Vehicle write off is really low to expected value

Xaxa_2

The car was bought from a private seller in March 2013 and it wasn't declared as being a previous right off, nor was it apparent there was any damage to the vehicle upon looking at it before buying. I didn't do a HPI check which I'm now obviously kicking myself for, it was largely my parents that selected the car and I should have done my research instead of just trusting them! The car had low mileage so we paid a price that seemed about right for the car so I believe we were effectively scammed, but I don't know how one can prove that to an insurer?

In terms of buying it back and then having it repaired that seems like a risk as it could cost me even more than just accepting the current net loss, correct me if I'm wrong?

gilbert_and_sullivan

Buying salvage back and getting it repaired economically is maybe an option for someone with decent car knowledge and bodyshop/scrapyard contacts, but maybe not the the best idea for someone uninitiated.

OnanTheBarbarian

The ombudsman decision stating an unknown previous total loss cannot be used against the claimant when assessing the total loss value relates to when you are claiming from your own insurance policy (Admiral) and not when the claim is being presented to the insurer of the fault party, so the ombudsman decision won't bind the third party insurers, but it could be used to try and persuade them to play ball.

The biggest problem I can see from your posts is that you are not using the rather expensive credit hire car that Albany have provided you with and you are still driving your damaged car.

Albany will invoice the third party insurers for your hire car, but there may be a checking of the mileage covered in the hire car. if you have done no mileage or very very little the other party's insurer may refuse to pay the hire charges due to your failure to mitigate.

Have you seen the actual engineers report on your Corsa? Does it say "not roadworthy"?

Also, if you get into a squabble about the pre-accident value of the Corsa, you will possibly get backed into a corner with Albany as they will be conscious of the delay going on before the engineers report is sent to the insurer of the other party and this causes them risk when it comes to recovering the full period of hire charges, so they may take the hire car back before all of this is resolved.

straighttalker

OP, I doubt you were scammed when buying the car originally. It was a private sale so in those circumstances, it's buyer beware. Unless you specifically asked whether the vehicle was a write off and the seller lied about it, there's nothing you can do. Let this be a lesson for you when you buy your next car. Even a £3 HPI text check will tell you whether the car has been a previous write off and has finance on it.

Xaxa_2

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) he is bound by the same rules as garages usually are. 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!

Rambosmum

Xaxa wrote: »

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) he is bound by the same rules as garages usually are. 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!

Glad you are getting somewhere with it.

InsideInsurance

By the sounds of it you are using the Accident Management Company Albany to handle your claim?

If this is the case then this is a little all immaterial.

Albany will not be paying you anything, they will be presenting the claim to the third party insurer asking for whatever is on the engineers report plus a grossly inflates bill for that engineers report. Its the third party insurer that ultimately will decide what value they will place on your car.

Certainly in my claims days we would simply pass the report to our own engineer who would either agree with it or say its too generous and come back with a counter offer. Occasionally they thought it had been undervalued but given that this was the price that had been asked for then we didnt pay over the asking price.

The fact you bought a total loss without the total loss discount is really your own fault for not doing a HPI check. From what you say the seller was very evidently slippery with playing games over if it was a trade or private sale and so should really have rung alarm bells.

As others have said, not everyone is willing to own a total lossed car and so wont buy it. Lower number of potential buyers means lower competition means lower value.

Albany could send across an engineers report valuing it at £6,000 but the TPI will just challenge it and pay the appropriate figure. They may then question the competence of the engineer and possibly challenge the invoice for his report and so if you're not in hire as you say then they lose the only money they are going to make from the job

Norman_Castle

Buy the car back and either repair it or if roadworthy drive it as it is. You will have to declare it as a write off for future insurance but you may get a few years of very cheap motoring this way.

You may have a claim against the car dealer for not declaring the car as an insurance write off. The consumer rights board could help with this.

colino

Since darkmatters demise, there appear to be a lot of recent, new accounts with unusual names. Xaxa for example usually is recognised as Ha Ha!
Just saying.

OddballJamie

colino wrote: »

Since darkmatters demise, there appear to be a lot of recent, new accounts with unusual names. Xaxa for example usually is recognised as Ha Ha!
Just saying.

I've been thinking the same when I see a new member and it's a real shame it's come to this as they are plenty more genuine people than there are jerks.