Insurance company value car at £100

ammsas

Hi,

I have an old R reg renault that my husband has bumped. No other car was involved and I have fully comp insurance. The car has been valued by the ins company and I have been told that the car is only worth £100 so it is classed as a write-off :mad:. They won't repair the car, and £100 won't get me a new one. They have told me that I need to get my own independent assessor to re-value the car if I don't agree. I have sent them lots of adverts from auto-trader for the same model and year as my car (they're going for £500- £1500).

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do?

Thanks

AMMSAS

Quentin

Check that the £100 is the settlement on offer (after deducting any excess and premium owing on the policy), rather than their valuation.

If £100 is the valuation, then presumably you have an excess to pay, so the claim will result in you getting £0!

To dispute the valuation, gather your evidence to support it and go back to them with the figure you have in mind.

FH_Brit

If it was only a "bump" just repair it yourself. Quentin is right - they may (simplifying here) value your car at £700.00 and you have a £600.00 excess therefore = £100.00 as settlement.

You do not have to accept their offer - it is just that an offer - ask for a fairer settlement for the REPLACEMENT VALUE of your car (don't try to make money) - also bear in mind when you took out your policy, many ask on the proposal form what the value of your car is, and if on the proposal you put £300.00 (to reduce your premiums) and you have driven the car for a year or 2, then the depreciation from YOUR valuation of £300.00, then £100.00 is probably fair.

If they value it at £100.00 and you say £500.00+ then how much is the premium for fully comp on (no offence meant here) an "old banger" - my thought would have been get TPFT and save a few quid and it makes up for when it gets written off.

olly300

FH_Brit wrote: »

If they value it at £100.00 and you say £500.00+ then how much is the premium for fully comp on (no offence meant here) an "old banger" - my thought would have been get TPFT and save a few quid and it makes up for when it gets written off.

On bangers it's often cheaper if you are over 25 to have comprehensive insurance but make your excess the same value as the car.

JPS29

FH_Brit wrote: »

You do not have to accept their offer - it is just that an offer - ask for a fairer settlement for the REPLACEMENT VALUE of your car (don't try to make money) - also bear in mind when you took out your policy, many ask on the proposal form what the value of your car is, and if on the proposal you put £300.00 (to reduce your premiums) and you have driven the car for a year or 2, then the depreciation from YOUR valuation of £300.00, then £100.00 is probably fair.

.

Sorry to take this off thread a bit but is this really the case?
The other side of the argument could be that any proposer simply overvalues their car by 2k to compensate for this. I thought insurers paid out current market value regardless of what "value" you submitted on the prop form. Can someone clear up please?

olly300

InTheBrownStuff wrote: »

Sorry to take this off thread a bit but is this really the case?
The other side of the argument could be that any proposer simply overvalues their car by 2k to compensate for this. I thought insurers paid out current market value regardless of what "value" you submitted on the prop form. Can someone clear up please?

From the financial ombudsman in 2008:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html#2


Edited to say: The answer to your question is "yes".

lisyloo

Yes they go on current value.
Someone who does 20K miles will devalue a car a bit quicker than someone that does 2K annually, so they go on current value.
However you may have issues if you under insure.

FH_Brit

InTheBrownStuff wrote: »

Sorry to take this off thread a bit but is this really the case?
The other side of the argument could be that any proposer simply overvalues their car by 2k to compensate for this. I thought insurers paid out current market value regardless of what "value" you submitted on the prop form. Can someone clear up please?

You're right of course, to clarify - what I was trying to say is that if your car has a book value of £1k, but yours is in less than average condition and you value it at £500.00 (the price you paid for it) then it will never be valued at the higher book price.

Remember - It's like a casino - the odds are ALWAYS in favour of the house (or insurer)!

Proc

FH_Brit wrote: »

Remember - It's like a casino - the odds are ALWAYS in favour of the house (or insurer)!

Not really, mate.

http://www.broking.co.uk/insurance-age/news/1564082/motor-insurance-industry-set-gbp1bn-underwriting-loss-claims-deloitte

There's nothing favourable in a 105% claim ratio.