Car Insurance claim settlement help

space_cowboy_2

Hi all,

I have read a few posts on the forum but wondered if you could share your experiences and advice with me.

About a month ago I had an accident in my car due to the poor weather conditions (black ice) and my car was declared a write-off by the insurance company.

They have finally got round to sorting a payout but it is quite a bit away from what I originally paid for the car 6 months ago (car is an 08 reg). They have based the amount on a similar car to mine they saw on Auto Trader, but it is quite a distance from me, a different colour, from a private seller and has done more miles.

I replied to my insurer with links to cars from the same site showing them closer to the value of my car. The representative basically said I had over paid for my car originally and couldn’t offer close to what I paid (or what cars exactly the same were being offered on the same site) and could only offer me a few hundred pounds extra. Whereas the difference between what I paid and what they are now offering me is still £1700, which is not taking into account the huge excess they will deduct and the fact the insurance isn't up until April and I paid in full at the time.

At the time of insuring I told them over the phone what I paid for the car and they never said they would be unable to insure the car up to this value should an accident occur.

As mentioned, I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and experiences on this matter.

forgotmyname

I presume you bought form a dealer so there is no doubt you overpaid, But you should be able to go and buy
another car of similar spec for the money, minus any excess of course.

The problem is actually getting them to pay what they should. Do you have the policy paperwork and do they
put the cars value as the same as you provided?

Ask them why they put the cars value as ££££ yet refuse to payout that amount. Or an amount to buy a similar spec
car today.

How long can you hold out before they payout? Once they make an offer they will start to want any hire cars back.

Tammer

forgotmyname wrote: »

I presume you bought form a dealer so there is no doubt you overpaid,
.

Hi,

In the current economic climate dealers are offering amazing discounts on 2nd hand cars so it is not certain that they would have overpaid. I bought a car from a main dealer for significantly less than it's valuation from Glass'.

Space Cowboy - if you look on the Financial Ombudsman site, it tells you how insurers should decide on the value for a claim. It says it's less to do with what you can buy cars from, say, Auto Trader and more about the valuation it gets from Glass' and other similar valuation companies. Get a couple of valuations from them and send them to your insurer and use that to justify your claim value.

space_cowboy_2

Thank you both for your reply; very useful

They say they value the car at market value; but using the glass guide it does come out as more than they are offering from a dealer

vaio

they should pay the retail value, ie what you would have to pay a dealer for the same car

The FOS says they should pay the average retail value from CAPS, Parkers & Glasses

space_cowboy_2

As advised, I have read the FOS:

This is what the insurer appear have done, even though they advise against it:

We do not usually find advertisements for similar vehicles very persuasive. A vehicle may often be sold for less than the advertised price. And small differences in mileage, year of registration, model type [FONT=&quot]etc[/FONT] - can significantly affect the value.


They have done the following but instead given the private sale price instead of the retail price:

we assess the market value as the retail price which the policyholder would have had to pay for a comparable vehicle at a reputable dealer, immediately before the date of the damage/theft.


They have since replied saying they cannot budge from their previous offer and if I do not reply within 7 days they will take that as acceptance and dispose of my car.

vaio

There is also something on the FOS site about car bought recently should be valued at the purchase price.

Obviously “recently” is subjective (and depends on the car) but I’d be tempted to give them a ring and see if their interpretation will extend back 6 months and so include you.

Then I’d formally complain to the company quoting the relevant bits from the FOS guidelines. I’d also read what the FOS have to say about compensation for unreasonably delayed payouts and include that in your complaint too together with any other out of pocket expenses you are incurring as a result of being carless.

Pay for accurate valuations from Parkers & Glasses so you know exactly what you should be getting.

To mitigate costs you could consent to them disposing of the car provided you both agree (in writing) about its condition

dogbot

OP - regards your point about having paid for the year of cover - this is still valid, you will be able to insure the replacement vehicle on the policy - just ask them to suspend the cover for the time being. There may be additional premium if you buy a higher rated vehicle/other details have changed but the policy is there.

Your excess is the amount you have accepted as 'self insurance'.

vaio

Not always the case, a number of companies are ending policies on total loss payout so as well as having to source a new car you also have to get new insurance.

No refund if you paid in full at inception and if you pay by instalments then all outstanding payments get deducted from your payout.

A youthful driver with a big excess and say 9 months outstanding on instalments could well find himself actually owing the insurance company money if he had a total loss claim on even a £3k car and it gets worse the less the car is worth

forgotmyname

Accurate valuations are hard though, Last time we had the big hike in fuel prices one of the car shows on TV
had a couple with a petrol guzzling mercedes ML. They paid nearly £30k for it trade in price was about £12k
Spoke to several dealers none were interested, One guy said he would pay £6k for it as at that price he would
be silly not to, But whether it would sell was a risk, He may have it days/weeks/years.

Glasses guide is just that a guide, If several people want a certain type of car then they will pay more. If there is
no demand then it will be less.
Cars can vary in price 20% from one week to the next. Checking prices on here recently, Go and buy VW polo's from main dealer's and
stick them on ebay for profit. Silly prices on ebay.

Dodgy auctions or supply and demand???

space_cowboy_2

Thank you all for your replies.

I have since sent them a letter by email and post including all the information from the FOS (which is full of useful info)

I will try and keep this thread updated with the outcome in the hope it may help others.