Car insurance payout dispute valuation

spira9

I had a non fault claim a few weeks ago. The insurance took a while to get back to me and said they are writing it off. I got a text with a link to see the valuation and an option to appeal it. I appealed the valuation because it would cost me £500-£1000 more to buy the same car again based on autotrader and ebay listings. I waited quite a while for them to get back to me but realised they weren't going to do this as they are useless. I have seen my car on the copart auction website so I was given no option to buy back my car. I managed to get into contact with my insurer via their online chat as their phoneline wait is always 30+ minutes. When I asked them about my car there was no note about me rejecting the valuation and that I was sent a check. They said an engineer will review my appeal. I received the cheque in the mail the same day and got a voice message from the engineer who claims that's the best he can offer as the wheels need refurbing. In my appeal I noted that my car had new brakes the same day of the incident and I bought a new battery a while before that. I mentioned the prices on autotrader and noted I couldn't buy another car with the money they are giving me.

Where do I even go from here? I'm not happy with the valuation they made and they have forced it on me by sending me a cheque.

Aretnap

Are you claiming from your own insurer, or direct from the third party's insurer? Your post suggests that it's your own insurer, but I'd like to be 100% clear as it affects what you can do next.

If claiming from your own insurer you can make a formal complaint about the valuation, and if you're still not happy you can escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. However be aware that the Financial Ombudsman doesn't regard Auto Trader advertised prices as a reliable guide to the value of cars. Anybody can advertise a car for, say, £8000. It doesn't mean that it will actually sell for £8000 - the dealer might accept a lower offer, or it might sit on his forecourt for weeks attracting no interest before he readvertises it at £7500 (at which point it is quickly snapped up, and disappears from Auto Trader). So trade guides, which are based on actual selling prices, carry more weight.

Additionally if your car had work that needed doing that will inevitably reduce the valuation. I'm afraid the converse is not true - having had parts replaced recently will not increase the valuation. Any car of a certain age will have had a fair amount spent on maintaining it over the years and will have some new or nearly new parts - so that's already assumed in the valuation. Certainly it's frustrating to have a car written off when you've just replaced the brake pads, but if you went out and bought a car of a similar age there's nothing to say that it wouldn't have new brake pads as well, so it's not obvious that you've actually lost out. And if it doesn't have new brake pads it could be that it has a new clutch, whereas unknown to you yours only had a few months left in it, so what you lose with one hand you can gain with the other... 

spira9

Aretnap said:

Are you claiming from your own insurer, or direct from the third party's insurer? Your post suggests that it's your own insurer, but I'd like to be 100% clear as it affects what you can do next.

If claiming from your own insurer you can make a formal complaint about the valuation, and if you're still not happy you can escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. However be aware that the Financial Ombudsman doesn't regard Auto Trader advertised prices as a reliable guide to the value of cars. Anybody can advertise a car for, say, £8000. It doesn't mean that it will actually sell for £8000 - the dealer might accept a lower offer, or it might sit on his forecourt for weeks attracting no interest before he readvertises it at £7500 (at which point it is quickly snapped up, and disappears from Auto Trader). So trade guides, which are based on actual selling prices, carry more weight.

Additionally if your car had work that needed doing that will inevitably reduce the valuation. I'm afraid the converse is not true - having had parts replaced recently will not increase the valuation. Any car of a certain age will have had a fair amount spent on maintaining it over the years and will have some new or nearly new parts - so that's already assumed in the valuation. Certainly it's frustrating to have a car written off when you've just replaced the brake pads, but if you went out and bought a car of a similar age there's nothing to say that it wouldn't have new brake pads as well, so it's not obvious that you've actually lost out. And if it doesn't have new brake pads it could be that it has a new clutch, whereas unknown to you yours only had a few months left in it, so what you lose with one hand you can gain with the other... 

It's a non fault claim but I guess my insurer is dealing with it and claiming it from the third party one. I've been offered valuation under £2000 and there is at least a £500-£1000 difference to be able to buy another car of the same model. For me it's more about I can't go and buy the same car. And my premium going up for 5 years so I would like a little more money to cover this.

Sandtree

spira9 said:

It's a non fault claim but I guess my insurer is dealing with it and claiming it from the third party one. I've been offered valuation under £2000 and there is at least a £500-£1000 difference to be able to buy another car of the same model. For me it's more about I can't go and buy the same car. And my premium going up for 5 years so I would like a little more money to cover this.

Why are you only guessing its your insurance dealing with it? Do you not know who your insurers are and if the people you called were the same company or not?

