eejit

If you have a genuine claim you have nothing to worry about with the telephone call. How it works is they will ask you detailed questions about what happened eg what you were wearing and about the items etc. The principle is that if you are telling the truth you will know be able to answer the questions. Don't worry if you forget the answers to some of the questions as they expect you will.

The basic principle is that if you are making it up there is an indication in your answers, if they suspect this they will then send a more specialist loss adjuster out to chat to you and investigate more. If everything adds up they will advise Aviva alls in order and to proceed with settling the claim.

The advantage of this system is it helps to reduce fraudulent claims which in the end mean better prices for the honest claims.

I would not suggest you take the advice of dealing with it by post as apart from ringing alarm bells will cause long delays on your claim.

http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/interview/cognitive_int.html

Huckster,

I'm happy to testify!
I have CCTV footage of taxi, time-stamp from my bank withdrawal and have never made a claim before, so just need to read a very long a boring policy document now.

Just glad to hear that CL are respectable, and reckon that if they pushed the police, we can definitely find the taxi my bag was in.
I assume you work in insurance then?!

Cheers

Jalexa:

eejit:

They've now told me that we need to have a 40 minute conversation to get the details of this case.

Personally, I would employ my "length of rope" technique on Cunningham Lindsay. I would make it clear to them that you want to communicate in writing. See what they say. Wobetide them if their response to that later turns out to be a lie. Be polite, insistent and focussed that you want to communicate in writing. Do not respond to their likely question "why". Check back everything they say. Enquire about the means of obtaining the call recording (you may need to employ a £10 Subject Access Request").

Jalexa

eejit will find that it is in the terms and conditions of their policy, that they have to comply with any reasonable request by the Insurers to establish any event of loss. I know there can be argument as to what is reasonable.

If eejit turns down their request or appears to want to avoid this, Aviva will just avoid paying the claim. Also when the renewal is due, Aviva will then probably decline to offer renewal, making it more difficult to obtain cover elsewhere.

If eejit wants Aviva to pay the claim, they will just have to cooperate. You will not believe the number of policyholders that suddenly withdraw a claim because the word interview is mentioned. It is almost an admission that the claim is dodgy.

I would not recommend any action by a policyholder which prevents the Insurer from understanding the loss event. They will end up with no claim and no Insurance.

In regard to interviewing techniques, they do use technology to pick up certain signs, that a policyholder may not be telling an exact version of events. This is a sign of the times. Almost guilty until proved innocent.

Huckster

Cheers for that, Jalexa,

I'm happy facing a lie detector, but just worried about them getting me to agree to something I don't understand.
I now have the latest copy of the policy wording, and have a good three days (which I'll need) to read it.

Appreciate the help.

Huckster,

Thanks very much for that!
I agree that the police should be able to find the taxi - especially as my CCTV guy narrowed it down to 2 black cabs within the time frame I was there.

However, I can't get even the phone interview with CL until this Friday, so it'll have been a week since the bag went missing. Hopefully, once they get involved, the police could track the taxi down, as I've charted the route on Google Maps all the way.

Thanks anyway, I will trust Cunningham Lindsey, tell all, and hope for the best.

Cheers

eejit:

They've now told me that we need to have a 40 minute conversation to get the details of this case.

Aviva have pioneered a "lie detector" speech system. Suspect they are going to use it on you.

Need to know what it says in the policy about making a claim to be certain about the answer. I would have thought you would be entitled to communicate in writing. I certainly think 40 minutes is out of order even if the other party pays for the call.

Personally, I would employ my "length of rope" technique on Cunningham Lindsay. I would make it clear to them that you want to communicate in writing. See what they say. Wobetide them if their response to that later turns out to be a lie. Be polite, insistent and focussed that you want to communicate in writing. Do not respond to their likely question "why". Check back everything they say. Enquire about the means of obtaining the call recording (you may need to employ a £10 Subject Access Request").

eejit

You have nothing to worry about being interviewed. This is standard practice these days for such loss events.

Cunningham Lindsey are long established and very well respected in the Industry.

All they will ask are questions regarding the items lost and the loss event.

I would be surprised if the Police could not manage to track down the taxi cab. I know there are thousands that operate around London, but they should be able to narrow it down if they wanted to. It is whether they can be bothered for a loss, that should be covered by Insurance. If it was a more serious matter, they would have found the taxi by now.

If you show any reluctance to being interviewed, they will be much more suspicious.

Huckster

I've had a quick look through the forum here, but haven't quite found an answer to my question.

Basically, I shut the door to a black cab late last Thursday night, paid the driver, and walked off.
About 5 seconds later, I spun round and realised I'd left my rucksack in the taxi, but he'd already done a U-turn and driven off with it at 0.30am!

The bag contained a laptop, charger, house keys, camera and iPhone. Ouch.
Although the laptop is insured with work, everything else belongs to me, and it's going to be a nightmare to sort out.
First thing the next morning I did the following:

- reported to the police, calling all local police stations
- contacted TFL lost property and got a ref number
- finally got a crime ref number from the police a couple of days later after the bag hadn't turned up
- contacted the local boroughs for CCTV footage of the taxi I was in to get reg number of taxi, but the quality isn't good enough, but I have a reference no. for the query.

I still have a good 10 days to wait before TFL lost property decide my bag was actually stolen, but:

My wife and I have contents insurance with Norwich Union - now Aviva - and I contacted them to start a claim, getting a ref number.
I had called them about 8 months ago when I bought my iphone to check whether it was covered, and they said that it was.

The iphone 16GB 3G will cost around £440 (!!) to replace, along with a £70 bag, and £240 for the camera, and £20 for keys.
However, when I called to register the claim, they said they were going to put me through to a "loss adjustment company" called Cunningham Lindsey.

They've now told me that we need to have a 40 minute conversation to get the details of this case.
I have nothing to hide, and genuinely want my possessions back, rather than having to make a claim, but should I be worried?
Should I insist on only communicating in writing? They say their conversation is recorded, but I can't record it myself!

Are these ruthless lawyers who are going to pay me about £3 in total?!
(http://www.cunninghamlindsey.com/uk/)

Does anyone have experience of Aviva, Cunningham Lindsey or any such claim?

Yours,
eejit.