Luton Airport Car Park

Cleiton

Our car was involved in a fire in the Luton Airport car park, the car was almost brand new and we had it for only 1 month, they had advised that the car will not be recovered due to structural damage and will be put down as written off.

The car insurance company is offering to pay me back for my car around 15k which will leave another 3k as a downfall on our lease and also leave me without a car at all.

We tried arguing with the insurance company (Direct Line) and they said there is not much they can do.

We are looking for some advice, I don't think this is fair. I believe they should pay my whole finance and reimburse back my 3K deposit so I can buy a new car.

Can someone advise? Is the best route go for a solicitor?

Kind Regards,
Cleiton

BoGoF

Is the offer a fair market offer?

If you wanted to protect against any finance shortfall in the event the car was written of you should have taken GAP insurance.

Aretnap

It is a standard term of most car insurance policies that in the event that the car is written off, they will only pay the market value of the car at the time. As most cars depreciate over time, inevitably this will usually be less than you paid for it, and might well be less than any outstanding finance arrangement as well. But they don't pay more or less depending on whether you bought it with cash, with a bank loan, with a finance agreement etc - it's not their business how you bought it or how much of the loan there is still to pay off.

There are two main exceptions to this:

First is the car is less than a year old and you've owned is from new, many insurers offer a form.of new for old cover and will replace it with an identical new model, rather than giving you a cash payment. You say you bought it "almost brand new" though, so presumably that doesn't apply.

Secondly you can buy a separate policy called "Gap insurance" which is intended to cover any gap between the write-off value and outstanding finance in the event that your car is written off. Dealers who sell cars on finance are usually keen to sell you Gap insurance as well - I don't suppose you accepted?

Otherwise if you don't think £15J is a fair reflection of the market value of the car then you can certainly push that point - ideally look at trade guides, though you may be able to get some guidance from adverts for similar vehicles - but I'm afraid the shortfall in the finance by itself isn't a good reason to argue for a higher payout.

(£3000 on a £15000 car that you purchased a month previously does sound like a lot though - are they offering you much less than you paid for it?)

Keep_pedalling

Did you buy it from new? If you did then I would have expected you to get the full cost of a new replacement. If not then the best you can hope for is the current market value of a replacement of similar age and mileage. If you lease in future consider gap insurance which will cover  the depreciation in case of total right off.

Cleiton

Thank you all for the responses, look like I don't have much to do here. 

Is just frustrating since none of this was my fault, I went for a holiday got back and no car.

Have a nice day !

Lavendyr

Does your insurance not have the new car replacement clause? Or was the car not brand new?

If not then this is what gap insurance does - I'm sorry you're out of pocket. Is Luton Airport not offering any sort of compensation?

Mezaw

Hi, sorry to hear about the car. We had one on the top floor of the Luton car park which was written off by Tesco Insurance.

You mentioned a lease on the car?

If it is indeed leased, usually the car is owned by the lease company - so in the event of a write off/total loss the insurance company agrees on a settlement directly with the lease company. This is what happened to us. The insurance got a settlement figure from the lease company, paid it directly to them, and our lease payments stopped. End of story.

If it's not a lease and some other kind of finance where YOU own the car, then you could try finding examples of the same make, model and age of car being advertised online for more than you're being offered. Compile a list and use it to try and negotiate a higher offer from the insurance company.

Yes it is a shame to be left without a car at the end of it, but ultimately with finance once the vehicle has been written off and you've settled it you're back to square one!

Also, are the insurance company charging you excess and reducing your no-claims? A lot of insurers have been waiving these for the Luton fire out of goodwill.

Good luck, give 'em some stick.

DisabledDan

I heard this mentioned on Dean Dunham show on LBC, you might want to call him on Friday nights, it seems to me you should be put back in the same position you were in.

I seem to remember he said he was taking information from victims of this as the company seemed to be avoiding paying out, you can contact him via his website too.

Nearlyold

DisabledDan said:

I heard this mentioned on Dean Dunham show on LBC, you might want to call him on Friday nights, it seems to me you should be put back in the same position you were in.

I seem to remember he said he was taking information from victims of this as the company seemed to be avoiding paying out, you can contact him via his website too.

Which Company are you referring to that is avoiding paying out?