Insurance low balling on total loss for non fault claim

drsquirrel

Car has gone to the garage for a non fault claim.

They've said this will be a total loss and initially offered £700 and hten raised to £1000, with the option of keeping the car for £100 off that (£900+car).

This is my own insurance company, very pushy, and have waited until the last moment before the hire car is supposed to go back (garage provided by insurance said the details were sent off for approval last week).

Replacements of the same ilk with the same high mileage come in at more like £2500+ (the cheapest at 2500 being another Cat N with similar damage!)

How much can we actually push them on this? They're claiming "previous damage" and "age" (the usual scratches and such due to age), but the cheapest replacements are the same 

Other problem we have now is I am not sure if they would extend the hire car period (Thrifty) if I decline to repond yet? They're pushing me "before 4 today" too.

I wouldn't have imagined such a low offer from the 3rd party let alone my own...

jimbo6977

Demonstrate to the insurer that the same make / model / age / mileage is not available at the offered value and see what they say. 

Then complain.

Then after deadlock or 8 weeks refer to the FOS. Unfortunately the FOS has a massive backlog, but in the meantime you can ask the insurer to send you the money relative to its lowball offer on a without-prejudice basis. 

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately this was common before the madness started, but now with used prices so high they are probably paying out far more than they expected to and doing everything they can to cut their losses.

drsquirrel

Should I be expecting to see a price of what I could rebuy something else for? They're adamant it has its own value, though my argument is the cheapest I can find is of the rough similar condition.

I have pointed out a few alternatives but as rigolith mentions prices are higher than usual, but not a great amount (they haven't doubled but they're offering under half).

They didn't end up picking up the hire car though (the paper said it was for 7 days and they said I needed to speak to the insurance). Would I expect to keep the hire car through this negotiation? Even if there was a deadlock?

I tried to ask for their final value on paper, but instead they're going through their own internal dispute where they will get another engineer... then long winded told me what the FOS would say since they "do the same thing".

They have said they would send me the money up front that they quoted and that if there is any adjustment it would be sorted later, though i'm not sure I feel right about this (they did make it clear that it wouldn't affect any claim).

For what this is worth I'd rather just have the car back now and tack it up myself (garage obviously wants to do a full and proper job etc).

Should I consider contacting the other insurer? (I don't know who this is yet because I caught the hit-and-run on cctv)

[Deleted User]

You have a duty to minimise costs so you need to take what they offered while the dispute is going on. If you want to buy the car back and get it fixed you can do, and then hopefully get more money back later.

drsquirrel

If they gave it me back now it could be driven whilst waiting on a decision(?), though they seem to view it as already written off (Cat N) so saying I'd have to re-MOT it.

Is it Cat N immediately or can I simply request they return the car in the interim?

For the record they've offered the car (as Cat N) for £100 (so 900 cash+car), which seems okay but I can't see any comparisons for insuring Cat N as it seems you have to call around to compare. Although I'd feel it would be better to have £0 and a Non-Cat N car then do a rough repair (thus give up on the claim... if that is even possible)

jimbo6977

drsquirrel said:

If they gave it me back now it could be driven whilst waiting on a decision(?), though they seem to view it as already written off (Cat N) so saying I'd have to re-MOT it.

Is it Cat N immediately or can I simply request they return the car in the interim?

For the record they've offered the car (as Cat N) for £100 (so 900 cash+car), which seems okay but I can't see any comparisons for insuring Cat N as it seems you have to call around to compare. Although I'd feel it would be better to have £0 and a Non-Cat N car then do a rough repair (thus give up on the claim... if that is even possible)

They'd want it MoT'd before insuring it again decause they know for a fact it's been damaged. 

Take whatever cash they're offering on a "without prejudice" basis, and continue arguing your case if you feel you have one.

The one caveat is that you are entitled to have the vehicle valued correctly at the time of the accident. If values have risen 25% between then and now, unfortunately you are not entitled to the difference. 

drsquirrel

My biggest problem then is the current cash offer isn't enough to get me driving again (unless I go out and buy some shed...?).

mattyprice4004

drsquirrel said:

My biggest problem then is the current cash offer isn't enough to get me driving again (unless I go out and buy some shed...?).

I've bought many a decent car for £1000, it doesn't have to be a shed. 
The main issue is you should be put back in the position you were before the accident, though - so if £1000 won't buy you the same car in the same condition, you should be rejecting and pushing for more. 
Send over sales history from eBay, ads from Autotrader etc (although expect a slight reduction as it's normal to haggle slightly when buying a car). 

drsquirrel

I appreciate that 1k can get a decent car (our second is a lovely condition 1.2 Corsa that had done 54k miles, for £500), though when you have certain requirements you lose a lot of choice (specifically automatic, 4wd, some ground clearance, estate) it drops what is available (specially if you dont want £500+ tax on some old landrover). If I did buy one for 1k, then get the rest of the money... having to resell, travel again to find another one that actually matches etc would end up costing more.

Currently there are only 4 cars on Autotrader in the UK that match ours - even if I ignore things like leather seats, towbar, milegage, smaller engine etc. Nearest being over 100 miles away.

The car itself is coming back on Friday so should be fine to use until they make a proper decision.

drsquirrel

Ugh, they won't give me a final yet, so I can chase the FOS.

They finally looked at an example on autotrader, same mileage etc but as its 2 years newer apparently the valuation is still half of what it was (car was 2005 vs 2007, for 150k miles I really don't see it making a difference, same model year).

Now only 2 listed, others have gone from the site.