Car insurance settlement figure too low

L1saB

Hi, If anyone has any advice it would be very much appreciated.
On friday night (whilst I was at my own retirement do!) a bus ploughed into my much loved mini which I bought only 12 months ago. The bus company has accepted full responsibility. The car was taken away and then I received a phone call from the garage to say that the damage was too great and the car had been written off. My husband then took a phone call from the engineer who offered £5420 which he declined, then the engineer (on the same call) offered £5600, again my husband declined. Although my husband is a named driver on the insurance policy the car is registered in my name so even if he wanted to I dont think he should be able to accept an offer anyway. So when i got home yesterday I telephoned Direct Line and told them that I had spoken to my son in law who works in the car industry and he had advised that my car according to the glass's guide should retail at £5800 and that would be what they would retail it at if they were to sell it on their forecourt. So I told direct line that I would accept £5800 and not any lower. The direct line employee then told me that he didnt have the engineers info on his system yet so he couldnt deal with it and told me he would phone the engineer and get him to call me to discuss. Needless to say I didnt get a call from the engineer. So this morning I then get a call from Direct Line to say that because I have accepted an offer of £5500 the cheque is being processed!! I told him I didnt accept any offer and I don't want it until this is sorted out and he said very matter of factly that it was being processed and that was it end of story. I ended the call by telling him I would call back later today (i was too angry to deal with it appropriately at the time) and he said I was more than welcome to call back but it was being processed anyway! Some advice would be appreciated as the smarmy direct line worker was basically telling me I have to accept and thats it. Sorry for the rambling

dacouch

You may find this link from the Ombudsman helpful http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html#13

What is the exact model, year, engine size and specification of the Mini ?

mikey72

Don't cash the cheque, refer them to section 2 of the link above, and if you can provide the figures.
If they don't give a fair payment then, refer it to the FOS.

kingstreet

Is your excess £300 by any chance?

vax2002

Why did you claim on your insurance when the bus company admitted liability ?
Bus companies tend to underwrite themselves as their own insurers by lodging £2.5 million with the bank of England as an underwriting.
You could and still can contact the bus company direct to deal with the damage to your car.
All this claiming on your own insurance just gives them an excuse to ramp up your premiums for the next 5 years.
You are within your rights to return the cheque, cancel the claim on your insurance and peruse the bus company for all your losses, however if you want the easy route it comes at a heavy price.
You dont get what your car is worth, you dont get other losses you have incurred and your premiums sky-rocket for 5 years.

L1saB

nope my excess is £100 which makes me think that they have processed the offer of £5600 that my husband DIDNT accept (anyway he shouldnt be able to accept on my behalf)

will get the car details and post in a minute.

dacouch

vax2002 wrote: »

Why did you claim on your insurance when the bus company admitted liability ?
Bus companies tend to underwrite themselves as their own insurers by lodging £2.5 million with the bank of England as an underwriting.
You could and still can contact the bus company direct to deal with the damage to your car.
All this claiming on your own insurance just gives them an excuse to ramp up your premiums for the next 5 years.
You are within your rights to return the cheque, cancel the claim on your insurance and peruse the bus company for all your losses, however if you want the easy route it comes at a heavy price.
You dont get what your car is worth, you dont get other losses you have incurred and your premiums sky-rocket for 5 years.

I think in the OPs situation it would be best to claim off their own policy

L1saB

car was a mini one 55 plate 1.6 3dr petrol in mint condition, i drive like an old lady

vax2002

dacouch wrote: »

I think in the OPs situation it would be best to claim off their own policy

best in what aspect ? that they will get paid some of the money with no effort or that they will be left out of pocket paying hugely inflated premiums for something they had no control over.
Claiming other peoples loses on YOUR insurance is a lesson in life you only ever make ONCE. Probably with the odd exception.
Once bitten twice shy, You learn the hard way as your wallet gets emptied, next time it happens, you sue the driver at fault.

dacouch

Have you got ay more information eg how many miles it has done, whether it's a Cooper, One or Park Lane etc (It tells you the model on the back of the car or your log book).

Have you lost on other money eg time off work or getting alternative transport to work ?

dacouch

vax2002 wrote: »

best in what aspect ? that they will get paid some of the money with no effort or that they will be left out of pocket paying hugely inflated premiums for something they had no control over.
Claiming other peoples loses on YOUR insurance is a lesson in life you only ever make ONCE. Probably with the odd exception.
Once bitten twice shy, You learn the hard way as your wallet gets emptied, next time it happens, you sue the driver at fault.

1) If they use their own Insurer, they have the protection of the Ombudsman.

2) DL on the whole are a pretty decent Insurer.

3) Bus companies are notorious for hanging third party claims out and trying to pay as little as possible. If you have ever been involved in any claims against a bus company you will be aware of this.

4) They will need to declare the incident to DL or any future insurer irrespective of whether they claim direct from DL or the bus company. Once the claim is settled (As in DL or the OP recover their outlay) it will be noted as a non fault claim which may or may not result in a premium load. If they don't have protected no claims bonus it may make a temporary effect on their renewal premium. The bus company have accepted liability so recovering the excess from them should be a relatively painless experience (DL may get messed about getting their outlay back.

Claiming directly from a bus company would normally be an experience you would only want to experience once