Vehicle write-off - claim against the guilty party

scruffyherbert

I'll try to keep this concise and to the point.

My van was written off in a hit and run accident a little earlier this month. I was hit passenger side on by a car that was travelling at too great a speed (another downside to Coronavirus, quiet roads and excessive speeds). The driver then sped off and left the scene. Fortuately there were 2 or 3 witnesses that saw everything and got the registration details. All statements were given to the police. I was completely uninjured, just quite badly shaken up at the time.

My insurance were quick to pay out as my van was a Category B write off. It was a 13 year old van in good condition and one I was more than happy with so annoyed that due to an absolute idiot I'm now minus a van and £2000 put of pocket. I'm basing this on the fact that after the insurance payment it's going to cost me £2000 to get anything in a similar condition that my van was originally in.

What I would like to know is whether there is any way I can chase up the guilty party, in the legal sense, to claim for any compensation or is it a waste of time? All I could find on the internet was that you could if you were physically injured but nothing about a vehicle.

Thanks in adavance for any info. Nick

452

Why did you accept the payment if you're not happy with it?

MEM62

I assume that you did not take the first offer on your van.  Either way the underwriter will only pay out the trade-in value and you will be buying retail so there will always be a shortfall in these situations.  Unfortunately, you are unlikely to recover any such losses in this case.  You may well find that your insurer will pursue the third party to cover their losses, if the driver has been identified, but they will not recover yours.  On the basis that you do not know that the driver has the money / assets to settle and the fact that litigation is expensive and the outcome not guaranteed, I would suggest that this is one that you just need to suck up and walk away from. 

Car_54

MEM62 said:

I assume that you did not take the first offer on your van.  Either way the underwriter will only pay out the trade-in value and you will be buying retail so there will always be a shortfall in these situations. 

Are you sure about that? The insurer is expected to pay the "market value", which is the retail price, not the trade-in.

MEM62

Car_54 said:

MEM62 said:

I assume that you did not take the first offer on your van.  Either way the underwriter will only pay out the trade-in value and you will be buying retail so there will always be a shortfall in these situations. 

Are you sure about that? The insurer is expected to pay the "market value", which is the retail price, not the trade-in.

That is the usual outcome, whatever valuation process they profess to use. 

Manxman_in_exile

We've had two cars written off over the years.  We did a lot of research as to what sort of range the "market value" was, and on both occasions we were offered amounts that we considered acceptable*.  The last one was well into the upper end of the range we'd already identified and on the other one we managed to squeeze out another £200.  The amounts certainly weren't "trade-in" amounts!

If you've got a 13 year-old van you use for work, the payout you get will only be enough to buy a 13 year-old van that's been used for work; not a 10 year-old one nor a 5 year-old one.

*To be fair, the insurance we had wasn't the cheapest.  Sometimes you get what you've paid for.

AdrianC

scruffyherbert said:
My insurance were quick to pay out as my van was a Category B write off. It was a 13 year old van in good condition and one I was more than happy with so annoyed that due to an absolute idiot I'm now minus a van and £2000 put of pocket. I'm basing this on the fact that after the insurance payment it's going to cost me £2000 to get anything in a similar condition that my van was originally in.
What I would like to know is whether there is any way I can chase up the guilty party, in the legal sense, to claim for any compensation or is it a waste of time? All I could find on the internet was that you could if you were physically injured but nothing about a vehicle.

Compensation for what?
You claimed from your insurer, and they paid you the market value of your vehicle. If you thought that their payout was less than the market value, then you needed to deal further with your insurer, not the other driver.

But if you've already accepted the payment, then you've accepted that it was a fair valuation...

Remember, the payout is for the value of yours immediately prior to the incident. Whether you can buy similar is not the insurer's problem. I suspect your +£2k figure is based on finding that "similar condition" vans are newer than yours.

Herzlos

You can claim for your out of pocket expenses - calls to insurers, costs for running around dealerships sourcing new vehicles, increase in premiums etc. Nothing for the time itself.