Admiral - no fault low value

Davethomas07

lisyloo said:

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Is it driveable?
Can it be fixed?

often insurers would price it up at retail whereas sometimes you can fix it yourself with scrapyard parts (06 is 16 years old?)

It is old but I literally do 2k miles a year so the fact it’s a old steamer doesn’t really matter. Quote to repair was £8k :-( but that was via their recommended garage so local might be cheaper

The reference to age was that scrapyard parts might be acceptable whereas if it was 6 months old and pristine they would not be.

is the option of buying the “write-off” back from the insurers and fixing it up from second hand parts worth investigating?
it sounds like this one (high spec) may be worth more “on the road” than off.

what is the £8k for?
if it’s matching the paintwork to a pristine level then you could possibly get some imperfectly matching panels from a scrapyard for a lot less if you can tolerate an imperfect colour match.

the other option are

make a formal complaint

claim direct from the other insurer. Do you have any separate motor legal Insurance?

I am sure I have legal cover as part of my policy. So maybe worth considering. 

The rear corner is pretty bad so would definitely be new panels…..They have classified as a category N so even if I repaired the value in future is pretty much  worthless. 

Just feels disgusting that it will cost me money though no fault of my own! Just wrong! 

[Deleted User]

Davethomas07 said:

400ixl said:

What make, model, trim, year mileage etc is the car and what are they offering? 

It is an 06 Audi A8 tdi Quattro with an absolutely bucket load of extras including TV, sunroof, heated electric memory seats front &rear), air suspension, loads more. But main thing it in in excellent condition for its age compared to others on the market which are a lot more! 

Offered just over £3k!

Extras are valued at £0 after a few years. Condition also doesn't matter at that age. That's why it's low.

Sandtree

Davethomas07 said:
 It is being done through my insurance (admiral) and then  they claim back from his once sorted. 

Davethomas07 said:
3rd party insurers, said if I don’t accept I go back to admiral 

So which is it? The two answers above are contradictory

Admiral normally push non-fault cases to their accident management company so maybe they are the ones dealing with it?

The other thing... Admiral do not provide cover for any optional extras and so your "bucket load" of optional extras will simply not be covered at all if you are going via Admiral - though as mentioned most have a de minimis impact on 2nd hand values anyway 

lisyloo

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Is it driveable?
Can it be fixed?

often insurers would price it up at retail whereas sometimes you can fix it yourself with scrapyard parts (06 is 16 years old?)

It is old but I literally do 2k miles a year so the fact it’s a old steamer doesn’t really matter. Quote to repair was £8k :-( but that was via their recommended garage so local might be cheaper

The reference to age was that scrapyard parts might be acceptable whereas if it was 6 months old and pristine they would not be.

is the option of buying the “write-off” back from the insurers and fixing it up from second hand parts worth investigating?
it sounds like this one (high spec) may be worth more “on the road” than off.

what is the £8k for?
if it’s matching the paintwork to a pristine level then you could possibly get some imperfectly matching panels from a scrapyard for a lot less if you can tolerate an imperfect colour match.

the other option are

make a formal complaint

claim direct from the other insurer. Do you have any separate motor legal Insurance?

I am sure I have legal cover as part of my policy. So maybe worth considering. 

The rear corner is pretty bad so would definitely be new panels…..They have classified as a category N so even if I repaired the value in future is pretty much  worthless. 

Just feels disgusting that it will cost me money though no fault of my own! Just wrong! 

Admiral add-on legal cover will only help you as part of a claim (I buy mine seperately with RAC for £15 for the entire household).

have you formally complained yet?

I agree it’s not fair. There is a complaints process and free ombudsman available to you. You should use it.

diystarter7

The cars you look at to compare and have they got the same number of owners and service history.

Then the general condition and current service history is also looked at.

You need to give the a price of three 4 similar models similar colours, specs owners if possible and accept a price of 90% of the average for the 3/4 cars.

The insurance guy looks at the tyres, bodywork etc, but it does seem low

Good luck.

PS: When I take out car insurance, I look at their reviews for the insurance I'm taking out and customer care feedback and its not price alone I go for as in the even of something like your situ, the last thing you want is what you are getting.

Sandtree

lisyloo said:

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Is it driveable?
Can it be fixed?

often insurers would price it up at retail whereas sometimes you can fix it yourself with scrapyard parts (06 is 16 years old?)

