Vehicle write off is really low to expected value

Xaxa_2

Hi, I was recently involved in a non fault accident that damaged the passenger side of my car, the other driver accepted full responsibility and my case was handed from Admiral (my insurer) to Albany Assistance for a vehicle valuation which found my car was a category C write off, and valued it at £1635 - £98 for a salvaging fee.

My car is a vauxhall corsa SXI+with less than 40,000 miles and an 06 plate; which was worth £2.7k when I first bought it. Looking at similar cars in the area they all sit around this value of £2500-3300 so obviously I was unhappy with this value and stated so to Albany. When discussing my vehicles value they informed me that since it was written off in December 2012 (something I was unaware of on purchase) the value is much lower, however I fail to see how if the vehicle is since repaired it should affect the value at all now.

I'm a student and need a car to get me from home to university, but have access to a hire car whilst my car is written off, although at the moment I am still using my car as it is still driveable (is this legal?!). I'm hoping someone has previous experience and can give me some tips on how to either fight with Albany to get a more reasonable price, or tell me some alternatives I can take; I wasn't at fault, I don't want to lose more than £700 still!

Update: So I rang admiral and asked for advice concerning the previous writing off of the car. I have a sales invoice from when I bought the car and it is from a garage. Basically from what I can fathom the guy I bought it from owned a garage where he would sell cars, but for this one he sold it from his house as he believed that would count as a private sale and he would not be tied down by rules that traders usually are, essentially allowing him to not state it was a previous write off. Because on the invoice it says it was sold from his garage (although in actual fact it was viewed at his home) it seems that there is actually evidencing showing I was unaware of the history and therefore overpaid, which admiral has informed me may well help my case; I have scanned the invoice documents to admiral, and Albany is in the process of sending the engineers report to admiral too, so hopefully the valuation may be knocked a little higher.

In answer to a couple of posters below, I do not currently have a hire car and am driving my car still, I have not seen the engineers report but my insurer informed me that the car is still under policy so is okay to drive. I don't believe I need to take out a hire car at this point, particularly as it may give Albany something else to hold over me whilst this process is under way.

Any more questions or advice please post, I need all the help I can get and it's been extremely helpful so far!

straighttalker

If your car was a previous write off in 2012, that must mean it is a Cat C/D. Therefore it's value will be lower than one which hasn't been accident repaired. Not sure there's much you can do.

Hoof_Hearted

Have a look at the "Negotiating with insurers" link below. There is a useful link to the Financial Ombudsman.

Financial Ombudsman:

14. vehicles previously "written-off" and then repaired

The fact a vehicle has been previously "written off" can put off potential buyers, no matter how well it was later repaired. This can affect its value.
If the consumer knew they were buying a repaired write-off, they are likely to have paid less for it. In these cases, we may decide it is fair for the insurer to make an appropriate deduction – generally not more than 20% unless the insurer can provide evidence to warrant a higher deduction.
But a consumer who unknowingly bought and insured a previously written-off vehicle is likely to have paid full price for it – and a full insurance premium. If we think it is likely the consumer did not know the vehicle’s history – and the repairs were not obviously noticeable – we are unlikely to agree that the insurer should pay less than the full market value.

OddballJamie

After a very quick look I found this one, same spec, similar mileage with FSH. No mention of recorded damage for £2100 open to offers.
http://www.motors.co.uk/car-36036788/sp

*Just noticed that's a standard SXI, not the + model.*

£1600 for a CAT C seems almost generous.

Just because you originally paid £2700, it doesn't mean it was worth it then or now unfortunately.

Xaxa_2

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

Have a look at the "Negotiating with insurers" link below. There is a useful link to the Financial Ombudsman.

Financial Ombudsman:

14. vehicles previously "written-off" and then repaired

The fact a vehicle has been previously "written off" can put off potential buyers, no matter how well it was later repaired. This can affect its value.
If the consumer knew they were buying a repaired write-off, they are likely to have paid less for it. In these cases, we may decide it is fair for the insurer to make an appropriate deduction – generally not more than 20% unless the insurer can provide evidence to warrant a higher deduction.
But a consumer who unknowingly bought and insured a previously written-off vehicle is likely to have paid full price for it – and a full insurance premium. If we think it is likely the consumer did not know the vehicle’s history – and the repairs were not obviously noticeable – we are unlikely to agree that the insurer should pay less than the full market value.

So because I bought the car unaware that it was previously marked as a write off I can still potentially claim a higher value? How would I go about proving this to an insurer?

ACG

I dont think £1600 is that bad.

I have just sold my corsa (56 plate) admittedly 1 ltr so smaller engine with less than 60,000 on the clock and got £1250 on it. £1250 was much higher than everywhere else offered (closer to £800-900).

So to get an extra £400 doesnt seem too bad to me.

Inner_Zone

Xaxa wrote: »

So because I bought the car unaware that it was previously marked as a write off I can still potentially claim a higher value? How would I go about proving this to an insurer?

So you did not do a HPI or similar check on it before you bought it?

Rambosmum

Your lucky your insurance isn't penalising you for not declaring it as written off and forcing you to argue that you didn't know.

Written off cars are often harder to insure (my previous two insurers wouldn't insure them when I asked) and so get a lower valuation. Follow the advice of the ombudsman, though be prepared to have to fight it.

You also don't say how long you've had it. I'd definitely argue for more, but be prepared to lose out. I'm going through a similar thing so I understand your frustration.

As for still driving your car, I don't think it will be insured anymore, mine wasn't before they took it away. Call and ask them, you could get in to a lot of trouble otherwise.

TBagpuss

Xaxa wrote: »

So because I bought the car unaware that it was previously marked as a write off I can still potentially claim a higher value? How would I go about proving this to an insurer?

Producing the receipt to show what you paid for it at the outset?
And seeing if you can research what it would have been worth at that time. Is it possible that the amount you paid did take account of the previous write off?

It is legal for you to drive it provided that it is roadworthy - was it written off as uneconomical to repair, rather than as unroadworthy.
If you think it can be economically repaired your other option is to buy it off them - as I understand it, they pay you the write off figure, less the scrap value, and you then repair it at your own expense.

Hintza

Buy the car back and use part of the payout to have it repaired?

OddballJamie

Hintza wrote: »

Buy the car back and use part of the payout to have it repaired?

That's made me curious to how many times a car can be written off in it's life.