'tis true. once they have paid you out for a total loss, the vehicle (and unfortunately everything in it) is theirs. Some insurers (elephant for one) even cancel the insurance policy once they've paid out on a total loss.

I think I've caught Tourettes syndrome from this experience. I have been prone to outbursts of sh*t, f**k, ar*e, w*nk, bast**ds. It has quite a pleasant feeling to let it all go.

im with lancaster, 3rd party, and as you say, they do **** you about, BUT they were the cheapest by a looooooong way, and if you harrass them they do eventually get it sorted! HTH

ste220 said:

im with lancaster, 3rd party, and as you say, they do **** you about, BUT they were the cheapest by a looooooong way, and if you harrass them they do eventually get it sorted! HTH

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I'd like to say you get what you pay for, but even then I'm not sure. Used to use CU and they were brilliant on repairing a Freelander I'd bent doing a rescue on Dartmoor, which I thought they were entitled not to pay up at all on, and didn't even charge me the full excess. But when I wrote off the gf's MG Metro a few years ago they haggled, took ages and refused to pay the book price for a nice, very low mileage car. And last year they were so expensive I switched to Swiftcover at less than half the price. I'm inclined to go with the "take the minimum, expect not a lot" advice, but at the moment I've got a guaranteed full nc bonus (and I'm a cr*p driver) so I'm sticking with fully comp. And yes, some insurers do terminate the policy after a writeoff. Happened to me once many years ago three weeks after I'd renewed it.

MirrorSignalSwerve said:

I think the Co-Op do insurance and I'll go with them in future even if they're not the cheapest!

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Co-op were brilliant fighting a dodgy claim I had made against my mondeo (long story)... thought I was going to be absolutely ass-raped.

Quote they gave me for my disco was near double what its worth though!

Had a letter from them (Lancaster)today. My underwriters have sent THEM the cheque for some reason?? I had to do all the chasing and form filling, Lancaster did sod all and sent me round five or six departments every time I rang them to get a straight answer to a simple enquiry. I dealt directly with Equity, but they send the cheque to Lancaster who have not sent it on to me, but are holding it hostage until I sign a form saying I won't pull my direct debit for the remaining period of cover. Why the fk would I do that? I've transferred the policy over to the replacement car I bought. If I cancel the direct debit, I'm not insured.

I'll sign their form and send it off, but its just one more irritating step in the saga. I think Lancaster policies should come with this warning symbol:

MirrorSignalSwerve said:

I thought they owned it once they pay out? Isn't it normally the case that you have to buy the salvage back or take a reduced payout?

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Yes but until they pay out it's your vehicle.