FTO AUSTRALIA

Hey FTO-mates,

I'm in middle of dramatics situation created by insurance company.

please go through following scenarion in short.

I've Full comprehensive insurance.
Recently I had minor FTO accident(came out as my fault, I touched car in front of me) and company decided to write-off my lovly FTO.However insurance company making drama to pay me the full amount & indicated that front tires were not good enough, it wasn't safe & dangerous to drive on road (hyped-up story). car shouldn't be on road at first place n all that blah..blah..blah..
In reality my car was in excellent condition in terms of breaks n driving, accident had nothing to do with tires or threads of tires n all that. I'm waiting for final decision by insurance company.

Meanwhile can anyone share their exerience or help me on how to deal with insurance comapnies in such situation to get full comp. money from them ?

Thanks a lot!

Unfortunately, you can only take them to court ... Get yourself a solicitor, or at the least a solicitor to write them a letter....

Were police called to the site of the crash

If so, were there any reports like estimated speed, and any documentation of skid marks or the lack there of ...

You would then use the findings of that report to prove your case ... But long story short, insurance company's will always deny claims in the hope that even 1 out of those 10 don't take them to court, and that justifies their expense on the others...

Was it a major insurance company, or just a small one

police wasn't called as it was very minor incident

The speed would be hardly 1 or 2km/hr, car was stationary on Red light & just started on green n touched the car ahead slightly within a distance of 1 to 2 metres. So there is no point of skid at all.

Its a "Famous insurance" company if u know any chance.

Just wanted to make everyone aware coz such companies give cheap insurance compared to others however when it comes to pay back, they make such dramas out of no where.

How could they write your car off at such a low level accident ...

That would not even be 2k worth of damage .... So seems strange that they would write off ... What is your insured value ... Did you know the price that was submitted by your repairer

Seems a little strange....

rock_it wrote:How could they write your car off at such a low level accident ...

That would not even be 2k worth of damage .... So seems strange that they would write off ... What is your insured value ... Did you know the price that was submitted by your repairer

Seems a little strange....

+1

and u dont have to threaten court just yet.
any decent insurance company will have their own internal dispute resolution procedures, once you have exhausted that option, you can always go 1 up on that, "...contact the insurance industry's external independent complaints scheme as an impartial and authoritative alternative to litigation. ..."
i can't actually remember the name of the organisation, but pretty much all insurance companies in australia is a member and their decision overwrites the insurance company's one. (and if that's still not what u r after, you can take them to court).
all those processes i mentioned before should be free as apposed to a lawer wanting your first born just to see you.

My missus works for a large insurance company. Here's what she says about your case based on the info here.

If the insurance company believes that the accident was caused because of bald tyres then they do have the right to decline the claim. It is drivers responsibility to have a road worthy vehicle.

What basis are they declining it on?

If you have taken off on the green light and not been able to stop because of the bald tyres then yes, they could decline the claim.

They wouldn't just decline the claim for no reason. There must have been a fair bit of damage. Can you provide pictures?

If you are not happy with the outcome, as BorepYano said, you can escalate it to the IDR committee with in the company. This is normally made up for Team Leaders and Managers and they meet each week to discuss escalated cases. If you still don't get what you want, go to the FOS (Financial Ombudsman Service) for them to investigate for you.

I'd need more info from you to give more advise. Hope this helps anyway. Feel free to ask me any other questions and good luck.

As mentioned, I dont think a slow speed accident such as yours would generate more than $2,000 worth of damage but it can be hard to tell without actually seeing the damage.

Are you able to post up some pics?

Contact the Ombudsman, they might just scare the insurance company into paying the claim, it's worth a go.

But if your bald tyres were the reason for the accident then they can decline your claim as its in the fine print of their policy.

sry to go off track a bit here, but AJ does the missus work for suncorp or NRMA?

Thanks heapz for your generous support.

I would clarify the exact incidnet so it should be clear y insurance company decided to write-off instead of fix it.(which even i dont agree upto certain extent)

The vehical in front of me was Hute with F*** long tow bar at back. The tow bar went straight in from gap between bonet & number plate (as everyone knows the gap at front-bottom is a part of FTO design). The tow bar damaged Radiator & may have disturbed internal placements of other parts. Bonet alignment got disturbed, came up slightly & right side headlights broken as well. As some of you have mentioned, I do have expected it to be max 3 to 4k expenses to fix it.

The car was towed to insurance company holding yard & from there their accessor/repairer passed on all info to company.
So i haven't got a chance to show it to anyone of my choice and get a real estimate of damage. And now car is already sent to auction as well.

