Dad's BMW X6 stolen. Is this Insurance offer fair?

icebergx

Hi everyrone,

My Dad recently had his three year old (Dec 2012) BMW X6 stolen from our driveway. Apparently this particular model of BMW, released at the time my father purchased it, is particularly vulnerable to theft, but we were never informed of this.

Anyway, after sending the insurance company all the documentation they required, including the full spec of the vehicle and the purchase price (£51,018), and the the milage (only 7,000 miles).
I know the milage is very low for a three year old car, and many would consider it a waste of money to even purchase such a car, but it was his decision and he wanted something nice.
Anyway, the insurance company have offered him a £34,142 settlement.

I'd like to garner some opinion as to whether people think that's a fair offer.

Also, is there (in general) any scope to negotiate with insurance companies, or is it a case of you have to accept what they offer you?

Any help or advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Silver-Surfer_2

2012 X6s can be had for less than 30k but without knowing the spec it's hard to say if it's fair.

Strider590

A quick check shows they're worth around £28k, so if anything I think the insurance is offering offering over the odds.

Cars like that drop in value like a lead balloon, they're expensive to run and maintain as they get over 3 years old and those who can afford those costs would never been seen dead in a second hand one. Therefore they end up losing money at an alarming rate.

straighttalker

Yes you can negotiate with insurance companies.

I'd check Autotrader and BMW garages for similar specced vehicles but bear in mind that the price they are advertised at isn't necessarily the price they eventually sell at.

neilmcl

Have a look for a comparable spec'd car at a dealers and that's the sort of price you should be looking at as a settlement.

Iceweasel

Check prices here:

http://usedcars.bmw.co.uk/home.aspx

icebergx

The insurance company said the car itself was valued at £32380, with the additional £1800 for the extras. My dad originally paid around 4500 for the extras. Is it normal for the extras to depreciate at such a rate?

To be honest, as my dad rarely uses the car, I'm going to try to convince him to gets something smaller/more economical. It's down to him in the end. The main thing I'd like is to try to get him the best settlement possible. Any further tips to do so would be appreciated.

Would trying to negotiate based on the high depreciation be a plausible way to go?

straighttalker

The older a car gets, the less the extras are worth. When the car gets to the five or six year old mark, the extras merely make the care more saleable and a more attractive proposition.

Imagine that the Bang & Olufson upgrade on an Audi A8 costs around £7k new. It's not going to add £7k worth of value to a 10 year old A8.

londonTiger

insurance comapny are ididots are offer you trade price, i thought insurance was meant to "make you whole", if so how the f*** is a domestic user meant to buy a car at trade price??

bigjl

londonTiger wrote: »

insurance comapny are ididots are offer you trade price, i thought insurance was meant to "make you whole", if so how the f*** is a domestic user meant to buy a car at trade price??

You think £34k is trade price for a 3 yr old X6?


This is a year newer and not much higher in the miles to make much of a difference.

http://www.cargiant.co.uk/mobile/detail.asp?id=763256&mk=BMW&md=X6

So for the offered the OP's dad could get into a one year newer X6.

If he want a White one that is.

They also had a Black one on a 13 plate with 33k miles for under £30k.

That was just with a ten second search online.

I would expect a trade in price from a dealer to be closer to £25k, painful, but that's how it works when you buy something like an X6 brand new.

If you don't ask you don't get so if I was the OP or his Dad Inwould try to get the offer increased.

Wether they will or not is a different matter but nothing is lost by asking you can only gain of they agree.

londonTiger

bigjl wrote: »

You think £34k is trade price for a 3 yr old X6?


This is a year newer and not much higher in the miles to make much of a difference.

http://www.cargiant.co.uk/mobile/detail.asp?id=763256&mk=BMW&md=X6

So for the offered the OP's dad could get into a one year newer X6.

If he want a White one that is.

They also had a Black one on a 13 plate with 33k miles for under £30k.

That was just with a ten second search online.

I would expect a trade in price from a dealer to be closer to £25k, painful, but that's how it works when you buy something like an X6 brand new.

If you don't ask you don't get so if I was the OP or his Dad Inwould try to get the offer increased.

Wether they will or not is a different matter but nothing is lost by asking you can only gain of they agree.

you know as well as i do that insurance companies offer trade price in these cases. you cant point out random cars online with different age and different mileage like that, there are lots of different options available. never mind that Ops car has just 7k miles on the clock