Advice please! Long saga!

ScarletFeather

So my car broke down tonight at side of road one hour from home. Red warning lights saying engine failure hazard and STOP. Checked under bonnet and oil had exploded everywhere. Rang my husband who was at home with our son in bed so couldn't leave. He went and got my insurance documents to try get breakdown assistance sorted. So long story short...I am insured through chill.ie. My renewal notice had lots of details from Allianz (my insurers last yr through chill) these included no claims bonus and details of contact no's including a breakdown assistance no. My husband saw these were all dated 11/10/15 so presumed they were current. He rang to sort out everything through them. He got through to a call centre in England who took my policy no and they sorted out a tow truck and told him there was 150 cover to get me a taxi home. Tow truck man contacted me for location, came promptly, told me he would bring car to main dealers (it is under a 5 yr new car warranty) waited with me for taxi (it was lashing rain, I am 7 months pregnant so think he felt for me) All went very smoothly. I signed a form for him. Taxi dropped me home (100 euro)
All sounds ok EXCEPT when I got home and chatted to my husband about the insurance and looked through the documents I realised that Allianz are no longer my insurer. So all renewal documents came from Allianz but the cover letter from chill said we can do your insurance for a cheaper quote through Footprint and then I remembered I rang them and renewed over the phone for the cheaper quote, and got new Footprint insurance documents.
So long long story short..Allianz arranged breakdown assist to tow my car and told my husband I could get taxi allowance up to 150 euro but they are no longer my insurer.
What do i do??? Who pays the lovely towtruck man?? Allianz contacted him and gave the go ahead to tow me but once their assessors get a bill they will realise I am not insured. Will footprint cover the bill if I didn't go through them?? Aaaahgggh I'm so stressed!!!

bazz26

Surely when you rang Allianz and gave them the policy number and your details they would have verified that the policy was current? It would be very daft of them not to verify your policy before proceeding to contact a local recovery operator.

Is it possible the breakdown assistance that you have is with another company and was separate to the general policy on your car. I know in the past I've paid extra for breakdown assistance with my car insurance but it was a separate add on policy with a difference company rather than my insurance policy underwriter. Was the number you rang actually an Allianz number?

ScarletFeather

I really wish they would have been able to verify the policy number as being out of date because that would have clicked with my husband to look further into it and if he had rang me I would have twigged about changing. We were both in a tizzy, I was stranded in the dark and rain, he was worried about me. He just saw the documents and presumed they were valid.
He said the operator in England took my reg, policy no (which is an alliance no but out if date) and my name and number. He said they were having problems with the system. He obv took the details, without being able to check them with the plan to input them once the system was up and running. When he puts it in the system it will come up expired I just hope I don't look fraudulent. It was a genuine mistake
How much is as tow truck cost if I am liable?

coylemj

bazz26 wrote: »

Is it possible the breakdown assistance that you have is with another company and was separate to the general policy on your car. I know in the past I've paid extra for breakdown assistance with my car insurance but it was a separate add on policy with a difference company rather than my insurance policy underwriter. Was the number you rang actually an Allianz number?

+1 That's most likely what happened.

OP, if you went through a UK call centre, there's no way they sent out a tow truck unless you were covered. Even if someone sends you a bill, I'd just ignore it because you didn't directly engage the tow truck, the person in the call centre did.

166man

For a tow truck driver to tow your car to a main dealer if it was only about an hour from home couldn't be much more than €200 I'd imagine. I paid similar to get my car towed home from Port Laoise to Dublin before.

I wouldn't worry about it! If you aren't covered by Allianz then they'll be telling you, I certainly wouldn't be stressed about it, if you do have to pay it then I can't see it being much more than a few hundred quid.

Honestly, I wouldn't stress over it. Let them contact you

ScarletFeather

No definitely the breakdown assist is not with another company. I checked all my footprint documents and I have breakdown cover through them on my policy.
I'm wondering if I should ring chill.ie on Mon morn, explain the situation and get their advice. The 100 euro taxi fare is covered under my footprint policy but because I never contacted them about the breakdown I can definitely wave that goodbye.
What a day!!! Anyway home in bed safely, I suppose it could be worse.

CIP4

I broke down about 2 years ago late at night on the motorway really bad rain and I never realised how horrible an experience it is until then so much worse at night a long way from home. I remember by the time I got home I was so wound up and stressed. So I think the most important thing is to relax and calm down. As others have said it is highly unlikely an insurance company would send a tow truck out to a car they don't have covered. But either way it's only going to be a few hundred quid worse case. So I wouldn't get too worried about it your home safe which is the main thing.

TallGlass

Are you insured with Chill? They are a broker if I am correct, if I am also correct, Allianz are an insurance company I think that might be the difference! Would it be possible that Footprint is another broker for Allianz that use Chill also, also I think Chill are your insurer for the purpose of the RTA, so they are the re-seller and technically your POC so in any case, they will sort this out so I wouldn't worry, if Allianz was the old insurer and Footprint the new one but both still via Chill then I am would be sure Chill get it all in order.

