25,000 reasons to argue with your insurance company

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It’s come – my determination from the Insurance Industry Ombudsman – and I won!!!!

I received the letter when I got home today. There’s five pages of facts and reasoning there, but the crux of it is in the final paragraph:

The panel therefore determines the member has failed to establish on the balance of probabilities that CAMS had jurisdiction over the driver training day on 22 July 2007. It follows the member is required to indemnify the applicant for the damage to his vehicle, which occirred in the accident at Baskerville Raceway on 22 July 2007.

I don’t think I’m at liberty to discuss the full details and I’m quite sure that I’m not at liberty to identify the insurance company. Locals know who it is, anyway, through various discussions we’ve had.

The important thing is that the car is now covered. It had agreed value cover of $25,000 so we’ll have to see how much the repair quotes come in at to see if the car is written off or repaired. My preference is for them to fix it, naturally, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

——

For those who are unfamiliar, I had an accident in my Saab 9-3 Viggen in July 2007 whilst attending a driver training event at a local race track. The insurance company declined coverage based on the notion that the event was covered by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport and therefore, excluded from coverage. My case hinged on an opinion that whilst CAMS were associated with the event, they didn’t have jurisdiction over the event and therefore it should be covered.

The insurance company had the burden of proof to establish that my claim was deniable under the exclusions detailed in my policy.

I provided plenty of evidence to back up my opinion and documented the whole case meticulously. It took a lot of time, but it’s definitely been worth it. It seems that the insurer wasn’t as meticulous, nor as convincing in their arguments.

The lesson learned – if you believe that you’ve got a case, fight it. Well reasoned and well presented arguments based on the facts of the situation have to be addressed in a meaningful way. Many companies rely on you to either be unprepared or unmotivated. Make them accountable.

I’m the happiest guy in the neighborhood right now! My Viggen’s coming back!!!!

48 thoughts on “25,000 reasons to argue with your insurance company”

  1. Best news so far this monday, yet I hope for even better news for myself this afternoon…also car-related… :-)

    Hope you get that blue flash running soon!

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  4. You don´t have any problems with words Swade so I guess many of us tended to thing that you would win. Congrats Swade!

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  5. The Viggen LIVES!!

    So happy for you matey, now get quotes and get re-building!!!

    As Farouk in the castle says F**K EM!!

    a.

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  9. Congratulations Swade,
    You have fought hard for what you believed in and you have been rewarded.
    Now just find the right repairer to put it back together the way it should be. Tell them you want a brand new second hand car!
    This is great news for you and everybody that visits this site. Just fantastic!

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  10. Awesome :) Congrats. Always nice to see the little fella win against the big companies…if they do pay you out rather than fixing it, just don’t go buying anything Italian ;)

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  14. Swade – patience is a virtue. I waited for 6 months to have my 9-5 repaired which I crash landed thru sheer stupidity (canned the TCS off in the pursuit of better traction on gravel) and paid the price for it. In the end, I won the long insurance saga as well. When I read your post, you should have heard the explitives coming out of my mouth. You won, now repair the Viggen and get back to driving Saab, will you?

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  18. Thanks all for your thoughts.

    Ken H – My ideal garage has one older car and one newer car. It has one Saab and one Alfa. If the Viggen gets fixed then I’ll most likely be looking for a 16V Alfa 33 to replace the 900.

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  20. Congrats! :)

    Q: is there anything special to think about today when starting to use a car after it’s been idle for a long time? Years ago, people always said you had to change the fluids, change some hoses, and so on… Is that a problem today with modern cars?

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  28. That’s great! I’ve been waiting to hear how this would end up. I’m glad the insurer is being held to the policy you pay(paid) for.

    Keep us posted on the new developments with the car.

    ~Peter

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  29. Yes!!!!! Can´t wait to read about how your Viggen gets fixed. This was really good news.
    Viggen is a future Classic, so let´s hope it´s possible to get in good order again.
    Congratulations Swade!!

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  31. CONGRATS, SWADE!

    I knew your persistance, intelligent argument & determination would prevail.
    Looking forward to the new (and improved???) Viggen!

    J

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  33. I concur with Mats, this is the best piece of car-related news to come out of my RSS feed today.

    Chinese knock-offs be damned, a true original is about to be reborn.

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  34. Ha! I’ve got even better news now….well for me personally at least… my 1981 VW Scirocco was just aproved by the “Swedish Association of Car Builders” as a modified vehicle and is on its way to be 100% road legal with a 180 hp 1.8t 20v engine from an Audi A4…. I’ll take on your Viggen any day Swade…. ;-)

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  36. Super News, Swade ! ! !

    So good to hear the final good news of your diligent waiting. Wonderful to know that arbitration worked in your favor.

    Now fix your Blue Beast & do us proud!

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  38. This is sweet justice and a reward to a good man. Honestly, after reading everyone’s comments we were all quite upset and fuming about the way this whole case was handled. Anyway, I am glad it’s gone your way as it should have. Enjoy life and the passion again, it’s worth it !!! Congratulations.

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  39. Mats, that’s great news as well. I know you’ve been sweating over that car for a long time now. We’ll have to find a video game with our two cars in it and configure them to suit – then get it on!

    And as per y earlier comments, folks, there will be an Alfa eventually. It’ll just sit alongside the Saab that’s there.

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  45. Swade… as a fellow Viggenator, can’t tell you how happy I am for you. The giant anthropomorphic gopher is smiling tonight!!

    I love to make the giant anthropomorphic gopher happy :-) – SW

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  47. I’m glad things worked out for you, Swade. As I don’t know your country’s finances very well, I’m wondering: is $25,000 sufficient to cover the damages? If not, I’ll sell you the Jag for $22,000. :)

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