One of your claimants irate that it has been a long, fatiguing gauntlet processing an auto accident claim with Autonet. Instead, delays and lack of communication have dominated the process. As an outcome, the person is not only in the dark about the claims processing, but questioning its effectiveness.
The claimant produced a letter from the compound. It told them they were liable for £25 for every day the hire van remained on their property. This fee started accruing even while waiting months for the claim to even be processed. It took 16 weeks of waiting, but the claimant finally got a call. The contact who reached out requested information on accident reports filed two months ago. What scared me most about the claim was that it had not even been filed by that time.
As his weeks went by without receiving a dime, the story got worse and worse. The claimant was concerned that the third-party insurer would deny liability for the hire van. This potentiality, still hanging in the air, exacerbated their stresses. This possible denial might necessitate the claimant taking legal action to recover costs during this time period.
Communication with Autonet was virtually non-existent with six weeks going by without any word. Keen to settle the issue, the claimant then sent a barrage of 30 emails. Sadly, the answers were few and far between. A month later, their offer for just the market value of the van and compensation for expenses incurred was still outstanding.
The alleged costs emphasized the overwhelming losses. This accounted for 11 days of lost work due to neither access to tools nor transportation. Autonet’s initial offer amounted to only half of the £6,750 sought for these expenses, further exacerbating the claimant’s frustration.
As if the situation wasn’t challenging enough, the underwriter offered a paltry £1,835 for the totalled van. The claimant was unaware that she had signed a credit hire agreement. This contract left them liable for hire costs when the third-party insurer refused to pay. This surprise move threw a whole other wrench into an already complicated and fraught situation.
After 169 days of bravado and hand-wringing, the claimant did indeed get paid after 169 days on the last day of the month. This resolution came only after tremendous work on her part and many tireless, sleep-deprived nights spent trying to maneuver through the claims process.