Ripped Off And Paying For The Privilege

[flotsam]

Some scumbag crashed into the back of my car.

Privilege said there was a "new procedure" which didn't require me to submit a claim form. They then claimed it was my fault.

The incident clearly wasn't because I had completed my manouevre before the scumbag, driving at excessive speed crashed into me a good ten seconds later.

After much arguing with Privilege, one girl finally offered to send me a claim form. During the arguments, the scumbag I was arguing with suggested that the road markings were merely a guide when I pointed them out, yet suggested the Highway Code was rock solid rules against me. He even realised he was being biased and said it's not as though he was favouring the other party, which he was!

The assessor from Privilege arrived to OK repairs and suggested I shouldn't make a claim. But I did and got the car repaired, whereupon my full excess was demanded of over £1,000. I had a high excess because I hadn't claimed in over 15 years.

Privilege made no attempt to sue the other party but instead offered them 50:50.

I now find that I'm the one being sued. Furthermore, the cost of repairs charged to Privilege was less than the excess I paid. If I'd accepted the advice of the Privilege assessor and not made a claim, I would have paid for the repairs myself and my full excess would have gone to the legal expenses.

The scum are clearly ripping me off because my insurance premiums are so low. Privilege are thieves and liars. The last thing you need is to pay these minimum-wage scum to rip you off and then insult you with their lame BS.

[Giblet]

bad news.

a couple of points.

firstly i thought the excess was you pay the first £xx towards the claim, therefore if the claim was under £1,000 you should only be paying the cost of the claim.

secondly, normal rules are if you are hit from behind, assuming you were not reversing at the time, the person behind is at fault. so i don't see how they can claim you are at fault.

the 50:50 bit is normal, however they usually consider your case a no fault claim and treat it accordingly even if they have used the knock for knock rule to avoid unecessary claims between the different insurance companies.

[DJ Wozza]

I'm sure there is an insurance ombudsman you can take this too,

do a google matey.

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Something doesn't add up.

Did you not have legal protection on your policy?

Why would your excess go up because you haven't claimed for 15 years?

Which part of your car did the other driver hit?

Any witnesses?

[Steve ( West Mids )]

You should, perhaps, modify your post to add a few "in my opinion" etc ;)

[rig-pig]

I'm sure there is an insurance ombudsman you can take this too,

do a google matey.

yes there is and i know i have hed to use them a few years ago i wont get into details but i would defo give them a phone

[Mike_B]

I have to agree with Steve, something doesn't quite add up here. The fact that flotsam suggests what he was doing was against the highway code gives us a clue to that one!!

Accidents where one party hits the rear of another car are almost always the fault of the vehicle behind. There are exceptions, eg hurling your car backwards out your driveway or junction into a busy road without paying attention to traffic already there would be one such, even if you came to a halt before the actual moment of impact. Another would be if you turn right from minor to major road, passing through slow traffic on your side of the road to make the right turn, without properly checking the road is clear coming from the blind side.

Flotsam, could you post details of what actually happened, so we can get a better understading of things? It is very much against the nature of insurance companies to blame their own drivers, but this seems to be what has happened to you - and without some information about the precise nature of the collision, you really cannot publically call a company (or anyone else, for that matter) 'thieves and liars' without backing up your statements. For one thing, companies get very upset about it, and also they get upset with the moderators/owners of the forums in which such claims are made.

[mudzs]

i have had dealings with two claims in the last two years ,both on my van with a young lad who works for me driving .both times it has been the other persons fault but the insurance has paid out 50/50 due to the other party lieing . i think thier is a trend to do this 50/50 payout as it is less hassle for the insurance company and settles a claim much quicker with less fuss . if you can fight them all the way ..

[WylieCoyote]

There is an insurance ombudsman you can take these matters to. I'm in no position to judge who is in the right or the wrong. If you feel you have been treated unfairly by the company, take it to the appropriate places and I'm sure the victim will get some justice. I'd be very careful about your description of the company, Mike is right in saying that companies do not like it and tend to get a bit upset with the forums and the moderators, which is something that none of us want. I understand you may be upset and angry if you consider you've been treated unfairly but perhaps you could consider editing your post to something a little less harsh?

If you have been treated unfairly, then I hope you get everything settled soon.

Regards,

Keith :)

Oh and I've just read the last line, I don't think the fact that they earn minimum wage has anything to do with it. Be very careful because you will upset a lot of people, not just anywhere else but on here too by insulting incomes. There's no need for it.

