Advice on van insurance claim

Mark_and_Cath

My van was written off in an accident.  The market value for vans is very high at present due to a supply shortage.

They made me an offer of £9,000 which is some £2,000 below replacement cost.  I declined and they sent it back to the engineers department to look at it again.  The engineers department refused to increase the offer and so we were deadlocked. 

The matter was then raised as a complaint by the 2nd engineer I spoke to.  I asked for the email/telephone number for the complaints department so I could submit the Autotrader adverts etc as evidence of market value and was told there wasn't one available to me.  I was further told they would contact me shortly to discuss the matter.  I got an email from them about a week later saying they had reached a final decision, they believed the offer was fair and invited me to go to the FOS if I was unhappy.

In summary, one member of their staff raises a complaint about what they think is the extent of my complaint and another member of their staff then decides on it without even bothering to talk to me.  Do I get a voice?  Am I allowed to speak?  According to Lloyds Bank and Markerstudy the answer to these questions is no.

This cannot be right that they raise a complaint and then decide on the complaint without the customer having input into the process.  Any advice on engaging the FOS would be appreciated.

Sandtree

Given this is a van is it a business or personal policy? If its a business I assume you have checked that your business is small enough to be covered by the FOS?

The problem with autotrader ads is they show the asking price not the selling price. At one point I used to sit near the desk engineers and after getting the answers out of Glass etc they would then have a look on Autotrader but call up one or two that were advertising making up a story to sense check the price (eg I'm going to have to travel to see the van so wanted to make sure that if I offered £9k that we'll be able to do a deal)

As you have their final response continuing with the insurer is likely to be flogging a dead horse. You can register your complaint online with the FOS at Complain online (financial-ombudsman.org.uk) by choosing the top option (assuming you are within their remit)

Mark_and_Cath

Sandtree said:

Given this is a van is it a business or personal policy? If its a business I assume you have checked that your business is small enough to be covered by the FOS?

The problem with autotrader ads is they show the asking price not the selling price. At one point I used to sit near the desk engineers and after getting the answers out of Glass etc they would then have a look on Autotrader but call up one or two that were advertising making up a story to sense check the price (eg I'm going to have to travel to see the van so wanted to make sure that if I offered £9k that we'll be able to do a deal)

As you have their final response continuing with the insurer is likely to be flogging a dead horse. You can register your complaint online with the FOS at Complain online (financial-ombudsman.org.uk) by choosing the top option (assuming you are within their remit)

It is a business vehicle but I am a sole trader and so I believe I am covered.

No one is discounting screen prices (in fact the prices are going up) because there is no supply of new vans.  My new van has been delayed again and now it looks like I might get it in October.  I have seen 2 year old vans with 70k miles sell for more than brand new vans because they are available today and not in 4 or 5 months time.  People are desperate and sellers know it.  It is an insane market out there but market value should mean market value.

I asked them to replace the vehicle if they could get one for the price they offered and they said no.  Do I have the right to ask for a replacement vehicle?

Thanks again...

Aretnap

Mark_and_Cath said:

Sandtree said:

Given this is a van is it a business or personal policy? If its a business I assume you have checked that your business is small enough to be covered by the FOS?

The problem with autotrader ads is they show the asking price not the selling price. At one point I used to sit near the desk engineers and after getting the answers out of Glass etc they would then have a look on Autotrader but call up one or two that were advertising making up a story to sense check the price (eg I'm going to have to travel to see the van so wanted to make sure that if I offered £9k that we'll be able to do a deal)

As you have their final response continuing with the insurer is likely to be flogging a dead horse. You can register your complaint online with the FOS at Complain online (financial-ombudsman.org.uk) by choosing the top option (assuming you are within their remit)

I asked them to replace the vehicle if they could get one for the price they offered and they said no.  Do I have the right to ask for a replacement vehicle?

Generally speaking no - you have the right to the market value of your vehicle (whatever that might be) but the insurer doesn't have to find you a replacement for that price. (An exact replacement might not be for sale at the time of the write-off, and might not even exist, especially in the case of a rare or classic vehicle)

The exception is if your vehicle is less than a year old, in which case many (not all) policies include a clause offering to replace it with an equivalent brand new vehicle, subject to a couple of conditions. However if that applied here, your insurer would probably have offered a replacement already.

The FOS guidance on complaints about vehicle valuations is here. Note that the starting point is the trade guides (Glasses, Parkers, CAP etc) which are based on actual selling prices, so are considered to be more reliable than advertised prices. However they do say that they will consider adverts for similar vehicles in some circumstances, if they strongly suggest that the trade guides are wrong.

forgotmyname

How many pay the full asking pice on an Autotrader Advert?

Current car cost a lot less to buy than the insurance comparisons estimated price. I used the comparison
sites quotes to get a better price with my insurer and when I gave a value they said was I sure the book
price was considerable more.

Lots of overpriced vehicles on Autotrader. See how many are still for sale in a few months or sold for a lot less.

tasticz

Well £9k is more or less guaranteed amount (unless FOS says the valuation is lower). I would go with the complaint to FOS as it should automatically cost the insurance company £650 and FOS decision is binding on the insurers. You'll have the opportunity to submit adverts for like for like vehicles and have your say.

If like for like vehicles are advertised for £11k then I don't think you can get it for £9k - especially in current market where everything seems to be going up for god knows what reason.

Insurers paying out trade prices to retail customers are also one of the main reasons why people make injury claims for minor incidents where vehicles have been written off. Otherwise, they'd need to fork out money from their own pocket to replace their vehicle with similar range.

rudekid48

tasticz said:

Insurers paying out trade prices to retail customers are also one of the main reasons why people make injury claims for minor incidents where vehicles have been written off. Otherwise, they'd need to fork out money from their own pocket to replace their vehicle with similar range.

Curious as to where you got that information?