My Car Has Been Written Off In Arson Attack - Is There Any Support?

sperre

Hello everyone,

I woke up at 2am recently to 20ft flames coming off a car outside my home. Police are investing but it's believed I was wrongfully targeted in an arson attack. The car on fire was parked VERY close to my car, which has melted the front of it.

My insurance company now want to write off my car.

I have full, comprehensive insurance and my insurer has agreed to pay out fair market value for my car but my £40,000 car has been destroyed by criminals and my insurer is only offering £6,000.

A neighbour', who's family owns many businesses in the city has a family member with exactly the same car as mine but 2 years newer reg plate. It's believed the criminals intended to destroy that car and targeted mine by mistake as I'd literally just moved in to the area from another county.

My question is, does anyone know where I sit with sourcing compensation for criminal damage? From the police? Motor Insurance Board?

Since the incident a few weeks ago I've been waking up multiple times throughout the night panicked something is on fire with PTSD from the incident and generally struggling to sleep. Which I'm making an appointment for at the local GP I'm newly registered with.

I also got married last weekend. So things have been very stressful moving in to a new home, new city and then losing my car to an arson attack as I was in the final preparations for my wedding celebrations (not to mention chasing the landlord for property repairs).

Surely there must be some financial support in this scenario as I'm struggling to sleep and I'm also out of pocket by about £35,000 with no car and I'm self-employed in an industry where travel is essential.

elsien

I am struggling to see why you think you’ve got a £40,000 car and the insurance company thinks it’s only worth 6000. 

Where does your £40,000 figure come from?

sperre

elsien said:

I am struggling to see why you think you’ve got a £40,000 car and the insurance company thinks it’s only worth 6000. 

Where does your £40,000 figure come from?

The car was £40,000 in 2014 when I bought it. There is only one or two similar cars to mine available in the UK at the moment with the same make, model and mileage. They're listed for £7,500 - £9,500.

I've requested a revaluation from my insurance company and contested their figure but my car was in excellent condition and cost me £40,000 (approx).

If I were to buy a similar car brand new again it would cost me £40,000 - £60,000. 

The point here is not necessarily determining the value of my car but the fact that a crime has taken place, the police have been mostly unresponsive and I now I'm at a huge loss with no car due to no fault of my own and I cannot afford to buy a new one.

MyRealNameToo

sperre said:

Hello everyone,

I woke up at 2am recently to 20ft flames coming off a car outside my home. Police are investing but it's believed I was wrongfully targeted in an arson attack. The car on fire was parked VERY close to my car, which has melted the front of it.

My insurance company now want to write off my car.

I have full, comprehensive insurance and my insurer has agreed to pay out fair market value for my car but my £40,000 car has been destroyed by criminals and my insurer is only offering £6,000.

A neighbour', who's family owns many businesses in the city has a family member with exactly the same car as mine but 2 years newer reg plate. It's believed the criminals intended to destroy that car and targeted mine by mistake as I'd literally just moved in to the area from another county.

My question is, does anyone know where I sit with sourcing compensation for criminal damage? From the police? Motor Insurance Board?

Since the incident a few weeks ago I've been waking up multiple times throughout the night panicked something is on fire with PTSD from the incident and generally struggling to sleep. Which I'm making an appointment for at the local GP I'm newly registered with.

I also got married last weekend. So things have been very stressful moving in to a new home, new city and then losing my car to an arson attack as I was in the final preparations for my wedding celebrations (not to mention chasing the landlord for property repairs).

Surely there must be some financial support in this scenario as I'm struggling to sleep and I'm also out of pocket by about £35,000 with no car and I'm self-employed in an industry where travel is essential.

Your car clearly wasnt worth £40k if your insurers have valued it at £6k... people often are optimistic of what they think their car is worth but not a £34k spread. 

There is only automatic compensation for injuries resulting from a crime. For criminal damage the courts may award damages if someone is convicted for the crime but it depends on their ability to pay and generally those committing arson arent sitting on thousands in their account. Clearly anything you claimed would be net of the damage to your vehicle which your insurers have dealt with. 

flaneurs_lobster

If the arsonists were attacking your car (mistakenly) why did they set fire to an adjacent car?

