Hi Folks,

I'm a newbie on here. I hope members with a bit of legal knowledge might be able to help me.

A couple of weeks ago my pride and joy 3-door Focus ST 170 was stolen. It has not been recovered and my insurance company have agreed to pay out against my policy.

The car was a 54 plate and was in showroom condition - trust me when I say it was spotless inside and out.

It had the custom pack and the comfort pack.

The car had 30,010 miles on the clock when it was stolen.

The cheapest car I could find on autotrader.co.uk (as at 26/07/2008) that is anything like comparable to my car is priced at £7,869. In fact the mileage of said car is higher and it does not have the comfort pack.

I have obtained an independent valuation from Glass’s Motoring Guide with a retail price at £7,270.

My insurance company have ignored these facts and have offered me £4,200. They refuse to listen to my argument have more or less said the offer is a "take it or leave it" offer.

I'm disgusted. Anyone had a similar experience, or does anyone know what my rights are. I've been told the Financial Ombudsman is a waste of time. Writting to them is a waste of a stamp as they always side with the insurance companies.

Never insure your car with Sainsbury's Car insurance. They are underwritten by Esure and are a bunch of crooks.

Hi Folks,

I'm a newbie on here. I hope members with a bit of legal knowledge might be able to help me.

A couple of weeks ago my pride and joy 3-door Focus ST 170 was stolen. It has not been recovered and my insurance company have agreed to pay out against my policy.

The car was a 54 plate and was in showroom condition - trust me when I say it was spotless inside and out.

It had the custom pack and the comfort pack.

The car had 30,010 miles on the clock when it was stolen.

The cheapest car I could find on autotrader.co.uk (as at 26/07/2008) that is anything like comparable to my car is priced at £7,869. In fact the mileage of said car is higher and it does not have the comfort pack.

I have obtained an independent valuation from Glass’s Motoring Guide with a retail price at £7,270.

My insurance company have ignored these facts and have offered me £4,200. They refuse to listen to my argument have more or less said the offer is a "take it or leave it" offer.

I'm disgusted. Anyone had a similar experience, or does anyone know what my rights are. I've been told the Financial Ombudsman is a waste of time. Writting to them is a waste of a stamp as they always side with the insurance companies.

Never insure your car with Sainsbury's Car insurance. They are underwritten by Esure and are a bunch of crooks.

thats insurance companies for ya! did you tell them the market value when you set the insurance up?

thats insurance companies for ya! did you tell them the market value when you set the insurance up?

Yep. I specified the value at £8k.

Has anybody got anything a bit more useful than "that's insurance companies for ya!". That's about as useful as the police were when I reported the theft. They more or less said "that car theives for ya!".