Car valuation deduction

Haggle a bit with the insurance co they will raise their first offer by a wee bit but don't be greedy, be polite and friendly whilst doing it.

Well I guess you could always see if a local bodyshop could tell you how much it would cost to repair the issues, though given its a WO Im unsure if you can take it to a bodyshop?

helenjones833 wrote: »

So, they have now fun a "CAP / HPI" check, which has come up with a revised figure of £3956, after factoring in the damage.

On the Glass's one, they're claiming that £4560 that my Glass's report lists for Dealer Retail Price is the "advertised selling price" rather than the price that the cars actually sell for, and that they use the latter. The report I ordered had no such figure, so I'm not sure if they're telling the truth on that one. Do insurance companies get a different figure from Glass's?

Bear in mind that the Glass's guide you (The public) have access to specifically states in the T&Cs that it is not to be used for the purposes of valuations for Insurance purposes.

As Danny has mentioned, advertised prices are regarded as the starting price the seller is prepared to start negotiating downwards from.

There are a few motortraders who frequent this part of MSE, they may well be able to confirm whether the existing damage to the vehicle has the financial impact to the value of the car as the amount the Insurers say.

Personally I would say it would affect the value by £400 as you mention a scratch from a vandal down the side of the car which makes it sound like it's over more than one panel.

Have a read of this link from the Ombudsman, I recommend you read it a couple of times as it is how the Ombudsman expects the Insurer to value the car.

https://web.archive.org/web/20150320001942/http://financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

Pay particular attention to the following as it may help you.

"6. if the guides show different values

Our general approach is to consider whether the insurer's offer is a reasonable one in the light of valuations from the three guides.

If the figure in one guide is significantly out of line with the other two, we are likely to disregard the out-of-line figure – whether it is higher or lower. We are unlikely to decide that the insurer’s offer is reasonable if it is based on, or takes into account, a significantly lower figure.

For example, where the insurer offered £7,000 in line with guide A:

if guide B gives a figure of £7,000 also, but guide C gives a figure of £7,500, we are likely to consider the offer reasonable – because it is generally in line with of the range of values contained in the three guides;

if guide B gives a figure of £6,800 and guide C gives a figure of £7,200, we are likely to consider the offer reasonable – because the differences are not significant;

if both guide B and guide C give a figure of £8,000, we are likely to consider the offer is less than reasonable – because it is significantly out of line with two of the three guides.

What is considered a “significant” difference will vary with the value of the vehicle. A variation of £200 may be insignificant for a vehicle worth about £7,000 – but significant for a vehicle only worth about £1,000. A variation of £100 or less will not usually be significant."

You don't mention the value your Insurer's have obtained from Parkers. If they have not obtained one, ask them to arrange a value from it as they should be using all three.

As others have mentioned, it's often fairly easy to negotiate an extra £200 to £400 as it's often easier for an Insurer to just agree so they can close the claim.

helenjones833 wrote: »

OK, thanks all for the advice. Just one more question, then, is the consensus that £400 is a fair deduction for the damage? I'll be honest, it seems steep to me, mainly because it's 10% of the value of the car, which sounds a lot when this is a car I was anticipating would last me for probably five or more years after this, given the low mileage and reasonable condition of the engine.

It would be the same to repair a £400 car when the damage is 100% of the value. Spraying one side of the car is likely to be that sort of price.
Based on the links already given the value doesn't seem massively out of line.