It is old but I literally do 2k miles a year so the fact it’s a old steamer doesn’t really matter. Quote to repair was £8k :-( but that was via their recommended garage so local might be cheaper

The reference to age was that scrapyard parts might be acceptable whereas if it was 6 months old and pristine they would not be.

is the option of buying the “write-off” back from the insurers and fixing it up from second hand parts worth investigating?
it sounds like this one (high spec) may be worth more “on the road” than off.

what is the £8k for?
if it’s matching the paintwork to a pristine level then you could possibly get some imperfectly matching panels from a scrapyard for a lot less if you can tolerate an imperfect colour match.

the other option are

make a formal complaint

claim direct from the other insurer. Do you have any separate motor legal Insurance?

I am sure I have legal cover as part of my policy. So maybe worth considering. 

The rear corner is pretty bad so would definitely be new panels…..They have classified as a category N so even if I repaired the value in future is pretty much  worthless. 

Just feels disgusting that it will cost me money though no fault of my own! Just wrong! 

Admiral add-on legal cover will only help you as part of a claim (I buy mine seperately with RAC for £15 for the entire household).

have you formally complained yet?

I agree it’s not fair. There is a complaints process and free ombudsman available to you. You should use it.

Only if they are claiming off of their own insurance... the OP has stated they are claiming from the third party (and their own) and if this is true you have no rights to access the Ombudsman as you are not a customer of the third party insurer.

lisyloo

Sandtree said:

lisyloo said:

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Is it driveable?
Can it be fixed?

often insurers would price it up at retail whereas sometimes you can fix it yourself with scrapyard parts (06 is 16 years old?)

It is old but I literally do 2k miles a year so the fact it’s a old steamer doesn’t really matter. Quote to repair was £8k :-( but that was via their recommended garage so local might be cheaper

The reference to age was that scrapyard parts might be acceptable whereas if it was 6 months old and pristine they would not be.

is the option of buying the “write-off” back from the insurers and fixing it up from second hand parts worth investigating?
it sounds like this one (high spec) may be worth more “on the road” than off.

what is the £8k for?
if it’s matching the paintwork to a pristine level then you could possibly get some imperfectly matching panels from a scrapyard for a lot less if you can tolerate an imperfect colour match.

the other option are

make a formal complaint

claim direct from the other insurer. Do you have any separate motor legal Insurance?

I am sure I have legal cover as part of my policy. So maybe worth considering. 

The rear corner is pretty bad so would definitely be new panels…..They have classified as a category N so even if I repaired the value in future is pretty much  worthless. 

Just feels disgusting that it will cost me money though no fault of my own! Just wrong! 

Admiral add-on legal cover will only help you as part of a claim (I buy mine seperately with RAC for £15 for the entire household).

have you formally complained yet?

I agree it’s not fair. There is a complaints process and free ombudsman available to you. You should use it.

Only if they are claiming off of their own insurance... the OP has stated they are claiming from the third party (and their own) and if this is true you have no rights to access the Ombudsman as you are not a customer of the third party insurer.

I think the OP needs to clarify whom they are claiming from.

btw - I asked about “separate” legal cover which I agree they don’t have.

I buy both my motor and household sepeately now for precisely this reason.

Sandtree

lisyloo said:

Sandtree said:

lisyloo said:

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Is it driveable?
Can it be fixed?

often insurers would price it up at retail whereas sometimes you can fix it yourself with scrapyard parts (06 is 16 years old?)

It is old but I literally do 2k miles a year so the fact it’s a old steamer doesn’t really matter. Quote to repair was £8k :-( but that was via their recommended garage so local might be cheaper

The reference to age was that scrapyard parts might be acceptable whereas if it was 6 months old and pristine they would not be.

is the option of buying the “write-off” back from the insurers and fixing it up from second hand parts worth investigating?
it sounds like this one (high spec) may be worth more “on the road” than off.

what is the £8k for?
if it’s matching the paintwork to a pristine level then you could possibly get some imperfectly matching panels from a scrapyard for a lot less if you can tolerate an imperfect colour match.

the other option are

make a formal complaint

claim direct from the other insurer. Do you have any separate motor legal Insurance?

I am sure I have legal cover as part of my policy. So maybe worth considering. 

The rear corner is pretty bad so would definitely be new panels…..They have classified as a category N so even if I repaired the value in future is pretty much  worthless. 

Just feels disgusting that it will cost me money though no fault of my own! Just wrong! 