Secondly the reason I say tires were fine (may b looks wise no good) coz the incident happend 15kms from my home so counter argument is if something could have happned due to tires then there were plenty of traffic & lights before this happened. Personally i hvn't realize any problems in breaks or tires. Infact I hv been for long drive just week before it happened and it was all good.

considering all these factors the way insurance comapnay behaves and came up with some non-acceptable arguments, is really strange to me.

More views & comments welcome!

They cant send your car to auction if they arent paing the claim

Either you keep the car and they dont pay or they sell the car and they do pay.

Untill they pay the car is yours. this doesnt make sense at all

oohh..the insurance company hvn't get back to me yet with their final decision however they have started with the tires excuses to create strong background for them & delaying the claim. Its almost 4th week now.

Meanwhile I'm also preparing if they come up with surprises.

I8A4RE wrote:They cant send your car to auction if they arent paing the claim

Either you keep the car and they dont pay or they sell the car and they do pay.

Untill they pay the car is yours. this doesnt make sense at all

Exactly ...

Report the car stolen ... They have no permission to sell it as they have not paid a claim ...

BorepYano wrote:sry to go off track a bit here, but AJ does the missus work for suncorp or NRMA?

No, neither of them.

They may have sent it to the auction house to hold it there. It's cheaper for them to keep a car there while they make a decision instead of at a garage. Garage's charge a daily fee to hold a car, and these fees are cheaper at an auction yard.

Have you been sent a letter with the out come? Insurance company's can deny a claim based on wear and tear but as I8A$RE said, either you keep the car and they dont pay or they sell the car and they do pay. That is 100% correct.

AJ wrote: but as I8A$RE said

Who the hell is that..... Lol....

Think we went overboard with the shift key... Hehehe...

At the moment my situation is wait and watch for their decision,
it is exactly as AJ said:
"They may have sent it to the auction house to hold it there. It's cheaper for them to keep a car there while they make a decision instead of at a garage."

"Either you keep the car and they dont pay or they sell the car and they do pay"
This is a good mental support to fight against insurance company however in case what should I do with such a damaged car ? Again pay high money from my pocket to fix it ?

or sell each parts & make more money ? Good business...
[/quote]

i feel for you regarding this issue. i dont have any expertise in the area so im not going to say they can or cant... just a few questions i have that maybe youd like to ask them (AJ, youre more than welcome to answer them as well) i know youre waiting and therefore you mightn't want to but just call the co and ask couple of questions, gather info

find out whether, at the auction house, you can have a accredited mechanic maybe from another insurance co or maybe your mechanic to come down and make an assessment. that way, youre going to them and its at no expense to them...?

did the other car have any damage to it?- if it didnt, why not consider NOT going through the insurance company and fixing it up out of your own pocket, i know thats more costly and that what insurance is for but recently im seeing more people selling off parts on this forum you might find what you need?

ask them also, what they consider bald tyres? 10% 20% 30% 40%? and then maybe call well in vic its vicroads im assuming its sydroads and find out what is considered the benchmark for roadworthy tyres?

at what speed did you hit this person? i hate those damn towbars but if the damage was caused by the tow bar is there like, a way to prove that its the towbar at low speed accident and the tyres would not be a factor?

sorry for the essay

re you not being able to get a quote etc, you can ask the insurance company to send you a copy of the quote they received from the repairer.

btw, did you say you were insured with "Famous" or a famous insurance company (if so tell me which company it is with, either here or through a PM)?

confirm that for me, i'll have a read over their PDS and can probably let you know what they r going to do.

actually just scanned through Famous' PDS.

and i just called famous, and asked "what would happen if i was involved in an at fault accident, and later found out that the veh was not road worthy, but that was not a contributing factor to the accident", and the answer is 100% definitely maybe "...the assessor will take that into consideration..." lol

so, the point to argue here is exactly what condition your tyres were in, and was it reasonable for the average person to have known that it was not rd legal or not.

now depending on the company, they may or may not decline the claim based on that. in black and white, they can decline your claim based on the wording of their PDS, they have every right to. but most good insurance companies will not decline this claim (based on past exp) as it was definately not a contributing factor.



now, if you do end up keeping the car and insurance doesnt pay, you'd probably be better off getting it fixed, since by the sounds of it, it shouldn't cost too much (i.e. new radiator, a few new mounts and brackets should do it... fingers crossed lol)

Amazing BorepYano!

Yes, the name of the company itself is "Famous Insurance".

Thanks for your call to them and enquiries.

I hvn't thought of this and even you did it. However insurance company (or any business) promises lots when they want to signup new customer and when it comes to pay back they make dramas.

Anwyas I think, I'll wait for their response and keep you all updated rather than making more assumptions and taking all your time.

Thanks Heapz!!!

no probs,
used to work for an insurance company, so all that stuff is still pretty much engraved in my brain atm lol.

Good luck with it