Car stolen - insurers only want to pay a third of what the car is worth!

sheeparecool

Hi,

I had my car stolen a couple of months ago while I was on holiday.

I used a friend's iphone app to get a valuation and that came back as £1900. The insurance company's first offer was £750 minus my £150 excess so £550. I argued this with them and spoke to someone who wasn't my claim handler as she was unavailable and they said to get some example of prices from Auto-trader.

I did this only to be told by my claim's handler that they don't accept prices on Auto-Trader and will only give me what the Glasses guide says for my car which is £750.

They have since upped the claim and sent me a cheque for £650 but I'm still not happy - there is not way that that is going to give me a like for like replacement! It says that I have 7 days to argue this which I have left a message to say that I am doing!

I have emailed them 7 different cars on Auto-trader that range from £1500 - £1995 and still am getting nowhere.

I've never had to make an insurance claim for anything before so any advice would be much appreciated. I'm getting so frustrated by it all.

Thanks,

Rachel

mikey72

Refuse to accept, send all the details to them, and tell them you will then refer it to the FOS if they won't move.

sheeparecool

Thanks, err what's the FOS?

mikey72

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/66/66-vehicle_valuation_disputes.html

sheeparecool

Brilliant, I thought it was but wasn't sure. I will keep battling, I'm certainly not accepting their first two offers and I think they are hoping that now they've sent a cheque that will shut me up but it won't!!!

Sparx

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=FOS

daveyjp

The purpose of insurance is to put you in the position you were in before the incident. It may be a good idea to remind your insurance company of this small fact.

sheeparecool

I've told them that I'm not after a Ferrari - just a like for like replacement!

PNPSUKNET

you need to provide details from local garages, autotrader is national.

Cameraman

This is sadly fairly common practise for insurance companies, same when people write off their cars. A lot of people are just keen to get these things over and done with and accept their silly offers.

Keep going with them all the people I've known that have been in the same situation whether personally on other internet forums have had their offers increased. The sending of the cheque is just another one of their tactics.

Good luck with it.

dacouch

The Ombudsman does not normally take any notice of adverts from Autotrader or indeed local garages, this is because the adverts are regarded as the starting price that a buyer would negotiate from. However sending adverts of cars of the same model, year, spec and mileage can help in your negotiations but remember these are not necessarily what your car is actually worth.

Have a read of this link which explains how the Ombudsman values cars and how a total loss claim should be handled which you should find very helpful in your dealings with the Insurer.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html#13