Old car rip off?

Ajay10054

Just a quick warning if you make a decision (often made in haste over the phone) to allow your car to be towed to a 'local repair specialist'.

My wife's car was broken into and both door locks broken. On reporting the claim to e-sure, the clerk very obligingly said that he would arrange for the car to be collected in the next hour and taken for repair.
Unfortunately I did not realise that I had been set up...

The car was duly taken to the garage (approx 15 miles away), who estimated the repair at £1,000 (two door locks and cosmetic repair!) Not surprisingly the insurance company decides to write vehicle off (which only is worth £700 max) E-sure then deduct excesses and 'recovery charge' of £200(!) and offer me £400 to keep the vehicle.

I think that the moral of this story is that, if you have an old car, refuse to have it 'recovered' by the insurance company. Take it to your local garage and pay to have it repaired. Claiming on your insurance is just a waste of time and money.

mattymoo

The recovery charge would be paid by the insurers so you have only had the excess deducted. Might make you want to reconsider whether their offer is a bit on the low side.

To be honest though its not the insurers fault. They are expected to provide a good quality repair and that costs money. In this instance, the costs involved mean repair is uneconomical so the vehicle is a write off in their eyes. Imagine the uproar if an insurer asked you to take a car to a back street garage to get a repair done on the cheap. It's certainly not a case of being "set up" as you put it.

bryanb

Why pay for fully comp on an old car anyway?

Pee

Surely if that is what the damage is, the car being broken into, you would take it to your usual garage for their opinion. presumably it was driveable. especially with an old car you want someone you know and trust who knows the car and can give you an honest answer as to whether it has had it's day. The scrap value is probably £50, too.

Torby

or worth a possible £2000 scrappage if its over 10 yrs old....could someone else benefit from this?....you could get her a cheap Kia Picanto for just over £4k with the scrappage allowance...

jago25_98

The insurance company isn't used to this cheapness of car.

Insurance for low value cars could be better. For example: no/low excess and set compensation for damage scenarios - i.e £10 a panel. In terms of getting it repaired you do that yourself.

lisyloo

Why pay for fully comp on an old car anyway?

I have an old car and sometimes it's cheaper to get fully comp than other cover.
Third Paty F&T is frequently cheaper than 3rd party only.
So don't assume higher cover means higher cost.

cogito

lisyloo wrote: »

I have an old car and sometimes it's cheaper to get fully comp than other cover.
Third Paty F&T is frequently cheaper than 3rd party only.
So don't assume higher cover means higher cost.

Strange but true. Insurers don't particularly want TPF&T business and price it to discourage it. The result can be this kind of anomaly.