Car accident - Insurance Co. make silly offer.

rizla01

My daughter has fully comp insurance with LV/Frizzells and has had her car written off by a third party. LV have offered her a mere £500.00, ON THE THIRD PARTY'S INSURERS BEHALF?

I sthis usual? I alweays thought that if you are insured fully comp that YOUR insurers duty is to handle things for you to save you as much hassle as they possibly can - not CAUSE MORE hassle.

The car, a 60,000 mile Fiesta 16v SI, (p reg) was in very good condition and there is no other car of this type to be found for sale for a comparison, yet lesser specced cars are in dealers for more money.

I phoned up and refused the offer ( having been granted permission to act on Daughters behalf) and the girl that I spoke to was little short of rude, wouldn't agree with anything I said and even slated the condition of the car because she had photographs of some marks on the back seat (She has two children under 5 !!!!!!). She then asked me to send in comparisons for them to consider which I did and which they have totally ignored and sent on the £500 cheque, regardless.

I have told my Daughter not to cash the check, at present.

Where do we stand on this? Is there a body that we can be referred to to get a fair payout?

Are they not obliged to make a FAIR offer.

What is the best course of action under these circs?

blue_haddock

To be honest i would of thought £500 for a 12 year old fiesta is about right. They will only pay the market value and having had a quick look on autotrader they are being advertised for between £500 and £1000.

And just because that is what they are being advertised at doesn't mean that is what they are selling at. It may be worth more than that to you however for run of the mill cars the insurer will only go off book value.

tigerlily

Book value is all you will get I'm afraid! Tis a harsh lesson to learn. I have a P reg fiesta LX full service history, very good condition and to me £500 sounds about right. Probably not what you want to hear!

bigoggy2007

sorry but thats all that car is worth. you may have seen them for sale for more money, but they wont have sold at that. i would have taken their hand off. where i live you can get a "s" or "t" reg escort for under £500 and that is a far better family car than a fiesta

Poppy9

Autotrader same year, lower mileage Fiesta SI asking price £735

blue_haddock

Poppy9 wrote: »

Autotrader same year, lower mileage Fiesta SI asking price £735

It may on Autotrader at that but that does not mean that A) that is what it sells for and that it even sells at all.

I would probably refuse the first offer of £500 and push for a bit more, however your not going to get much more - maybe £650 at very best i would of thought.

mrcow

Don't listen to the people on here telling you to accept the offer.

Never accept the first offer for a write-off from an insurance company. Go back to them and insist that they give you what it is worth as per your adverts. You say she was fully comp.......was she also covered for "uninsured losses"? If yes, she should be putting in for more than just the value of the car.

lexilex

In Dec I was in an accident. I've got a R reg Corsa, done less that 30,000 miles. All the mechanics that looked at my car said they would write it off, and every single one of them said I would get less than £500 for it! So it does sound about right. However, as somebody has already mentioned, never accept the first offer!

ormus

you dont have to accept the first offer, but 500 quid seems about right to me for a 12 yr old fiesta.
remember, the retail asking price for your car spec, does not reperesent the average selling price. the auction price is more of a true guide. and you would never get more than 500 quid at an auction for an old fiesta.

Millionaire

As others have said, £500 is about right for the car. You could refuse the offer but I doubt they will offer you more.

rizla01

Thanks for the replies.

Couple of points tho.

1st no comments about the Insurance company acting on behalf of the 3rd party insurers. That is not what I understood to be offered by Fully Comp Insurance. WE paid the premium for them to look after US, surely.

2nd. As already stated, I don't ever expect to take the first offer, reasonable or not, but other than just saying 'I disagree and want more' , as well as justifying my claim with other adverts, what am I able to do/threaten to do if they simply say NO!! Is this something for the Insurance Ombudsman or if not, WHO?

As for value Poppys comparison is about on the money. the SI was a LOT different to the Ghia's, LX' s et al.

They are the Sport version. like the GT Fiesta.