tigerblu Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 This is a cautionary post to highlight and hopefully prevent any forum members going through what I have.... This little story begins on a slightly moist Sunday morning, the 17th January 2009 to be precise when, on a straight section of road near to where I live my beloved 1996 Twin Turbo 6 Speed Manual Supra decided that it wasn't that fussed with the tarmac we were happily travelling along and well... we parted company resulting in quite a few spins (not really sure to be exact as I was pinned back in my seat and it was a complete blur), then hitting a bus stop which thankfully stopped the car flipping into the adjacent field and finally coming to rest perpendicular to the road and almost as if I had tried to reverse into the drive of the first house along this road. Amazingly got out of the car to see no front wheels, the exhaust was pointing out from the passengers door, spoiler was gone and quite a few bit where a tad bent. Not that I would advise this but suffice to say the car totally saved me from any injury other than my pride and a mother of a stiff neck! Now the main reason for this tale.... from that day to yesterday the 21st May 2011, some 2 years and 4 months later I have finally reached a resolution to this. I was insured with QBE through the appointed club insurer Sky Insurance, my policy was a modified car insurance and all mods where noted with in the policy. The claim started and I had a point of contact at Sky (Richard Kemp) and also someone at QBE (Chantelle Thomas). I had never made a claim and was prepared for the dance that is obligatory when making a total loss claim such as this... to refuse their 1st offer, send adverts to substantiate my valuation and not theirs, if their second offer is acceptable you could accept or if not a bit more toing-and-throwing was needed. Well they made their initial claim a very cheeky £7,250 which I rejected immediately, CT sent through their experts finding which comprised of about 10 adverts from AutoTrader.... (at this point I knew this was going to be a very much up hill battle), the adverts were comical, NA Supras, Auto Supras and even one that was a crash repair were used to help their expert to reach the figure of £7,250. I tried to explain that he was using incorrect model cars, no offence to the members that own NA's or Autos but the relevance to my car was a mile away. So I was asked by QBE to send through current advert that would help the assessor to reach a more favorable value. This I did, I think I found about 12 adds all of which were 6 speed manuals and I think the average price was about £12,000. OK now I needed Sky Insurance to help fight this battle with QBE, Richard Kemp totally understood my frustration and also their in-house expert agreed with my valuation of between £10-£12,000. Over a few months there were lots of emails going between RK, CT and myself, the result was they didn't see they needed to raise their figure, they tried to tell me that I had valued my car correctly and that their figure of £7,250 was correct because they would not pay for the shipping fees, agent fees, auction fees and the tax at the port so that was deducted from the £10,000 ...What!! I did say this car was never made in the UK so how was it supposed to get here in the first place. RK of Sky did try hard on my behalf, up to point, he didn't have much influence with QBE and I felt backed down to easily saying `we do a lot of business with QBE` .... didn't want to rock the boat to hard for just one forum member. I can't remember the date but my next course of action was the Financial Ombudsman Service. Oh my god this is truly jaw dropping how long this takes to get seen by an adjudicator, well it finally did and so began their task of reading through all the email correspondence to do with the case I had sent in. Several months and heated phone calls with the FOS resulted in them siding with QBE on the grounds that my policy was not advert related but the valuation was decided through this lovely little green book with numbers made up by pixies and then stuck against car models.... no relevance at all! Great, I then thought that was the end of the road and to be frank I was totally pissed off with the whole thing, put it down to experience and get on with your life. In the final letter from the FOS they stated that if I disagreed I could request that my case be reviewed by an alternative Ombudsman but this was the last and final action.... well nothing to loose and no more call or letters to write I said yes, lets have someone else read all this! This process was longer than the 1st one, letter after letter came through the door saying `sorry we are still getting round to looking at your case, please be patient` and then about 6 weeks ago I got a call from the Ombudsman who was reviewing my case to say that they had advised QBE to raise their settlement to £10,000 and the amount due was subject to 8% interest...... I could not believe it! I never thought in a million years it would go my way! Yesterday I finally got the extra money I should have got over 2 years ago. What I find annoying is that I am positive most people would have given up at the point their insurance broker did! So to conclude; QBE do not have employees that call themselves vehicle experts that remotely understand the model difference in the Supra. This policy was through the forum appointed insurer. It was a modified policy. To all members thinking about insurance; All of the time that I have wasted on this could have been easily cut to nothing if I had an agreed value for my car. So if you have it modified then spend the little extra to get this on your policy. If you don't have an agreed value make sure you ask if the policy is advert bearing or through the little green book of made up numbers. ps. a few pics of my car before and after! