Car writeoff

bunny20

My son's beloved triumph spitfire has been written off by his insurance company after somebody drove in to him. Today the insurance company rang him gave him an offer over the phone, which he said he was rejecting, but they said they would send him the cheque anyway and if he still disputed it, they would check the market for models similar and their current value.
So if they are posting the cheque are they hoping that my son will cash the cheque and therefore accepting the offer or is this the sort of thing they do.

Also it had an agreed value, but he sent the documents on August 12th(no proof of postage) after the accident on the 2nd September he emailed and asked where the certificate was, and was told by reply that it had been sent with the photos, he then told them he hadnt recieved it, they emailed again and said they had posted it. Wasnt recieved, so rang a few times to be told that they had never recieved it, although we have the email to say they had returned everything.

Any ideas out there on any of this, please.

Thanks a bunch

MarkyMarkD

It sounds like a bit of a shambles, to be honest.

If you have an e-mail specifically mentioning that they have returned documentation relating to agreed value then they are just being ridiculous. Demand the agreed value. Go to the ombudsman if they refuse. I presume that you kept a copy of the agreed value documents yourself?

I should NOT cash any cheque they send you as they will doubtless send it "in full and final settlement" and cashing the cheque would indeed involve accepting their offer. Send it back along with your evidence supporting the full value claim, asking them to send you a deadlock letter if they refuse to pay the full value you are entitled to.

Then proceed to the Ombudsman.

Hope that helps.

wazza

i agree with markymarkD. Do not cash the cheque. send it back with other documents using recorded/registered delivery. Get autotrader or classic car magazine and sent clippings of similar condition spitfire and the price they are going for. I did the same for my car when it was written off.

one thing he could do is to ring them up and if they dont co-operate then say ok fine i will be contacting the Ombudsman for their advice. hopefully that should wake them up.

scheming_gypsy

Girlfriend of one of my mates was involved in a car accident and the car written off and they sent a cheque out for £700. They phoned the insurance company and told them they weren't accepting it but were told to cash the cheque anyway.
Yesterday they received another cheque for £600 so it'll be worth phoning the insurance company as not all cheques are for full and final settlement.

tonys_3

I was sorry to hear of your son's problems.Insurance companies always seem to try it on.Though it must be difficult to value a car of that age.
It might be and idea for your son to look at specialist Spitfire clubs to get a
picture of current prices.He can try Google[UK sites]and type in "Triumph
Spitfire Clubs" for example and trawl through them looking for support for his claim. One that caught my eye was this one
http://www.club.triumph.org.uk/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi which also has a forum that may be able to give him more advice on what to ask for.

You don't say what damage the accident inflicted,but if it was mainly bodywork,these clubs do advertise body shells.It may be that your son could retain his old car inside a new shell.He will still have to negotiate a price with his insurers but if he can recoup the cost of the body shell and the fitting cost,that may be a way ahead.