IF Comprehensive Insurance - First-Hand

So it came to pass that one fine morning I woke up, headed to the kitchen as usual to make my morning coffee, and - what do you think I saw in the courtyard? - my car had no wheels! Not a single one! For about ten minutes I stared, wondering whether what I was seeing was an optical illusion. It was not. It must be said the sight was quite surreal, because although I had heard that something like this could happen back in the good old nineties, needless to say I was confident about the security of the car and certainly that our courtyard was the safest place to keep it. Ah, what naivety.

Whatever the case, three not particularly pleasant things came to light. That the lamp in the middle of the courtyard switches off in the middle of the night. That a car alarm can blare for hours in the courtyard and nobody will have anything to do about it. I must say, even I didn't know what to do in such a situation. Call the police? And what would I tell them? That perhaps a cat had jumped onto some car's bonnet? Well, and the third - that wheel locking nuts, known as "secret bolts", although they increase the difficulty of wheels being removed without authorisation, do not exclude such a possibility. I learned this from tyre mechanics who, shortly before delivering tyres to my car, had just come from a Škoda whose all four wheels had been unscrewed complete with all the "secret bolts". Moreover, the regular nuts had been left behind, but the "secret bolts" taken.

Time and place of events - mid November, Sarkandaugava, Riga.

The first thing to do in such a situation - call the police. Explain the situation and the location. This must be done for two reasons - to prove the fact of the theft to the insurers, and secondly - you never know, miracles happen and the thieves get caught! While waiting for the police unit to arrive, it is worth gathering the following thoughts in one's head - the time when and where the car was left, when the theft was noticed, when the police were called, when the police arrived. The next step is more complicated - one must be able to describe and assess the stolen (or damaged) parts. To describe in terms of visual appearance, colour, special features. In the case of tyres - size and model. And also the value of the loss. It may be that some of this information is not known, but these questions were asked.

In case you notice a Volvo fitted with original 16-inch alloy wheels (11 spokes running from the centre to the rim) with Michelin tyres, know that they may well have been spinning on our Volvo until very recently :(
Distinguishing feature - removed hubcaps (holes visible in their place).

Next - the insurers. Although until now I had had no dealings with insurers, in the middle of summer, after an incident with a colleague's car, I decided to get comprehensive insurance. Times had become unsettled, as they say. I chose IF P&C Insurance.
Since the incident happened on a weekend, IF has no 24-hour telephone and damage claims are made either online or by phone. Nervously I waited for the first working day and filed the comprehensive insurance claim. A kind lady on the other end asked whether the police had drawn up a protocol. She asked if I could send photos from the scene, which I did.

The next step - the damage must be shown. IF has its own service centres and normally one would have to go and show them. But this was not a normal case, as going and showing was not possible. They gave me the phone number of a tyre service (Latakko, Matīsa Street 76/78) to try to arrange for the fitting to be done at the client's location. I arranged it!

Shortly after, IF sent an SMS that they would cover the theft-related expenses (evidently having received confirmation from the police), and that I should contact the tyre service. I did - the estimate has not yet been approved. For some reason I imagined that the approval would take at least a couple of days, if not weeks. However, the service contact person stated that with IF things are different and the estimate is approved within a maximum of one day. In the meantime they sent a wheel catalogue so I could choose. We discussed the tyres in detail. Since the previous ones had been Michelin, the price range I could choose from was quite wide.

A day passed and already the next day was more than half done, but the estimate was still not approved. It turned out the insurers had doubts about the value of the previous tyres, and in addition the insurance broker (DVA brokers) was delayed in sending the photos to the insurers. Even if the photos had been sent in time, the images had been taken in summer. But never mind - I called the broker and reminded them. The insurer requested the purchase documents for the tyres. The documents existed, but they were in the office on the other side of the city.

It turns out IF comprehensive insurance has two good features - a recovery service (reachable 24h, I haven't tried it, but I hope it is) and for the duration of repairs one can take the insurer's car. Later I read on the if.lv website that the insurance also includes roadside assistance - for example, if a tyre needs changing, fuel needs to be delivered, or you cannot get into the car because the lock or security system has broken.

The necessary documents were obtained and that same evening the tyre service mechanics arrived and fitted new, shiny alloy wheels with winter tyres already mounted. Speaking with knowledgeable people, I learned that in such cases one can insist on finding original wheels, though that process will be unpredictably long. The newly obtained wheels satisfied me completely.

The next "surprise" appeared when the car was already on wheels. It turned out that the thieves had not only taken the wheels, but had also managed to damage both sill covers. In the meantime, our email correspondence with IF had already been established. Entertaining no particular illusions (the damage claim had not been filed immediately), I described the situation: while the car was on blocks, with the naked eye and without particular experience in technical matters, I had not noticed the damage to the sills. Without any hesitation I receive a reply - come to the service centre. This time a different one (V4 Motors, Ādmiņu Street 5/7).

I called, drove over, showed them. Waiting for a reply. The next day I received a reply that the estimate had been approved and now I had to wait for the sills to be sourced. Sills are plastic trim pieces that run along the underside of the car, attached to the side edges. The old strips were dark blue. The new ones would be black. The service man says they could be painted, but after a while the paint would come off. I called one, then another "more technically minded" acquaintance - what to do? - If they say the paint will come off, then it will come off. I resigned myself to the fact that they would be black.

In conclusion

IF's speed of response was pleasantly surprising. Estimates are approved within a day. The fact that communication and sending of documents or photos can happen via email and in Latvian. At the service centres there were also no problems with the Latvian language. I was slightly puzzled that the insurer has its own service centres. Until now I had heard various reviews, and not the best ones. Fortunately, the suspicions were not confirmed. On the contrary - the quality and speed of the work satisfied me. It is worth remembering that if the repairs take longer, there is the option of using the insurer's car.

From time to time I wonder what I would have done if I had suddenly woken up in the middle of the night and noticed several men busy around the car. Would I have gone to sort things out with a small penknife? Shouted and swore through the window in a menacing voice? Even if I had managed to scare them off, I wouldn't have sat by the window every night keeping watch...

www.if.lv
www.latakko.lv
www.v4motors.lv