[Art of Clean]

AnYoNe - PLEASE hElP!!!!!

I had some bad luck with my 3 month old Citroen Relay 1800.

Went down to the local shop - 1/2mile away. I was in there for 2 minutes when someone came running in saying my van is on fire.

Long story short - Norwich Union Direct is only offering me £11250 for it and to replace I would need to fork out well over £14000 for it. 
I am not VAT reg. so its a bit of a problem. I thought that in a case like this with fully comp insurance - it would be like for like seems not. They said no to a new van as I have this van on a lease
so - I did not take the offer and they said they will get back to me. I am preparing myself for losing some good money here.
Any advice??
I have spoken to Citroen Suplier, Citroen UK & FSB Legal Advice line - All said that it would be Norwich Union to take the matter up with Citroen UK. The Guy from Norwich Union said if it was a electrical fault, Citroen would have to repay them and I would get my no Claims back. Can I trust them??

[Phil Marlor]

Wouldn't this be a problem for Citroen as its still under warranty and its a fault on their part.

Who ever it is they will try to wriggle out of paying up!

£14K seems a lot of money for a Citroen Relay.

Phil

[Mark Stanley]

Very sorry to hear of your missfortune.

I have a short story to tell regarding Norwich Union which seems on par with your loss, not in money terms.

I had a non blame worthy accident, van was repaired. Claimed back the excess.

Next time it came to the insurance renew date they deduted 2 years fom my no claims because at that date NU were unable to get the monies back for cost incurred for repair of van.

How unfair is that.

I hope you get all the monies due to you. But they do make it hard work though.

Mark

[John Kelly]

Wouldn't touch Norwich Union with a length of mouldy rope

[the red carpet]

Also sorry to hear of your bad luck, i heard things were going well for you aswell. We met briefly at one of the discovery days recently and i have been on a couple courses with your pal len and by all accounts you were of to a good start.

Who did you get the van of was it Robert? I would have thought its whoever sold you the vans problem not the insurance company.

[carpetclean]

Wouldn't touch Norwich Union with a length of mouldy rope

house iand car nsured with them for years made several claims last one they paid me over £6k to decorate my own house and do some repairs always found them fair. it depends whos on the other line . all insurance companies try it on. just dont let them bully you .
regarding the van cant see it being a problem as its down to the car dealer to sort it out if its electrical fault should get a brand new van out of it. does not compensate the work lost though

[Nick Johnston]

Norwich Union did alright by me. I had two cars written off in one go, by a drunk driver (a total of five cars were totalled!). My Golf was insured with NU, who provided a courtesy car the same day and settled our claim within a few more days. Not only did they pay me the true value of the car, they also added the cost of a service which had been carried out the previous week.

My Passat was insured by esure (part of Halifax). They were slightly slower in providing a courtesy car, but provided a new Passat, not the smallest, cheapest tin box on wheels that come from most insurers. They also offered me a derisory sum for the Passat, so I did my homework on the internet and proved the value of my Passat. When I presented them with the evidence, they paid the my asking price with no hesitation.

Moral of the story? Do your homework and provide your insurer with evidence (adverts, valuations etc) clearly confirming the cost to you to replace your vehicle. But be realistic. Don't expect to get more than it will REALLY cost you!

Take a look at www.vansdirect.net as they have some keen deals. I bought a van from them for £5,200 + VAT. It was pre-registered and had 9 miles on the clock. The lsit price was £10,500 + VAT!

Good luck.

Nick

[John Kelly]

Peter, I've worked for Insurance companies for years and know all about how they operate.
We insured our business's and house through them for a long time. We made a claim for storm damage last year and it was a complete shambles from the time their representative set foot in the house until 10 months later when we got our own contractors to complete the work (I wouldn't let theirs back in the house). I had to deal with people in India all the time and they obviously aren't taught to understand a Geordie accent.
Anyway they ended up loosing all my business.
Might have just been unlucky but wasn't prepared to give them a second chance. Some of the people I had to deal with were pig ignorant.

[Geoff Jewkes]

Thats gotta be a manufacturing fault, you had anything electrical fitted since purchase???

[Art of Clean]

Nothing fitted. I faxed all details to Financial ombudsman.

Just had a call back. They will pay all costs.

You are right - Put up a fight!!! as much you can.

Must say - I did buy the van from Robert at Alltec. He has been very helpfull throughout.

Thanks for all the replies!!