Accident claim

Alibalibee

I'll try and keep this short. :rolleyes: My car was written off in a no-fault accident on 16 September 2006. There's been lengthy delay on the part of the 3rd party insurers (Royal and Sun Alliance) in spite of the third party admitting responsibility even before we got out of our respective cars! In December I negotiated a price of £650 for my old banger with my insurance company (Tailored Motoring Solutions) and was really pleased about it as it is a bit more than the car was actually worth (though how that's calculated is arguable anyway). I am also claiming £125 for a new child's car seat.

Today I've received a cheque for £500 from the third party insurers with a covering letter from my own insurance company saying that the third party insurers feel this is a realistic value. My insurance company suggests banking the cheque as an interim payment, saying they've written to the third party insurers, pointing out this is not the agreed figure and requesting further payment for the vehicle and the car seat.

My question is - am I right in thinking that I might be wise not to bank this cheque, that doing so could be construed as accepting it as full settlement? As it's already been a very long process, I suspect that my insurance company (whose performance so far has left a lot to be desired!) are hoping I'll give up the fight and settle for this £500.

Can anyone advice me what I should do?

Thanks in advance!

Alison

Astaroth

Tailored Motoring Solutions is a broker rather than an insurance company.

I assume you have Third Party insurance rather than comprehensive?

Who actually inspected your vehicle? An engineer arranged by RSA or by your broker?

Your broker should be writing to the third party insurers advising them that they are not accepting the cheque as full and final settlement but that it will be banked as an interim payment.

What I suspect has happened is that your brokers have commissioned an independent engineers report which came up with a valuation.... ask anyone who works in insurance and I can assure you that they will say that an engineers report created by instruction on behalf of the owner of the vehicle will always be higher than one commissioned by the people that will be paying for the total loss (in one odd case both we and the third party accidentally instructed the same engineer to inspect the vehicle and the 2 reports had £3000 difference in price - TPs saying vehicle in great condition for its age and ours (from the very same guy done 2 weeks after) saying it was in poor condition with significant pre-existing damage)

They will then have passed the engineers report to RSA who will have gotten their own engineers to use the report and what ever tools they have to come up with a valuation for the vehicle. It would be on the RSA engineers opinion that they will base their settlement unless it is only a few pounds difference in which case it isnt worth their time arguing.

Alibalibee

Thanks for replying, Astaroth.

There's been no mention of a report and they didn't even seem to know where my car was at one point. I suspect, because it was 15 years old, that they just wanted to go by the book price, which was £350 - they offered me £550 (because I'd insisted on £750) and I pushed them up to £650.

Another aspect of this is that I have a courtesy car which has to be returned when I get the cheque. As it's only an interim payment, it's not enough to get another car (well, it might be...) and, if I have to give back the courtesy car, I'll be without one until I get the additional sum.

You said: Your broker should be writing to the third party insurers advising them that they are not accepting the cheque as full and final settlement but that it will be banked as an interim payment.
TMS has told that is what they've done.

I'm interested to know if banking the cheque will be tantamount to agreeing this amount. Should I send back the cheque and not accept it until they send me one for the full amount? I'm concerned TMS (or Auto Indemnity, who are also involved and overseeing the courtesy hire car rental) will just drag their heels and not get me the additional amount. Am I right to suspect this and be wary?

Alison

Astaroth

You dont say who "they" are are when you are talking about offering a price.... I suspect that it was your broker/ auto indemnity/ engineer and not the important people that are the third party insurers. AI could have "agreed" a price of £56,000 for your car and put in a claim with RSA for that amount but naturally RSA will only pay what they believe the vehicle is worth. If it all went to court it would be down to the judge if they believed your valuation of £56,000 or RSA's of £500

If you are that concerned about the cheque then write to RSA yourself stating that you do not accept the cheque as full and final settlement however will bank the cheque on a without prejudice basis to mitigate your losses.

It may well be that RSA decides it is not willing to increase its offer of settlement in which case another cheque may never be coming unless you go to court to dispute quantum.

Alibalibee

"They" are TMS - it was TMS I negotiated the price with. Methinks I have a fair price for the car alone, given its age, and reckon I can settle for that if no more cash is forthcoming. I also have an injury lawyer who is prepared to claim for the car seat if I was unsuccessful so I can still try that avenue. It's just that I had expected what was agreed and hoped to get a car that's just a wee bitty better. I have not a single penny more to put to the cost of a new one and have to work only within what the insurance company can give me. Ho hum...

Astaroth

Yes... effectively what you agreed with TMS is the price that they will be attempting to get from the other party rather than the price you will actually get.

Under english law the other party has to indemnify you (though obviously it is the insurer that actually pays the bill) which means to put you back in the exact same financial position you were in immediately prior to the accident. On this basis they should give you the amount of money you would have got if you had sold the car that morning rather than having had the accident.