Car written off - value?

Wootball

On 29th June I was hit by a driver entering the main road from a side junction. I was on the main road, and she came from a junction on my left trying to turn right (therefore having to cross my path). As I approached, she continued through the junction and give way sign. I didn't have the distance to stop, so I braked and swerved into the oncoming lane which was clear. She still didn't stop and drove straight into the side of me (well, the front side-ish, she hit the front passenger wheel head on).

Anyway, my car has since been written off as the vehicle integrity has gone due to the collision.

It was a 53 reg 2003 Fiat Punto, 1.2 Dynamic, 5 door, with 62k miles on the clock. The engineer has taken a look and I was offered £1435 for the write off, which I have since managed to get up to £1535. Is this a decent valuation for my car, or should I reject again?

If I do reject again and the engineer won't budge, what happens then?

phill99

You need to get comparable examples of the same car with similar mileage in a relatively local area and then present them to your insurers if you feel they have undervalued the car

GoPD

As said above, have a look on auto trader and in the press. Also if you have receipts for servicing or money spent on the car that proves it was well maintained will be a help.

EdGasket

Good, Private price is £1488

http://www.wisebuyers.co.uk/index.jsp?guide=prices&page=used_cars&no=3&make=Fiat&model=Punto+%281999-03%29&vip=2869&yearplate=2003%2F03&mileage=62&x=50&y=4

So yeah, £1535 seems fair.

I think if you keep rejecting their offer, they might increase again; no harm trying. If you are still not satisfied, it will probably involve threatening legal action to settle the dispute; small claims. Again they might come up a bit to avoid that hassle; depends how much hassle you are prepared to take to get a few more squid.

EdGasket

Sorry for the 5 door its £1588 :

http://www.wisebuyers.co.uk/index.jsp?guide=prices&page=used_cars&no=3&make=Fiat&model=Punto+%281999-03%29&vip=2886&yearplate=2003%2F03&mileage=62&x=18&y=5

Try picking a selection of the more expensive similar models from Auto-Trader and send those to your insurer as evidence of what you will have to pay to replace your car.

Lum

In my experience you always get screwed over on the valuation.

Check also that your insurance will allow you to transfer your policy to a new vehicle. An increasingly common trick is to cancel the policy, gobbling up the rest of what you have paid for the year and insist that you take out a new policy, robbing you of half a year's premium and also the no claims bonus you would have earned had they not cancelled the policy.

Then the insurance industry has the cheek to moan about frivolous whiplash claims!

Wootball

I've just called them (Churchill) and we can transfer the policy onto a new vehicle. The hire car will also be extended until we are 100% happy with any settlement price, and we will have the hire car for 5 days after the settlement cheque has cleared as long as it's cleared within a reasonable timeframe after issue.

Churchill really are an excellent insurance company. I'm not the biggest fan of insurance co's but I honestly couldn't recommend them enough.

vax2002

Lum wrote: »

In my experience you always get screwed over on the valuation.

its the reason a lot of people claim the £1500 standard whiplash payout

Lum

Wootball wrote: »

Churchill really are an excellent insurance company. I'm not the biggest fan of insurance co's but I honestly couldn't recommend them enough.

I've had the exact opposite experience with Churchill.

They delayed the repair on my car for 3 months, after I got rear ended, non fault, guy who hit me was fully insured and accepted liability without a fuss. Their reason for refusing the repair was that I did not tell them the car was an import. This despite the fact that I bought the policy online and the drop-down box where you select your exact model said "Subaru Legacy B4 RSK (import)" and the Legacy B4s were never sold in the UK.

They claimed they were having trouble finding the recording of my phone call when I set up the policy and could not proceed with the repair until they'd found it.. Gee, I wonder why they couldn't find the call!

During that time, Helphire, who Churchill had subcontracted my hire car out to, gave up on both them and me and took my hire car away leaving me unable to work as my job at the time was all site-based and required me to provide my own car. In the end my employer lent me a spare car, meaning I lost my car allowance and had to pay company car tax while still shelling out to Churchill for insurance.

Needless to say Churchill haven't had a penny out of me since.

buscape

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201226477186761/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/manual/engine-size-cars/1l_to_1-3l/quantity-of-doors/5/model/punto/make/fiat/keywords/2003_dynamic/radius/1500/page/1/postcode/nw107hq?logcode=p
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201227477812316/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/manual/engine-size-cars/1l_to_1-3l/quantity-of-doors/5/model/punto/make/fiat/keywords/2003_dynamic/radius/1500/page/1/postcode/nw107hq?logcode=p
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201219469597348/sort/default/usedcars/quantity-of-doors/5/transmission/manual/model/punto/make/fiat/postcode/nw107hq/keywords/2004_dynamic/radius/1500/page/1?logcode=p

dacouch

EdGasket wrote: »

Sorry for the 5 door its £1588 :

http://www.wisebuyers.co.uk/index.jsp?guide=prices&page=used_cars&no=3&make=Fiat&model=Punto+%281999-03%29&vip=2886&yearplate=2003%2F03&mileage=62&x=18&y=5

Try picking a selection of the more expensive similar models from Auto-Trader and send those to your insurer as evidence of what you will have to pay to replace your car.

Sending them the most expensive adverts will not work, they will just go on the same website for the OP's post code and find the cheaper adverts.

It should be noted that the Ombudsman and the Insurers regard the price advertised on autotrader etc as the price the seller wants to start negotiations from.

Sending them adverts is not a bad thing to do but you need to understand the system