then that should be wot the legal expenses cover is for.
Sis is on about phoning them, but she gets all wound up and emotional and will get nowhere. I've told her to write, but I may just do it myself tonight and get her to sign it.
Damage is £700, her insurance (which needs renewing in a fortnight) has gone up from 350 to 650 as a result. I think sending her a renewal notice is somewhat optimistic, given her current opinion of them.
Might be interesting to ask their opinion as to what response will be to their advertising in LR mags now that we can see what they're up to. Perhaps they won't be too keen having dirty linen aired on a forum like this ?? :-))
Did she just inform her insurer or fill in a claim form?
When the same happened to me I simply informed my insurer (NFU) and claimed directly from the other sides insurers, bastards still wrote the 110 off though. It did not affect my no claims but NFU did require an engineer's report plus a new MOT.
She should politely tell Churchill that all out of pocket expenses should be claimed from the other party as they admit liability and she is therefore not making a claim on her policy. No claim, no loss of NCD.
Mind you Churchill seems to have gone downhill since they were taken over. I had my Disco's window repaired by Autoglass last December after someone broke it to steal a few items. I made no claim for these but Churchill's records showed there was an open claim because of an attempted theft and my no claims discount was reduced when renewal came last month. When I politely told them over the 'phone no claim had taken place they referred the matter back to the claims department who reinstated the NCD.
-- Keith (London, UK) Land Rover Discovery 300TDI Triumph Sprint Exec
I view insurance companies with the same contempt as dog shit. Only difference being the legal obligation not to have dog shit involved with anything on the road.
I agree that they should get a very strongly worded letter. Don't let the bastards get away with it. However, if it was in the fine print of their blurb (usually around page 463, size 4 font) then you may not have a leg to stand on.
Our insurer in Australia offered us a loan car for $15 a day if ours was off the road for an annual premium of around $40. We took this up and needed a loan car when ours was undriveable after a truck did a hit and run. Turned out the replacement was a 2 door 1.2 engine car - a far cry from the Discovery that was covered in the policy. We cried foul since we were going on hols and finally got them to agree that their advertising was economic with the truth and we got a family sedan for $15 a day. Even though we felt like we'd had a victory, we only got what we thought we'd been paying for.
I had a similar thing a few years ago. I contacted the other insurance company and got them to pay me for it. Then contacted my insurance and told them that I'd recovered all of my uninsured losses. The no claims was reinstated.
Churchill earned my contempt because they would not insure my Land Rover 110 as it had more than 8 seats - that was after having been with them for years.
I am now with Co-op - £215 fully comp £50xs, max no claims at 48 years old
Not necessarily. Churchill could be breaching the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations. According to the Office of Fair Trading:
A term is unfair if: contrary to the requirement of good faith it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract, to the detriment of consumers.
A £300 hike for £7 of bogus 'claim' is most definitely a 'significant imbalance'!
More info at
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If Churchill don't back down, see if Watchdog will take an interest. A few million quid of lost business for trying to rip off a customer for £300 should be a nice 'significant imbalance' in the right direction.
Tim I would complain in writing, It doesn't seem fair. I would expect Churchill to recover the admin casts from the third party and not from your sister. Insurance companies have to respon to complaints. Below is taken from a document being used to train insurance staff for the regualtory change
On 1 December 2001, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) became the primary regulator for the UK's financial services industry. It has the power to decide how complaints are handled. At the same time the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) was created to handle all complaints that were previously the responsibility of a number of organisations (e.g. PIA, IMRO, Securities and Futures Authority), and to ensure the treatment of complaints are consistent.
What is a Complaint A complaint can be made in person, over the telephone, by letter, fax or e-mail. A complaint is defined as "any expression of dissatisfaction, whether oral or written, and whether justified or not, from or on behalf of an eligible complainant about our provision of, or failure to provide, a financial service". "Whether justified or not" means that is irrelevant whether or not you think that the client is right. Complaints which "involve an allegation that the complainant has suffered, or may suffer, financial loss and/or material distress or material inconvenience" must be recorded. An "expression of dissatisfaction" can mean different things to different people and can depend on the type of business and the way it is sold. It can range from a customer being upset that their personal details are incorrect (e.g. a spelling mistake in their surname) to being given the incorrect advice regarding an investment or general insurance policy. Recognising a Complaint Expressions of dissatisfaction may include:
Problems with direct debit payments
Additional charges made at renewal
Late payment of claims
Not responding to client instructions/requests within an agreed timeframe
Not checking customer details against Telephone/Mail/Fax Preference Service
Offers of guarantees/'false promises'
Not advising customer of contractual terms - excesses, restrictions, exclusions
Having a rude/unhelpful/unsympathetic manner on the phone
Sending out incorrect information
Incorrect/inaccurate information in advertising and/or product literature
What to do if you receive a Complaint
Both the FSA and the GISC have comprehensive rules explaining how complaints must be handled and which specify the amount of time within which we are expected to resolve a complaint.
Because of the FSA and GISC rules, the company has just 5 business days from when the complaint is first received, in which to acknowledge a complaint in writing. We then have up to 8 weeks within which to issue our 'final response' letter
Financial Ombudsman Service
Once our complaints procedures are finished, or if we have not resolved the complaint within 8 weeks of receipt, our customers have the right to refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The Financial Ombudsman Service offers a free and independent service for resolving financial service disputes. If the customer is unhappy with our 'final response' letter, then they must refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service within 6 months from the date of that letter. If a complainant asks for details of the Financial Ombudsman Service, the details are as follows: The Financial Ombudsman Service South Quay Plaza
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