Write off cat D urgent help please-very upset and stressed

zabka26

I was involved in accident( not my fault - lady admitted liability). Wanted to without insurance but i was scared and declined. Contacted my own insurance. 2 days later they came with offer 1200. I said i looked on autotrader and unfortunately there is no car for sale with the same specs. There are about 2/3 years younger. Valued between 2600-3400. The lady then went off the line and said there are cars for 800. When i pointed out it is not automatic and it is not ford ghia they said they sent garage to value the car. So next day we contacted the garaged and sent photos. They said that it is unreparable. So the insurance sent me txt saying that the offer stands and i need to accept it and get money in my account in 4days. Now the damage is front light and cracked bumper so easily will cost around 2000 to repair. so the money will not buy me any car ( definitely not similar to my car) i would be happy to get offer if i could afford new car and this could go towards deposit. Now due to a bad credit history( my husband lost job for 10months and we ran into serious money problems) we cannot get car credit. So my question is what to do now? The car has been damaged, i cannot take the money and buy the car off as this will be ridicoulos, i cannot get new car so after the accident i am left worse off then before!!!!!! Also the premium will go up due to accident. Am i right to fight to get enough money to buy car as close as possible to the specs and age of my car? Forecourt price on autotrader is 2500. Please help as i really need car for every day commuting to work and taking kids to nursery and school. The other insurance comp called and offered help but when they heard whta my insurer has done they said they will speak to the insurer directly and sort it.. thank you:(:(:huh::huh:

Guest101

zabka26 wrote: »

I was involved in accident( not my fault - lady admitted liability). Wanted to without insurance but i was scared and declined. Contacted my own insurance. 2 days later they came with offer 1200. - why didnt you contact her insurers? I said i looked on autotrader and unfortunately there is no car for sale with the same specs. There are about 2/3 years younger. Valued between 2600-3400. The lady then went off the line and said there are cars for 800. When i pointed out it is not automatic and it is not ford ghia they said they sent garage to value the car. - you can pay for an independent valuation but it costs approx. £300 So next day we contacted the garaged and sent photos. They said that it is unreparable. So the insurance sent me txt saying that the offer stands and i need to accept it and get money in my account in 4days. Now the damage is front light and cracked bumper so easily will cost around 2000 to repair. - so more than car worth so the money will not buy me any car ( definitely not similar to my car) i would be happy to get offer if i could afford new car and this could go towards deposit. - you can ask the ombudsman to step in, but realistically the offer wont go far more Now due to a bad credit history( my husband lost job for 10months and we ran into serious money problems) we cannot get car credit. So my question is what to do now? - well you take the insurance money and try to buy another car? The car has been damaged, i cannot take the money and buy the car off as this will be ridicoulos, i cannot get new car so after the accident i am left worse off then before!!!!!! - well sort off. The car you have is valued at £1200, that is what it is worth. in theory that means you can buy an equivalent car for £1200. Had you claimed from her insurers you would be able to get a hire car in the mean time. Also the premium will go up due to accident. - possibly. You have claimed from your insurers but if they can then reclaim the money it should not go up much Am i right to fight to get enough money to buy car as close as possible to the specs and age of my car? - sort of. Forecourt price on autotrader is 2500. - have you shown them this? Obviously your car could have additional problems Please help as i really need car for every day commuting to work and taking kids to nursery and school. The other insurance comp called and offered help but when they heard whta my insurer has done they said they will speak to the insurer directly and sort it.. thank you:(:(:huh::huh:

You really should claim from the other party, not your own

stator

Guest101 wrote: »

You really should claim from the other party, not your own

That would take longer.

You need to get your evidence together and send in a letter to you insurers disputing their valuation.

Aretnap

Here's the guide to how insurers ahold value vehicles (linking to an old version because the Ombudsman has recentl updated its website to include more colour and less information

http://web.archive.org/web/20140327134518/http://financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html

Note hat your insurer does have a duty to pay you what the selling price of your car would have been just before the accident (less your excess, which you can claim back from the third party insurer). However they don't have to find you an exact replacement car, and if an exact replacement doesn't happen to be for sale in your area at the moment they don't have to give you extra money so you can buy the next model up (or a newer/lower mileage model, or whatever). They just have to pay you a fair value, and what you do with the money is entirely up to you: buy an identical car, put it towards a more expensive car, spend the money on a holiday, it's not their problem at that point.

If you disagree with the valuation then this is one scenario where it is actually advantageous to put the claim through your own insurance company, because that way you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman if you're not happy. The Ombudsman is free (to you) but will only deal with complaints about your own insurer. If you put the claim through the at fault driver's insurers they won't necessarily offer you any more money, and if you don't like their valuation the only way you have of forcing them to pay more is to take them to court.

dacouch

I have a feeling the op has claimed via an accident management company and may also have a credit hire vehicle.

The op saying she was told to accept the money within 4 days and the lack of her complaining about the excess and remaining instalments make me suspect this.

Hopefully the poster could confirm as it makes a difference to the advice she receives.

jimjames

zabka26 wrote: »

Now the damage is front light and cracked bumper so easily will cost around 2000 to repair.

Are you sure about that? If the damage is only a front light and cracked bumper you could easily fix it for a lot less than that depending on the car. I'm guessing it's fairly old from the values given, parts from a breaker will be massively cheaper than getting new repairs from a garage. So worth finding out if your statement is correct or if there is underlying damage

zabka26

Thank you. I have no idea about the procedures. I just called my insurer to inform about the accident. My friend had accident 2years ago ( with a deer) write off. Insurance gave him 4000. He said no as he cannot buy a business car for that. They uped it to 6000. I only informed my insurer. I thought they will contact the other company and deal with it. I Just wanted to get my car repaired or get enough money to buy similar car (not even thinking of buying new). The insurer send my details to enterprise cars to get a replacement vehicle. My last question is- would legal help for car accidents help to sort this out? If i want to keep the car how much will i have to buy it for from the insurance?

AdrianC

zabka26 wrote: »

I said i looked on autotrader and unfortunately there is no car for sale with the same specs.
...The lady then went off the line and said there are cars for 800. When i pointed out it is not automatic and it is not ford ghia

Whether you can find an exact replacement or not is irrelevant. The insurer are not under an obligation to magic a car up. Replacing the car is your problem, not theirs. Their sole obligation is to pay you the fair market value for your car, immediately prior to the incident.

So... what car, what age, what mileage, what condition...?

Am i right to fight to get enough money to buy car as close as possible to the specs and age of my car?

Not quite. That car may not be for sale.

Forecourt price on autotrader is 2500

I thought you said that was for cars two-three years newer?

forgotmyname

Whats the car? Exact make/model/spec/engine etc?

System

zabka26 wrote: »

Now the damage is front light and cracked bumper so easily will cost around 2000 to repair.

Where? Is it a Ferrari?

Cracked bumper repairs are around £300, even a replacement is maybe just £100 more and a headlight is around £100-£200 to buy and half an hour labour to fit. I would be surprised if you couldn't get it all done for £500.

patman99

Look on ebay for headlight and bumper. Alternatively, cover crack in bumper with duck tape and fit a 2nd-hand light.