Question regarding Car Write off!

flutterbybutterfly

I guess this is why they all try and flog you "gap" insurance nowadays!

We are having a similar problem. I was in a car crash on Tuesday and am currently suffering whiplash which seems to be getting worse by the day rather than better. My 2 year old came out unscathed - hooray for Britax carseats! This was all due to someone turning across the front of my path from the opposite direction instead of giving way on a main road travelling about 35mph. Still waiting to hear if they have admitted liability so this may affect the insurance offer.

My husband and I are now debating whether to claim compensation for the injury or not. He does't believe we should contribute to rising insurance prices and is just glad we're both ok. Me on the otherhand is the one struggling, I can't even pick up my toddler and am wearing a neck brace. My view is that if I get compensation it might at least contribute to the shortfall we are bound to get to replace like for like. After seeing how my car crumpled in the impact I want to make sure I get something solid and with 4/5 star NCAP rating which will probably cost more than our original vehicle. Perhaps a military tank will do???

Astaroth

Cars are designed to crumple so that the occupants dont - some of the cars with the highest safety ratings are the ones that crumple the most.

flutterbybutterfly

Astaroth wrote:

Cars are designed to crumple so that the occupants dont - some of the cars with the highest safety ratings are the ones that crumple the most.

Yes, I am well aware of "crumple zones", what I meant by that is that because I was in a fairly large car and the front end totally crumpled, I feel safer having a larger bonnet and metal around me with a large crumple zone as opposed to feeling vulnerable in a small car with less bonnet and metal to absorb the impact.

F!nhuner

Me again folks.... sorry to keep being a pain!

Question here for anyone that's posting here who is involved in or is more experienced in the insurance claims side of the business than me.

I've been trying to get information from"Glass's" guide as to a valuation for my car but my model of Audi isn't listed online.

I tried e-mailing them but they say that;

====pasted====

Dear John

Thank you for your e-mail.

Unfortunately if you are unable to locate your vehicle, then it means we do not hold enough information on your vehicle to offer a fair valuation.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Klind regards

======================================

What do I do now to build an argument for a fair price for my car using a system that the insurance companies will use?

I have printed out 2 cars the same make and models as mine was but both with much higher mileages!

Will this be enough to argue a fair price? (remembering I wasn't and didn't intend to trade my car in before the accident so "trade in" valuations to me are unacceptable)

Thaqnks again folks for any replies.

Astaroth

It is private sale price you look at rather than retail/forecourt or trade in.

You can also have a look at https://www.parkers.co.uk which is another industry valuation company (though not as widely accepted as Glass)

Alternatively look for the closest model Audi did to yours - normally special editions are not vastly different from the standard editions so you can almost create them by taking another model and adding a few optional extras.

Have you even had an offer from the insurance company yet to know if you need to dispute it or if you are happy enough with it?

F!nhuner

No offer yet from the other insurance company.

Phonecall from the Audi garage on Friday night to say the car will be written off so I'm awaiting the phonecall/letter from the other insurance with an offer.

All I'm trying to do at the moment is get myself prepared as to what I'm looking for the car rather than what they want to give me. Found and printed out 2 similar cars on Audi UK although 1 was a month older and had twice the mileage and the other 6 month older and had 3 times the mileage. Both were priced at £16,495 & £16,995 respectively.

Thanks again by the way for the reply.advice.

gyzmo

Also look at mags like Autotrader.

I know that engineers and valuers at 2 insurance companies refer to them. Beware that it will not be a definitive guide. Anyone can advertise a banger for a few thousand quid. But if there are numerous examples of a similar price, the you can certainly submit it to an engineer and see if he will increase an offer. But you may not need to, you may be surprised by the offer - fingers crossed!

F!nhuner

Still no word from insurance company yet 1 week after car was assessed and I was told it would be a write off (2 weeks after accident).

I contacted Accident Management Company today (who are acting for me through Audi (instead of my own insurers more than) to be told that there is no info yet but they will chase up Admiral (the other partys insurers).

The person on the phone then went on to explain that in some cases the insurance companies rather than giving full value for the car (at time of accident) they sometimes revue what your write off car is worth in it's present condition as scrap value and deduct this from the cheque leaving you/me to dispose of the dead car.

This situation sounds as though it's going to be a bigger headache than I first thought... so much for the other driver being charged and no argument as to whose fault it was.

Now instead of getting a near like for like replacement I might have a right off and part cheque instead.

He did say that this can happen but not a definate that it would but it was legal and there's nothing I can do.

Anyone got an old Reliant Robin for sale (

pinkfluffybabe

F!nhuner wrote:

Still no word from insurance company yet 1 week after car was assessed and I was told it would be a write off (2 weeks after accident).

I contacted Accident Management Company today (who are acting for me through Audi (instead of my own insurers more than) to be told that there is no info yet but they will chase up Admiral (the other partys insurers).

The person on the phone then went on to explain that in some cases the insurance companies rather than giving full value for the car (at time of accident) they sometimes revue what your write off car is worth in it's present condition as scrap value and deduct this from the cheque leaving you/me to dispose of the dead car.

This situation sounds as though it's going to be a bigger headache than I first thought... so much for the other driver being charged and no argument as to whose fault it was.

Now instead of getting a near like for like replacement I might have a right off and part cheque instead.

He did say that this can happen but not a definate that it would but it was legal and there's nothing I can do.

Anyone got an old Reliant Robin for sale (

It is a terrible hassle. I was four weeks before my cheque came through and it wasn't enough to buy a like for like car either.

Astaroth

I would have to say what they have said is unusual. Sometimes they will leave the salvage with you to dispose of but they will only normally deduct the value of the salvage (typically 10% of the total loss valuation) if someone has actively asked to retain the salvage (often in cases of old cars where a back street garage could repair it with second hand parts fairly cheaply but the insurers has deemed it as a total loss because of basing the repairs on new parts and a main garage doing the repairs)