Am I being stitched up here ????

LLUBNRUT

Insurers have authorised repair on my caravan at £3585 + vat.
I am unsure what to do with the caravan so asked about a 'cash in lieu' settlement.They agreed to this at £2900 and said they would send me a cheque.

However they are also now cancelling the policy because they are treating this as a 'total loss' settlement payment.

Why if they had authorised the repair at 3585 are they offering me a) significantly less because I wanted a 'cash in lieu' of the repair settlement and b) now treating this as a total loss settlement ??

Surely they should be giving me 3585 or thereabouts in cash (the same as they authorised the repair at) or offering me more like a market value for the caravan which would be more like 4000+ rather than 2900.

Your comments would be appreciated. Thankyou in advance.

dacouch

What's the salvage value of the caravan after the damage?

Insurance_Guru_2

It sounds like they are stitching you up.

If they were willing to do a repair for £3585 + vat then they must believe the value is over £4500 as most insurers will write off if repair costs are close to value.

Salvage would not come into a cash in lieu of them doing the repair as salvage is only applicable for a write off. Cash in lieu is a payment for you to arrange or do your own repairs to your own acceptable standard.

Don't expect them to pay you VAT but why not the £3585?

Make sure you've lodged an 'official complaint' and take to the FOS if you remain unhappy.

LLUBNRUT

Insurance_Guru wrote: »

It sounds like they are stitching you up.

If they were willing to do a repair for £3585 + vat then they must believe the value is over £4500 as most insurers will write off if repair costs are close to value.

Salvage would not come into a cash in lieu of them doing the repair as salvage is only applicable for a write off. Cash in lieu is a payment for you to arrange or do your own repairs to your own acceptable standard.

Don't expect them to pay you VAT but why not the £3585?

Make sure you've lodged an 'official complaint' and take to the FOS if you remain unhappy.

Is it worth at an attempt at negotiating upwards or will their offer be final?

dunstonh

Are you sure the £3585 is plus Vat and not exclusive? Only reason I say that is because £3585 minus VAT is £2868 which is the refund amount (more or less) they are giving.

LLUBNRUT

dacouch wrote: »

What's the salvage value of the caravan after the damage?

Not sure of the salvage value,but bottom book is £3050

LLUBNRUT

dunstonh wrote: »

Are you sure the £3585 is plus Vat and not exclusive? Only reason I say that is because £3585 minus VAT is £2868 which is the refund amount (more or less) they are giving.

No I am definitley sure that the quote was + VAT, I have double checked. Incidentally when I requested the cash in lieu settlement they asked me to get a trade in value price for the caravan as is with the damage and in A1 condition.

The quoted prices were bottom book versus top book and the difference coincidentally was £2900. I presume this is where the offer figure came from...............??

Insurance_Guru_2

Make sure they note it as an official complaint and not just a valuation dispute as they may deem this as negotiation.

I would try to get them to 'see sense' and give a more reasonable offer (one that feel you can accept) but if not they'll have to pay the £550 fee for the FOS to adjudicate and may have to pay out any change in favor to you + interest.

if they are writing off - i would accept nothing less than retail value less salvage.

LLUBNRUT

If they are writing it off, I suppose I could expect retail to be circa 4.75 to 5k, so with the salvage value taken off would this not likely come down to about what they are offering anyway??

jamesd

If it does, then surely you'd have to accept that their offer is the correct amount?

hellzbellz

Check that your policy includes agreed value cover otherwise they only have to offer market value in the event of total loss regardless that repairs may exceed this amount.

They take into consideration mileage condition etc and its up to you to prove value if you're contesting market value settlement.

Worth checking before saying anything how they arrived at the settlement figure so you have your ducks in a row.

good luck!

Im an insurance broker fyi