Bike insurance claims - Norwich Union / iVal

jasonsutcliffe

Has anyone had experience of dealing with iVal for a claim?

I had an accident in Scotland 2 weekends ago, and am claiming for a damaged frame etc which Norwich Union will cover. I have sent all info to iVal as requested, but am still waiting for their 'bike specialists' to review and call me back with a settlement, despite being told earlier this week it would be in 24-48 hours.. Today I found out that it is not likely to be seen until the 21st based on their current work rate - ridiculous!

Just wondering really how long it has taken for people to get a settlement?

fingers1966

Had an incident last week & rear dropouts mangled. Local shop thinks it cannot be repaired. I was wondering how you got on with your claim; I too am with NU (Aviva) and await a visit from iVAL. Did it all go smoothly?

Richard Lyddon

Complaining to the Financial Ombudsman Service about the appalling way iVal has handled my claim for a stolen Brompton. They have lost a faxed proof of ownership, and now a letter. You wait ages waiting for them to answer the phone and then wait again and often get cut off when they put you on hold. Impression is they try to stall payment as long as possible. Lots of customer friendly patter when you do talk to them, but gets you nowhere.

Richard Lyddon

jasonsutcliffe
I'm having nightmare with iVal, - how did yours go in the end?

Richard

RockingDad

I've had claims with NU previously... not for bikes but lets just say that private health cover...CANCELLED and car insurance with NU....CANCELLED.

Rubbish service.... clearly their rebranding improved their service.

RockingDad

yearofthegoat

Something worth knowing:

If a company owes you more than £750 you can petition for its insolvency. This will usually need a solicitors letter. Often the threat of insolvency and the related freezing of assets will prompt a company to act to pay its debt immediately.

Key point is they have to have agreed in writing that they owe you the money, i.e. your claim payout has been agreed, so there is no dispute about the debt. You have to have acted reasonably in chasing the debt before petitioning, i.e. at least one or more letters requesting payment.

Handy if an insurance company is dragging its feet paying out.

lakeland bimbler

Apologies for resurecting a dead thread but I thought my recent experiences with Aviva / Ival might give some reassurance to anyone in the unfortunate position of needing to make a claim.

I had my Trek Madone insured for full value as a named item on my household policy which was fortunate as I managed to write it off in a crash whilst riding in the dales (long story, no others involved - might have hit some diesel on the road but not sure).

My policy was arranged through a local broker who handled the claim for me, I got a quote for repair/relacement from my LBS which I presented with the claim.

Aviva appointed Ival to manage the claim and I must confess after reading this thread and posts elsewhere I was gearing myself up for a long stressful fight!

In fact the whole thing has gone through remarkably smoothly - Ival contacted me twice to confirm some details and discuss settlement and I recieved a cheque within 4 days of the second conversation. They accepted the quote from my LBS without quibble and did not ask to inspect.

Initially they offered me a alternative model of similar value or vouchers to use with one of their partners (Wheelies i believe) but when I politely declined there was no hesitation in providing a full cash settlement and no issues with any discount being applied.

My only complaint with Ival is that they can be a nightmare to get hold of (4 attempts over 2 days with 15 mins plus on hold before I could talk to someone) in the end I communicated through my broker.

The whole process from beginning to end took about two and a half weeks.

My main learning point is that a good local broker may cost a few quid more (but in my experience they tend to be able to offset this by getting better deals than you could yourself) but is worth any penny!