Car accident claim - Admiral

Chan0905

I had a car accident towards the end of October 2020,  whereby me and my 3 week old son were from the rear. Due to the damage that was caused to the rear end of my vehicle and it not undergoing some work, I was incredibly concious that this would significantly effect the value of my car when trading it back into the garage. Having contacted my insurance to dicusss this with them, I was told along the lines of because my car is not of a significant value there is nothing that can be done to allow me to gain the amount of loss that is potentially likely to incur. I find this a little disheartening and disappointing, as it should not matter what type of car you drive; I am still going to be at a financial loss due to an accident that was no fault of mine.

Do you believe this to be fair, and if not what more can I do? 

Supersonos

What relevance is the fact your three-week-old son was in the car? 

Chan0905

What relevance is your post? Unless you are going to provide some useful feedback, then please don't comment at all. 

Car_54

Whether fair or not, I'm afraid the legal position is very clear. The other party (or their insurer) has to compensate you for the value of the car you were driving (in this case "not significant"), not the car you'd like or need to replace it.

daveyjp

Trade in garage won't know about the accident so you will suffer no loss.

Supersonos

Chan0905 said:

What relevance is your post? Unless you are going to provide some useful feedback, then please don't comment at all. 

I was eating an apple and wasn't sure if you'd missed some details about injuries.  

AdrianC

So the insurer repaired the car, and you think there should be some compensation for the reduction in value due to it having been repaired?

But there is no reduction in value. The car hasn't been written off. The repair is unrecorded anywhere. The buyer won't even know that it's ever been repaired.

If the repair is poor quality, so is immediately apparent, then that's an issue with the repair - and it should be re-done to an acceptable standard.

ontheroad1970

Supersonos said:

What relevance is the fact your three-week-old son was in the car? 

There were at least no nuns and no kittens...

TheProfessional

I hope your son is well. How fast were you hit? 
Just something to bear in mind,  I assume your newborn was in a car-seat and there is advice out there that suggests you should change the seat if it has been in an accident, even if no visible damage

https://www.childcarseats.org.uk/choosing-using/replacing-a-child-seat-after-an-accident/

Sandtree

Chan0905 said:

I had a car accident towards the end of October 2020,  whereby me and my 3 week old son were from the rear. Due to the damage that was caused to the rear end of my vehicle and it not undergoing some work, I was incredibly concious that this would significantly effect the value of my car when trading it back into the garage. Having contacted my insurance to dicusss this with them, I was told along the lines of because my car is not of a significant value there is nothing that can be done to allow me to gain the amount of loss that is potentially likely to incur. I find this a little disheartening and disappointing, as it should not matter what type of car you drive; I am still going to be at a financial loss due to an accident that was no fault of mine.

Do you believe this to be fair, and if not what more can I do? 

Depreciation is not an insured loss and so your insurers are correct to tell you that its not their problem.

You can attempt to claim depreciation as an uninsured loss from the insurers of the car that went into the back of you but you would have to provide evidence of your financial loss. Unless you have since sold to have materialised the loss however this is exceptionally difficult as you may have lost 2% of the value but what that is in absolute terms depends on if you sell the car today or in 10 years time.

And then there is reality... unless the vehicle is a total loss having accident damage repaired doesnt cause any depreciation of a vehicle if competent repairs are done. I've had and sold many cars in the years, some had accident before I bought them, some had accidents whilst I had them and some never have (as far as I knew) and never once has it impacted valuation... in most cases the buyer didnt even ask anything about accidents. Only once on a lease car did they note that one corner had thicker paint at which point I just shrugged and they moved on and never said anything else about it.

AdrianC

It's also worth noting that some estimates reckon about a third of brand new cars have had some bodywork rectification to transit damage, before they ever get registered and delivered. Just think about all the opportunities for damage between factory and showroom... Trains, ships, trucks.