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Adrian flux? Insurance

60K views 283 replies 64 participants last post by  drmac 
#1 ·
short story for anyone looking at insurance..

So we have been insured with Adrian Flux for nearly 10 years, thinking our van was covered for every eventuality - fully comp and covered for an amount that would let us replace it should anything happen.

See thread below - our Ex AA, pop top, new engine was smashed to bits by a DPD driver.

So then the story goes.... also this accident was not our fault (police witnesses luckily).

1. our van disappears.
2. 4.5 hours on the phone: we phone Adrian Flux who advise us to use a Insurance Management Company - Slater Gorden (S.G.).
3. they sort us out with a hire car.
4. 2 days later someone phones us from Adrian Flux to ask about the accident, not knowing S.G. were dealing with it.
5. Our van still has our stuff in it - we phone the garage, they say it isn't there so we phone S.G. to find out where it is.
6. Our van is 200 miles away in a salvage yard. - phone the salvage yard to tell them not to break it...
7. We've ben told modifications aren't taken into account in valuations.
8. The salvage yard have taken photos of the van to send to an engineer to value the van.
9. the valuation is expected tomorrow.
10. If we disagree with the valuation we have to give the hire car back (S.G. will probably ask for it back anyway).

Just a heads up for everyone to expect major stress if you are ever in any type of accident!

I'll update on our valuation tomorrow......

:(
 
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#31 ·
Sorry, work, travel and the weekend got in the way....

Sooooo, next riviting instalment......

Monday morning phoned to make sure our van hadn't been scrapped... All ok.... Conspiracy theories kicked in.

Had a call from the tecreports engineer on Monday, whilst going through an airport... Couldn't answer. Phoned him back Asap the other side, via a few other folk and he had gone home at 5.

Phoned tecreports Tuesday am and explained the situation to the engineer, to replace our van with a similar one would be 13k about ... As on eBay etc. To buy a van to pimp and get a reimo roof etc would be about the same, plus a load of hassle so we were looking for somewhere between 13 and 15k to be able to replace.

He had no idea about the value of VW Transporters, in no way a 'specialist'

So he said he would phone back at lunchtime.

I missed his call, spent 30 mins of a previous lunch break trying to get back to him and failed. Also tried to return an Adrian flux phone call .... And managed to, just to be told that 'we are letting you know things are moving with the valuation' (thanks to me!)

Tecreports called back in the afternoon, I had to sprint for a 16.00 train from Paddington. Then from the train started to call Tec reports. It took me 1.5 hours of broken phone calls and talking through the vans I had sent as examples, explaining the relative merits and worth before the engineer went home again at 5 ... I phoned back exasperated and spoke to someone else who said my file had been updated.....

Miraculously, now the van was worth £9.8k and the salvage £3.6k ... £13.4k ..... YAY! Now we could move on!!!

BUT.......

The repair job was valued at £5k so now apparently it is worth repairing......

This all has to go back to Slater Gordon for some reason to decide what happens next.

By Friday the van will be back at VW Connections, we can finally get our stuff out of it.

Hopefully one of the boys there can do an estimate for repair for us and we can get our van back on the road or move on with the claim as we are now, with our insurance company or by suing in the small claims court....

We are a bit worried about getting the repair done in case of any unforeseen twisting or breakages that might haunt us for the rest of the vans life.... AND I really doubt it is repairable....

More hoops to jump through, I'll keep updateing as stuff happens.....
 
#33 ·
Had an email today from slater Gordon (the management company) saying they authorised the boys at VW connections to give us an estimate for the repair....

We ARE getting somewhere... Wish we could have been here 8 weeks ago!

Van at our garage tomorrow, will update over the weekend...
 
#35 ·
Van not arriving VW Connections until Monday, I'm going to head in once it arrives and get the low down from the Steves on how much it will cost to repair.

I'm under the impression that if the repair is less than 10k then we'll get our van back eventually, if it is more then we'll get the 13.5k as offered, which includes 3.5k for salvage.

Anyone got any tips on agreeing repairs, re-spray etc with insurance management companies? I'm wandering how it works with getting the VW body panels, having them sprayed, then having the van looking all patchwork (I doubt they can spray the new panels to look slightly sun-bleached)....

