Car insurance write off rip off, can I do anything?

Calamityjane10

Hi there,
I'm hoping someone can help me.

I have the usual story,
my car was written off and the insurers underwriters valued it really low.

They actually sent me examples of older cars with the same mileage, as well as cars with less seats with same mileage, that are currently for sale, to justify their valuation!!

In addition, they've asked for 2/3rds of this value, to buy my car back!!! So they're saying it's only worth 1/3rd more, in great condition on the road, than it is as an undrivable cat s.

For information; 
I bought the car just 2 months ago at a fair bit more than they're valuing it at, it was still under a great warranty which included a courtesy car if mine needed fixing.
 I then spent over an extra £1000 refurbishing the alloys, putting good quality brand new tyres on, adding reverse parking cameras and a good entertainment system.
The car was in great condition both externally and with a brand new clutch, timing belt, low mileage, full service history etc.
There's only two like mine on auto trader at the moment, one is needing a new engine, but is priced almost at their valuation, the other one has double the mileage, less spec and they're valuing mine at a fair bit less than this one and it's a private sale with no warranty etc.
I understand advertisement prices are not sale prices, but it's ridiculous.

Cars a year older than mine are being advertised through garages at a fair bit more than they're offering me and they say they won't go any higher with their valuation.

Is there anything I can do?

Trouble is it's quite an uncommon car to find, so examples are few and far between, I haven't found even one available through a garage. I've looked online and the best offer I have for salvage is around £700, so I don't understand their ridiculously high salvage cost to me.

I'm absolutely gutted. It was a great car and I'm going to be very much financially down from just 8 weeks ago, with a no fault crash into my parked car.

Thanks for any advice you can give me about what, if anything, I can do next.

Okell

What is the car and what are they offering as write off and as buy back?

If it's an "uncommon" car and you particularly love it, your perception of what it should be worth may be way off the mark.

sheslookinhot

Is your car actually a “write-off” or just deemed uneconomic to repair ? 

If it’s the latter does it make sense for you to repair it yourself ? Will they give you a good settlement on that basis ?

Mildly_Miffed

sheslookinhot said:

Is your car actually a “write-off” or just deemed uneconomic to repair ?

That's the definition of a write-off. The insurer have chosen to pay the value out rather than repair it.

The OP has also said it's Cat S - structural damage.

If it’s the latter does it make sense for you to repair it yourself ? Will they give you a good settlement on that basis ?

The OP has said they want 2/3 of the pre-collision value to retain the salvage.

MyRealNameToo

sheslookinhot said:

Is your car actually a “write-off” or just deemed uneconomic to repair ? 

Thats literally the definition of a write-off?

It's a cat S so has repairable structural damage. 

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs

The above is the guidance the Financial Ombudsman gives to businesses on how they expect them to value vehicles. It's predominately to use the motor industry guides and only goes off that for very obscure vehicles. 

Mildly_Miffed

Calamityjane10 said:

For information; 
I bought the car just 2 months ago at a fair bit more than they're valuing it at, it was still under a great warranty which included a courtesy car if mine needed fixing.

The warranty does not affect the value.
You may well have overpaid.

I then spent over an extra £1000 refurbishing the alloys, putting good quality brand new tyres on

Zero added value.

adding reverse parking cameras and a good entertainment system.

Did you declare these modifications to your insurer?

The car was in great condition both externally and with a brand new clutch, timing belt, low mileage, full service history etc.

Valuations are based on the car being well-serviced and in good mechanical condition.

There's only two like mine on auto trader at the moment, one is needing a new engine, but is priced almost at their valuation, the other one has double the mileage, less spec and they're valuing mine at a fair bit less than this one and it's a private sale with no warranty etc.

How old are those ads? If you look at the URL for an autotrader ad, the date of the ad going live is contained within it.

For example...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507315002529
2025 07 31 - 31st July

Cars a year older than mine are being advertised through garages at a fair bit more than they're offering me

How old is/was your car? A year may make very little or zero difference on an older car.

Give us some detail to help us to help you. What car, what age, what spec...

Is there anything I can do?

If you genuinely can't come to any agreement with the insurer, then...
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs

Trouble is it's quite an uncommon car to find

They are under zero obligation to find you a replacement, just to pay you out the pre-collision fair market value.

I'm going to be very much financially down from just 8 weeks ago, with a no fault crash into my parked car.

You shouldn't be - they should pay you the value... which might not be what you paid, but will be what the car was worth.
For example, you may have paid £10k for £8k-worth of car, so you are now owed £8k from the insurer.

