Car Insurance and a write off

patchwork_cat

HI
Someone crashed into the back of us whilst stationary in a queue of traffic on a slip road off the M62. IMHO and that of the tow driver our car is a write off.

We were just starting to get things straightened out financial having remortgaged and cleared debts ( that we had been paying off for a year) and now this.

If the insurance company writes the car off will we realistically get enough money to replace with a like for like car?

pinginal

Yes. I've had a couple of write offs and the payouts have been a fair reflection of the value of the car.

PasturesNew

My friend had a write off and she didn't get a fair price for her car.

They seemed to base the amount she got on how much you could get a car like hers for from an auction in the Midlands.

And she was living in Cornwall so had no access to auctions in the Midlands or any cars of a similar price at all. Plus no time to be doing all the hunting around necessary to try to replace the car with a like-for-like at their price as she was self-employed as a trainer with a full diary.

She lost quite a few thousand on that one.

Thomas_Crown

patchwork_cat wrote: »

HI
If the insurance company writes the car off will we realistically get enough money to replace with a like for like car?

Don't accept the insurance company's first offer. Look for adverts under cars for sale in the local press, Auto Trader (your area) & search for the same make/model/trim level ie.L or GL/condition & this will give you a good idea of how much it would cost to replace the car. Cut out adverts & send them to the insurance company showing them that a replacement will cost £xxxxxx.

V_tricky

I disagree that you should automatically reject the insurers first offer.

Certainly, the advice about gathering evidence to show that you could not replace your vehicle with one of the same spec/condition is very good advice. If you can show that you can't buy the same type vehicle in your area, they should be able to consider an increase as the values should be based on the local market, but often the person making the valuation is based at a central point, merely looking at an audatex report with images of the car.

If they still don't agree, and you are sure that they've made an unreasonable offer, ask for it to be reviewed by a senior engineer.

Mr_Bear_2

generally you are entitled to the writee off value only

NOT the amount needed to replace your vehicle

V_tricky

Mr_Bear wrote: »

generally you are entitled to the writee off value only

NOT the amount needed to replace your vehicle

And how do you calculate the "write off value"? Don't really know what you actually mean by "write off value". Are you talking about a pre-accident value of a total loss?

According to Saga, they (in line with most other UK insurers) will pay
"The cost of replacing your vehicle with a vehicle of the same make, model and specification, age, mileage and condition as your vehicle was immediately before the loss or damage you are claiming for. If we are unable to estimate the market value of your vehicle we will use the nearest market equivalent for comparison."
http://www.saga.co.uk/finance/policy_docs/PDFs/Motor.pdf

Insurance is based on the principle of indemnity - ie the insurer is under an obligation to put you back in the same financial position as you were before the accident.

If you can show that you are not being put back in the same position if an insurer has overlooked something relating to your claim, then you stand a reasonably good chance of getting an increased offer