Car insurance claim - I'm almost in tears here....

telly-addict

Altarf wrote:

The insurance company is responsible for putting you back in the position you were in before the accident. Therefore the amount they pay to settle the claim has nothing at all to do with how much you could have theoretically sold your car for if you had chosen to do so before the accident.

The amount that they need to settle the claim is the amount that you will need to spend to buy a new car (less any excess). You should therefore base your claim on dealer forecourt prices (as those will be the only sort of cars where the description has any kind of guarantee), less any discount you could haggle the dealer down.

Agree that most insurers will define market value as the cost of replacing your car with one of a similar type and condition (or some such wording). However, they don't specify from where this notional value should come.

The same car would no doubt cost considerably more on a dealer forecourt than in a private sale (local papers/ Autotrader). If you pitch your valuation at the higher dealer end and the insurer goes for the private sale value, then you may well end up somewhere in the middle.

I'm afraid that it's all down to your negotiating skills and how hard-nosed your insurers wish to be. All you can do is prepare yourself to give you the best chance of achieving a fair valuation.

Good luck with your claim.

Altarf

telly-addict wrote:

Agree that most insurers will define market value as the cost of replacing your car with one of a similar type and condition (or some such wording). However, they don't specify from where this notional value should come.

The same car would no doubt cost considerably more on a dealer forecourt than in a private sale (local papers/ Autotrader). If you pitch your valuation at the higher dealer end and the insurer goes for the private sale value, then you may well end up somewhere in the middle.

Quoting from the Financial Ombudsman on motor vehicle valuations:

" Of course there can be genuine debates about what represents a fair market value. Our starting point is to consider the approach the firm has taken. We would expect it to have consulted the normal trade guides and to have allowed for any difference from the norm in the car’s mileage or condition. In most cases, the firm should have assessed the market value as equivalent to the ‘guide retail price’ (the price that a member of the public might reasonably expect to pay at a dealership)."

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/22/issue-22-motorinsurance.htm

telly-addict wrote:

I'm afraid that it's all down to your negotiating skills and how hard-nosed your insurers wish to be. All you can do is prepare yourself to give you the best chance of achieving a fair valuation.

But in any negotiation, it helps if you know what the starting point should be.

telly-addict

Altarf, agree with your comments in principle, but in reality you're unlikely to get the full dealer forecourt value. You neglect to quote the next paragraph in the FOS article on motor valuations:

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Sometimes the firm will argue that it would be fairer to use the ‘guide trade value’ (the price that a motor trader might pay). Normally this will be less than the market price that the policyholder will have to pay to replace the car. However, the trade value may be a useful indicator where the car was not in ‘guide retail’ condition or where there is evidence that the customer intended to buy a replacement privately."[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/font]
There is generally room for an insurer to argue that a car is not in guide retail condition (even where there is a full service history, etc.). Generally a dealer will do some work on a used car before placing it on the forecourt.

But agree with your point that you've got to start somewhere in the negotiating process. Better to start at the top and work down!

BargainHunterCat

Being ex-insurance claims myself (not sure if I sould admit to that!) in my experience the assessors will always go by the private sale price in Glass's guide which you can't get a copy of unless you work in the motor trade.
I would ask them to photocopy the page from glass's guide then you can check that have priced it against the correct model and spec.
Also bear in mind that if there was any other pre-existing damage (no matter how minor) to the car they will also deduct the cost of that from the price.
If you have a full service history for the car, that can help.
As mentioned before, if you can't find an equivalent car for the price offered in your area, you would be right to reject the offer. Try to provie evidence from local free ads and papers but they may try to dismiss these if the cars are not the exact same model and year. If the car is relatively new then you could argue that they should offer you the dealer retail price.
Unfortunately I've seen a lot of people disappointed with offers for written off cars because the prices of second hand cars really have nose dived in the last 5 years, but if your research suggests the offer is too low, then you dont have to accept it.
I'm afraid you can't do anything about the excess unless the accident was someone else's fault so you have to look at the offer before deduction of that.
You might want to consider finding a policy with 0 excess next year, but it will cost you more so it's swings and roundabouts.
If all else fails and you come to loggerheads with them talk to the insurance ombudsman. You must inform your insurers that you are going to the ombudsman so they get a chance to increase their offer.
In my experience the ombudsman is always sympathetic to claimants in your position so don't be afraid to write them a letter and they will tell you whether the offer is fair.
Their address will be on your insurance paperwork or you can have a look at their web site http://www.theiob.org.uk/

telly-addict

Glass's Guide is still going strong and is generally the starting point for the insurer's valuation. But I would be surprised if your insurer is prepared to send you a copy of the relevant page in the post - there again, you never know!!

Just to let you know that the IOB (Insurance Ombudsman Service) has been superseded by the FOS Financial Ombudsman Service - here's the up-to-date link:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/