Brie

I responded to a similar offer with ads I found that were closer matches to my car and just kept saying no to accepting what they offered.  I ended up with something more like what I wanted.  

sheslookinhot

Mildly_Miffed said:

sheslookinhot said:

Is your car actually a “write-off” or just deemed uneconomic to repair ?

That's the definition of a write-off. The insurer have chosen to pay the value out rather than repair it.

The OP has also said it's Cat S - structural damage.

If it’s the latter does it make sense for you to repair it yourself ? Will they give you a good settlement on that basis ?

The OP has said they want 2/3 of the pre-collision value to retain the salvage.

I’m well aware of that. I put “write off” in inverted commas to distinguish it from a total scrapper. It could be repairable,  however, I missed the cat s, in lower caps.
Don't waste your time replying to me.

MyRealNameToo

sheslookinhot said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

sheslookinhot said:

Is your car actually a “write-off” or just deemed uneconomic to repair ?

That's the definition of a write-off. The insurer have chosen to pay the value out rather than repair it.

The OP has also said it's Cat S - structural damage.

If it’s the latter does it make sense for you to repair it yourself ? Will they give you a good settlement on that basis ?

The OP has said they want 2/3 of the pre-collision value to retain the salvage.

I’m well aware of that. I put “write off” in inverted commas to distinguish it from a total scrapper. It could be repairable,  however, I missed the cat s, in lower caps.
Don't waste your time replying to me.

Write off, total loss, beyond economical repair are all synonyms and used interchangeably 

The vehicle salvage category determines if it can be returned to the road... N & S yes - B no but can be broken for parts and A no must be crushed. 

Given the number of total losses that are dealt with without viewing the vehicle simply because any damage to a 20 year old family car is going to exceed its worth you'd have to question how accurate the categories are. 

Mildly_Miffed

sheslookinhot said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

sheslookinhot said:

Is your car actually a “write-off” or just deemed uneconomic to repair ?

That's the definition of a write-off. The insurer have chosen to pay the value out rather than repair it.

The OP has also said it's Cat S - structural damage.

If it’s the latter does it make sense for you to repair it yourself ? Will they give you a good settlement on that basis ?

The OP has said they want 2/3 of the pre-collision value to retain the salvage.

I’m well aware of that. I put “write off” in inverted commas to distinguish it from a total scrapper. It could be repairable,  however, I missed the cat s, in lower caps.
Don't waste your time replying to me.

Just about anything is repairable, if you throw enough money at it. Complete bodyshells can often be supplied from manufacturers, or substantial repair sections.

The only question is whether it makes financial sense to repair it.

Obviously, that line can be drawn lower if you're DIYing the work, or if you're happy to accept used parts rather than insisting on new, but insurance cannot and will not do that. That's where salvage auctions come in - and how insurers set the salvage retention value, if they're willing to sell back to the policyholder at all. It may well be that the salvage value is in breaking for parts, rather than repairing and returning to the road. Many salvage auctions see damaged vehicles exported.

If the insurers thought it was way too badly damaged, it would have been Cat B or even Cat A - and DVLA will never issue another V5C for vehicles flagged as those, even if you can persuade the insurers to let you retain the salvage, which is unlikely.

Calamityjane10

Thank you all for your replies.

In answer to the comments;

The garage it was taken to did not do an in depth look, however I took a mechanic friend to see if it was repairable, since I did want to keep it.
He took the lights out etc and saw things had moved, bent and welding had torn on the frame, that couldn't be seen from outside and didn't feature in the garage report.

He told me it may never look exactly right again after repair and it would be an enormous job. He said even if repaired, he wouldn't trust his children in it, so that's good enough for me, but as I'm hoping to find another, I just wanted my wheels off the car, maybe the engine too and entertainment system, which is why I wanted to buy it back.

I didn't pay over the odds, in fact I negotiated a great deal compared to others for sale.

I understand the warranty doesn't add value. However I was pointing out how they're trying to force private sale prices upon me, which obviously don't have any warranty at all.

For reference I'm not expecting the insurers to find me a car, I just wanted more availability to show them the prices others are selling at.

Thank you to the person who said send in adverts, I emailed those that I could find, even ones a year older pointing out mine was newer and the upgrade differences etc, the insurers just rang me to up their offer another £1100, so it's getting closer. They said they won't budge on this value which may be true, but they said that last time, I will try for  nearer, or go to the ombudsman, since I've nothing to lose.

Thank you everyone that offered advice, I really do appreciate it.

One final thing, can I ask about what happens if I accept an interim payment?They're saying that I can keep on negotiating, or go to ombudsman.
I've never heard of this and citizens advice couldn't help either.
Is that right, that an interim payment doesn't mean I've accepted their offer?