Admiral not paying out on claims..

[Dominic]

Time for a rant!...

My wife had a very minor bump in my car (not the Lotus) in March. We decided to go through the insurance company to deal with the claim and sort out the third party. The bump was my wife's fault. Within a couple of weeks, our car was fixed and as far as we were aware that was the end of the matter.

We received a letter yesterday from the third party's insurer to say that they are now pursuing us as Admiral have not paid them. The third party insurer have confirmed that they have been chasing Admiral for their payment, but have been told that after nearly six months, Admiral are still working through a back log of work. We are not at all happy that we have had a stern letter threatening proceedings against us within 14 days if we do not settle the claim. When I called Admiral they gave no reason or response - simple asking me to forward them the letter I have received. I have forwarded it to them along with a letter from me expressing my disgust and giving them a deadline to resolve the matter, prior to me passing the issue to my lawyer to resolve. I have also been in touch with the third party insurer who have been very understanding and have said that there is nothing I can do really, other than keep chasing Admiral.

They say you never know how good your insurance is until you need to claim on it - well I'd say, based on this experience, Admiral are very poor!

[tut]

Recently insured the Audi TT and Rover with them.

tut

[Lazydonkey]

Can they legally pursue you?

[Rich H]

I doubt it'll get very far. Ombudsman time?

[Lazydonkey]

I doubt it'll get very far. Ombudsman time?

It's worth a shot i'd say

[Dominic]

Can they legally pursue you?

I don't know - maybe they are just trying it on -either way I'm not happy to have had the letter, and not happy that it is not resolved by now.

[Dominic]

I doubt it'll get very far. Ombudsman time?

It's worth a shot i'd say

Hmm... that will be my next stop I think. Ta.

[cstrachan]

Same happened to me with swinton years ago. I photocopied my insurance policy details and sent it to the pursuing insurance company with a covering letter stating I am fully insured and all queries should go to my insurance company not to me and any other contact from the third party insurance company will be treated as harassment. Never heard anything after that.

[robin]

Provided you have a properly worded insurance document I believe you can ignore any communications from the 3rd party. The wording on the document describes who is liable and it is not you. If there is some doubt about the veracity of the claim, your insurer might choose to pursue you later to make good but even then it is them that remains liable.

Cheers,
Robin

[Dominic]

Thanks for the replies

[ceebeedee]

I had a terrible time with Admiral this year. I had a minor bump in tne ELise (all fixed now, but took long long time...)

Problem was, I had only declared points in my totting up 3 years (3 points). I had another 3 points from a year earlier, which although no longer "counting" are still on my record at DVLA (held for 5 years...) So, when I made a claim they at first refused it, saying I had not fully disclosed. Ended up with two or three stiff email exchanges - they finally agreed to pay.

I used "reasonable interpretation" argument of their request when I applied by telephone to get insurance - most "reasonable" people think of points as being totting up score rather than historical. I have no idea if this swayed them or not, but regardless, it took 3 months to resolve.

I felt that perhaps they were just buyig time to clear backlog of claims from bad weather in January..?

Cheers

[Dominic]

Yesterday afternoon I received the following email;


Thank you for your recent correspondence.

Unfortunately we were unable to pay the third party claim, as they had not provided us with documentation. We contacted them again on the 1st September 2011 and they have no emailed this to us. We have now paid their claim and closed your file.

The third party insurer had told me that they had been chasing Admiral for months - Admiral would not tell me why they had not paid out when I called them - someone is not telling the truth! However, it's all sorted now.

[robin]

They're all lying barstards. They make money by taking yours and keeping it ... everything else is a loss of profit!

Cheers,
Robin

[Rich H]

Like my claim a while back months after I resolved it myself my ins co phoned me and said they had sorted it all out for me, curious as I'd already had the car fixed and dealt with his ins co myslef as they hadn't even bothered to reply. As above every second they can keep hold of the money is profit.

[GregR]

Just spotted this and thought I should clear up a few inaccuracies that have cropped up.

1. Can the TP Insurer pursue you?

Yes they can; indeed they have to unless they pursue an action in terms of the Third Party Rights against Insurers Act. Your wife was responsible for the bump, ergo she is technically responsible for paying for the damage.

We all know that when Insurance is in place, that normally equates to "their Insurance company pursues your insurance company," but there's nothing to stop their Insurance company pursuing a subrogated claim (i.e. one raised on behalf of the Insurance company in the name of the vehicle owner) suing you directly. If they were successful against you, you could then seek to have that claim paid by your Insurers under your contract of insurance (obviously only if you have complied with your own obligations, e.g. prompt notification of the claim).

What I reckon has happened here is that the other driver's Insurer has been stone-walled by Admiral and they have said that we will sue your Insured *you* unless they respond - that then gets Admiral from both sides as you start chasing them too as you clearly have done. In all liklihood its just that the relevant repair docs etc haven't been submitted by the TP to Admiral or something like that.

2. Do not ignore correspondence from a TP Insurer

Especially if it is a Court document. Failing to send correspondence on to your Insurer could be a breach of your Insurance contract and they may refuse to indemnify you. If steps aren't taken to defend an action, it is YOU against whom a decree is taken, and it is you that will have difficulty getting a loan/mortgage in the future

3. It should say on the document who is liable and it is definetaly not you

Afraid not - the person that's liable is the person responsible for the damage. You may be indemnified through your policy, but liability rests with the negligent party.