Car is undervalued

Philluk

Hi all

Has anyone have any experience with an under valued car, I had an accident in Feb, the third party pulled out in front of me, so liability isn't an issue, my useless insurance co Endsleigh passed my claim over to a claims company, who are just as useless, they sent an engineer to my car and put a pre accident value of 4100 and I keep the car, I said that was too low if you look on auto trader you can't get a car same age mileage condition as mine for less than £7,000. I had 2 valuations done on mine and both said mine pre accident was £6500. The third party insurer won't budge and offer more. the FO said what they offered was about right in line with book price. The claim co has closed the case

So I'm £3,000 out of picket through no fault of mine.

Any suggestions the claim management would not do anymore

forgotmyname

They are offering £4100 and you get to keep it? Or £4100 minus the salvage price to keep it?

If its £4100 and you keep it, will it cost you more than that to repair it?

Philluk

they have offered £4100 and i keep the car, to repair the car is around £6,800 but they go by 60% of the value so its not worth repairing. all i want is enough money to replace the car like for like, i dont expect it to be brand new an old one is fine, but being a rarer car the prices are high.

Quentin

Why do you want to keep the car? Your offer is less than the market value because they have deducted the value of the salvage

agrinnall

How much is their offer without you keeping the car? That's the only figure you can use to compare to market value.

pappa_golf

ones on autotrader "might" be £7000 , but they have not been sold yet , and might be £7000 forever , a true value is what HAVE cars like that sold for

Philluk

the car is valued at £500 scrap. yes the cars sell i give them a week or so and ring as i might get it cheaper, its a diesel land cruiser amazon and there has been 2004 models on for £20k so 2000 models are £7000 plus.

Quentin

So why are you wanting to keep it?

teddysmum

Have you been back to the insurers and told them it is not enough and that you expect to be no worse off ?


I had a bump,with the other party admitting responsibility, and their insurers offered a repair amount which would not cover,due to the car's age so rarity of parts.


My son had a word, saying that , to buy an equivalent would be £X and they agreed to a good deal of 'top book' (more than £X) less 10% salvage value, for me to keep the car .This will cover costs with some to spare and I keep my car which is comfortable for me to drive. (My car is reliable, but one bought for £X may well nit be so).

maddogb

am in a similar situation and am currently going thru legal proceedings against Esure but your case is different as it involves a 3rd party you have no contract with.
The strategy I am going to court with is breech of contract,
they agreed to repair OR pay you "market value" -your excess, if the pay out is less, the onus should be on them to prove it is fair, valuation via the book method alone is rarely fair, who did the valuations at £6500? obviously a valuer working for them will be leaning their way.
There is also the fact that either the UTCC (1999) or the Consumer Contracts (2015?) both have a sections stating where there is doubt about the meaning of a term, the interpretation which favours the consumer is the one gone with.
This is important as it overrides the normal interpretation of fairness within the small claims courts
I have yet to see in my research a published definition of "market value" which is so clear and legible it enables you to compare one insurance contract over another, another point which must be adhered to in the above laws.

EdGasket

A fair price would be where you could go out and buy an equivalent car off a dealer's forecourt with minimum fuss so that you are back where you started. In practice insurers seem to use 'trade' prices but joe public can't usually repalce his car at a trade price, so why won't the insurers offer the proper retail price or be forced to? (I know because they need to make a profit )