Are you also sure you are looking at the gross valuation and not the figure net of excess and/or salvage given you say you are retaining the vehicle?

If you are claiming off your own insurer then you need to register a complaint and if still not happy with their response (or they dont respond within 8 weeks) then you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman.

As to increased premiums... this is an uninsured loss and so wouldnt be claimed from your insurers and certainly wouldnt be reflected in the valuation of the vehicle as its a separate head of claim. You would need to provide documentary evidence of what the increase is going to be and submit it to the third party insurer for consideration. Obviously this is next to impossible to do given some insurers do load for a non-fault claim whereas others dont, some only ask for 3 years history others 5 etc and you;re going to struggle to say who your insurer will be in 2025 and if they 1) consider 3 or 5 years history and 2) if they onsider 5 years then do they load at all for an historic non-fault claim? In all my years of claims handling I never once paid out on premium increases (ignoring global offers)

spira9

Sandtree said:

spira9 said:

It's a non fault claim but I guess my insurer is dealing with it and claiming it from the third party one. I've been offered valuation under £2000 and there is at least a £500-£1000 difference to be able to buy another car of the same model. For me it's more about I can't go and buy the same car. And my premium going up for 5 years so I would like a little more money to cover this.

Why are you only guessing its your insurance dealing with it? Do you not know who your insurers are and if the people you called were the same company or not?

Are you also sure you are looking at the gross valuation and not the figure net of excess and/or salvage given you say you are retaining the vehicle?

If you are claiming off your own insurer then you need to register a complaint and if still not happy with their response (or they dont respond within 8 weeks) then you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman.

As to increased premiums... this is an uninsured loss and so wouldnt be claimed from your insurers and certainly wouldnt be reflected in the valuation of the vehicle as its a separate head of claim. You would need to provide documentary evidence of what the increase is going to be and submit it to the third party insurer for consideration. Obviously this is next to impossible to do given some insurers do load for a non-fault claim whereas others dont, some only ask for 3 years history others 5 etc and you;re going to struggle to say who your insurer will be in 2025 and if they 1) consider 3 or 5 years history and 2) if they onsider 5 years then do they load at all for an historic non-fault claim? In all my years of claims handling I never once paid out on premium increases (ignoring global offers)

The third party insurer is a different company and they keep contacting me for updates. They cancelled a cover car on me as I 'failed' to update them. I don't know why I'm the one sorting all of this out. Esure were the ones that sent me a cheque for the car and took the car away. I was given no opportunity to buy my own car back. They ignored my valuation dispute. I don't know how it all works as I can't even get through on the phone to them. 

rudekid48

spira9 said:

Sandtree said:

The third party insurer is a different company and they keep contacting me for updates. They cancelled a cover car on me as I 'failed' to update them. I don't know why I'm the one sorting all of this out. Esure were the ones that sent me a cheque for the car and took the car away. I was given no opportunity to buy my own car back. They ignored my valuation dispute. I don't know how it all works as I can't even get through on the phone to them. 

Wait.... so the TP insurer gave you a car to use while the claim was being sorted but it was your own insurer that settled the claim?  Very confusing...  did you start a claim with both insurers?

spira9

rudekid48 said:

spira9 said:

Sandtree said:

The third party insurer is a different company and they keep contacting me for updates. They cancelled a cover car on me as I 'failed' to update them. I don't know why I'm the one sorting all of this out. Esure were the ones that sent me a cheque for the car and took the car away. I was given no opportunity to buy my own car back. They ignored my valuation dispute. I don't know how it all works as I can't even get through on the phone to them. 

Wait.... so the TP insurer gave you a car to use while the claim was being sorted but it was your own insurer that settled the claim?  Very confusing...  did you start a claim with both insurers?

I don't have a cover car on my policy. The third pary insurer sent me a letter admitting to fault and offered a cover car. I contacted esure and they said they are handling it and claiming back from the third party insurer. I asked if it will go down as a non fault claim and they said yes.

[Deleted User]

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Sandtree

rudekid48 said:
Wait.... so the TP insurer gave you a car to use while the claim was being sorted but it was your own insurer that settled the claim?  Very confusing...  did you start a claim with both insurers?

Its not uncommon, or wasn't in my days anyway. TPI will prefer to do that than have the OP go into credit hire.

[DELETED USER] said:

It's always best to claim from the TP. Then you can add the increased premiums on to the claim.

There are advantages however there are also disadvantages, if the OP was in the same position as they are now on a TPI claim they wouldn't have the right to go to the FOS.

Uninsured losses can always be claimed from the TPI irrespective of who deals with the insured losses.

unkle

How much was your excess? Has this been recovered from the third party?