I’m furious after my insurance company LOST my car when they sent contractor to fix a minor dent – they offered me £35
A MUM slammed her insurance firm after they collected her car for repair – and then lost it.
Caitlin Gallon, 24, was driving home from a holiday with her boyfriend and their baby when they crashed into the back of a trailer.
The mum called insurance company Hastings Direct who picked up her Ford ST-LINE and told her it was in for repair, but instead the motor was stolen on its way to the garage.
Pet shop worker Caitlin hasn’t seen her car since.
She said: “The car never made it to the garage.
“We parked at a pub after the crash and a contractor picked it up and then left it at a service station.
“Another contractor was supposed to pick it up and take it to the garage so they left the keys on the wheel of the car but the contractor never came.”
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The crash in December lat year left Caitlin’s Ford with a dent on its wheel arch which stopped the driver’s side door from opening, invalidating her insurance policy.
She was given a courtesy car and told her motor would be fixed but a month later received a parking fine from a service station close to where the accident happened.
Several weeks later she had a letter from the DVLA asking her to confirm an application to change the car’s ownership.
Hastings Direct admitted her car had been nicked and apologised – then offered £35 compensation.
After weeks of complaints, the insurers paid the car’s £15,000 value, paying off Caitlin’s finance deal and leaving her with £800.
But the mum-of-one, of South Shields, Tyneside, reckons she deserves more.
Caitlin said: “It’s been an absolute nightmare dealing with Hastings Direct about this. They do not care and just keep trying to get us off the phone.
“We were originally offered £35 compensation and then they said they would reduce the cancellation excess fee from £700 to £500 due to it being an exceptional circumstance.
“After weeks of complaining they’ve finally agreed to cough up more but all they have offered is to pay the value of the car.
“It means that they will pay off the rest we owe to finance and give us the difference, which will result in us receiving about £800.
“That’s nowhere near enough for a deposit on any car let alone one that matches the quality we had.
“We need a deposit of at least £6000 to get a car of the same standard.
“When I questioned that and explained that it is not our fault they lost the car, I was met with “if you aren’t happy take it to the Financial Ombudsman
“They just don’t care and they’ve been unbelievably unhelpful. We can’t afford to be shelling out on a new car at the moment – especially one that we did not lose.”
A Hastings Direct spokeswoman said: “We are very sorry for the disruption and inconvenience Ms Gallon has experienced since her accident, including the regrettable delay in the recovery of the vehicle, during which time her vehicle was stolen.
“We have been in continued contact with Ms Gallon since the accident in December to resolve her claim, however our customer service did not meet our expected standard when liaising with Ms Gallon last month and we upheld Ms Gallon’s complaint on this matter.
“We have waived the £750.00 excess for claim delays, and compensated £280 for service delays, however Ms Gallon was also not satisfied with the settlement amount offered for her claim and we continue to be in correspondence with her to resolve her case as soon as possible.”