Written off car -The insurance (1st) settlement offer is too low! negotiation questions?

katesheet

To summarize car collision, car was economically written off, insurance company offering a settlement

When checking out 4 other cars on autotrader, their settlement offer they offered is about £800 - £1000 less that similar cars of same mileage, of same city, same year etc..from these 4 autotrader cars, and possibly other sites.

They said to dispute this offer I would have to prove that it has a higher market value.

I have some questions, can you please assist with as many of the answers as you can.
Apologies to the vast questions, but it is a distressing time x

a) Is it true insurance companies offer only 3 offers, 

if you reject the 1st one, they offer a 2nd and if you reject that a 3rd final one?

or they can offer more than 3?

b) In their first offer, they gave a slight incorrect fact.

Their mileage fact was wrong by 8000 miles.

When corrected them to the new mileage they increased their offer by just a tiny bit.

..b) Does this new 'slight increased' offer count as 1 of the 3 offers?  (so they have used 2 offers) leaving only 1 offer left? 

c) What proof/evidence of market value of cars 'higher' than their offer would they need?

Photo/screenshots of cars from autotrader for this higher price?  yes/no?

Photos of MOT? yes/no?

Photos of both keys?  yes/no?

anything else?

d) They have confirmed that they are offering us the  'market value' of the car,

When mentioned to them on the phone call, that autotrader prices are much higher than their 1st settlement offer

they said that, autotrader prices are showing the cars 'advertising' values, not their market values. 

Is that true? or they just said that to put us off, and encourage us to accept this first offer?

d) To send these researched photos to the insurer, would it be fine to just email these photos and information,
or it is best to post them with royal mail recorded delivery? or doesn’t matter

- Which did you do? email them/ or post them  in your case?

e) Would photos of the keys, V5 log book, MOT certificate be needed to be sent to them? yes/no/ doesn't matter?

f) Can I say anything to them which will scare them, ie I will go to the Financial Ombudsman with this matter

if they don't go any higher in their offer?

g) any other advise things you can point out which have been missed?

h) Is there any case that they can pull out completely and say  "they are now offering £0" 

i) Have you had experience in this very similar scenario/ or your friend/family member?

share your story please, did they increase to the value in line with your researched cars?

I would be grateful towards assistance towards as many of these questions a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, and i.
As I said apologies to the vast questions, but it is a distressing time x

Thanks very much x

AdrianC

katesheet said:

To summarize car collision, car was economically written off, insurance company offering a settlement

When checking out 4 other cars on autotrader, their settlement offer they offered is about £800 - £1000 less that similar cars of same mileage, of same city, same year etc..from these 4 autotrader cars, and possibly other sites.

They said to dispute this offer I would have to prove that it has a higher market value.

Yep.

What sort of proportion of the value is a grand? What age, value, mileage, type of car are we talking about?

"Same city" is irrelevant - cars are easily mobile. Yes, some parts of the country are expensive for used cars, but nowhere's more than a few hours from other parts of the country.

Is it true insurance companies offer only 3 offers, 

if you reject the 1st one, they offer a 2nd and if you reject that a 3rd final one?

or they can offer more than 3?

No, there's no hard-and-fast rule.

In their first offer, they gave a slight incorrect fact.

Their mileage fact was wrong by 8000 miles.

When corrected them to the new mileage they increased their offer by just a tiny bit.

Again, what proportion is that?

What proof/evidence of market value of cars 'higher' than their offer would they need?

Photo/screenshots of cars from autotrader for this higher price?  yes/no?

Adverts giving a price don't mean that's the value. There's an expectation of negotiation. The insurers work from industry-standard valuation guides. Unless your car was something relatively esoteric so isn't in the guides, or you can show why the valuations don't apply, then the chances are you won't move them far.

They have confirmed that they are offering us the  'market value' of the car,

When mentioned to them on the phone call, that autotrader prices are much higher than their 1st settlement offer

they said that, autotrader prices are showing the cars 'advertising' values, not their market values. 

Is that true? or they just said that to put us off, and encourage us to accept this first offer?

Absolutely true.

Can I say anything to them which will scare them, ie I will go to the Financial Ombudsman with this matter

if they don't go any higher in their offer?

Yep.

Have a read of this: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs

Is there any case that they can pull out completely and say  "they are now offering £0" 

No, because every road-legal car was worth something - even if it was only a few hundred quid - before the collision.

Goudy

Run your car details through here

https://www.whatcar.com/car-valuation/

Fill in the details as closely as possible and select "buying this car".

This is a simpler valuation tool to what the experts will use, but it's gives pretty close results.

Remember, your insurance will take off the policy excess from your settlement unless they can claim it off a party at fault, so you might need to factor that in.

You should have some leverage in the offer, ok they might be saying these prices are advertised prices, but where are you meant to go to to buy another similar car if not the dealers selling them at these prices?

Car_54

Goudy said:

You should have some leverage in the offer, ok they might be saying these prices are advertised prices, but where are you meant to go to to buy another similar car if not the dealers selling them at these prices?

But the dealers are not selling them at those prices (except occasionally to some unsuspecting mug) - they're the starting point for negotiation.

Goudy

They will if they can, it all depends on market value at the time, CAP don't always get it right if demand for a model is high and you're not expected to accept a settlement at the trade price, just because they sell through the auctions at that price.

Use the Whatcar valuation tool and look at what similar cars sell at, somewhere between the two is what you're aiming at.

I have actually done this recently when my Abarth got stolen and disappeared off the face of the planet, they offered the CAP price, but I couldn't buy a similar car for that, I went to a dealer and got a quote on a similar used car.

I sent it through to the insurance and they agreed to pay it, they didn't even argue.

Car_54

Goudy said:

They will if they can, it all depends on market value at the time, CAP don't always get it right if demand for a model is high and you're not expected to accept a settlement at the trade price, just because they sell through the auctions at that price.

The insurer is expected to use the retail price from the guides (CAP etc.), not the trade price.

Goudy

The insurer is expected to pay out the market value of the car, it only uses these guides, as the name suggests, as guides.

There are plenty of variables that can alter the market value which is why they will consider negotiating a different settlement figure in most cases.

You have also nothing to lose in negotiating with them, though you do need to know what is a reasonable outcome.

katesheet

the phoning them stage seems a little bit emotional to me, is this natural? and happens with the rest of you who have done it ?

olgadapolga

When my car was written off, I tried to negotiate with the insurer but got nowhere, they just sent a cheque for the amount they first offered.

I sent the evidence I found about the value of my car to the FOS who told them to increase their offer.

That insurance company lost at least two customers over that. Not that they care of course.

Hope you have an easier time sorting your claim out than I did.