Auto Insurance Payouts

According to the Financial Ombudsman Service there has been a 70% increase in motor insurance complaints over the past six months.

With the value of cars rising, motor insurers are choosing to repair cars as appose to writing them off. This has resulted in the majority of disputes between consumers and insurers being based on bad quality repairs and valuations.

Repair costs for cars that are worth £30,000 to £40,000 can easily be in the region of £15,000. Because of this, many insurance companies prefer to have the repairs conducted at one of their garages, whereas the consumer may prefer their vehicle be repaired at a specialist garage.

Consumers that find themselves in this situation do not have to accept repairs at the garage their insurer offers. They can choose exactly where they would like their vehicle to be repaired.

Moreover, the vehicle should leave the garage in perfect condition. Any dissatisfaction regarding the quality of repairs and the insurer should commission a report from an independent engineer report.

Another big problem the ombudsman found is that there has been an increase in the number of consumers that have been denied payouts when their car has been stolen.

“The typical scenario is you get up one morning and your car has gone. The insurer somehow blames you for it, and refuses to pay up on the grounds that it can’t be stolen,” Robert Short, lead motor insurance ombudsman.

Insurance companies justify this move by saying that many of today’s cars are fitted with sophisticated security systems, and that the only way the car could have been stolen is down to consumer carelessness.