 
#37 ·
So I went to see the van... Steve and the guy fro the body shop next door had a look at it, no chance it can be repaired for £5k.... main reasons being 1. the front bulkhead has been damaged, meaning the hole front of the van is knackered 2. the roof frame, under the pop top had creased (at the top left of the windscreen above the main damage) and it has bent in further along the roof line. They have not had a look underneath yet.

IT CAN'T BE REPAIRED.

The bulk head is difficult to repair apparently with loads of man hours, and the roof nearly impossible...

WORSE news - all our personal belongings that were in the van have been ransacked, stuff strewn all over the inside, including the first aid kit and 90% of the junk that was in the glove box.

Quite a bit of stuff has gone missing - an old IPOD from 2006 which was much loved, a Gerber multi tool, a head torch and a load of my van related tools (socket sets, hydraulic jack, tie down straps)....

I'm going to file a report to the police, am on the phone to the management company at the moment.....
 
#40 ·
Use Adrian Flux's legal cover to get this all sorted out. Sue the place that nicked your stuff and the insurance company that sent it there without your permission. Sue the guilty party in the accident to be put back into the same situation you were in before the accident. You have to use Adrian Flux's lawyers, I think.
 
#41 ·
OK, so call from the tecreports, the valuers today, saying they have revised the valuation of the van back down to £6k plus £2k for salvage - 8k.

If we don't like it we have to go to the financial on busman :eek:

oh joy, I really want this to go on for another 6 months...

Thanks Yellow on the phone to Adrian Flux to see what we can do with legal cover....
 
#42 ·
Didn't hear back from Adrian flux all day.

No returned call from the Tec reports manager.

Police call with a crime number for our stolen property.

Call from ULR saying they are taking the theft very seriously and asking who told the AA to tow our van from the accident. Emailed them back explaining that the police told my wife to get the AA to tow, as they were our breakdown service. ULR trying to work out where our stuff went missing. I explained the van went from the crash site to four winds in Newquay, then without us knowing it went to Bristol via two other breakers yards.

We didn't trust anyone from the outset and had luckily emailed everyone a list of what was in the van when we first started out down this road.

I spent a chunk of the afternoon pricing up what has gone missing.

One step forward, four back....
 
#44 ·
So spoke to Danielle from Adrian Flux Customer relations this morning..... she is looking into 3 options...

1. get this mess sorted asap
2. Adrian Flux legal department to sue people we need to.
3. go with our own insurance company.

The valuation now stands at £8750 including salvage, had a very closed shop conversation with a manager at Tec Reports who sounded like he was on the other side.

When valuations are done it's down to milage and age, if you are really lucky serious extras are taken into account... forget about a new engine making any difference to the value!!!!

WTF?

no doubt more to come by the end of the day...

I need several beers.
 
#46 ·
So Adrian Flux have chased ULR - their claims department who are taking the thefts 'seriously' and are going to stop working with Slater Gordon as they have been terrible.

Not sure where this leaves us for the weekend.

I'm trying to do some calculations on a new van with a pop top, 3 seats in the back and sliding side windows....

I'll update as soon as I get any news. Not really sure what I am expecting now.

We also had an settlement offer through the post for my wife's whiplash - which was sore for about two weeks and she was bruised across her chest and on her knees - offers £2.1k from Slater Gordon.

We aren't the money grabbing type but I don't trust Slater Gordon as far as I could throw their Chief Executive.

Hopefully something might happen that saves us some hassle.

Otherwise it's off to the courts I think.
 
#47 ·
So is Adrian Flux being helpful now.

Whiplash is awful. I had it about thirty years ago when an Austin Princess ran into my Ford Sierra from behind. In those days, you didn't think to claim and I felt oK until I went to bed and found I couldn't lift my head off the pillow. It was bad for weeks. Never even occurred to me to claim any compo. Should have done.

All of your problems because of one idiot driver not obeying the rules.

A bus pulled out of a side road the other day in front of me, I thought, that was a bit inconsiderate to me but when it drove off, there was a BMW coming the other way that had nearly gone into the side of it.. The bus driver either didn't look or didn't care when he pulled out of that side road. Normally I think BMW drivers are at fault but not this time.

Make sure you have a dash cam!! You need one these days.
 
#48 ·
Today we spoke to the quality control department at ULR again. They had spoken to graham at Tec reports and he said he hadn't seen any receipts for all the work we had done ... These had been discussed with one of his staff, everyone has copies who is involved... So he is getting another call back tomorrow with the receipts that I originally provided 7 weeks ago.

ULR also said they are trying to track down who stole our stuff, they are waiting for someone to admit they stole it so they can then reimburse us.... EH?????????

Really didn't understand this. It is a different claim so we phoned back to tell them to take it up with Ageas our insurers, we'll pay the excess and just get the job done!!!

Waiting for another call back tomorrow after another conversation with Tec reports....

More to come tomorrow....
 
#49 ·
Be very careful claiming for whiplash, I had a bad accident several years back that I still suffer for. I strongly advise waiting a year or so to see what symptoms show up a few months down the line.

You should probably also give Dan a call and ask how to resolve this, probably you need an independent claim manager or solicitor to deal with it, it's incredible that they are handling the theft like that.
 
#50 ·
Thanks to that D-9

My wife had a load of physio and check ups, she has already recovered so it is relatively mild whiplash. We are quite confident it's ok, but based on the rest of the e we have had to deal with until know, I could be wrong again...

Dan at Adrian Flux works for their customer service department. We are in touch with their management. Adrian Flux are BROKERS. I have learnt that this means the outsource everything, so you are intact insured by someone else and someone else manages your claim. They actually have very little say in anything that happens. ULR are their claims management company who's management are 'giving us advice' on how to proceed.

Heard nothing today.

I might start writing a book.

My wife has a little bit of cash squirrelled away and are after a new van, we can't go on with one car..... if anyone is thinking of selling..... Give me a shout T:
 
#51 ·
E-mail from ULR the claims department of Adrian Flux.... so we now have to wait.... unless we want to start a few more processes...

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your email.

Firstly I am sorry that you are unhappy with your claim so far and please be assured that I am doing all I can in order to find a resolution.

To answer your questions I have been in contact with Graham at Tec Reports further in regards to the valuation that has been placed on your vehicle. Following a long discussion Graham has agreed to review the situation further, however he has advised me that the valuation has been reviewed by senior managers and even the head of the company. Graham has agreed to contact me when this has been done and provide me with further comments, I will look to update you with his response.

To address the concern of why they would have an interest to reduce the figure, when a company such as Tec Report is instructed to value a vehicle they do so independently to any of the parties involved in the incident. The reason they are unable to put forward any figure is they need to act in a way that, in their professional opinion, would provide an accurate account of what the vehicle was worth before the incident took place. If a valuation is challenged by the third party and it is found that the valuation that has been provided is too high, it is down to the company that provided the initial valuation to make up the shortfall. As such it is within their best interest to review all the information and provide a valuation that is fair and reasonable.

At this present moment I am unable to provide you with a time frame as to how long Slater Gordon's investigation may take. This being said I am chasing them on a regular basis to ensure they are acting as quickly as possible. At this stage I do not feel it beneficial that you claim on your motor insurance for the missing items, the reason being that this will mean that you will need to pay a policy excess and ultimately your motor policy may be affected as a result. I would advise that this can be an option, but would be best seen as a last resort depending on the length of time Slater Gordon's investigations take.

I hope you find this of assistance, however should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards
 
#52 ·
just read through all this, the few experiences i've had with insurers in the past have been similar.

they just pass the buck and waste your time.

I had a non fault crash in my audi coupe some years ago and i was with aviva (norwich union at the time).
they gave me the run around in a similar way, the difference was i was able to move the car and took it home. i didnt allow them to take it anywhere.
that may be the best lesson to this. none of the idiots on the phone care that its your pride and joy.
I hope you manage to get a decent settlement eventually. it will leave a sour taste whatever happens though.

Last year I tried to do a windscreen claim on my van. It was in for rust repairs and a respray so i informed my insurer. The underwriters cancelled the policy on the spot because the work would increase the value of the vehicle. It was £265 fully comp on a commercial policy and the brokers had to do another quote with another underwriter which came out at £700.
i binned that off and went online and got another policy for £270, however i lost 6months no claims out of it.
It was marker study(underwriters) that gave me the run around but at no point would they speak to me directly.
The broker eventually gave me a goodwill gesture of £30 for all the calls i made, that didnt really help after having to shell out full whack for a windscreen and new insurance half way through the year.

In summary, i now dont trust any of them and hope to god no one hits my van or car in the future!
 
#53 ·
Thanks XTD - good to have some input for the next step.....

New van - hopefully soon, pop top put on, then I'm going to have to find an insurer and get an agreed value....




Anyone had a good experience with insurers?

After this I don't mind paying a bit more.....
 
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