Claims advice

stu_n_jude

Hi all

I was in a car accident on the 7 May where my car was written off, the other driver was at fault as he was speeding, driving with undue care and over the alcohol limit.

My car is/was an 05 Ford Focus (New shape) 1.6 Zetec (Climate pack) and I was offered a settlement of £5750, which i turned down. This price is even below the trade price for part exchange. After printing of 200 examples of vehicles between £7,200-8,500 i sent the top five in (average of £8,400). It took my insurance company 3 1/2 weeks to get back to me (today), when i was told that the desk engineer had re-evaluated and on the evidence of Glass and Autotrader (20 mile radius of our postcode) that the new offer was £5920 (still trade/part exchange price). I was absolutely livid and made the operator do a search on autotrader while i was on the phone and she said 'oh the cheapest equivalent in the 20 mile radius is £6,995'. She said that she would speak to her supervisor to get them to look at it, and asked if i wanted an interim payment. I stalled as said i needed to run it past my partner but will phone back tomorrow and decline the interim payment, until we receive a satisfactory agreement.

Has anyone got any advice on how i now need to play this as it is really stressing me out and i feel as though my insurance company (Post Office underwritten by Group AMA) are trying to rip me off.

I am also getting hassle from the Courtesy Car company who are threatening to take the car off me.

Any advice would gratefully received. Many many thanks

lisyloo

You might want to try these articles.
I found them by searching this board.
I hope they might be of some use.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/22/issue-22-motorinsurance.htm
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/66/66-vehicle_valuation_disputes.html

One option for you if all else fails is to go down the formal complaints route.

scott_bfc

best thing to do is to request a copy of the independent enginneers report from your insurance co or get an independent engineer to inspect the vehicle yourself at a cost of around £60.

where are you getting your trade value from?

ins co's will usually use the glasses guide, an industry recgonised guide valuation book which will give you a figure for a vehicle in tip-top condition with an ave mileage (garage forecourt standard) and a figure for a vehicle in a condition you would expect to buy privately. The figure the ins co will offer is usually somewhere in-between the 2 figures depending on the condition and mileage of your vehicle (which will have been assessed by the independent engineer). rarely is the figure you are offered lower than the private sale price unless your vehicle is in poor condition with very high mileage.

to my knowledge, the fos will not get involved with value disputes??

if you are getting hassle from the hire company, you may need to accept the chq as an interim basis only. this means it wont affect your ability to receive further money if your claim is proven. it will not prejudice your position. at least this way you have money in your pocket to put towards the repair of your vehicle (depending on the category - a or b = cannot be repaired and must be scrapped, broken, c or d = can be put back on the road if dvla are advised and their vic checks are passed) or buy a different vehicle

you should keep on at your ins co and provide as much evidence for an increase as possible