Car written off

Justamum

Aretnap said:

Unless you mean that you'd want to take the opportunity to replace it with something newer and shinier rather than buying something of the same age. In which case the other driver and his insurer are only responsible for the value of the car you've actually lost, not the one you'd like to replace it with.

I can only ever afford older cars.  We went out yesterday and found something in our price range which is from 2012.  Because I live on the Isle of Man I don't have the luxury of driving for miles looking for something which is exactly the same as the one we had - bearing in mind also that we don't have a car at the moment anyway so couldn't drive around.  We had the courtesy car from the garage which they let us keep over the weekend.  As our car is written off their obligation has now ended and they've collected the car.

However cars are more reliable than they were many years ago - my dad spent most weekends underneath ours fixing them - so I would have expected it to last a few years yet, which is why I said that the book value is irrelevant.  We're out of pocket.

Grumpy_chap

Justamum said:

car insurance companies exist to make money for car insurance companies.  

That is correct.

sheramber

Justamum said:

rigolith said:Insurance companies obviously don't want to have to pay a lot more than the car is really worth. They can't source vehicles for people, people would just moan that the spec isn't the same and the insurance company would get into warranty issues. I'm surprised that no companies offer some kind of "new for old" or "value +20%" option when selling insurance.

I've come to the conclusion that car insurance companies exist to make money for car insurance companies.  It's a scam which we're legally obliged to sign up to.

All companies are in business to make money for their shareholders.

sheramber

BOWFER said:

[Deleted User] said:

 They can't source vehicles for people, people would just moan that the spec isn't the same and the insurance company would get into warranty issues. 

There are (or were) insurance companies that did  exactly this, one (I forget who) even used to use this as a thing in their TV advert.
If your car is written off, they will source you the same.

Several years  ago a colleague did that.

 He was arguing with them that he could not find a suitable equivalent car  for the money the insurance company offered him so told them to find him one for that money.

They did and arranged delivery of it.

I don't know what company it was

pinkshoes

BOWFER said:

pinkshoes said:

Justamum said:

I thought at first it was purely cosmetic, but he's actually destroyed the steering - it was very dangerous to drive.  He reversed out of a parking bay right into my front offside wheel.  He couldn't see out of his rear window because it was blocked by a whole load of boxes and other stuff.

Make sure you also take distance into consideration, as travelling 250 miles to see a car will add up, not to mention if you have any issues and having to return it.

Not sure as to the relevance of this, as it suggests the OP should be looking at recouping potential travelling costs?
I wouldn't have thought the insurance company covers 'incidental costs' like this, especially when you've no clue what they will be at the time of claim?

Quite the opposite. The OP wants to avoid any extra costs so should be able to source a very similar car locally, so the value they pay out should reflect that. 

e.g. there might be a car for £5000 400 miles away and a local one for £5500. It would cost time and money at the OPs expense going to see the cheaper one that is further away so it is reasonable to ask for £5500.

jimjames

Justamum said:

I thought at first it was purely cosmetic, but he's actually destroyed the steering - it was very dangerous to drive.  He reversed out of a parking bay right into my front offside wheel.  He couldn't see out of his rear window because it was blocked by a whole load of boxes and other stuff.

"destroyed the steering" could mean a few things but it could still be a lot cheaper to fix if done by you rather than insurance. Friend had similar situation with bus hitting front wheel which damaged steering rack, car was valued at £9k and written off but after being bought back for £2k cost under £1.5k to fix

jimbo6977

Justamum said:

Aretnap said:

Unless you mean that you'd want to take the opportunity to replace it with something newer and shinier rather than buying something of the same age. In which case the other driver and his insurer are only responsible for the value of the car you've actually lost, not the one you'd like to replace it with.

I can only ever afford older cars.  We went out yesterday and found something in our price range which is from 2012.  Because I live on the Isle of Man I don't have the luxury of driving for miles looking for something which is exactly the same as the one we had - bearing in mind also that we don't have a car at the moment anyway so couldn't drive around.  We had the courtesy car from the garage which they let us keep over the weekend.  As our car is written off their obligation has now ended and they've collected the car.

However cars are more reliable than they were many years ago - my dad spent most weekends underneath ours fixing them - so I would have expected it to last a few years yet, which is why I said that the book value is irrelevant.  We're out of pocket.

Isle of Man makes it a bit more problematic as there aren't millions of cars either available to buy, or against which you can compare the insurer's offer. However I don't see why book value is irrelevant. The book* is intended to be reflective of car sales that have occurred in real life in the last month. It's not just a made up number with 20% knocked off to please insurers. 



* there are several books, and they are more often accessed through digital portals rather than paper books these days

jimbo6977

BOWFER said:

[Deleted User] said:

 They can't source vehicles for people, people would just moan that the spec isn't the same and the insurance company would get into warranty issues. 

There are (or were) insurance companies that did  exactly this, one (I forget who) even used to use this as a thing in their TV advert.
If your car is written off, they will source you the same.

There still are, but they usually only replace on a like for like basis when a car is less than a year old, which is indeed due to warranty issues. 

Although these days with the chip debacle they might have a struggle buying a new replacement car at all!

Car_54

[Deleted User] said:

Justamum said:

Last week someone reversed into my car and damaged it.  He admitted full responsibility.  His insurers have written the car off as it's going to cost a few thousand to fix.  I've been told that I'll be given the book value of the car - I don't know what that is yet, but I'll be lucky to see £1500 - which means that I'll have to find a few thousand quid to replace it.  It seems extremely unfair that I'm the one out of pocket. 

Surely I should be put back into the position I was previously, ie with a fully working car.  The book value is irrelevant to me because I wasn't going to sell it. 

Sadly this is how insurance is in the UK. Your car gets written off and you are left desperately looking for another one. The law only requires them to give you the pre-accident value of the vehicle.

But the OP isn't in the UK. Is anyone on here qualified to advise on Manx insurance law?

BOWFER

jimbo6977 said:

BOWFER said:

[Deleted User] said:

 They can't source vehicles for people, people would just moan that the spec isn't the same and the insurance company would get into warranty issues. 

There are (or were) insurance companies that did  exactly this, one (I forget who) even used to use this as a thing in their TV advert.
If your car is written off, they will source you the same.

There still are, but they usually only replace on a like for like basis when a car is less than a year old, which is indeed due to warranty issues. 

Although these days with the chip debacle they might have a struggle buying a new replacement car at all!

I wondered if it was anti-fraud as well.
If you claim for a lost watch, for example, many insurance companies will just source you another one now, rather than sending a cheque like they used to.
This is to discourage fraudulent claims where people just want the money.
I collect/buy/sell watches and have benefitted from this several times, buying watches from people cheap because they didn't actually want a replacement from the insurer.