[Ullevi]

Sounds like you pulled out in front of another car,which then crashed into the back of you.Is that right?

As others have said,if you let us have better details of the incident then we may be in a better position to judge if you've been dealt with harshly.

[flotsam]

Steve: Yes, I did have legal cover. The scumbag hit the rear quarter panel of my car. The lawyer has admitted that Privilege want to avoid the costs of going to court.

Giblet: I meant that because I hadn't claimed in so long a time, I thought a high excess would be a good idea to lower my premiums.

Mike B: It wasn't me saying what I was doing was against the highway code. It was the lying insurance company being biased.

Ullevi: No. I was merely changing lanes. The scumbag chased after me and turned into me to insist that he owns the road for the next 4 million miles ahead of him. I even completed my maneouvre so the scumbag was just one of those nutters that suffer road rage against perfectly innocent drivers. Look, I've got 15 years (UNTIL THIS) with no accidents. It's obvious the lawyer and Privilege are completely biased and are lying.

UPDATE: the scumbag lawyer has now set a court location 300 miles away from where I live. As I've got protected no-claims, there's no chance that it's financially worth it even with the high excess. Because Privilege were tardy and th other insurance company sued first, I should have had the right to choose the location. The scumbags have stitched me up. The lying lawyer even tried to sell this rip-off to me in the letter pointing out that my insurance premiums hadn't increased.

[flotsam]

Oh and the lying lawyer said in the letter, that it was advantageous to me that there were no witnesses, implying I was lying or in the wrong.

Believe me, I'm not delusional. I've thought it through over and over and over. I'm being ripped off. There was another poster on this forum who also said, "yeah, I'm just changing from Privilege".

Basically, Privilege is part of DirectLine which is part of Royal Bank of Scotland and their in their in trouble, having bought ABN Amro just before the credit crunch hit. RBS has the lowest Tier 1 Capital Adequacy Rartio in Europe of 4.5% which means they're the next Bear Stearns. Like Northern Rock, RBS has seen vast profits recently. In 2001 it reported a record for any UK company in profits. However, that's all been achieved by leverage. They're screwed!

Don't insure with them, they're bankrupt.

[Rob]

most will go the 50/50 route as its less work for them

[tHomBleached]

Slightly off topic but....If one gets in a smash with someone, is there anything you can do to minimise the chances of the other party lying later on? Is it best to ring the police to come out and compile an accident report? would they even do this if asked?

I've never been in a smash myself, but I'm terrified that the decency of other people have deteriorated over the years, and I've grown quite atached to my NCB!

[MAT_8N]

so why did you claim of your own insurance if it wasn't your fault knowing you had a £1000 excess?

thats a crazy thing to do isn't it?

you then have to prove fault and claim your money back.

you should claim of his insurance.

if its their fault you pay nothing when its eventually settled. maybe thats what the insurance folk meant when they said said dont claim?

if he hit your rear quarter while changing lanes it sounds like you pulled out on him?

you still haven't explained what exactly happened, and that fact does make it sound like you're hidding something? and with that in mind it makes it sound like your insurer is and has been offering you the right information.

i have over 15 years clean driving record, it doesn't mean i wont make a mistake in the future(touch wood).

[flotsam]

so why did you claim of your own insurance if it wasn't your fault knowing you had a £1000 excess?

thats a crazy thing to do isn't it?

you then have to prove fault and claim your money back.

you should claim of his insurance.

if its their fault you pay nothing when its eventually settled. maybe thats what the insurance folk meant when they said said dont claim?

if he hit your rear quarter while changing lanes it sounds like you pulled out on him?

you still haven't explained what exactly happened, and that fact does make it sound like you're hidding something? and with that in mind it makes it sound like your insurer is and has been offering you the right information.

i have over 15 years clean driving record, it doesn't mean i wont make a mistake in the future(touch wood).

I don't believe you understand how insurance works. In the event of some chqv chav scumbag crashing into the back of your car. You have to claim of[f] your insurance and they sue the other driver. Except in this case Prvilige ***** me over because I've had such a large NCB and it wasn't worth their while for the cost of a court case.

THAT'S HOW YOU CLAIM OFF THE INSURANCE OF THE CHAV THAT CRASHED INTO YOU!

