Car Crash, Help Please. Pay as you drive policy.

simplicity

Hi everyone,

Ok I have tonnes of questions as am new to this so do bear with me. This is my first accident so am unsure how things will happen. I have searched through the threads and have gained a fair understanding but am after some more tailored feedback if at all possible. I had a car crash on March 15. It was pretty horrific. All three emergency services, closed off the motorway, the works. Thankfully we are all ok. Am over the shock and am just keen to get it all over with now.

Had to be cut out of the vehicle so needless to say the car is a write off. My insurers Norwich Union have called and offered me a settlement. It's gone down as a fault claim as I can't be bothered/have the energy to undergo a litigation battle when i know the most that'll happen is go 50/50.

No previous accidents but only had 1 years no claims of my own prior to the accident. I switched over to Pay as you drive 3 months before the accident from their standard cover.

now my problem is this, my car was an unsual japanese import and when i got it I got a mighty good deal. As a result it has appreciated in value and the settlement reflects this. Now i know everybody advises not to go with the first offer but they are paying more than i paid for the car and what i believe to be market value. I did my research beforehand so whilst the engineer was bargaining prices with me I was able to counter bargain if you like, (effectively skipping a few of the appeal process steps), on the spot over the phone.

we eventually agreed on 4k. i think I'm being greedy but part of me feels that i could have got 4.5k. he based it on another example of the car, which more or less matches mine, which i think is undervalued. there is another car which i referred him to on autotrader, which is 4995k but he chose the one which was 3995.

they are retaining the salvage which they say is worth 500. is there any point of me retaining the salvage and selling it off privately? am unsure whether i will know what to do an whether i could take that on at this moment in time. also am unsure whether to just accept this first offer? or to test my luck for a bit more?

ok now the real questions. my passengers (mum and brother) were hurt. they both have whiplash and mum has a lot of bruising to her legs. mum is thinking of putting in a personal injury claim against me. when is the best time to do this? if she does this now will it affect how much they pay out to me in my settlement? also she is asking me to oversee the claim side things. would i be able to do that? or would they want to speak to her solely?

what else? there was one more thing. am thinking of getting another car (i haven't asked for courtesy car, even though am entitled due to not really needing it at the mo) so am getting quotes to see how much the accident is gonna cost me. NU PAYG are advising me to carry on with the policy as i have some months left (expires in dec 08) but surely this will be just delaying the pain? Is it better to cancel the policy altogether and start building my no claims again from now? hopefully i'll have my first one in april 09, instead of dec 09 this way.

does that make sense or am i being silly?

the main reason i want to get a fresh policy now is that i am afraid that norwich union may hike my premium up ridiciulously in december because by that time the claim will have ended and any personal injury claims will have come to light. at present they don't know of my mum's intentions. surely they'll want to recoup this money back?

i've had a brand new quote done. i got it done with a 0 years no claims as well as declaring the accident and surprisingly unlike other insureres the price quoted is fairly reasonable. i just don't want any nasty surprises in december. am wondering whether this will be the same sum they ask for in dec?

sorry to have rambled. so much in my head. sorry it isn't any more coherent.

thanks so much in advance.

simplicity

bump.

went on page 2. sorry

V_tricky

Okay .........

One question at a time!

If you feel like you have had a reasonable offer for your car - take it. Just because someone is shown as selling a car at £5000 on the internet, it doesn't actually mean that they will SELL it for that much. The reality is that whoeever buys that car will haggle them down on price anyway. You can always take your £4k as an interim, and try to haggle yourself for an extra coupla hundred - you have nothing to lose and if you get it, it will be the easiest couple of hundred quid you've probably made this year. If you don't get it, you've lost all of a few minutes on the phone, or writing a letter.

Next. Salvage. Me? I'd leave it to them, it wouldn't be worth my hassle unless I had a mate who could repair it for me at mates rates.

Next. Your mum & brother. Do you have legal cover under your insurance? If you do, it will probably include cover for anyone in, or getting in or out of your vehicle, in which case you would authorise your insurer to instruct a solicitor for them. Otherwise they might have cover under a union membership, or may be able to get a nowinnofee solicitor do deal with it under a Conditional Fee Agreement/After the Event insurance policy. Or they could just approach your insurer directly (check my previous posts on this topic).

As for when the best time is to do this - ASAP. If they need any treatment, then your insurer should be able to sort out treatment for them privately straight away (again, refer to my previous posts about why they might do this).

They do have three years from the date of the accident though to make a claim through the court, but of course the sooner the better.

It will have no bearing whatsoever on any settlement you might get for your car.

As for having you be her advocate - that's fine, but if she has a solicitor involved (either thru a nowinnofee or thru your legal insurance) then your insurer are only able to speak to them (they can't even speak to her about it). This is because you may inadvertantly prejudice her position - that is - you might accept something that the solicitor wouldn't recommend.

If she claims directly from them, without a solicitor, then she can have whoever she choses to negotiate with them, even you, although they might still need some details signed off from her - but they will tell you about that.

As for whether you cancel your insurance - this is an area which I really don't know a helluvalot about - but you might wanna check whether NU will charge a cancellation fee. There's plenty more on this board who can give you more informed views on this.

Hope this helps!

simplicity

Thank you so much for your response.

As per your advice and my initial inklings I will leave the salvage to them.

Am going to wait for the cheque in the post and then try to appeal it. Am afraid they might lower the offer, it was only agreed verbally on the phone and I'd be silly to do anything now.

I do have legal cover and will do it through them. Are there any special points I should know about this? Am assuming going through the solicitors they recommend will be ok or will they (mum and brother) have a higher chance in getting a more handsome payout using a firm unrelated to NU?

There is a cancellation charge of 30 quid. I could just avoid this and have an easy ride until renewal time but then part of me worries whether they'd up the renewal quote by then as the personal injury claims will have come to light. Their current quote, posing as a new customer seems ok. decisons decisons.

Thanks for heliping, kind of you.