Insurance hassles

[750Y]

state

[KATWYN]

state

Yea, I second that

[Wonko]

Looks like your being given the run around. Call up daily and ask to speak to the claims manager. Get his/her direct number if posible, and then only deal with them. Ask them to look into your claim and explain to you why it is not yet completed. If you call in the morning, and they say that they will give you a call back, ask for a time, or state a time, ie in 1 hour's time. Make them promise to call you. If no call call back after 2 hours call again, speak to the manager again, explain the whole thing again. Say they promised to call you back, and have not done so(give them the guilts as such). If they do not have any or unsatisfactory answers, ask for more details. If the assessor/valuer/other 3rd party has not done their job, don't be afraid to ask for that person's number, ask the claims manager to follow up by ringing that person, and you also ring that person to find out what the hold up is.
Call daily if need be.

Most importanly be polite,

Never had any problems with State. When my car was writen off, I had the money in the bank in less than 2 weeks, it took them another 2 weeks to pick up the car, but that wasn't my problem, it was their's and I left it parked on the road for them.

I'm currently dealing with Aon re someone else knocking my bike over. has been 9 working days on Friday, and they should be calling me to tell me that it's writen off. I talked with the valuers and the assesors almost on a daily baises asking if there was anything that they needed from me. Great way to keep in the loop as to what they are doing, without seeming to bug them.

Things to do when dealing with insurance agents etc
Always keep a record of when and who you talked with
Try to always talk to the same person
Do your own ground work, ie contacting the assesors/valuers to see how your claim is progressing.
Be nice, say "thanks for your time"
Be a pain in their side, but be one that they can't say is obnoxious (sp?).

Good luck

[MikeL]

Thanks for all the comments and helpful advice. I spent most of today test-riding bikes so didn't call either the insurance company or the finance company. However, about half an hour ago I got a call from the person in the finance company whose job it is to chase up overdue payments.
Despite the fact that 2 days ago I spoke at length to someone else in the finance company and was assured that a note would be placed in their computer about the insurance payout, the Delinquent Accounts person or whatever his title is clearly was not aware of this. To give him his due he was very understanding, said he would wait until the middle of next week in the expectation that the cheque from the insurance company would turn up, and that there would be no black mark on my credit history. Nevertheless it gives me an uneasy feeling and I don't know who to believe any more.
Tomorrow morning I will check with the finance company. If they still have no record of the payment, I will call the insurance company, speak to the most senior person, give him until 3 p.m. to liaise with the finance company and trace and confirm the payment. I will make it clear that unless the matter is resolved immediately, I will cancel the policy on my other bike and insure it and the new bike elsewhere. I will also tell them that I will write a formal letter of complaint and perhaps mutter the magic words "Fair Go".

Lessons learned:
1. Don't believe anyone who says "Don't worry, we'll take care of that for you." Do everything yourself.
2. When people seem to be doing their job efficiently, don't be fooled: someone will cock it up before long. Incompetence is the norm, not the exception.

BTW I deliberately avoided naming the insurance company in order to give them the benefit of the doubt. My previous dealings with them had been surprisingly pleasant and hassle-free. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

[Yamahamaman]

Thanks for all the comments and helpful advice.

Some more - always insist on getting the name of the person you are speaking to. Gives them the shits - means that there will be recourse.

If possible - visit their offices and don't leave until satisfied even if it means sitting in the public office in your dirtiest and smelliest gear. If you have a jacket with patches - all the better. Oh and take a book. Unless you are causing trouble, they cannot have you physically removed.

[What?]

BTW I deliberately avoided naming the insurance company in order to give them the benefit of the doubt. My previous dealings with them had been surprisingly pleasant and hassle-free. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Fair enuff, Mike. But if they don't have a good excuse, then bag 'em.

[Redstar]

I could write a book about dealings with insurance companies In fact I think I will? I'll name it "100 and 1 way,s to weedle out of paying"

Firstly we must accept that loss adjusters are rewarded for what they don't do.
The challenge for them is to find the loop hole in your claim to squeeze through!

I would suggest the piss around recieved by the MikeL was only a case of commissions and bonus payment incentive? like its not just the Month end but the fiscal year end for a number of companies and if that loss adjuster had paid out in March they would miss target bonus for paying out year end profits already declared to the Auditor?

