Car written off, not collected by insurance and set on fire

dasden

Hi, i have a situation that is won't end up without ton of issues. Now the story:
Back in march i had an accident with another car. It was the other party's fault and they reported it to their insurance company. I then received a call from the TP insurer and asked to continue with them, i said that it is fine. Their accepted liability and the claim started. Sent photos to them etc. A week later i've got my case reviewed and TP insurer called me and stated that my car will be write off cat S and made an offer to keep the car and them to take it away. I felt that they are nowhere near similar cars on the market so i told them that i will get an independent engineer to have a look at it. My car has some very rare specifics and low mileage for its age. I've got an independent engineer report in around 2-3 weeks time. The TP insurer then reviewed the documents and increased their offer with £2000. But their offer was still £1400 short from what the independent engineer valued my car. I have refused their higher and latest offer and they sent interim cheque to me. Shortly after that i called them and asked what is happening with my claim, i have been asked what's the current mileage on the car.I have done just handful of mileage for since last mot, because the car have been sorn for 6 months. The TP insurer said that this is very strange and asked to send them some ads of similar vehicles with similar specs. I have done that same day, but no reply. Just to note that already 40 days passed since the accident. Then on next day i've called back and i was told that my claim is now with their validation team and could take a long time until they take decision. I asked them to remove my vehicle from the road, because some locals keeps reporting it to the police and council for no reason as car did not caused obstruction. The TP insurer refused and said that car stayed there for 2 months so nothing will happen to it. 3 weeks after that my plates have been snapped, radio antenna snapped, side mirror broken. Obviously vandalised car. I have reported to the police got incident number as well. TP insurer then called and asked for inspection by their instructed engineer to have a look at the vehicle. I gave them the address and we arranged a day to come and see the car. A few days before their engineer to arrive, the car have been set on fire. Luckily the fire brigade came on time and turn the fire off. The interior suffered significant damage and no electrics works in the car. Battery have been removed for safety i suppose. Someone broke a side window and throwed something inside. Their engineer inspected the van and said that the fire is a secondary damage. 

I have involved solicitors to negotiate the value of my vehicle, and we have reported the fire incident asap to solicitors and they to TP insurers. 
I am waiting to hear from TP insurers about this or they might contact my solicitors directly. I have removed the car from where it is, so no another fire attempt would be done. 

My question is, can the TP insurer refuse to accept the van for salvage after the fire? 
I have not let my insurance know about this because i've dealt with the TP insurers directly. 
I am confused what should i do in this case. 
TP insurer dealing with this case for almost 3 months now, i have asked them several times to remove the vehicle from where it is. Due to significant damage to it hard to move around and i have nowhere to store it safely, so have to keep it on the street. 
TP insurer stated last month, the car it is not their responsibility so i have to take care of it. 

What's your thoughts? 
TIA

DullGreyGuy

The fire damage will most likely have reduced the value of the salvage which isn't the responsibility of their insured. I'd expect them to reduce the monies paid out to reflect the change in salvage value were you to surrender it to them.

You are paying a solicitor, which will be an irrecoverable cost, why are you then asking questions on a forum rather than to your lawyers? If you get bad advice from them you can sue them, the same doesn't apply to here. Seems odd to run up what will quickly be thousands in legal fees to attempt to get an extra £1,400

You are legally obliged to inform your own insurers about the incident as soon as is practicably possible. Failing to do so whilst still claiming from another insurer and therefore likely to end up in CUE is a high risk strategy. 

dasden

Solicitors can negotiate final amount paid and they will recover their fees from TP insurer as there is a an injury claim that they took on my behalf. So i don't see any legal fees to be owned. Also i don't see a reason the TP insurer not to send their own engineer as soon as they can, if not agreed with the independent engineer report i have supplied. Prolonging cases on cars suffered significant damages kept on the road it is a prerequisite to a theft, fire and any other damages. Obviously a cat S car, that i have notified TP insurer i won't keep/repair and want it removed. I don't see why TP insurer refuse to collect it, and then negotiate further final value with us. The car would be at their disposal to do as many check as they wish. I want to make people aware of insurers prolonging cases and consequences. £1400 might seems like not much to you, but i have to pay it from my pocket, also similar cars goes for over £2000 difference, with 40k miles more on the clock. It does not seems like a good deal to me. 

DullGreyGuy

It depends on the nature of the injuries and total value of the claim... the Whiplash Reforms pushed soft tissue injuries lasting less than 2 years into the Small Track where legal fees are excluded and so these days for the majority of cases all they get is their 25% success fee from your monies. Even if it goes into Fast Track solicitors only get a fixed fee which are relatively modest compared to the hourly rate but thats why there is the heavy use of paralegals in these cases.

As you are dealing with a TPI and not your own insurers there is much more negotiation involved as there are no policy books defining terms or FCA regulations to apply and no rights to go to the Financial Ombudsman. For those safety nets its better to claim off your own insurers instead but that boat has long past sailed now. 

They are legally liable for the cost difference in the value of your vehicle immediately prior to the accident and immediately after. They aren't obliged to offer to buy the salvage from you though in many cases they will. Similarly they aren't obliged to incur costs to collect the vehicle and pay storage whilst you're negotiating the value. 

dasden

Ok, so i have made them aware that i would take the salvage value they are offering but not the main amount. They have sent a cheque for the main amount, but not the salvage. It seems like they don't accept salvage without main final value. My idea was them to take the car away from the road and negotiate the final value, i think the salvage value was fine and i did not want them to pay it if they don't have such practices. They could have recovered the car and do with it as they wish. I could not see a problem to hold and not pay anything and negotiating payout, but to recover vehicle for salvage. They also advised that i could go with my insurers or solicitors if i am not happy with their valuations. 

cw8825

dasden said:

Ok, so i have made them aware that i would take the salvage value they are offering but not the main amount. They have sent a cheque for the main amount, but not the salvage. It seems like they don't accept salvage without main final value. My idea was them to take the car away from the road and negotiate the final value, i think the salvage value was fine and i did not want them to pay it if they don't have such practices. They could have recovered the car and do with it as they wish. I could not see a problem to hold and not pay anything and negotiating payout, but to recover vehicle for salvage. They also advised that i could go with my insurers or solicitors if i am not happy with their valuations. 

If you had not agreed a full settlement.  I cannot see any reason why they would remove the car and have to store it somewhere. As until the settlement is agreed and paid. The car is still yours. 

I fear this may be require at least one claim on your own policy.