Question regarding Car Write off!

F!nhuner

Hi All, my question is as follows;

My wife and son were involved in a car accident on Friday (both ok just shaken and some aches and pains). The car that crashed into them came through a red light at a pedestrian crossing as my wife was turning right onto the main carriageway. The other driver was charged with dangerous driving so blame isn't the problem.

My car has today been written off and I've been reading and following forums/web pages online for advice.

My car was bought from new 2 years ago at end of September. Car; Audi A4 Avant (163) Limited Edition (54 plate) with only 11,500 miles done. On making enquiries my car seems to be worth only £13,800-£12,200 (condition dependent) trade price.

I've looked at car sites and for me to replace my car with like for like (age, style the same but not with all extras) but replacement will have 2-3 times the mileage, the cost would be £16,500 (6 months older) or £16,995 (1 month older) both at Audi garages.

Am I kidding myself on thinking that I will be able to get the price to replace like for like even though the other driver has been charged and there is no question of liability?

Thanks for any replies and help given.

p.s. I didn't take the offer of GAP insurance.

JonathanA

You don't have to accept the first valuation that the insurance company offer you. I would suggest that you approach a reputable dealer (Audi) and ask them to put in writing to you how much it would cost you to replace your car on a like for like basis given the mileage / options etc. You should also ask them to value your car - keep any documentation that proves it was well looked after - service history etc.

Use that information to negotiate with your insurance company to put you in a like for like car. They may not be happy with paying for extras unless you told them at the time of taking out insurance that you had them. Remember that if you are purchasing as a cash sale, the dealer forecourt price is negotiable so don't expect to get the sticker price as an insurance payout.

Much will depend on who your insurance is with. It may be worth getting more than one quote so that you are building up a portfolio of evidence to present to your insurers to justify why you want the payout you do. It is about 'fair market value' and that for you is not about what your car would fetch to sell, but what it would cost to buy. Look at things like autotrader, audi website for used cars etc etc

On a positive note, your wife and son are OK - it must have been very nasty to be a write off - you can't put a price on that.

Good luck.

Astaroth

Unfortunately Johnathan's advice isnt right. The price the insurer should give you is to buy a like for like vehicle under private sale not from an Audi garage - a car from a dealer will have had all the natural minor scuffs repaired, come with a warrenty, have a service etc which your car didnt have.

There are a host of websites out there that will value your vehicle and the figure you want to look at is the private sale price - https://www.parkers.co.uk is one of the better ones.

The problem with looking in the likes of autotrader is the fact the prices there are what people are asking for their vehicles and not what they are actually going to sell for - most people will inflate the asking price knowing people will haggle the price down. The trick our engineers used to do was to get older issues of autotrader and call the people up asking if the vehicle was still for sale... if it was they would make their excuses, if it had been sold then they would sound disappointed and ask how much they had accepted out of interest.

Johnathan is however correct in saying you dont have to accept the first offer but gone are the days that insurance companies always make a low first offer.... keeping a claim file open and ongoing costs and insurance company big money, it simply isnt cost effective to keep a file open a further 2-3 weeks by making unacceptable first offers as the £300 cost saving for the few customers that accept the low offer is going to be massively off set by the cost of handling the complaints from all the people that dont accept it.

F!nhuner

Thanks for the replies.

I maybe now on reading back didn't explain the car purchase properly.

The other drivers insurers are liable (Admiral) not mine as they were the party at fault(police involved and driver charged with section 2 dangerous driving).

I bought the car new with 0 miles at end of Sept. 2004 from Audi Poole. Newly registered 54 (not pre registered)

The car was serviced 1 year later with 7k miles on clock.

The car is now nearly 2 years old with 11.5k miles on clock (and still under warranty)

I don't see why I should lose out especially when I'm already going to have to buy a car with at least 1 previous owner now.

I feel that I should get a like for like replacement (from an Audi dealership not back street), not 12-14k to try and find a cheaper replacement.

Thanks again.

KathrynPenguin

If the car is still under warranty a private sale would offer as much as an Audi dealer, they will have valeted it , touched up any scuffs and will offer a warranty. Most private sellers would have also tried to get it clean an tidy and will also be able to transfer the manufacturers warranty to yoruself. Thats how your insurance company will see it

Its a bummer when this happens but the so and sos have you over a barrel.

gyzmo

This kind of debate has gone on for as long as insurance has itself (maybe not that long, but you know what I mean).

many have tried to claim depreciation and other related losses without success.

Astoroth is correct in what he says. What a car sells for and what it's actual value is are entirely separate.

The price of a car in a salesroom will include "freebies" that are not actually free in comparison to the worth of the vehicle.

But you should still be able to find a car of similar state / age etc for the money offered to you.

JonathanA

I did say in my first post on this subject that the Audi dealer sticker price is negotiable so not to expect to get that as the insurance payout. I would imagine there would not be a huge amount of these cars available as a private sale - the same thing applies - asking price is not always the real value - sorry if I didn't make that clear in my original post.

However, the insurer should payout sufficient for you to end up with a like for like vehicle. Obviously at the age your car was, any replacement will still have a manufacturers warranty, so it doesn't have to come from an Audi dealer!

Hope you get it sorted

pinkfluffybabe

You will be able to make a better case if you have paperwork for any services and so on to show that you kept your car in good condition and so on. I had a write off a couple of years ago and didnt get enough to replace my car on a like for like basis.

Astaroth

F!nhuner wrote:

I don't see why I should lose out especially when I'm already going to have to buy a car with at least 1 previous owner now.

I feel that I should get a like for like replacement (from an Audi dealership not back street), not 12-14k to try and find a cheaper replacement.

The very idea of indemnity is that you dont lose out but are put back into the same financial possition you were in immediately before the incident. Unfortunately in many cases it isnt possible to put you back in the same material possition you were before - ie you cannot get a 2 year old car with 11.5k miles on the clock that hasnt had a previous owner nor can you unbreak someones spine hence why a financial value has to be assigned.

Effectively, if you had decided not to take the car out but sell it on autotrader then either your insurers or the at fault party should give you the same amount of money that you would have been able to sell it for. Once you have the money it is up to you if you decide you want to use it to buy a second hand vehicle or put it towards another new car

JonathanA

Try looking at https://www.glass.co.uk - where for £2.95 you can print off a valuation of your car - mileage adjusted and with options. It gives dealer retail, private sale and trade in prices for your car. This is one of the trade guides used by dealers so should add weight to your claim.

F!nhuner

Thanks again for the replies.

I've sent an e-mail to Glass's as my model of car isn't listed on their site.