Car on finance written off.

Hachiman

Hi

My wife and i were on holiday recently when our car which was parked in our street was hit by a young gentleman who had just passed his test.

Our car which was on finance at the time has now officially been written off.
The balance remaining over next 2 years is £7300.
The early settlement amount is £5500.
The value of the car being paid by our insurer is £3500.

So we are faced with either trying to raise £2000 to early settle the finance or paying for the next 2 years for a car we don't have. All through no fault of our own as we were not even present when the accident happened. I do feel sorry for the driver as he is facing driving offence charges, penalty points or even a ban, and a huge insurance premium if he is allowed to still drive. However at the end of the day we now have no car(courtesy car being picked up today) and are now having to pay the difference between the value of our car and a £2000 early settlement fee or £3800 over next 2 years for a car that's written off.

So is it possible to sue the driver for the money we are going to have to pay out now because of his fault?

Or does anyone else have any other way to approach this in respect to getting a new car from the finance company?

Much appreciated.

Thanks

DUTR

Hachiman wrote: »

Hi

My wife and i were on holiday recently when our car which was parked in our street was hit by a young gentleman who had just passed his test.

Our car which was on finance at the time has now officially been written off.
The balance remaining over next 2 years is £7300.
The early settlement amount is £5500.
The value of the car being paid by our insurer is £3500.

So we are faced with either trying to raise £2000 to early settle the finance or paying for the next 2 years for a car we don't have. All through no fault of our own as we were not even present when the accident happened. I do feel sorry for the driver as he is facing driving offence charges, penalty points or even a ban, and a huge insurance premium if he is allowed to still drive. However at the end of the day we now have no car(courtesy car being picked up today) and are now having to pay the difference between the value of our car and a £2000 early settlement fee or £3800 over next 2 years for a car that's written off.

So is it possible to sue the driver for the money we are going to have to pay out now because of his fault?

Or does anyone else have any other way to approach this in respect to getting a new car from the finance company?

Much appreciated.

Thanks

Is that the market value for the vehicle intact?
Something doesn't add up there, as the 3rd party insurers would be making the offer plus if the car had been stolen and not recovered then you would be in the same position.

wgl2014

I guess not but.... Do you have GAP insurance as this would cover the shortfall?

caprikid1

The insurance is there to put you back in the position you were PRE accident. If you can replace the vehicle for the amount they have provided you then you are back in that same position IE you could use the payout to replace the car.


If the pay out is insufficient then you need to challenge the insurance company, how much you borrowed against the car is largely irrelevant. If you had been given the car would you expect to get nothing ?


I cannot see you being able to sue the driver for the way in which you financed the car and its natural depreciation.

Hachiman

Hi Dutr

I'm a bit new to all this and don't know how it works.

Sorry we have not had a figure quoted yet for what we are going to get for our car. I believe we are going to get that today.. I did a valuation of my car on webuyanycar.com and got approx £3500. So i believe his insurers pay that to our finance company and not directly to us.

Thanks

custardy

Hachiman wrote: »

Hi

My wife and i were on holiday recently when our car which was parked in our street was hit by a young gentleman who had just passed his test.

Our car which was on finance at the time has now officially been written off.
The balance remaining over next 2 years is £7300.
The early settlement amount is £5500.
The value of the car being paid by our insurer is £3500.

So we are faced with either trying to raise £2000 to early settle the finance or paying for the next 2 years for a car we don't have. All through no fault of our own as we were not even present when the accident happened. I do feel sorry for the driver as he is facing driving offence charges, penalty points or even a ban, and a huge insurance premium if he is allowed to still drive. However at the end of the day we now have no car(courtesy car being picked up today) and are now having to pay the difference between the value of our car and a £2000 early settlement fee or £3800 over next 2 years for a car that's written off.

So is it possible to sue the driver for the money we are going to have to pay out now because of his fault?

Or does anyone else have any other way to approach this in respect to getting a new car from the finance company?

Much appreciated.

Thanks

Nothing has changed on the money you are paying out.
You were paying that regardless.
You replace the car with the insurance payout. As said is it enough to replace like for like?

DrEskimo

Hachiman wrote: »

Hi Dutr

I'm a bit new to all this and don't know how it works.

Sorry we have not had a figure quoted yet for what we are going to get for our car. I believe we are going to get that today.. I did a valuation of my car on webuyanycar.com and got approx £3500. So i believe his insurers pay that to our finance company and not directly to us.

Thanks

If that's it's trade value, then you can try and challenge the insurers valuation and say it would cost you X to buy it from a dealer or privately seller.

Try and find any adverts online that are similar to your car directly before the crash (trim, spec, mileage, age, condition) and use that to argue that the settlement should be increased. Hopefully you can get them to increase their offer to reduce the shortfall.

You cannot sue the driver for this. It's a risk you take when financing a car, and it's why GAP insurance exists.

Hachiman

Ah ok clear on the suing part now.

So i believed that the insurance payout would be paid towards the finance company.
However if i am now understanding corrrectly, we receive the payment and buy a car for that value and then keep paying the finance as usual?

Appreciate all replies by the way.

custardy

Hachiman wrote: »

Ah ok clear on the suing part now.

So i believed that the insurance payout would be paid towards the finance company.
However if i am now understanding corrrectly, we receive the payment and buy a car for that value and then keep paying the finance as usual?

Appreciate all replies by the way.

Thats what GAP insurance is for. To make up the difference in value to amount owed on finance.
No matter what you are 'on the hook' for the finance. How you deal with it is up to you.
You could use the insurance payout as you like: Eg

A replacement car for cash
replacement car with further finance
replacement car clearing the old finance with a new finance deal.

however given what you have outstanding,I personally would look to just buy for cash.

Jumblebumble

Hachiman wrote: »

Ah ok clear on the suing part now.

So i believed that the insurance payout would be paid towards the finance company.
However if i am now understanding corrrectly, we receive the payment and buy a car for that value and then keep paying the finance as usual?

Appreciate all replies by the way.

Of course
If the insurers paid the money to the finance company then you would be left paying for something you are not getting ie the car which would not be very fair

neilmcl

Hachiman wrote: »

Hi Dutr

I'm a bit new to all this and don't know how it works.

Sorry we have not had a figure quoted yet for what we are going to get for our car. I believe we are going to get that today.. I did a valuation of my car on webuyanycar.com and got approx £3500. So i believe his insurers pay that to our finance company and not directly to us.

Thanks

The write-ff value should cover the cost to replace the car with the same model purchased via a dealer, the WBAC valuation is simply a trade value and much lower then you should be looking at.