write off help

chrissyw

Hi,

hope this is in the right section!..

Any way i have been battling with a guys car insurance company for awhile now, due to the guy hitting my car in the rear..

Now, the car is perfectly driveable and i do still drive it to this day, but his insurance company are going to write the car off when the claim is setteled.. They also sent me a cheque out of the blue with out me agreeing or confirming its acceptance, so it got sent back with a nice letter...

What i would like to know is, when the insurance company send you copies of adverts of the same car as yours, say from auto trader, is there a limit to how far away the car is on the ad to me? does the ad have to be some thing like with in 20 miles of my home address??

motorguy

I wouldnt have thought there was any limit on distance, they are after all, trying to prove the value of similar cars, not the value of similar cars 'in your area'.

chrissyw

yeah i can understand that, but with being funny or any thing, cars are generally cheaper up north compared to where i am on the Essex/London boreder? and sending me ads of cars that are like 170 to 200 miles away cant be right.. Im not gonna travel upto 200 miles to get the same condition and spec car!

TRADESIZE

I've copied and pasted this from another post I replied to because the answer to your query is identical:


dont waste your time with examples, you simply need to tell them to do this:
look at parkers, glasses, and cap guide, adjust for mileage where possible, make sure its valued at the same month of the accident and give you the average of the 3. Tell them they must do this becasue if they dont you will go to the financial ombudsman, and thats what they will tell your insurer to do!
If the average of the 3 guides is more than the repair cost, they might consider reapiring it for you.
When you've done this post the outcome here so other forum users can see the outcome. Get them to post you the 3 guide prices too just to make sure they've done it properly.

Good luck

point of note. this works if you claim thru your own insurer as you have ombudsman rights, but should you claim directly thru theirs you dont have ombudsman rights, but try it anyway - trust me they may not even relaise this! If they do and are not helpful, go back and claim directly thru your own insurer.

Anihilator

TRADESIZE wrote: »

I've copied and pasted this from another post I replied to because the answer to your query is identical:
hey man this ones easy listen up because I work in the complaints dept of a top uk motor insurer.
The answer is simple, first things first advise them I wish to make an offiicial complaint because my pre accident value is not as much as it should be.

dont waste your time with examples, you simply need to tell them to do this:
look at parkers, glasses, and cap guide, adjust for mileage where possible, make sure its valued at the same month of the accident and give you the average of the 3. Tell them they must do this becasue if they dont you will go to the financial ombudsman, and thats what they will tell your insurer to do!
If the average of the 3 guides is more than the repair cost, they will have to repair it for you.
When you've done this post the outcome here so other forum users can see the outcome. Get them to post you the 3 guide prices too just to make sure they've done it properly.
This is one of the things I do as a job about 6 times a week!
Good luck, but follow my instructions and you wont need it - honestly.

point of note. this works if you claim thru your own insurer as you have ombudsman rights, but should you claim directly thru theirs you dont have ombudsman rights, but try it anyway - trust me they may not even relaise this! If they do and are not helpful, go back and claim directly thru your own insurer.

Not necessarily true. Especially for older vehicles. Similar ads is acceptable and referenced in ombudsman literature. Points to consider is these ads arent necessary sale value.

OP - If there are similar cars nearer these should be considered but if these are the best examples around and nothing is nearer this will do.

What is the car? What were you offered?

Are the insurers willing to settle at a reduced price and allow you to keep the car. If they are and its drivable why not do this?

TRADESIZE

Anihilator wrote: »

Not necessarily true. Especially for older vehicles. Similar ads is acceptable and referenced in ombudsman literature. Points to consider is these ads arent necessary sale value.

OP - If there are similar cars nearer these should be considered but if these are the best examples around and nothing is nearer this will do.

What is the car? What were you offered?

Are the insurers willing to settle at a reduced price and allow you to keep the car. If they are and its drivable why not do this?

We liaise with the ombudsman on a daily basis! my advice will work they do not currently give two hoots for examples, they may have in the past, but for the last 1.5 yrs this is how they work in this instance!

Anihilator

Utter crap. what they have in their literature states they do and any subsequent court case or appeal would go on their literature. Many disputes I would suggest also come from car's that can't be easily valued through guidebooks.

Valuing a 2/3 year old car is very different from a 15 year old car which is were a lot of people who dont want cars written off etc are.

dacouch

• We pay most attention to valuations given in motor-trade guides, such as Parker, Glass and CAP. These are based on extensive nationwide research.
• Evidence from an independent engineer can be helpful, if available, particularly where the vehicle is not a standard one (for example, because it has been heavily modified).
• Evidence from an insurer’s engineer may also be helpful, but we will need to assess the independence of the report.
• We do not usually find advertisements for similar vehicles very persuasive. A vehicle may often be sold for less than the advertised price. And small differences in mileage, year of registration, model type etc - can significantly affect the value.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

TRADESIZE

Anihilator wrote: »

Utter crap. what they have in their literature states they do and any subsequent court case or appeal would go on their literature. Many disputes I would suggest also come from car's that can't be easily valued through guidebooks.

Valuing a 2/3 year old car is very different from a 15 year old car which is were a lot of people who dont want cars written off etc are.

sorry but you are wrong, see this link from the ombudsman:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/66/66-vehicle_valuation_disputes.html

and I quote from the fisrt case in the article the respone by the FOS: 'advertisements rarely provide sufficient detail for an accurate ‘like for like’ comparison, such as that needed to provide a proper valuation'

but for any further info on chrissyw's question we really need to know how old it is