Written off - Stolen

[klingelton]

Background - we went to trade in our car for a younger model. 3 years previous, it was stolen, but recovered several weeks after. It seems the insurance company did not update experian and now the vehicle is showing up as "written off - Stolen". The first 4 times we contacted the insurers, they refused to remove the mark claiming that it was supposed to be there. They did not want to entertain the possibility it was there correctly. the 5th time i contacted them, i was as clear as i possibly could be... "This car was never written off, this car was stolen recovered, but we were never paid out. there is a mark showing on the HPI that the car is written off - i'd like it removed please". They agreed and said the mark would be sorted out in 48 hours.

Since the claim is 3 years old, it's a small department (2 people) that are working in it. a chap and a female. The female seems very nice - but the chap is hopeless.

we checked the car again on friday, and the mark is STILL there. I gave the benefit of the doubt and said to the now livid wife "perhaps experian are dragging their feet now". So i contacted the insurance company once more this morning who inform me that they've never spoken to me before, they have no records. He said that he would ask for the HPI to be updated via email, to which i asked to be cc'd in. he agreed and a recieved the short email asking for a policy to be updated.

There was no specification on which policy was to be updated, nor which car. This chap blatently can't be arsed to do his job properly, but he's the only one who can work on this policy.

I can't raise a complaint to the insurance company in question because they say "it's an old policy and we don't deal with it" I can't write as there's nowhere to write to.

They seem completely disinterested in helping in this situation to what should be a very VERY simple mistake to correct.

the ombudsman won't look at it until i complain and give the company 8 weeks to reply. Any other ideas? We just want the vehicle hpi showing what it should show - it's incredibly frustrating!

[Grumpy Old Git]

thought I'd read this before - 'Old' thread is further down this section.

[XmisterIS]

Background - we went to trade in our car for a younger model. 3 years previous, it was stolen, but recovered several weeks after. It seems the insurance company did not update experian and now the vehicle is showing up as "written off - Stolen". The first 4 times we contacted the insurers, they refused to remove the mark claiming that it was supposed to be there. They did not want to entertain the possibility it was there correctly. the 5th time i contacted them, i was as clear as i possibly could be... "This car was never written off, this car was stolen recovered, but we were never paid out. there is a mark showing on the HPI that the car is written off - i'd like it removed please". They agreed and said the mark would be sorted out in 48 hours.

Since the claim is 3 years old, it's a small department (2 people) that are working in it. a chap and a female. The female seems very nice - but the chap is hopeless.

we checked the car again on friday, and the mark is STILL there. I gave the benefit of the doubt and said to the now livid wife "perhaps experian are dragging their feet now". So i contacted the insurance company once more this morning who inform me that they've never spoken to me before, they have no records. He said that he would ask for the HPI to be updated via email, to which i asked to be cc'd in. he agreed and a recieved the short email asking for a policy to be updated.

There was no specification on which policy was to be updated, nor which car. This chap blatently can't be arsed to do his job properly, but he's the only one who can work on this policy.

I can't raise a complaint to the insurance company in question because they say "it's an old policy and we don't deal with it" I can't write as there's nowhere to write to.

They seem completely disinterested in helping in this situation to what should be a very VERY simple mistake to correct.

the ombudsman won't look at it until i complain and give the company 8 weeks to reply. Any other ideas? We just want the vehicle hpi showing what it should show - it's incredibly frustrating!

 

Yes, you can. The company will have a registered address (they have to under British law), which will be obtainable either via Google or via Companies House. You should be able to find out the name of the MD as well by doing a little bit of digging. Then send a letter to him/her and see what happens. When writing your letter, clearly and concisely state the chain of events in chronological order. Proof-read your letter several times to ensure that both grammar and spelling are faultless, then send it.