Car getting written off

mysicly

Hi

My parked car was crashed into by a drunk driver, no licence, not insured to drive the car.
Theback end of my car is smashed in and front is dented in where it was shunted into another car. Can't physically move the car because something has been damaged with the break system.
We've been warned it will likely be written off.
What I am really worried about is what they will eventually value it at. 15 years old but almost perfect condition, just a rusty exhaust, 60k miles on it. So I'm devastated really because I won't be able to get something comparable. It was just a stop gap car after my car broke down a few months ago. I dont want to buy a new car until I'm in a better financial situation.
How long does it usually take for the insurance to tell me what they are going to pay out? Am I able to negotiate this if I feel it's too low?
Also really unhappy that I don't get a hire car because of it getting written off.

Sandtree

Varies massively by insurer... the best will do it in under a week from the claim being reported the worst it can take a month or more (esp if its borderline) as they want your paperwork before they'll finalise the offer.

You can negotiate which is done in the form of a complaint but its always good to know how they got to their decision so you can see what part to challenge. Valuations and write offs are done on computer systems like Glass and Autotex so for the pure valuation side theres not that much input from the engineer... some insurers dont even use an engineer if its a simple valuation/clear cut case

marlot

If you bought it recently, I'd push for the price you paid.

Sandtree

marlot said:

If you bought it recently, I'd push for the price you paid.

The FOS does consider similar depending on exactly what a "few months" really means... though in the current market, it may be its worth more now as some cars are appreciating. 

caprikid1

Fortunately if you bought a quality policy from a quality insurer you should be ok with a bit of justification and like for like examples, if you went for the cheapest direct line type policy then you have saved money on premiums on the basis of a poor payout.