Total Loss (write off) Car Value

gillbee

Hi

I’m hoping for some advice on total loss insurance.

Our car has been declared total loss by insurance company and we are now awaiting the decision on market value. I've done a fair amount of reading. From ombudsman website and insurance regulator it indicates that we should be offered local market value - "the cost of replacing your vehicle at it's current market value from a reputable dealer".

I'm looking at prices along these lines
Trade guides (Parkers, Glass) (not mileage adjusted or inclusive of model extras) - 12,000 to 14,800
CAP valuation (mileage adjusted + value of manufacturer upgrades) - 13,000 to 14,500
Local dealers - 14,000 for similar mileage / age and without the manufacturer upgrades

Having never bought 2nd hand, I'm unfamiliar with the difference between advertised price vs paid price. On a 14k 2nd hand car should I have any discount expectation levels? I believe the insurers will deduct for dealer negotiations but I have no idea what would seem reasonable.

Any advice appreciated.
Thanks

Tancred

gillbee wrote: »

Hi

I’m hoping for some advice on total loss insurance.

Our car has been declared total loss by insurance company and we are now awaiting the decision on market value. I've done a fair amount of reading. From ombudsman website and insurance regulator it indicates that we should be offered local market value - "the cost of replacing your vehicle at it's current market value from a reputable dealer".

I'm looking at prices along these lines
Trade guides (Parkers, Glass) (not mileage adjusted or inclusive of model extras) - 12,000 to 14,800
CAP valuation (mileage adjusted + value of manufacturer upgrades) - 13,000 to 14,500
Local dealers - 14,000 for similar mileage / age and without the manufacturer upgrades

Having never bought 2nd hand, I'm unfamiliar with the difference between advertised price vs paid price. On a 14k 2nd hand car should I have any discount expectation levels? I believe the insurers will deduct for dealer negotiations but I have no idea what would seem reasonable.

Any advice appreciated.
Thanks

You should have bought GAP insurance, then you would have had your full original value paid for. The insurers will do their best to pay as little as possible.

colino

Stick to doing your research in local papers and autotrader, say within a 30 mile radius. Insurer already knows the bible prices, you only have to make a case for what is available to reinstate you to pre-accident state from a reputable dealer.

InsideInsurance

Tancred wrote: »

You should have bought GAP insurance, then you would have had your full original value paid for. The insurers will do their best to pay as little as possible.

You would need Return To Invoice to get that, traditional/ financial GAP only gives you the difference between the insurance settlement and final settlement figure on the finance.

Having never bought 2nd hand, I'm unfamiliar with the difference between advertised price vs paid price. On a 14k 2nd hand car should I have any discount expectation levels? I believe the insurers will deduct for dealer negotiations but I have no idea what would seem reasonable.

If you've ever bought anything over a grand you should know there is always room for negotiations either for extras thrown in or money knocked off. If you dont then you've been seriously ripped off many times.

In theory the guides you mention are giving you the discounts as they are supposed to be based on true sales figures rather than advertisement prices. Of cause there is insufficient movement for it to be 100% average sales prices and so there is some calculation applied.

Obviously it depends on how desirable a car is, how long they've had it sitting around, where we are in the financial/ bonus cycle they are and how they are doing etc. As a rule of thumb 10% discount is a good target but sometimes you'll get less and other times you'll get more

gillbee

Forearmed is what I'm working to at the moment, logging all details of similar cars for sale, milage diff, condition and location etc.

30 mile radius info is useful - the model is not easy to source within 100 miles so I hope that works for us.

Anything over 1K (aside from the house which we did negotiate on) is bought online after a lot of deal hunting so negotiations are not something I'm familiar with and car sales does seem to be a minefield. 10% or there abouts gives me something to work with when the insurers call back.

cheers for the input all

InsideInsurance

gillbee wrote: »

Anything over 1K (aside from the house which we did negotiate on) is bought online after a lot of deal hunting so negotiations are not something I'm familiar with

Then start to

Was looking to buy an item last week thats RRP is 1,000. Best price online I could find was a sale with 10% discount and the vast majority were selling at RRP. Called up the company, got it for 800 quid with 30 quid of extras thrown in. Was delivered on Saturday :beer:

Listed price is almost never the best price you can get.