Insurance Write Off- not a fair price given by 3rd party insurers ! HELP

jaynek65

Hi, My son bought a car in July14 and then 14wks later his head casket blew, so it turned out more economical to replace the engine with a 2nd hand one with only 36K on clock (his blown one had done 75K) this cost him £800 to buy and get fitted, then one week later his car was written off by my neighbour reversing into the side of his car an hr before he was due to get married !! (He doesn’t have much luck....)

The 3rd parties insurers (Aviva) have admitted full liability and my sons insurers have "closed their file" due to this. Now here is the problem, Aviva have outsourced the dealing of the car to a company in Bedfordshire, who have "apparently" (after NO communication with my son what so ever) sent my son a chq a few days b4 xmas (which he still has not got!!!) for what they say is a "fair price" for his car, I explained about the new engine and they emailed back and said that this is NOT being taken into consideration on the "offer" even though I explained the reason for putting the new engine in was to give my son a sound car to use to the next 5+yrs.

Now surely if you sourced a car on the net/garage and found 2 identical reg cars, one with 75K on clock and the other with 36K, would you not expect to pay MORE for the one with less mileage? Or is this not how insurance write off offers work?

Also Aviva took his hire car off him 4 days after apparently sending out this unrecorded chq with the post office at their busiest time of the year, leaving him with NO option but to hire a car himself, on xmas eve, and at great expense as he's only 22....way to go AVIVA
!!!!!!:mad:

Nodding_Donkey

But it's still a 75k miles car, albeit with a lower mileage engine.

forgotmyname

The vehicle should have a working engine. Whether its the original or a replacement should make zero difference.

The car didnt instantly gain 40,000 miles worth of value due to the new engine. And other than the sellers word can you prove the engine had only done that mileage?

Yes a car with 36k miles will be worth slightly more than one with 75k miles. But his car is has done 75k miles.. The rest of the drivetrain will have done 75k.

Did he notify the DVLA of the engine swap and new serial numbers?

jaynek65

I agree with some of the points made, but surely they should consider the fact that £800 was spent on this car with the view of keeping it for many yrs, There is now a high chance that any other car bought with the insurance money may also blow a gasket or alike ? (and knowing his luck with cars......)

We have got receipts for both the engine (showing the mileage) and for the fitting of the engine. We hadn't got round to notifing the DVLA as he only picked the car up a week before it was written off and he was very busy doing last minute wedding prep bits :-)

To be honest the offer is nearly (£100 less) than he paid for the car originally a few months prior, but a £800 loss on the engine is a VERY bitter pill to swallow.

Nodding_Donkey

So tell them you want to keep the salvage. It won't cost very much on a low value car. That way he can look for the same model, maybe one with a knackered engine?

robatwork

jaynek65 wrote: »

Hi, My son bought a car in July14 and then 14wks later his head casket blew,

It's a grave problem.

forgotmyname

No £800 was spent to bring it upto the standard it should have been in originally.

If you buy an older car worth a couple of hundred £. You dont instantly make it worth £1000+ by adding a £800 clutch or a new set of tyres. A buyer expects the tyres to be legal and the clutch to work.

So the offer seems to be fair £100 less than he paid.

As above negotiate to keep the car and repair it cheaper.

ratrace

Unfortunately op, it looks like your son has to swallow that bitter pill, the insurance company is paying out for a car that has 75k on it i can totally understand your point of view in regards to the extra money spent but unfortunately on this occasion you have to take the hit, feel for your kid its a lot of cash at a young age

Can i ask was it a vauxhall by any chance they are well known for head gaskets

jaynek65

ratrace wrote: »

Unfortunately op, it looks like your son has to swallow that bitter pill, the insurance company is paying out for a car that has 75k on it i can totally understand your point of view in regards to the extra money spent but unfortunately on this occasion you have to take the hit, feel for your kid its a lot of cash at a young age

Can i ask was it a vauxhall by any chance they are well known for head gaskets

Hi, It was a renault Modus 1.4. and yes a lot of cash to a 22yr old :-(

patman99

Depending on the damage, it might be worth buying-back as salvage.

What was the damage ?.

ratrace

jaynek65 wrote: »

Hi, It was a renault Modus 1.4. and yes a lot of cash to a 22yr old :-(

Right, it looks like he has to take the hit on this one im afraid, i wouldn't advise you buy the car back due to the fact the car will on the hpi as a category d or c which really reduces its retail price god forbid if the was hit again then the insurance would pay far less than they are doing now again down to the cat d or c

If it was a high value car then buying back and repairing it would make sense because he would be saving a lot of money as opposed to buying the same non cat d or c car

like i said he had to take the hit im afraid sorry