Post Office says I must pay for £167 call to loss adjuster

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/au ... -insurance" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

QUESTION:


I put my car in for an MoT, but it failed. The garage kindly let me leave it on the premises while I decided whether it was worth fixing. Whilst there, it was stolen, so I reported it to the police and told my insurer, Post Office Insurance. I put in a claim but it was knocked back after a telephone interview with the loss adjusters.

The reason given was that the car had no MoT at the time of the theft.

I bought another car, and realised that my new premium had increased by £200 and I had lost three of my seven years' no-claims discount. The reason given was that the telephone interview had cost £167 and these costs had to be recovered, even though my claim wasn't met. NB, Sheffield

ANSWER:

This is an unbelievable case and the insurance industry would need very good lawyers to get them off a charge of blatant profiteering or total incompetence. Your faith in insurers has been completely destroyed and you challenged me to restore it. The small print in your policy does state that "the underwriters will not indemnify the insured person where the policyholder does not hold a valid MoT".

But for you to be charged to have your claim rejected is testing my faith, as well. Post Office Insurance finally told me that "following any claim, it is usual for no-claims discounts to be reviewed, regardless of the outcome".

But it has now reinstated your full NCD and refunded £101. This should never have happened and I'm still left feeling slightly bemused that anyone can be penalised if an insurance claim fails. If this has happened to anyone else, please let me know.

Answering your letters this week is Steve Playle, Trading Standards officer, and team leader at Surrey Trading Standards Service.

[POSTMAN]

But is this the Post Office/Royal Mail or the brokers,or are we the broker,you get what i mean.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

But is this the Post Office/Royal Mail or the brokers,or are we the broker,you get what i mean.

Post Office Insurance that they sell through the counters but got this from website:

Post Office ® car insurance is administered by BISL Limited. Registered in England No 3231094. Registered Office: Pegasus House, Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate, Peterborough, PE2 6YS. For mutual security calls are recorded and may be monitored for training purposes. BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

So its them I guess.

[POSTMAN]

But is this the Post Office/Royal Mail or the brokers,or are we the broker,you get what i mean.

Post Office Insurance that they sell through the counters but got this from website:

Post Office ® car insurance is administered by BISL Limited. Registered in England No 3231094. Registered Office: Pegasus House, Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate, Peterborough, PE2 6YS. For mutual security calls are recorded and may be monitored for training purposes. BISL Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

So its them I guess.

It's Budget car insurance.

BUDGET is a trading name of BISL Limited, part of the BGL Group .