Being denied my No Claims Bonus for a claims assessor fee

Dots1982

Pretty angry about a issue that has arisen when I have taken out a car insurance policy this year. My last insurance company are not confirming my NCB. I go into the reasons why in the below letter of complaint. If anyone has any views on the situation or the letter expressing my displeasure I'd be interested to hear them.


To whom itmay concern,

I writeregarding a complaint I wish to make about a car insurance policy I took outwith XS Direct in 2012. Policy number xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

The carthat this policy was taken out on was stolen from an advance pitstop garage inthe summer of last year. My car was covered on the insurance of that garage andthe claim was settled at their end.

I informedXS Direct at the time about the car being stolen and that the claim would be settled withthe garage’s insurance. XS direct sent out a claims assessor to interview meand fill out forms. I was not informed at the time of a cost associated withthe claims assessor visiting me. The visit was an unnecessary inconvenience tome that I went through with.

This year Ihave taken out a new insurance policy with a different company on a differentcar. This process has been held up by XS Direct not confirming my no claimsbonus. It was established today that the reason they have not confirmed my NCB is due to a cost associated with theclaim assessor visiting me of 180 euro. Unless I pay this sum they will notconfirm my NCB.

I have aproblem with this for a number of reasons:



1- I was not informed at any time bythe assessor or the claims department of any cost associated with the assessor’svisit.

2- I was not invoiced or billed inanyway by XS direct at the time. Instead this has all materialised when I’mtrying to take out a policy now and am under pressure to do so. It would appearXS Direct have a policy of taking advantage of this situation.

3- I never cancelled my policy with XSdirect so got no refund on the remaining months of my policy that went unusedbecause my car had been stolen. So this was effectively free money for XS Direct.

I thereforewould believe that I have a right to have this fee waived and my NCB restoredwithout payment of this Fee. I would at least expect to be sent a copy of aform signed by me at the time that agrees to pay this sum.

Regards

XXXXXXXXXX

Trish56

If you are not happy with how they deal with your complaint contact the Insurance Ombudsman and make sure that your Insurance Company are aware that you are doing this. As far as I am aware you are entitled to a letter confirming your no claim bonus when issued with a renewal letter.

Dtoffee

Scam alert ! you did not request or instruct the loss assessor to attend to your loss. Loss assessors are appointed by the Insurance Companies, it is their mistake and their are just trying their luck. Write to them again, restate your story and ask them to provide you with any evidence they have of a claim being made by you in relation to your car loss. State that this is their responsibility as that you are going to go public on this as it is obvious that a claimant would never appoint a loss adjuster .... personally I would get all the email addresses you can from the company and copy everyone at their firm and any parent firm that may be involved (especially their public relations manager). Dont be afraid to shout your case, someone will take notive and call off the hounds.

Forget the ombudsman, total waste of time as it will take months and end up going around in circles .... there will be denials of this, but i have first hand experience and its a slow grind that you cannot afford at this stage.

Dots1982

Dtoffee wrote: »

Scam alert ! you did not request or instruct the loss assessor to attend to your loss. Loss assessors are appointed by the Insurance Companies, it is their mistake and their are just trying their luck. Write to them again, restate your story and ask them to provide you with any evidence they have of a claim being made by you in relation to your car loss. State that this is their responsibility as that you are going to go public on this as it is obvious that a claimant would never appoint a loss adjuster .... personally I would get all the email addresses you can from the company and copy everyone at their firm and any parent firm that may be involved (especially their public relations manager). Dont be afraid to shout your case, someone will take notive and call off the hounds.

Forget the ombudsman, total waste of time as it will take months and end up going around in circles .... there will be denials of this, but i have first hand experience and its a slow grind that you cannot afford at this stage.

They got me to fill out forms so they have proof of me addressing the claim. I was just never told the cost involved in this so went ahead with it even though I didn't need it.

Its an effective scam. If I dont pay the fee, they aren't going to confirm my NCB. IF I don't have an NCB I will have my new policy cancelled within 21 days of initiation and still have to pay the insurance taken out for the 21 days and a hefty Admin fee.

I've being screwed by both sides and its very annoying.

Dtoffee

Once you filled out a claim form, they were within their rights to appoint a Loss Assessor unfortunately. Its a hard lesson, but thats the Insurance Industry ...... they are all the same.

Anyone looking for cover these days should read al the assumptions they load with your policy. Especially if you are online and you look for a quote .... jUSt watchout for the 'tick this box if you agree with the assumptions' and up pops a list of assumptions that usually are hedaed by the obvious easy ones, while the sneaky ones are further down the list and people forget to scroll down.

If you have any interest, google 'delay, deny , defend' .... its fast becoming the standard here in Ireland. For all their nice jingles about being as easy as ABC ...... once you have a problem, you are on your own.

Dots1982

Dtoffee wrote: »

Once you filled out a claim form, they were within their rights to appoint a Loss Assessor unfortunately. Its a hard lesson, but thats the Insurance Industry ...... they are all the same.

Anyone looking for cover these days should read al the assumptions they load with your policy. Especially if you are online and you look for a quote .... jUSt watchout for the 'tick this box if you agree with the assumptions' and up pops a list of assumptions that usually are hedaed by the obvious easy ones, while the sneaky ones are further down the list and people forget to scroll down.

If you have any interest, google 'delay, deny , defend' .... its fast becoming the standard here in Ireland. For all their nice jingles about being as easy as ABC ...... once you have a problem, you are on your own.

Yeah I think im goosed on this one. If I never reported the theft to the insurance company it would have saved me money.