Admiral add-on legal cover will only help you as part of a claim (I buy mine seperately with RAC for £15 for the entire household).

have you formally complained yet?

I agree it’s not fair. There is a complaints process and free ombudsman available to you. You should use it.

Only if they are claiming off of their own insurance... the OP has stated they are claiming from the third party (and their own) and if this is true you have no rights to access the Ombudsman as you are not a customer of the third party insurer.

I think the OP needs to clarify whom they are claiming from.

btw - I asked about “separate” legal cover which I agree they don’t have.

I buy both my motor and household sepeately now for precisely this reason.

You just need to be careful with separate MLP... whilst insurers cross selling it to Motor customers would make money even if they gave it away standalone providers dont normally have the volume to be able to say the same and certainly some of the policy I have seen basically dont give you any cover for small track cases. Haven't looked recently so there may be some better policies out there now.

lisyloo

Sandtree said:

lisyloo said:

Sandtree said:

lisyloo said:

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Davethomas07 said:

lisyloo said:

Is it driveable?
Can it be fixed?

often insurers would price it up at retail whereas sometimes you can fix it yourself with scrapyard parts (06 is 16 years old?)

It is old but I literally do 2k miles a year so the fact it’s a old steamer doesn’t really matter. Quote to repair was £8k :-( but that was via their recommended garage so local might be cheaper

The reference to age was that scrapyard parts might be acceptable whereas if it was 6 months old and pristine they would not be.

is the option of buying the “write-off” back from the insurers and fixing it up from second hand parts worth investigating?
it sounds like this one (high spec) may be worth more “on the road” than off.

what is the £8k for?
if it’s matching the paintwork to a pristine level then you could possibly get some imperfectly matching panels from a scrapyard for a lot less if you can tolerate an imperfect colour match.

the other option are

make a formal complaint

claim direct from the other insurer. Do you have any separate motor legal Insurance?

I am sure I have legal cover as part of my policy. So maybe worth considering. 

The rear corner is pretty bad so would definitely be new panels…..They have classified as a category N so even if I repaired the value in future is pretty much  worthless. 

Just feels disgusting that it will cost me money though no fault of my own! Just wrong! 

Admiral add-on legal cover will only help you as part of a claim (I buy mine seperately with RAC for £15 for the entire household).

have you formally complained yet?

I agree it’s not fair. There is a complaints process and free ombudsman available to you. You should use it.

Only if they are claiming off of their own insurance... the OP has stated they are claiming from the third party (and their own) and if this is true you have no rights to access the Ombudsman as you are not a customer of the third party insurer.

I think the OP needs to clarify whom they are claiming from.

btw - I asked about “separate” legal cover which I agree they don’t have.

I buy both my motor and household sepeately now for precisely this reason.

You just need to be careful with separate MLP... whilst insurers cross selling it to Motor customers would make money even if they gave it away standalone providers dont normally have the volume to be able to say the same and certainly some of the policy I have seen basically dont give you any cover for small track cases. Haven't looked recently so there may be some better policies out there now.

Appreciate the advice but I think the RAC are reputable. It’s a proper insurance so there is ombudsman cover with it.

one of the reasons is 5 vehicles in the household.
but another is reading incidents on his forum.
one poster was expected to live in an uninhabitable home by his home insurer so I buy that separately now.
as this case also shows sometimes you need to take issue with your insurer and you can’t use their “add-on” against them.
I would expect them to provide he service as detailed in their contract. Of course I’m aware they won’t flog a dead horse (or anything less tha 51%) but this case on the face of it appears to be simply unfair and worth fighting if the evidence.stands up. Yes you can do small claims but always good to have a professional on hand to speak to.

[Deleted User]

diystarter7 said:

The cars you look at to compare and have they got the same number of owners and service history.

Then the general condition and current service history is also looked at.

You need to give the a price of three 4 similar models similar colours, specs owners if possible and accept a price of 90% of the average for the 3/4 cars.

The insurance guy looks at the tyres, bodywork etc, but it does seem low

Good luck.

PS: When I take out car insurance, I look at their reviews for the insurance I'm taking out and customer care feedback and its not price alone I go for as in the even of something like your situ, the last thing you want is what you are getting.

They won't care about spec on a car that old. They will only look to see if the condition is reasonable for a car of that age, average wear and tear. The ombudsman won't do any more than that either. The OP's car might have been in mint condition with every upgrade available, but the way the law works it won't help them.

It's an area urgently in need of reform.