Insurance write off - should I haggle over the offer?

hessodreamy

Following someone running into my (parked) car a few weeks ago, the insurance company have just told me they want to write it off and have offered my a settlement of £3300. I'm wondering whether to bother haggling over this figure.

I paid £4000 a few months ago and the car was in pretty good nick. But I've checked valuations on autotrader and whatcar, and they give valuations of £3100-3200. Parkers show a dealer price of £3,360 and a franchised deal price of £3,985.

So all in all the offer seems pretty reasonable and I'd be hard pushed to find examples of the same car for sale for more.

But - is it worth giving it a go anyway, and asking for a better offer? How likely is it that I'll get something better?

forgotmyname

If your happy with the price then accept it, if not then reject their offer and show proof that you need more to buy an equivalent car.

s_b

if you have the car still ?put a portfolio of photographs together to show how clean your pre accident car was,explain how it took ages to find the best of the best,enclose a copy of your invoice purchase receipt and any copies of receipts for betterment whilst in your possession,also reinstate the position that the accident was not your fault and you just want to be in the position you were in prior to the claim and if the lower payment was to be accepted even accepting the fact you've used the car this past few months the hit they are giving you is excessive and a figure nearer your purchase price would be more amenable at this time

keep it short sweet but to the point as its usually a person on commission that tries to get a lower settlement figure for the insurer and this is how they get paid ,been there a few times

Moto2

Are you including all your direct expenses to get a new car back on the road?
Increase insurance premiums for a while
Travelling to buy another car etc?
How much fuel is in the old one?
How far through their life were the tyres?
Had it just had a major service?

Loads of stuff to consider other than the sticker price

dacouch

Moto2 wrote: »

Are you including all your direct expenses to get a new car back on the road?
Increase insurance premiums for a while
Travelling to buy another car etc?
How much fuel is in the old one?
How far through their life were the tyres?
Had it just had a major service?

Loads of stuff to consider other than the sticker price

Servicing a car an replacing the tyres are a cost of running a car and have little if any affect on the value of a car as you're expected to service the car and replace the tyres when required

dacouch

Exactly how long ago did you buy the car as it can make a big difference to the amount you can claim?

Are you claiming from your own policy eg paying your excess or claiming directly from the other Insurer or through a accident management company?

Moto2

dacouch wrote: »

Servicing a car an replacing the tyres are a cost of running a car and have little if any affect on the value of a car as you're expected to service the car and replace the tyres when required

Yes, but if the OP has just serviced his written off car and put new boots on it, he may want to factor in whether a replacement will need similar before he settles on the figure they've given him.
Which is what he was asking

dacouch

Moto2 wrote: »

Yes, but if the OP has just serviced his written off car and put new boots on it, he may want to factor in whether a replacement will need similar before he settles on the figure they've given him.
Which is what he was asking

The servicing of the current car is largely irrelevant to the value of his current car.

The valuing guides Insurers use to value his car assume the car has been serviced at the required regular intervals. They don't list a value for a car and then another price if it had been serviced in the last couple of months

flashg67

I used Autotader to successfuly increase an insurance offer by linking to similar cars available - only works if they're more expensive than the offer though I guess!

Moto2

dacouch wrote: »

The servicing of the current car is largely irrelevant to the value of his current car.

The valuing guides Insurers use to value his car assume the car has been serviced at the required regular intervals. They don't list a value for a car and then another price if it had been serviced in the last couple of months

They've already 'valued it' and offered him a price and he's asked whether or not he should accept it.
He seems inclined to accept it as he's seen similar cars advertised at that sort of money.

My point was if he needs to pay extra with imminent maintenance costs, he should perhaps chase a higher figure to cover that.

scotsbob

Moto2 wrote: »

Are you including all your direct expenses to get a new car back on the road?
Increase insurance premiums for a while
Travelling to buy another car etc?
How much fuel is in the old one?
How far through their life were the tyres?
Had it just had a major service?

Loads of stuff to consider other than the sticker price

Many years ago I quoted items like this. I also sent links from web sites and cuttings from local papers to show current prices of car with similar age and mileage in my area.


Too long ago now to remember the amount but their offer was increased immediately and after a phone call increased again.


You must assume that the first offer they make is bound to be at the bottom end of the scale