GrumpyDil

Surely at best your car is worth 7500 to 9500 as the value is of a 2014 car (so 11 years old) taking account of the mileage, condition of your car. Insurance policies are not based on providing a new for car in replacement of an old car

sperre

MyRealNameToo said:

sperre said:

Hello everyone,

I woke up at 2am recently to 20ft flames coming off a car outside my home. Police are investing but it's believed I was wrongfully targeted in an arson attack. The car on fire was parked VERY close to my car, which has melted the front of it.

My insurance company now want to write off my car.

I have full, comprehensive insurance and my insurer has agreed to pay out fair market value for my car but my £40,000 car has been destroyed by criminals and my insurer is only offering £6,000.

A neighbour', who's family owns many businesses in the city has a family member with exactly the same car as mine but 2 years newer reg plate. It's believed the criminals intended to destroy that car and targeted mine by mistake as I'd literally just moved in to the area from another county.

My question is, does anyone know where I sit with sourcing compensation for criminal damage? From the police? Motor Insurance Board?

Since the incident a few weeks ago I've been waking up multiple times throughout the night panicked something is on fire with PTSD from the incident and generally struggling to sleep. Which I'm making an appointment for at the local GP I'm newly registered with.

I also got married last weekend. So things have been very stressful moving in to a new home, new city and then losing my car to an arson attack as I was in the final preparations for my wedding celebrations (not to mention chasing the landlord for property repairs).

Surely there must be some financial support in this scenario as I'm struggling to sleep and I'm also out of pocket by about £35,000 with no car and I'm self-employed in an industry where travel is essential.

Your car clearly wasnt worth £40k if your insurers have valued it at £6k... people often are optimistic of what they think their car is worth but not a £34k spread. 

There is only automatic compensation for injuries resulting from a crime. For criminal damage the courts may award damages if someone is convicted for the crime but it depends on their ability to pay and generally those committing arson arent sitting on thousands in their account. Clearly anything you claimed would be net of the damage to your vehicle which your insurers have dealt with. 

I'm not sure why people are rushing to shun the car valuation. I've explained that is what it cost me overall in a post above. The valuation offered by my insurer is roughly £6,200. I've requested £7,500, which is closer to fair market value for the age and good condition my car was in pre-incident.

Your comments on damages through court are really helpful though. I received notification last week that the police have finished their investigation and that I will be informed of next steps of court proceedings etc...

This was my question - if there is any financial support beyond what my insurer has offered me since I am at a big loss through no fault of my own. You've at least offered part answer to that.

sperre

flaneurs_lobster said:

If the arsonists were attacking your car (mistakenly) why did they set fire to an adjacent car?

It's believed they planned for the car they set on fire to explode. The boot was packed with compressed canisters, which were popping and exploding. The car on fire was allegedly stolen, driven and parked by the arsonists. 

There was 30 metres of space in front of my car where they could have parked. Instead they decided to neatly, reverse park 1ft from the front of my car with all of the canisters in their boot directly in front of my car.

They could have parked ANYWHERE 30 metres from my car to the next parked car to not damage anyone else's car. 

sperre

GrumpyDil said:

Surely at best your car is worth 7500 to 9500 as the value is of a 2014 car (so 11 years old) taking account of the mileage, condition of your car. Insurance policies are not based on providing a new for car in replacement of an old car

Correct. I've contested the car valuation be adjusted from the offer of £6,300 to £7,000 - £8,000. This is not what I'm asking. The question I'm asking is if there is any other kind of financial support beyond my insurance payout?

Ayr_Rage

@sperre the price range you have quoted for vehicles that are listed for sale are the absolute maximum you can expect.

You need to temper your expectations and see if your insurer will increase the offer, they are only going to pay you what an 11 year old car is worth, not the replacement price.

MattMattMattUK

sperre said:

GrumpyDil said:

Surely at best your car is worth 7500 to 9500 as the value is of a 2014 car (so 11 years old) taking account of the mileage, condition of your car. Insurance policies are not based on providing a new for car in replacement of an old car

Correct. I've contested the car valuation be adjusted from the offer of £6,300 to £7,000 - £8,000. This is not what I'm asking. The question I'm asking is if there is any other kind of financial support beyond my insurance payout?

In answer to that question, largely no, outside of the actual criminal being identified. 

The cars for sale do not indicate the value those cars sell for. I agree with the others you should expect to get no more than £7k, anything more than that is a bonus and your initial expectation of getting £40k was incredibly unrealistic and shows no understanding of insurance.