insurance pay out after none fault crash

vicki--jones

hello,
im new to this site and would like some help,
i was recently involved in a car crash that wasnt my fault, the other vehicle went straight into the back off us, i phoned the insurance and got the ball rolling on getting the pay out needed to replace my seat leon as it was a total loss. they evaualted the car at £1275 which is less than the car was worth, it was a 03 plate but had full service history. they are currently selling online at around £1400-£1500. we then recieved a cheque through the post even though i hadnt agreed the amount and the cheque came through even less than the evaluation £1147.50. i rang the insurance company to ask why and all she could say was she thinks im paying for the storage (which i no i shouldnt have to) she told me cash the cheque in anyway and wait for the evaluators to call me and disscuss it with them. im yet to hear of them.
please if any one has advice or been in this situation and can help feel free to comment.
thanks inadvance

Quentin

Is the difference your excess? Have you any outstanding premium to pay for the year? (Both would be deducted from the settlement figure)


You can accept the cheque and cash it - write and confirm your conversation and say you are not accepting this payment as the final settlement, but an interim payment

pc1271

I would hold off on cashing the cheque, to do so might imply that you've accepted it. Keep chasing, and maybe write a letter. You can easily look up your cars book value in Parkers or Glass's guide online to see if they are trying to pull a fast one.

rs65

They have deducted 10%.


Did you keep the car?

caliew

Is the car a write off? The cheque settlement might be less the excess money?

Aretnap

The typical reasons why the settlement cheque would be lower than the valuation would either be because you've claimed through your own policy and they've deducted your excess and any outstanding monthly premiums (though £127.50 would be an unusual amount to have as your excess), or because you have kept ownership the salvage (ie what's left of the car) and they've deducted an amount to reflect its value (often a nominal 10% of the final settlement - which fits the numbers).

Assuming it's the latter, depending on its condition you can sell the wreck to a local scrapyard, trade it in when you buy a new car (if you're lucky you might get a bit more than £127 either way) or get it fixed yourself, which you might be able to do for less than £1147 if the damage is relatively minor and you don't mind using a backstreet garage and/or second hand parts.

As for whether £1275 is a fair valuation, have a read at this

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

Note that adverts for similar vehicles are not generally regarded as strong evidence of its value - the fact that someone advertises a car for £1500 doesn't mean that it will actually sell for £1500. Greater reliance is put on the trade guides, which are based on actual selling prices.