Police report for Tesco over insurance claim is snow joke

My car was parked in a London street last December during heavy snow. On 20 December I saw the car had been damaged and, believing this to a be a hit-and-run, I reported it to the police and told my insurer, Tesco.

A neighbour then told me the person involved in the accident had already notified the police and left a note on my windscreen, which was now under a foot of snow.

I informed Tesco, who told me to contact the police again. In turn, the police said I should take the crime reference number to Tesco, which would have to pay £160 for a report.

I did this immediately. The car was written off and I received £3,800 for it, minus a £825 excess. I also had to pay £200 for a hire car which I needed over Christmas.

The police banked the cheque in February but Tesco has still received no report. It says the police don't answer the phone. I am worried about losing my no claims bonus, worth a lot when you are 26, because of ineptitude and the inability of anyone to resolve this. CD, London

Tesco says it understands your frustration at the delays in finalising your claim but it needed the police report to reveal the name of the other driver's insurer. Only then could it contact the company to ask for the money to cover your excess. For this third party information it paid the police £28, not £160.

You had chosen this exceptionally high excess to keep down the cost of premiums when you started driving.

On 17 May Tesco finally managed to get the police report, which showed that Egg was the other insurer. Tesco posted you a cheque for £825. Unfortunately it sent this to your old address, even though it knew you had moved. To save time, it has resent the money by bank transfer and also posted a £25 Tesco gift card. Egg has sent you a cheque for the cost of the hire car.

You can email Margaret Dibben atyour.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Margaret Dibben, Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU and include a telephone number. Do not enclose SAEs or original documents. The newspaper accepts no legal responsibility for advice.