No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

[seduraed]

A warning to beagles. Yesterday my wife son and I were travelling along the A14 to a funeral in StaffordThe vehicle caught fire and had to be abandoned. We got my wife and her powered wheelchair out but lost everything else . I rang the insurer for recovery and was told that as the highways;agency had recovered the vehicle we were not entitled to an onward recovery . This is because the vehicle is a member not the person . We were taken by ambulance to Stafford general hospital (not one hurt but my diabetic wife was going hypo and all our supplies had been destroyed in the fire. From there we had to make our our way home . Taxi have been £70 and the guaranteed mobility only allows for £50 per day . We were very lucky having good friends who got us home. But be warned.

[wales01man]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

Sorry to hear this but glad you are all OK

[des8]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

That is the most ridiculous policy wording I have ever heard.
MOST (I would have said all) policies allow for recovery of vehicle and completion of journey or return home of driver and passengers.
They are saying that they would have uplifted the burnt shell and taken it and passengers to your chosen destination, but not just the insured driver and passengers.
And policies insure people against loss.
They are contracts between companies and people
How does a vehicle become a member of anything? It does not have the capacity.
Could you name the company, and possibly upload the policy wording (or say what policy it is so we can find it on line)

Going out now, so will look in tomorrow.
Trust New Year starts better than outgoing year.

[seduraed]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

I believe called UK recovery the policy was arranged through fish insurance brokers. I could have hired a car from Kettering and recouped some of the expenses but it required a two hundred pound deposit up front and as we don't have that kind of money in the bank and no credit card, it was out of the question . I am hopping mad about it . So far I have been sickly polite to everyone
I bought the policy in good faith intending to have a safety net in place in case of an emergency. We get an emergency and the policy is no use . My job after the weekend is to arrange for new bus pass , blue badge and driving licence for the missus all of which were destroyed in the fire. On top of that I lost all my tools and my son lost his best suit and his driving licence.

[des8]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

JUst got home 2.15am
It does not seem possible to access the policy wording on line.
Could you possibly post up the wording.
Vehicle contents might also be covered, if not covered under home contents policy.

Happy new Year

[des8]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

Having surfaced I have managed to trace a copy of the Insurance policy...........

1. The policy clearly states there are three options in event of breakdown etc;
i) onward travel of car, driver & passengers or return home
ii) Overnight hotel stay
iii)24 hour car hire.
They will choose the most suitable option.

There are terms and restrictions.
From your post I suspect they offered you a car, but you had to decline this due to no credit card for the deposit.
This means this was not a suitable option for you.

Did they offer the overnight hotel stay?

Highways Agency Traffic Officers can order a statutory recovery of a vehicle for safety or traffic flow reasons
If this is why they arranged immediate recovery of the vehicle IMO you should not be penalised by your insurer relying on their possibly ambiguous wording in i)

The insurer of this part of your cover is AXA (yeuch!), and your first step must be a written complaint to them at:
Quality Manager, AXA Assistance UK Limited,The Quadrangle, 106-118 Station Road, Redhill,Surrey, RH1 1PRPhone: 01737 815215E-mail: quality.assurance@axa-assistance.co.uk

[seduraed]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

I kow the main part of the policy is with Ageas. More interestingly it turns out that Fish is now part of Crapita. No renewal through them I think. I will dig up the actual policy on Monday . Tonight I am having a little drink and will wait until the guest using my office as a spare bedroom has gone home .

[seduraed]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

We weren't offered an onward or return . The policy I have that they will cover up to £50 daily to a maximimum of £700 for use of car hire and public transport . I spoke to the company about recovery and tey are adamant that if the vehicle has to be recovered to a garage or to the home address , no vehicle no recovery . This is despite the attending paramedic calling an ambulance for my wife: who as well as being a wheelchair user is diabetic, and was having a hypo . All our sugar and food supplies had been destroyed in the fire. ,she was also in danger of hypothermia. All power to the paramedic absolutely the correct decision, and the police insisted that we go with her as we needed to get a place of safety. THe soft shoulder of the A14 between junction 2 and junction 1 not being one.

[EXC]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

Just glad you & you're family are ok.

[seduraed]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

I am thinking of making a formal complaint to the broker. Is there anybody else I should complain to . There has been no financial loss as the recovery is included as standard in the insurance. However I feel misled. One of the reasons for choosing the insurer was knowing that there was recovery included and that I didn't need to find extra money for that.

[des8]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

I am assuming the policy wording is this one: https://www.fishinsurance.co.uk/pdfD...5_Internal.pdf
-Section F for personal belongings (although documents and other excluded items may be covered by your household contents insurance
-Page 28 UK breakdown assistance.

According to the policy they should have offered you one of three options, at their choice
Did the insurer offer you anything at all?

[des8]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

Feel free to complain to the broker, but I doubt it will get you anywhere.
Brokers now a days are interested only in their commission and charges that they levy for policy alterations.
The days when brokers actually cared for, and argued on behalf of their clients have passed in my experience.

Ageas are the main insurers behind the Fish policy. As yet I don't think there is any complaint about them.
Axa are the insurers who issue the Legal Expenses and Breakdown Cover.
I would certainly lodge a formal complaint about their handling of the situation directly to them.

[seduraed]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

Thank you for that . I will raise formal complaints in writing with both of them.
The person I spoke to from Ageas has been kind and said that if we had taken the taxi home a claim for the taxi fares would be viewed sympathetically.
What should I ask for in restitution? We have been misled as to the value of the recovery and legal expenses. I might call the legal expenses team and see if they will entertain a court claim against the insurer . It would have a certain irony.
I suppose an apology and a full refund of the value of the recovery but could i claim for distress.

[des8]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

If you don't ask, you won't get

[Amethyst]

Re: No recovery after car burnt out at roadside

blinking heck, I'm glad you're all okay - that is the main thing. Des seems to be on top of the insurance issues with you xx Just wondered is anything happening about the vehicle ? how did it catch fire? was it a manufacturers fault ( I know sod all about cars but if my hoover blew up I'd go to the manafacturer/ seller etc for compensation ) - or is that covered with insurance when it comes to cars?