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We carried out a repair (drum outer etc so not cheap!) for an Insurance company that issued the customer a Job number. (that means that they have aknowledged the customer is insured as they had passed on our contact details etc).
Anyway, 8 Days later…… Job done…… Invoice sent 😀
1Month or so later……. Invoice rejected 😕 Cust not insured 😕
On investigating, it turns out that the appliance she had insured was written off by the Ins Company 18Months ago 😕 again!
The policy should have been cancelled… but wasn’t and as the customer has paid for 18months, they get a refund. However I wont get paid for the job 👿 . I have approached the customer and they say ‘Go Whistle! 👿
Who should I persue for the Invoice? Anyone had this before?
Re: Who should pay?
Yep I’ve had it. IF the insurance co. issued the number and don’t want to pay then bill the customer.
If they don’t pay… see that small claims court thing in the scroll just now… 😉
Fact is they authorised it, the customer let it happen probably knowing full well that the appliance had already been written off.
K.
Re: Who should pay?
If it goes to court then there’s the matter of a bit of compensation for you as well 😉
Re: Who should pay?
my policy with sharks or as they call themselves “insurers” is to give the customer a receipt when “the customer” pays me. Its up to the policy holder to claim. my dogs insured and when he visits the vet I pay the vet who signs the treatment form and I wait for the cheque even if thats several hundred pounds. when my greenhouse was blown down my insurers agreed to pay I sent my receipt fron B&Q. would B&Q give me a greenhouse and wait for payment? we seem to be treated like prats blocked pumps ,air chambers ,faulty plumbing ,bounce it back to mr fix it “we’re not the AA you know”
dont get taken for a ride its the retailer that gets the commision we get the S***wilf
Re: Who should pay?
Just goes to show how little attention these call center staff make when allocating job numbers, this should have been picked up at the time of booking?
Lesson learnt, check policy on first visit (as normal), but not only for policy details, we will now take the model details from the policy also! And if a cust doesnt have a current cert (ie, a new policy holder, or renewing policy holder) we are not going out to them untill they have the hard copy there!
Not good enough for the customer really, but we are not Goverment funded…… We need an income!
Re: Who should pay?
We have access to the D&G data base on all Lux Group products.
We get one, and despite us having history we still check, and sure enough shows as live.
Carry out the work, submit the claim, rejected as customer cancelled policy 10 Jan. Speak to D&G, send a screen dump off their web site, and they tell me to invoice customer. Checked today, still shows as live. Customer insists policy NOT cancelled. Customer passed to debt collection agency.
What gets me is we do all that is possible, and still we have to take legal action.
Alex
Re: Who should pay?
Having previous links with insurers, for my sins!, I’d say that validation checks are supposed to be made. The insurer knows full well that if ‘they’ ask you to call out then ‘they’ are liable for your costs.
Just because ‘they’ don’t want to pay you is irrelevant. They must.It’s a well known fact 😉
Re: Who should pay?
Well chaps, I’m abit confused now 😕 ! From the info in my first post, who should pay? Customer or Insurance Company? If the Ins company issue a job number, surely they are liable, however, if the customer claims on a policy that should have been cancelled as the appliance had been written off once….. surely thay are also liable?!
Is it a case of flip a coin and persue a claim 😕 ?
Re: Who should pay?
washdoctor wrote:
Is it a case of flip a coin and persue a claim 😕 ?Best method I employ if there is a dispute and the customer insists they are on cover; send the customer a demand for payment. Include in that demand a polite letter explaining you have done all you can, however THEIR insurer has chose not to honour it. If worded well you can rubbish the insurer into the bargain, and make it look like you are on their side, and THEIR insurer have in fact let you (the customer) down. Works very well, usually we get a call from the insurance company advising us they will pay on “This occasion”.
A classic last week, Glass shelf in Fridge, we insist this is not part of the insurance as this is a Breakdown cover. Customer gets angry, phones insurer, biggest in this market I have to add, who tells him they will honour it. We being of a suspicious nature double check by phoning claims dept. and are told that it is covered on accidental. We submit the claim and then get a rejection as not covered. Phone the customer, who tells us to get stuffed, speak to him gently and advise him his insurer has in fact taken his money, reneged on the deal, and he needs to sort it with them as he is obvoiusly not covered. 10 mins later phone call from Wimbledon, please re-submit the claim.
Don’t you just love em!
Alex
Re: Who should pay?
