wrote in message
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On Friday, 15 December 2017 21:12:47 UTC, Steve Walker wrote:
On 14/12/2017 01:07, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
The insurance company (Direct Line) said that as it was two separate
events, there would be two excesses to pay (2 x £50). They also put me
in touch with a company that specialised in out of production stock
and
actually managed to get me a replacement washbasin and toilet bowl.

I said I would fit it myself rather than them paying for someone to
come
out and they said that they could only pay me minimum wage for the
job!
I told them that I wasn't interested in being paid and not to bother
with it.

They then paid for the items to be delivered, but never charged me
either excess - I presume it would have cost them at least that much
to
do the paperwork and send someone to do it, but even so, a good
result.

Never understood insurance companies. A skip lorry hit my car. Only a
tap
really, with damage restricted to a rear door. Which still opened and
closed OK and window etc still fine. Just a dent. The loss adjuster
decided the door had to be replaced with a new one. On a 12 year old
car -
but in very good nick. And the total cost of doing that exceeded the
value. A good used door - in the correct colour - could be bought for
about £70 - not the £700 plus of the repair.

Yes. Before I had my own car, I'd borrowed my mother's car and someone
ran into the back of me while I was stationary at a zebra. The impact
folded the rear panel flat, crumpled the boot floor and the end of each
wing. The car was a Fiat 130CL, well beyond its best and not worth
fixing. Insurance quotes for repair were £800 and we told the assessor
from his insurance company that we'd be happy to have it written off for
£500, as we were ready to replace it anyway. They insisted on repair and
it ended up costing £950. Three months later we sold it for £350!

On Planet Sane, competition would wipe these companies out. Why hasn't it?

It did, the worst of them went bust or were bought and asset stripped.