Car Damaged by Falling Branches

[tatyang]

i'm now going through the same thing as scooby. Nparks' insurer gave me a 1 para email rejecting my claims after 4 mths with very general statements. (see below) no info on when was it last prune, etc... i have wrote back asking for more information but was ignored. it has been more than 2 weeks now.
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We refer to the above incident.

We have reviewed the circumstances of the incident. The tree was found to be healthy with no visible signs and symptoms of any pests or diseases. In addition, the tree had been regularly pruned and maintained. The weather report shows that there were periods of light rain to very heavy showers with thunder and gusting winds up to 40km/hr on the day of the incident.
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anyone has any idea how shall i proceed fm here?

[ScoobyDoes]

That's basically exactly the same email I got from the insurance company....

We have reviewed the circumstances of the incident. The tree was found to be healthy with no visible signs and symptoms of any pests or diseases.

In addition, the tree had been regularly pruned and maintained. The weather report shows that there were periods of very heavy showers to light rain for two days prior to the day of the incident. The tree branch may have fallen as a result of the inclement weather.

Write back explaining that clearly whilst the tree may have been trimmed regularly, the fact this particular branch fell means it was likely overlooked and was definately not healthy. Counter that by admitting that not every branch in Singapore can be checked and you understand that whilst some branches may look healthy on first inspection, the teams don't have time or staff to check each and every one.

Given this, point out that it must be accepted that some branches will fall in bad weather, hence the NP Department even employs them as an insurance company.

Firstly, get a quote from a bodyshop for the repair costs and attach it to your email back to the insurance company.

[tatyang]

thks... i will write to them again. i had already sent them the damage assessment within a week of the incident. .. one of the key point which i put across was that when the branch fell, it wasn't even raining & there was no wind... yet they refuse to admit liability...

well, will keep updating this thread till i've exhausted all avenues...thks again.

[tatyang]

thks scooby, after 2 more emails which i cc their chairman and ceo, the insurer is prepared to talk $.. but they insist that i produce the repair invoice which i do not have since i have not gotten it repaired yet. (yes, i've been driving around with a dent in the bonnet and water in my headlights)

did Nparks insist on the invoice in your case? did you even try to claim loss of use in your case?
thks a zillion!!

[ScoobyDoes]

thks scooby, after 2 more emails which i cc their chairman and ceo, the insurer is prepared to talk $.. but they insist that i produce the repair invoice which i do not have since i have not gotten it repaired yet. (yes, i've been driving around with a dent in the bonnet and water in my headlights)

did Nparks insist on the invoice in your case? did you even try to claim loss of use in your case?
thks a zillion!!

They paid me based on a repair quote from an insurance company registered repair centre. I didn't specifically add anything for loss of use for three days of the repair as I would do it when overseas but I did get the repair centre to add $100 on top of the quote anyway, for covering such problems.

I still have dents all over my bonnet though, because the cheque from the insurance company didn't match the quote so i just decided to leave it.

Since this is Singapore the sides of the car is covered in car park dings and scratches anyway so it would have been a bit ridiculous to repair and re-spray the bonnet whilst leaving the rest of the car untouched and I wasn't prepared to spend $1000 on doing so.

[tatyang]

hi scooby, finally got the car repaired / repray and Nparks' insurer paid full including loss of use. Thanks for all the help.
cheers...

[ScoobyDoes]

I don't know to be pleased or sad, they gave you more than they gave me but my car is setting sights on the scrap pile already so no worries.