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian R Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Great result. I don't think I would have held out that long myself TBH well done for fighting for the right price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imi Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 What I find annoying is that I am positive most people would have given up at the point their insurance broker did! most of these money grabbing companies count on this.... Glad your perseverance paid off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraAyf Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 (edited) What a nightmare indeed - pleased that it went in your favour in the end. Edited May 22, 2011 by SupraAyf spelling (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnk Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Seems like agreed value is the only way to go or expect to have a fight on your hands. Well done for sticking with it and getting a decent payout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hackin_n_bashin Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Well done for sticking to your guns, although I am a little disappointed with Sky's response of "not rocking the boat". Hope they can put a response up to all of your troubles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schtuv Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 I wish I'd stuck to my guns more when the insurance broker I use paid out for the loss of my last NA ... luckily I know a lot more about insurance and the ombudsman service now (although I hope I never have to go there). I believe that last step you used is called arbitration. Remember that the FOS is there to support your case, everyone! ... and *always* read the policy wording. Then read it again to be sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magictorch Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Glad you got it sorted.....unfortunately Sky dont offer agreed value anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Thank you for taking the time to post this up on the forum, it is very helpful information. Like you said, not a lot of people would keep fighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra joe Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 holy sh!T thats banged up ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keener Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 I had my insurance with A-Plan for several years then changed to Sky based on the good reviws etc from this forum. They did their bit and I ended up insured with QBE too. Had a spin in to a hedge last winter, QBE approved repairer did the fix but 3 months later I broke down because they mucked up the repair (it's a long story). After much too-ing and fro-ing QBE denied all responsibility as did their approved repairer and I'm in the process of fighting my corner with the Financial Ombudsman. Given the issues the OP had with QBE I'm thinking it's QBE that's the problem and maybe not Sky, however, it reflects badly on Sky that they use QBE. FOS have said they're working on my case now but it sounds like I might have a while to wait for a resolution! Moral of the story - I'm back with A-Plan now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parry_10 Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Thanks for taking the time to post this up, my insurance is due for renewel next month so will definatley be avoiding these Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewOW Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 That's awful to hear about your mistreatment. I've just renewed with Sky, and they are now using Marker Study, by the looks of it, and they don't do agreed value, unfortunately. It's good to see you had success in your case 'tigerblu', and it is worth persevering in all insurance cases, as they have all your money, especially if you know you're in the right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Thajks for posting these up: it's interesting/heartening to read that you can get a fair settlement, even though the path is more turtuous than it should be. Given the issues the OP had with QBE I'm thinking it's QBE that's the problem and maybe not Sky, however, it reflects badly on Sky that they use QBE. Good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerblu Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Unfortunately Sky dont offer agreed value anymore That is a real shame in light of my experience! What good is a club insurer that doesn't?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerblu Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Thank you for taking the time to post this up on the forum, it is very helpful information.) It was always my intention to make sure I got the facts on the forum for all to see! Just didn't think it would take this long to share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Sorry to hear about that but glad it's resolved. I'm still trying to sort something out that happened 3 years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 That's awful to hear about your mistreatment. I've just renewed with Sky, and they are now using Marker Study, by the looks of it, and they don't do agreed value, unfortunately. It's good to see you had success in your case 'tigerblu', and it is worth persevering in all insurance cases, as they have all your money, especially if you know you're in the right. I beleive they've been using Marker Study for a while. I had a total loss claim with Sky/Marker Study a couple of years ago (non-fault) and it went through without a problem. I got the correct value for the car and had the cheque within a couple of weeks of the accident. QBE seems to be the issue here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRD DAN Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Thanks for taking the time to post this up, my insurance is due for renewel next month so will definatley be avoiding these chris give need to insure a ring they quoted me happy and smashed other prices out the water ask for either (gary or paul ) they were very helpfull dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerblu Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 (edited) QBE seems to be the issue here. Agreed! But the club insurance broker is responsible for the interest of the members and hopefully they use the best insurer for our needs and not just the cheapest! That said I am glad to hear they no longer use QBE. Edited May 23, 2011 by tigerblu (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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