COME TO US FOR INSURANCE!!!!....UNTILL U HAVE A CAIM THAT IS

This is the story of a happy couple buying their first brand new vehicle. Part of that exciting process is shopping for the best insurance prices. So as the happy fairy tale continues the couple get different quotes and go with the one they are pleased with among all others. A few questions are asked and answered and thinking all is fine, the ball is set rolling with all concerned. Our agent has insured us with L'unique Insurance. Papers are faxed to dealership for signing, confirmation that all is fine comes through and we drive home with glee in our new vehicle. Thursday 19th May/05

Friday I cancel our previous insurance handler because we traded in both of our old vehicles in for this new one.

Two days go by and happy couple have some bad luck. On his way to work, Chris is faced with a lone wheel in the middle of the highway. He has the choice of rear ending a semi truck or going over the wheel hoping it will clear the bottom. It doesn't. It hits the undercarriage and does some damage. No one knows where the wheel came from. He is able to drive it to a garage to assess damages. They consider it prudent to just have it towed to the dealership. He does just that. It is Saturday on a long weekend so we can do nothing till businesses open on the Tuesday.

We do what anyone would do. We call the pertinent people to make our unfortunate claim so soon after getting our new car. We have been told that it is a substantial repair. Aprox $3000 in damage. We are then called back in the same day by the insurance agent who gave us the great quote the week before and informed us that ....UM the insurance company you were signed to, refuse to take your claim or be your insurers because you signed a form fraudulently.

Brief background....my partner had made 2 late payments almost 3 yrs ago with ING insurance during a difficult time in his life. He rectified this but his policy had been cancelled nonetheless. They then reinstated his insurance when I added him to my policy over one yr ago. They even mentioned to me that he had a previous cancellation in the past just for my information but were willing to insure him again with me. We assumed the info in our dossier was open and taken care of for any future scrutiny if needed.

When buying a car as most know, there are it seems a million papers to sign. Yes, they are gone through one by one with a brief description then pen is handed over and we sign, sign, sign...Chris is the first to say it was his fault for not stopping to read it all. One of said forms had masses of numbers and whatnot with regards to the insurance plus mention of integrated alarm, Sherlock engraving, yrs of Chris' licence, his occupation Chemist, no infractions, no cancellations without payment and extras excluded (before vehicle is given) ................so he signed this form thinking that it didn't apply to him because as far as we were concerned , the (no cancellations without payment) wasn't true because that had been taken care of and he had been re-insured with same company. We hid nothing and were never asked about previous policy issues during the questions/ answers period with insurance quotes. Nor was it asked about days later when we told the insurance agent we would take his business, nor when the faxes were confirmed. We honestly thought it was old but nonetheless open information on the former ING dossier with our names on it.

Only when it came time to claim damage did L' Unique then decide to not insure us, using the signed form as an excuse to not be our insurers. We were then told that we had 14 days in which we were still legally insured by old company but I had cancelled our old insurance the day after getting the new vehicle. We didn't even have the old cars we used to, so that insurance was no longer necessary. When we called back, we were initially told by the agent that the cancellation had not been registered as of yet. Later in the day after the agent made calls to get info on our behalf with ING it was then stated that they HAD registered cancellation. Thus, giving them the ability to wash their hands of us We never received an official cancellation of insurance from the L,Unique company that supposedly insured our new car either. We have been playing phone tag with the different agents to end up with NO INSURANCE and a new car to repair.

I realize some of the blame is on our side. We totally understand that but somewhere in all this. Someone else didn't do their job and has left the whole bag in our lap. We and everyone else are potential PAYING customers for these companies so they are quick to want to sign us up...but the second they need to pay its over.........Had we not had an accident, how long would we have been insured by this company? Would we still have been cancelled? Or asked about the existing mark on previous record to be explained as rectified?

We may have a legal case but after having to pay $3000 on repairs will it cost us another $3000 in legal fees?

One place I can say that has treated us with respect and much heart felt service is oddly enough the Hyundai dealership. The service department has acted with much human compassion, helpfulness and understanding. It was a shock to them as well that this happened. So far as even mentioned an abrupt halt in their dealings/referrals with said insurance company. They are doing all they can to facilitate our need to repair our vehicle.

So you can imagine how stressed we have been since the accident but mostly in the last 2 days with this going on.