Having been involved in a highly difficult Small Claims action in the county court in which I had to have advise from a barrister as well as a solicitor in court I would not be perturbed from pursuing your right to claim your costs, loss of earnings, Interest, as well as the costs involved in bringing such a action.
I would forget the Insurance Company, It was the customer who rang you and gave you instructions to complete this work. Having done so a contract was formed between the customer and yourself. At all times you acted in a honest manner with good faith. The fact that subsequntly you cannot obtain your money is between the two parties of this contract, i.e the customer and you.
Judges in these small claims courts are very adept at cutting through all the red tape and are quick to spot which one is the baddy and which one is the goody. The judge will see that you are a honest person doing a honest job and all he or she will be concnerned with was the basis of the contract.
I would say and you must understand that I am no Perry Mason! that the fact that this client had a job number from their insurers is inidential to the core of the claim. It was and is not your fault that this client was provide with flawed information from their insurers and that they issued a job number which they have now retracted, It is not your fault that this insurance company passed your details to this client, It is not your fault that they engaged your services.
I feel that you should sue the client, and it would be up to the client to sue the insurer.
The small claims court if it were to come to that is mostly an informal enviroment and you could easily bring this action yourself as well as defend it if required.
To clear you own mind go and get a fixed fee interview with a local solicitor who will examine the facts of this matter and advise you how to go about this.
With hindsight its always prudent to exmine the policy details on site and ensure that the policy is ( a ) In Term, (b) that the item you have been asigned to repair is specified in that policy, (c) that the job no or reference generated by the insurer pertains to that policy, ( d) that there are no exclusions such as maxmium repair amounts after which authorisation is required.
Good Luck, 8)
Re: Who should pay?
Thanks Guys……. will persue claim tomorrow and post outcome when it comes to an end
🙂
Re: Who should pay?
You could try sending the customer a 7 day letter ( Time Of Essence ) in which you provide them with a final opportunity to settle your invoice.
This often works and I would suggest sending them a letter which outlines your position and a invoice. Don’t get involved in the mechanics of the triangle of i.e You, the insurance co, the client,Just you and the client should be sited, make the letter as amenable as possible whilst sticking to the facts of the matter, that you were engaged by them to effect this repair and there are costs as a result which they are liable for.
If after receiving this letter and invoice the Time of Essence passes without a response then you have tried all that can be done and considered reasonable.
Thats when the County Court would be the tool to get what is yours of course assuming that the customer has the real means to pay in the first place.
A valuable lesson my solicitor passed to me was this, that over the years they have had various clients who amazing as it may seem procure the services of there legal practice and when its time to pay they do not ! ?
Who would in there right mind try to shyster a solictor ? they sue folks every day of the week. Despite this they also like anybody make informed decisions if having pursued a client for months on end and finally end up getting a county court judgement would at the end of this process get their dosh. I am reliably informed that there are occasions when they take the position that there would be no real possibilty of getting any money even after winning a claim, and they choose not to pursue the claim as it would divert there time and energy away from other work.
At the end of the day each has to make there own evaulution of if it is worth it. I have of course not even touched on the matter of principle but thats another matter altogether.
I hope that you get the right result from this whatever you decided to do but do come back and let us know 8)
Re: Who should pay?
Hi
As this was an expensive job, did you not have to get authorisation from the insurance company, most of them want to know if the cost of a repair exceeds £125 😕 They should have picked up on the customer having no insurance then surely.Greg
Re: Who should pay?
Washdoctor, I often tell people, or remind them at least, that a warranty or insurance policy is merely another method of paying for your services. It does not (so far as I am aware, although I can be corrected if need be) release the customer from the fact that the services have to be paid for.
I can’t speak for English Law, but I did find out after a run-in with Mastercare/Philco that under Scots law the home-owner or person that allowed the work to be carried out is ultimately responsible for the payment to have that done. That’s it, end of story.
Hope it helps.
K.
Re: Who should pay?
*** RESULT ***
Firstly, thanks for all of your advice 🙂 …
I sent an abrupt letter with a photocopy of a filled out County Court application to the cust giving them 14 Days to pay. I was hoping that the photocopy of the court app would encourage them to act rather than ignore…………… It worked!
The cust went Banannas at the Ins Company and hey presto……. I am paid 😀
As I was rigidly told by the Ins Company that I wasnt getting paid, this goes to show that the best way to get a reaction is through the customer. It seems they have a louder voice than us!
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