It is with great sadness that I finally get around to posting this on my blog.
This April just gone I was travelling in France when a woman driving a people carrier pulled out of a side road and turned into me. Fortunately I was driving through a village at the time and going very slowly. However her speed was enough to set the airbags off and she wrecked the front corner of my car. Although the chassis is still intact, the high cost of new panels was enough for the insurance company to declare it a total loss. Injuries were very slight – none in the other car, my passenger had a sore neck for a couple of days and I got burns on my arms from the airbags.
I was insured with Chubb through the Ferrari Owners Club scheme administered by Locktons. I can honestly say I’ve never had so much trouble with a claim and my experience was at complete odds with the sales literature promising top levels of care and swift claim resolutions.
Chubb recovered my car from France – somewhere on the way back the rear end of the car was ripped off as well as the under tray. The car was sent to Maranellos who sent it on to Bodytechnics. After it was declared a total loss, Chubb moved the car into storage. During the transit to storage all the keys and fobs were lost (Bodytechnics had me courier my spares to them).
Chubb then tried to wash their hands of the rear damage and lost keys/fobs. Firstly they tried to say the damage happened in the accident – when I provided photos showing that this wasn’t possible they then tried to wriggle out by saying I had to claim directly off the transport company who did the damage. It took the threat of legal action to galvanise them into settling.
After 12 weeks of messing around I was finally paid out for all the damage and decided to buy the car back as part of the settlement. When the car turned up at my house I noticed that it had significant additional damage from when I last saw it two weeks ago and a number of items were missing from the car (including the expensive Titanium wheel bolts). I sent the car back and had to re-open the claim with Chubb.
After paying an additional sum for this new damage I agreed to settle the claim – the car is now back in my possession and in storage. I am unsure what I’m going to do with the car but my current thinking is to try and buy another 360 and use both cars as the base for another project. What this space….
Aldous Voice 
Gutted to see this mate, as you know. Can’t wait to see what you do next.
Sorry to hear this. With your knowledge and skills I’m sure you will make something great of it.
Very sorry to see your car in that state … but, on the bright side, it is just a car and it can be replaced. Much more value is the well being of all those involved in the accident, and thankfully, no one was injured. I look forward to you starting another Ferrari project …
So sorry to hear of your accident. I am, however, glad that no one was seriously injured.
I had missed your posts over the last few months. Now I understand why things have been quiet.
Wow! What a horror story! Over the years I have also had very poor service from insurance companies, as always they are very quick to take, but have what seems to be an absolute aversion to honouring their obligations to give back when the time comes! As far as I am concerned car insurance is just legalised theft.
I am truly sorry to see the photos of your car, I’m sure if that ever happened to mine I would be at risk of committing murder.
I sincerely hope you can muster the enthusiasm and energy to rebuild what is a unique and wonderful car.
As I wrote on F-Chat, it really hurts to see this. I just hope that you will gain energy and enjoy another project sometime in the not too distant future.
We were so sorry to read your story today, view the photos, but glad you and your passenger are OK physically from the accident. We can relate to the emotional toll of a nightmare no-fault insurance process but that was with a daily driver; can’t imagine out of country with an exotic.
Please, please don’t let your blog go cold. It’s become a great knowledge base and an incredible educational tool which we refer to often. Would you consider your next post to be about the process and how you calculated the right negotiating buy back for your car? We hope to never be in the position but again, your knowledge and experience would certainly help if presented with the scenario.
Let the ‘new’ era begin 🙂
Hi Lee,
I certainly intend to keep the blog going and am looking forward to a new era.
Regarding the buy back of the salvage, I had a clause in my insurance contract that gave me the option to buy the car back at 20% of the agreed value. Fortunately I didn’t have to negotiate that part of the settlement!
Thanks,
Aldous.
I had missed your posts over the last few months. Now I understand why things have been quiet.
Sadly the car but anyway you were not hurt, it’s most important. Everything goes to the repairLooking forward to your next project. It’s only 10 months until the next season
Very sorry to hear this sad news. The only positive outcome is that no-one was seriously hurt. I hope you can find the energy to re-build the car….
Thank you for all the kind comments. Rest assured this isn’t the end!
Aldous, very sorry to hear of your misfortune, but good to hear that you are safe and sound! It is a pity that your car is wrecked, but I’m sure you will find a way to bounce back with something even better. Look forward to hearing about what’s next!
Aldous, best wishes to you and the car. It almost seems like someone tried to steal your rear bumper … I can’t believe insurance companies / transport companies are such A$$’s when dealing with such a delicate car.
Aldous, I am glad you and your passenger are both OK! Thank you for sharing all your experiences, with all of us, regarding your 360. Your guidance and insight are truly invaluable!