tesco car insurance - HELP!!!!!!!

boltonangel

Hi

My husband stupidly crashed his car into a metal railing last thursday - entirely his fault.

he has smashed the front end up, and cracked the radiator. We put a claim in with tesco, and they agreed and everything went underway. On wednesday we got a call from the engineer saying that the car has been written off, because it is not economically viable to repair the damage, mainly because it had 2 previous dents. (we have however been driving around in these, because they are very minor).

the car is a rover 25 impression se, june 2004, 1.4, alloys, fogs, air con etc, 20k miles, with 3yrs warranty remaining (we bought extra).

the settlement figure that we've been offered today is £3100. (with his £600 excess taken)

our problem is that this offer will not enable us to purchase another car of the same type, not to mention the warranty. their argument is that it's a rover and that they have lost value, but we would be looking to buy another rover anyway.

what we want is to be able to replace the car with a similar one in the same condition, or to have the car repaired, obviously apart from the damage caused by previous accident.
the courtesy car that tesco have provided was only for 14days, and will run out this thursday coming, so we need to get this sorted fast!! they have taken this long just to tell us it's a write off!!

what can we do???

ArchieB_2

If you could find one privately you would be looking around low £4k which, if I read your post right is not a long way from what you have been offered (£3100 plus £600). The warranty issue, I don't believe will come into it.

You would need to prove that their offer is unrealistic before they would consider revising it.

mattymoo

Don't forget the existing dents will also have affected its pre-accident value as well.
Like ArchieB says, the offer is probably not far off.

The prices on Rovers have taken a huge knock since they went under. However, some private sellers may still have an unrealistic opinion of their cars value hence why you feel you cannot find one.

Ring round the ads in an old autotrader Find car similar to yours where seller was asking around £4k and then when they say it is sold, ask what they got for it. Probably a deal less than £4k.

Bossyboots

Agree with Archie. If you think your car is worth more you will need to prove it to your insurer yourselves.

Astaroth

Well, if it is a 5 door model Parkers give a range of £3500 to £4200 for the vehicle if it had 10,000 miles on the clock and so your offer of £3700 really doesnt sound that bad considering it had pre accident damage and your mileage is double what parkers base the valuation on. (the 3 door is £3300-4000)

As others have said, the warrenty issue is just something you have to put down to "bad luck" but you could read the policy and see if there is a partial refund available for canceling it or if you can move what remains of the warrenty onto another vehicle.

mattymoo

You can get a Glass's value on the Vauxhall website.
Glass's is what the insurance company and motor trade use.

boltonangel

thanks for all your assistance.

i didn`t make myself clear enough on my 1st post, the offer of £3100 has then got to have £600 taken from it, meaning £2500.

Quincy_3

I had my car written off by the assesor for a small prang, this however does not mean that you have to accept that decision, I said I didnt want it written off but repaired and thats what they did.

I now have my car back and I knows its good and bad points and I couldnt of bought anything with what they offered me anyway, assesors dont really know how cars are repaired they just think replace not repair and as a new rear quaterpanel is dearer than the repair I told them I want the repair, mind you being in the know helped me

BenL

Slightly different but when I was hit by someone recently I got a courtesy car for a lot longer than 14 days.

They offered settlement and we negotiated then they sent the cheque out.

I kept the car for about 5 days after the cheque cleared as I would need to find a new car.

This may have only happened though because I was not at fault.

Ben

Astaroth

Yes, what you describe is a hire car to avoid a loss of use claim that you would otherwise have.

The OP has taken out the hire car option with Tesco by the sounds of it which means you get a car if you are involved in a fault accident even if your vehicle is a total loss (most insurers only give you a courtesy car if 1) the garage has a spare one and 2) if your vehicle is repairable) but it is for a limited period. If the accident had been non-fault then the TP insurer would have offered another vehicle for when this one expired but it would only be until 7 days after the cheque is issued irrespective of if you have an ongoing dispute on the valuation.