Or maybe thier just slack?

Did you know that if any event infringement occured during the period of insurance that would be reasonable to report was not reported they can fully dismiss your claim. Did you fail to disclose any fact that might be reasonable to disclose? have you have more that three fixed Camera infringements in less that two years for example?(If so deny it they cant verify your statements)

AMI blow hot and cold with bike cover four years ago they only covered bikes if you have other policy's and them only 3rd party.

A few years back they got resonably interested in cover and were reasonably priced too. Now I suspect they have a big bike porfolio they dont want?

In the UK in 1980 it took me six months to get my Ford Capri back from the repairers after a theft recovery so nothing changes much.

What about a bikers collective insurance cooperative? If all credit my bank account your Premiums I'll pay up pronto

[MikeL]

O.K., current state of play:
Spoke to insurance company and finance company this morning. Insurance co. person very conciliatory, said he would personally contact finance company and sort things out. Promised to ring back once he had done so. He did. Still no sign of cheque, but finance company are happy to wait another few days for it to turn up. Everybody (reasonably) happy.

And I have bought another bike!

[Holy Roller]

And I have bought another bike!

Have I missed where you posted what you got
Is it the CB1 or something else?

[SPman]

And I have bought another bike!

Oooh....Wazzit?...wazzizit?...wazzizit?

[6Chris6]

And I have bought another bike!

C'mon don't leave us hangin Mike

[Suzi Q]

As an Insurance company employee - I work in claims in the call centre as a supervisor and last year I worked solely in the department in claims that looks after vehicles that are a write off - I can tell you the normal procedure from my end. I am sure that all companies are different!!!
As an rule the finance company is not notified of any claims at the beginning of the claim - we have to pay money to get the info on whether there is any finance of the vehicle or not. We only request this info once we are notified by the assessor that the vehicle is UTR - uneconomic to repair. Once notified we then do the checks to see who is the registered owner and if there is any finance on the vehicle. If the policy states that the settlement should be market value then a Pre Accident Valuation is requested from an independent valuer, once that is received we then discuss this value - proposed settlement- with the owner of the vehicle. If the value is in dispute we thne ask the owner of the vehicle to arrange for a valuation to be done by a licenced valuer or LMVD who must see the vehicle. We then average the 2 values - we can not say if either of the values is wrong. The delays that can happen can lie with an independent assessor if one is used, the independent valuer or the office staff in the insurance co. Our company believes in trying to deal with these types of claims as quickly as possible as the owner of the vehicle is now with out a car/bike. Once a settlement has been agreed upon and the owner of the vehicle is paid, the policy is cancelled and the vehicle sold. If there is finance on the vehicle we pay the finance co, but first we have to fax them a discharge to sign - legal requirement - they have to fax this back before we can make payment - this can create another delay in making the payment.
I won't say what company I work for - not necessary - but I hope this lets people know what is required in dealing with a UTR claim.
It is always a good idea to keep ringing the Insurance co, but please remember alway treat others how you would like to be treated. I will go out of my way to help someone if they are respectfull, reasonable and nice to me - no need to grease that is annoying. I will not go out of my way to help anyone who is rude, disrespectfull or nasty. You get nowhere if you yell, swear etc. Believe me most of my fellow insurance workers feel the same way. We are not going to do any more than we have to if we get yelled at or sworn at.

[wkid_one]

I agree - never had any problem through insurance getting both my bikes fixed. The VTR was $300 short of UTR

[MikeL]

Once a settlement has been agreed upon and the owner of the vehicle is paid, the policy is cancelled and the vehicle sold. If there is finance on the vehicle we pay the finance co, but first we have to fax them a discharge to sign - legal requirement - they have to fax this back before we can make payment - this can create another delay in making the payment.

Very interesting. In my case there was apparently no contact at all between the insurance company and the finance company until the cheque was (allegedly) posted. There seems to be a difference of opinion between the two as to what the correct procedure is. (I'm just the meat in the sandwich.)
But the insurance company had no qualms about cancelling the policy and selling the bike - this happened within 10 days of the claim being filed and well before the cheque to the finance company was (allegedly) posted.

[LB]

SO WHAT IS THE NEW BIKE??????!!!!!!!! We're all dying to know!!!!