Insurance Write off valuation help !

fragdor

Hi All,

Thanks for reading.

Needing a bit of advice regarding write of valuation.

I was involved in an accident on Friday and the other parties insurance are accepting full liability.

It looks like my car will be a write off so I am looking for some advice in anticipation of being given a bad valuation which I have read is very common.

My car is a 2004 54 plate Kia Sedona LE with 86000 miles and in my opinion was in good condition.

I have got a free glasses guide report :

Trade in price from £1,116.00 to £1,435.00
Private sale price from £3,010.00 to £3,182.00
Dealer retail price from £3,850.00 to £4,050.00

Are these the figures they will use to find a valuation for my car ? If so which figure from above should be used ?

Also I read that valuations should be for replacing locally and there are just not very many of these cars about :

On auto trader out of 13 cars of my year and type prices are from 3000 to 5000 with average as 3500. Average distance from me is 270 miles !

Sorting by distance local options I can find of my model but any age and auto or manual are :

2004 54 plate auto - £4000, 8 miles away
2006 06 plate auto - £4495, 11 miles away

few more 06 at around £4500 then:

2005 - £3995, 96 miles away

Can anyone advise what I should expect and what info I should gather to fight my corner if required ?

Also should say that I have been provided a hire car at other parties insurance expense so would hope this prompts them to settle to my satisfaction quick so they can stop paying rental fees !

dacouch

This should answer most of your questions.

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

Ring the other Insurers, if your car is not drivable they should be happy arranging a hire car

fragdor

Hi,

Interesting reading and what I thought should happen.

After the accident my insurers contacted me and informed me I was due a hire car as the other party was accepting liability and then they arranged that for me. I specifically asked if I would be held accountable for any costs and was told "no absolutely not because other party is at fault and have accepted liability".

Christopher7

Hi Fragdor

With regards to the valuation, the insurer will value closer to the private sale valuation than the dealer price, as when you purchase from a dealer, the car will often be serviced, mot'd and come with a warranty.

With regards to the hire car, it could be a 'credit hire' as it's unlikely the insurer will offer a hire vehicle so readily if they were paying for it. Ask them who the vehicle is supplied by and ask if it's a credit hire vehicle. If it is credit hire, then you have to accept responsibility for paying the hire costs, if they are not recovered in full from the other sides insurer. Although, the more reputable credit hire companies will provide a free insurance policy to cover you from paying anything in the event they don't recover from the other side

dt3887

also, the other golden rule is dont accept their first oiffer. print off 3 or 4 of the higher priced ones within a reasonable distance, and if they come back sayin somethin like we will offer you 3k, you reply with well its going to cost me 4.5k to replace, so up your offer

mikey72

Christopher7 wrote: »

Hi Fragdor

With regards to the valuation, the insurer will value closer to the private sale valuation than the dealer price, ...........

In which case stick out for the correct, dealer price, as per dacouch's link above. If the insurer won't offer the correct price, normally mentioning the ruling works wonders, if not, write to them as an official complaint, and refer it to the FOS if required.

dacouch

dt3887 wrote: »

also, the other golden rule is dont accept their first oiffer. print off 3 or 4 of the higher priced ones within a reasonable distance, and if they come back sayin somethin like we will offer you 3k, you reply with well its going to cost me 4.5k to replace, so up your offer

Good advice, but bear in mind the advertised prices are regarded as the price the seller wants to start negotiation from, so the value will be slightly lower than the advertised price.

The Insurer will also normally check the same website for car adverts and will normally come back with the lower priced adverts assuming they're comparable cars

fragdor

Some good advice here guys - thanks for the help.

I am thinking valuation wise that around £4000 will be needed to replace my vehicle within reasonable distance to me which matches Glasses dealer price and I will be prepared to argue this.

Hire car is with Enterprise - my insurance called and said they had arranged this as the other parties insurance were fully liable, I asked will I be responsible for any costs and was told definitely not. Al I paid was £1 deposit which I was told would be refunded. I also asked hire company if I would be liable and again was told definitely not.

Starting to worry a bit about this now - should I return this vehicle now ?

After visiting doctors yesterday and being advised not to drive it is not doing me any good at the moment so wont be missed.....

Just to repeat I was told twice by my insurer and once by hire company that I would not be liable for any costs for this.

mikey72

fragdor wrote: »

Some good advice here guys - thanks for the help.

I am thinking valuation wise that around £4000 will be needed to replace my vehicle within reasonable distance to me which matches Glasses dealer price and I will be prepared to argue this.

Hire car is with Enterprise - my insurance called and said they had arranged this as the other parties insurance were fully liable, I asked will I be responsible for any costs and was told definitely not. Al I paid was £1 deposit which I was told would be refunded. I also asked hire company if I would be liable and again was told definitely not.

Starting to worry a bit about this now - should I return this vehicle now ?

After visiting doctors yesterday and being advised not to drive it is not doing me any good at the moment so wont be missed.....

Just to repeat I was told twice by my insurer and once by hire company that I would not be liable for any costs for this.

If you have been advised not to drive, return it. The third party will be unwilling to pay for a hire car that you know you cannot use.

fragdor

called hire company today and asked them to take it back as I was not comfortable driving it so they are collecting later today.

What happened at docs was I described how I was feeling and described an incident on Saturday evening where I got slightly confused trying to turn a tv we have owned for 3 years on and was told that was possibly due to the cocodamol. I asked about driving and was told probably better not to drive. I then spent most of yesterday sleeping and resting so today would be the first opportunity I have had to arrange return of the car.