May look like a good deal - until you have to claim (Admiral Car Insurance)

Member Name: jennysue

Product:	Admiral Car Insurance
Date:	06/04/01 (2091 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks like a good deal when they quote

Disadvantages: Bad customer service, don't offer anywhere near replacement value for a written off car

Admiral may look good when you're paying your premium, but the real test of a good motor insurer comes when making a claim - this is what happened to us.

I'd like to register a big black mark for non-communication between departments, poor customer service, and some blatant porky-telling.

I was recently involved in an accident where my car (an N-registered Citroen Xantia diesel estate) was damaged, but was still repairable. I was towed into the local main agents for Citroen who usually service the car. Citroen said that it was repairable, but could be quite expensive since a pipe to the radiator and the hydraulic system were damaged.

Admiral said that the car had to be inspected and repaired by their designated repairers who collected the car 3 days later. On the same morning before they had even sent a report to Admiral, the repairers advised me the car was a write-off. I called Admiral who backed them up, although they admitted they had only had a phone call, had not physically inspected the vehicle or seen any photographs of the damage. Since then, the repairers have sent them 16 digital images of the car.

They said they would not repair if the cost exceeded 60% of a value they decided on, but would not tell me that value. They took 10 days and 3 requests to send out a claim form. One of their representatives I spoke to on the phone claimed he was the 'customer services manager' although he turned out to be just a claims line operator.

Admiral advised us that the amount of premium paid was not linked to the original value we quoted for the car, but later admitted under pressure that if we had put a lower value on the car, the premium would have been lower.

Then to add insult to all this, the amount we have been offered as a write-off value is so low, we have no chance of replacing the car with anything of similar age and condition. Their total loss department representative claimed to ha
ve found 75 examples of similar cars on the Net in 10 minutes that reflected the value they were offering, but later admitted that this was not true. I found about 10 on different websites, but none that we could buy with what they are offering.

After a very snotty letter from us, they decided to send an independent assessor to look at the car and see if it was repairable at all (not just an economic repair) and implied might back down on their original decision not to repair, but it made no difference in the end.

We have never received the original engineer's report that we requested, nor the independent assessor's report. Although they increased the amount of the original write-off offer, the amount of the valuation is at least £1500 lower than we would have to pay for a similar car, taking age, condition and mileage into account and also the balance of the year's premium and excess of £100.

We face having to take out a loan to be able to buy a car that suits our requirements or to buy one even older than what we had.

Are all motor insurers quite so bad - do you ever get anything like true market value for a written off car, or just a derogatory trade-in value?. If you have lost out badly in a similar way, tell everyone here. Similarly, if your insurance company have treated you well and made you a fair offer in similar circumstances, let everyone know.

We also found out that when we renewed last November, Admiral sent a scruffy bit of paper amending some details of our policy - specifically removing our right to a courtesy car while ours was being repaired.

We have had to manage without except for a few days the repairer gave us a car, which they then promptly withdrew as soon as Admiral said the car was a write-off. In fact I was threatened by the repairers if I didn't return their car - they came to my house - I subsequently had to make a complaint to the local police.

Not surpri
singly, when it comes to renewing our cover on this car, or its replacement, it definitely won't be with Admiral, nor will our other car's insurance when due.

Summary: