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Doctor in distress

I would be very grateful for your advice with what I regard as an injustice with regard to the insurer’s manner of dealing with my daughter-in-law's car insurance. 8 weeks ago, her car was stolen from the garden where it was kept locked. The house is situated a mile and half away from the main road deep in the Cheshire countryside. The theft was immediately reported as her handbag, containing money and credit cards, was also in the car. The insurer has been totally unhelpful and for a busy G.P. to be deprived of means of transport was more than inconvenient. They wanted to check on the MoT certificate and a host of seemingly irrelevant data from both my son and his wife. Within quite a short space of time the police had tracked down the young thieves operating from a nearby town. The insurer, then discovered a spare key to the car was in the glove department, but no allowance has been made for the fact that the car was broken into in the first place and a considerable amount of damage done to a car that had only recently seen £800 spent on it for service and routine replacements. The insurer is not prepared to help in any way. The car has been kept in the town garage awaiting the insurer’s decision all these weeks while she has had no transport to help her in her daily rounds. Any suggestions?

Asked on 20 June 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
Insurers try to minimise claims. Nothing to do with fairness or morality. Everything to do with keeping down costs. There will be specific exclusions in the policy. You could try small claims track at the county court but legally the insurer is in the right. Morally it isn't.
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