ScarletFeather

Ya chill is the broker. They got me the best quote last year through Allianz but this year on renewal they offered me a better quote from a company called footprint insurance.
I will ring them Monday morning but I have a feeling it's not going to go in my favour. I'll plead my case but it was our fault. Allianz customer service should have recognised it was a lapsed policy so maybe they will take some responsibility but I doubt it. The policy has a 250 excess so I suppose the taxi fee might not have been paid anyway.
Thanks for the help x

Damien360

Although Allianz arranged the tow truck, they did not pay for it. The only valid claim they have is administrative for taking a call and making a call. Your insurance will likely argue not paying that but that bill will be small.

The tow truck guys used to be regulated and at fixed rates so they couldn't gouge you. I assume that is the same. You signed his form and he will just send you the bill through the garage he brought it to. Claim that through your insurer. Doesn't matter a damn who calls him out.

Taxi fare is likely gone on your excess if your insurance allows it. Could have a policy that does not cover your costs home but wait and see.

The car is insured, you are home, so don't worry. The cost to fix the car will be bigger than the excess and this is why you get insurance.

Best of luck with the car and the oncoming baby.

To Elland Back

You'll probably hear no more about it. The bill from the garage will probably come in to insurers on a monthly statement with other call outs and get paid (hopefully).

Just on some other comments here. Your policy excess doesn't apply to breakdown services and the repair to the car itself is not covered by insurance. Mechanical damage is excluded

ScarletFeather

Ya I was wondering if it might just get paid if I don't bring it to anybody attention. It's probably only a drop in the ocean in terms of payouts Allianz make and they might not even dispute it Maybe I should do nothing and just wait to see if I get a bill.
However, If it's going to take ages to get fixed I might need to arrange another car and see if that is covered through my insurer so I might need to contact chill and explain and thus drawing the issue to their attention and in turn perhaps that will alert Allianz. I'll see what the garage have to say on Monday.

I knew the mechanical damage wasn't an insurance issue. The car is a 2012 with a 5 yr manufacturers warranty and serviced up to date with main dealer so I'm hoping it will be fixed under warranty. Are the dealer obliged to provide a replacement vehicle if it breaks down under warranty?

The 100 euro for taxi is definitely gone I'd say but I'm happy I got home safely. Bit of a kick in the teeth losing 100 euro so close to Xmas but it could be worse.

ScottStorm

Having previously worked in a call centre that supplied roadside assistance to the uk and ireland for multiple insurance companies. I have to say that it is entirely possible that the company did arange assistance without having your details on the proviso that you stated you had a policy.
The fact that it was at night and you were alone and pregnant would mean they would be less likely to decline assistance.
If this is the case they may well send an invoice your way particularly if they paid for your taxi?

On the otherhand the call centre may work for your actual insurers too and had your details on screen.

ScarletFeather

I paid cash for taxi and have the receipt. They told me that I could claim up to 150 euro for the taxi home. I looked at my current insurance documents when I got home (Footprint) and they also cover this as part of breakdown assist but because I didn't go through them to arrange the towing the taxi receipt is most likely useless. I was going to ring chill on Monday, explain the simple mistake which was made in a stressful situation and they might liaise between Allianz and Footprint and sort it out. However maybe I might just do nothing and see how it plays out. I might hear no more about the towing bill. I think the 100 euro taxi bill, even if Footprint agree to cover (unlikely) won't get paid anyway as the policy excess is 250.

Ya the customer care representative definitely did not have access to my policy details as surely they would have been able to see it was lapsed once I gave them the reg and policy no. I didn't play the poor pregnant woman in distress card so I don't think it was out of pity they arrange the towing ☺ they obviously just presumed I was legitimately insured through Allianz.

Coopaloop

I would ring chill first thing Monday morning, the breakdown assistance has nothing to do with your insurance policy, it is an add on of assistance, not insurance, so the policy excess won't come into it. As this happened over the weekend, most breakdown assistance policies have procedures in place to give the assistance even if they can't verify cover, this is so the customer is not left stranded and likely to cause a complaint, they will be verifying your cover Monday morning with your insurance co.
Ring chill, explain the situation, I would imagine they will cover the taxi receipt even as a gesture of goodwill and to keep the customer happy, the fact of the matter is, you had cover in place and hopefully they cover the cost.

ScarletFeather

Ya I think ringing Chill, explaining the misunderstanding and letting them do their job as broker is my best bet. At least it will be resolved either way, even if it means me having to pay. Lesson learned.
Trying to look on the bright side. Home safely and car under manufacturer warranty. A lot worse could have happened. I was very stressed last night about it all but a good night's sleep and a bit of a reality check, I have calmed down
Thanks so much for everyone for taking the time out to reply x