Car Accident, my fault, write off advice?

BezzyK

Hi all

I drove into the back of someone last week and it looks likely that the insurance company will decide not to repair my car after £2000 worth of damage.

My question is does any one have any advice reference the settlement they offer me, is there any website I can use to get a valuation of my car to see how much its worth. Also will they take my excess off my settlement and the remaining months insurance I had left to pay?

Thanks for your help

Rose_Crow

I did exactly the same thing a fortnight ago, horrible thing to happen, hope you're feeling ok now.

My insurer (Elephant), referred to the 'Glass's Guide' for a valuation. They also told me that they take into account the previous MOT (if it had loads of advisories) and adjust the valuation accordingly. I'm not sure whether there is a website for Glass's, or whether your have to pay. They took my £150 excess off my valuation and posted me a cheque within a few days. They also have a policy of not refunding any existing insurance premium (for example, my insurance was due to run out in April), but I've just got a new car and they are happy to add that car to the existing policy (for a small additional premium of £60, as the car is 'better' than the last one). Hope that makes sense, not sure whether it's the same for all insurers, but that's my experience. Also, I can't fault Elephant for customer service

clotofthecream

Who is your insurer?

As grn.w.nv said, any excess will be deducted from the settlement figure and you will not be entitled to any return permium, however you should be allowed to place another vehicle on cover under the existing policy. You may have to pay an additional premium though.

With regards to the valuation don't be fobbed off. You should be given the Glasses Guide Value adjusted for mileage and any major pre exisiting damage not commensurate with the age of the vehicle or attributed to normal wear and tear.

The main Free guides for you to look at are Parkers (subject to the manufactering date of the vehicle), What Car Valuation and Gazetteseries will also give you one which is based on the CAP guide I believe.

If you want to dispute the amount they offer I would also recommend getting some examples of vehicles similar (same make, model and mileage) to yours off sites like Autotrader.

The Financial Ombudsman does actually state that insurers should look at the 3 main guides, Glasses, Parkers and Cap, discount the value that is 'out of sync' with the others and take an average.

I used to work as an engineer for a big UK insurer so if you need any more info please ask and I'll try to help.