[flotsam]

Oh and the lying lawyer said in the letter, that it was advantageous to me that there were no witnesses, implying I was lying or in the wrong.

Believe me, I'm not delusional. I've thought it through over and over and over. I'm being ripped off. There was another poster on this forum who also said, "yeah, I'm just changing from Privilege".

Basically, Privilege is part of DirectLine which is part of Royal Bank of Scotland and their in their in trouble, having bought ABN Amro just before the credit crunch hit. RBS has the lowest Tier 1 Capital Adequacy Rartio in Europe of 4.5% which means they're the next Bear Stearns. Like Northern Rock, RBS has seen vast profits recently. In 2001 it reported a record for any UK company in profits. However, that's all been achieved by leverage. They're screwed!

Don't insure with them, they're bankrupt.

Yep! RBS are bankrupt and have to make an emergency rights issue to generate £10bn. "Royal Bank of Scotland may auction Direct Line and Churchill to raise cash", reports the Times.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle3776051.ece

Perhaphs it's all those adverts. A good product sells itself, but "Challenge Churchill", "You don't have to be posh to be Prvilieged" and my favourite, "It pays to have the right insurance", is where RBS has been spending its money.

[shake]

those sister companys have made billions in profit, then on top £638million just from adverts. had they not made those adverts they'd have less money and would not be worth as much if they have to sell.

either way any bank going down is bad news even if you dont bank with them. i personally doubt they will go under like northern rock, they are quiet big.

[widnes_is200]

i was third part f and f , a girl rear ended me 3 weeks ago i contacted these guys, http://www.camplaw.co.uk/ they will talk too u and when they are confident its not ure fault they take over your claim give you a hire car and get ure car fixed werever u want, cant recomend them enough 1 call is all i made, got car back now 100% garage even done some extras and billed threr insurance, also in the unlikley event they dont win there is no charges.

[MAT_8N]

so why did you claim of your own insurance if it wasn't your fault knowing you had a £1000 excess?

thats a crazy thing to do isn't it?

you then have to prove fault and claim your money back.

you should claim of his insurance.

if its their fault you pay nothing when its eventually settled. maybe thats what the insurance folk meant when they said said dont claim?

if he hit your rear quarter while changing lanes it sounds like you pulled out on him?

you still haven't explained what exactly happened, and that fact does make it sound like you're hidding something? and with that in mind it makes it sound like your insurer is and has been offering you the right information.

i have over 15 years clean driving record, it doesn't mean i wont make a mistake in the future(touch wood).

I don't believe you understand how insurance works. In the event of some chqv chav scumbag crashing into the back of your car. You have to claim of[f] your insurance and they sue the other driver. Except in this case Prvilige ***** me over because I've had such a large NCB and it wasn't worth their while for the cost of a court case.

THAT'S HOW YOU CLAIM OFF THE INSURANCE OF THE CHAV THAT CRASHED INTO YOU!

you dont have to do that. especially with a £1000 excess!

you dont have to claim on your insurance just because you're fully comp.

that aside you still haven't explianed the accident. it does sound debateable who's at fault. the way you make it sound is as if he deliberatley rammed you? is that the case? if so i expect the police are prosecuting him for allsorts too? so there really shouldn't be an issue with insurance. unless you pulled out on him?

can you clear it up

[Parthiban]

you dont have to do that. especially with a £1000 excess!

you dont have to claim on your insurance just because you're fully comp.

that aside you still haven't explianed the accident. it does sound debateable who's at fault. the way you make it sound is as if he deliberatley rammed you? is that the case? if so i expect the police are prosecuting him for allsorts too? so there really shouldn't be an issue with insurance. unless you pulled out on him?

can you clear it up

You do generally have to claim off your insurance and then they claim it back off the other party's insurance. The only other option is to either wait till blame is assigned, or pay for it yourself until it's settled. I've done it in the past though, just send it straight into the garage to be repaired claiming off your insurance and then my insurance company claimed it back off the other party.

Having said that I'm also struggling understanding what actually happened. So you were driving on a dual carriageway type road, you changed lanes in front of this guy and then in a fit of road rage he pulled out and deliberately rammed your rear quarter? If that's the case then you should have called the police to the scene as he's clearly a nutter

I can't see the logic in having such a high excess because the saving can't be that much once you've been driving for a while and have had no claims for such a long time. My father never puts his excess over £250 because it only slightly affects his premium and you never know when some moron is going to drive into you.........