insurance claim advice

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philip600

Original Poster:

216 posts

174 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
Hi, just after a bit of advice. My Sons car was hit & has Benn written off. The other party have admitted liability & have comeback with an offer of £5400. Now he only bought the car 6 weeks ago from an independent dealer for £6000 & we have adverts for similar cars for around this, they've asked him to shed these in but said it's doubtful they'll up their offer. The other thing is he has a private ref which will cost £95 to transfer & they've said this isn't covered. He'd also just put £50 worth of diesel in it. What is the usual situation with this with regards what he can claim as it seems to m that he's going to be out of pocket to the tune of £600 through no fault of his own. I'd appreciate any comments / advice. Regards, Phil

dogzilla

157 posts

211 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
Assuming £5400 is their first offer, go back with proof that similiar cars are not valued as such and haggle.

Might take some effort as insurance companies don't want to pay out more than they have to but but escalete it to their complaints team if you must and badger them until they relent.

At some point it's not worth having to keep haggling over £600, if you could get that figure up to £5700 I think that would be a good result. Trying to score for the cash price you paid might be harder to do.

As it's 3rd party who is liable they do have to cover things like the transfer of the private plate and the fuel as you should not be left out of pocket due to the actions of someone else. You just have to push for it.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
The stance form the FOS is clear and all insurers follow this

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications...

Point 9

I am not suggesting going to the FOS as you'd be wasting your time at the moment. What I'm saying is that point 9 supports you to some extent and doesn't if the insurer has clear evidence that £5400 is the correct value.

Take note of the section on adverts as the FOS do "not find these particularly persuasive".

over_the_hill

3,186 posts

246 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
Was the car purchased outright for cash or was there a Px.

If you go in as a straight cash buyer (which you will be) you may be in a better position to negotiate a better price on the replacement.

philip600

Original Poster:

216 posts

174 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
Hi, thanks for the advice, so basically he should be able to claim back the cost of registration transfer, if so that's some good news.
I appreciate the link to the FOS website, reading point 9 could be good or bad. We have now sent off a copy of the invoice for the purchase of the car, he looked for quite a while to find one with the specification, condition & mileage & while we appreciate it may be impossible to find another one exactly the same, especially reasonably locally, he is looking at other cars but for £ 5400 he would have to look at cars that are either older &/or more mileage & I don't see why he should have to.
I'll see what they come back with.
He is also suffering some mild back pain for which he is taking anti-inflammatory pain killers but his girlfriend who was sat on the side of the impact which was bad enough that the passenger door no longer opens suffered a bang to the head & has been to the doctors because of dizziness & neck pain, luckily he's advised her it is only muscle strain.
It's a load of hassle he could do without but these things happen.
Phil

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
Oh goody a nice "whiplash" style injury claim for soft tissue will no doubt follow to boost the family coffers.

I don't mind claims for injury where it's legitimate, but I object to the soft tissue stuff.

philip600

Original Poster:

216 posts

174 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
LoonR1 I have not mentioned or suggested he or his girlfriend are intending to claim for any injuries ( although they could ) but it's no wonder people do go down this route when insurance companies think it's ok for someone who paid £ 6000 for a car 6 weeks ago from a reputable garage ( & has proof of this ) to have to accept £ 5400 as a settlement to replace it & on top of that tell him the tank of diesel he put in it & the cost of the transfer of the registration number is nothing to do with them. He didn't want to be replacing his car or suffer the hassle of looking for a replacement but I accept these things happen. All he wants is to be able to get an equivalent age / specification & mileage vehicle so he can get on with his life.
While £600 or £700 might not seem like a lot of money to some people & not worth the hassle he is only 20 & has worked hard to be able to afford a nice car, so to him even £200 is a lot.
P.S. he did pay cash for it with no part exchange.
Kind regards, Phil.

SonicShadow

2,452 posts

154 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
Does he have legal cover on his insurance? You may be able to claim some of those costs back as uninsured losses.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
philip600 said:
LoonR1 I have not mentioned or suggested he or his girlfriend are intending to claim for any injuries ( although they could ) but it's no wonder people do go down this route when insurance companies think it's ok for someone who paid £ 6000 for a car 6 weeks ago from a reputable garage ( & has proof of this ) to have to accept £ 5400 as a settlement to replace it & on top of that tell him the tank of diesel he put in it & the cost of the transfer of the registration number is nothing to do with them. He didn't want to be replacing his car or suffer the hassle of looking for a replacement but I accept these things happen. All he wants is to be able to get an equivalent age / specification & mileage vehicle so he can get on with his life.
While £600 or £700 might not seem like a lot of money to some people & not worth the hassle he is only 20 & has worked hard to be able to afford a nice car, so to him even £200 is a lot.
P.S. he did pay cash for it with no part exchange.
Kind regards, Phil.
Is it his insurer who have valued the car at £5400 with the other exclusions? If so they are correct that neither the tank of diesel or private plate transfer is their problem.

The other drivers insurer will cover those and any injury claim. So you're not punishing your insurer by claiming for injury and your logic around claiming doesn't flow.

You may not have explicitly stated an injury claim is definitely coming, but you couldn't have been clearer that it was likely.

Driver101

14,376 posts

121 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
Go back and show the car was worth £6000 to the insurance company by using other similar cars.

Losing £600 from the price he paid a dealer doesn't sound too bad to me to be honest. It's not drastically bad as sometimes you hear.

The dealer has to make profit on a car. Realistically if the dealer needs to sell the car for £6000 to fund his business,the car itself won't be worth £6000 in real terms.

You say there is examples for £6000, are you confident that these aren't a bit overpriced and a similar example can't be bought for £5400?

Out of curiosity, what kind of car, age and specification was it?

Sheepshanks

32,722 posts

119 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
philip600 said:
... but it's no wonder people do go down this route when insurance companies think it's ok for someone who paid £ 6000 for a car 6 weeks ago from a reputable garage ( & has proof of this ) to have to accept £ 5400 as a settlement to replace it & on top of that tell him the tank of diesel he put in it & the cost of the transfer of the registration number is nothing to do with them.
Completely agree with that.

In a fair world, for a no-fault claim, another couple of grand for the hassle, plus the time involved in having to hunt down another car wouldn't be out of place either.

philip600

Original Poster:

216 posts

174 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
LoonR1, I don't pretend to know how insurance works, it's his insurer that has offered the initial £5400 but why are they making the offer to him when it will be the others insurer who are paying for it, how would we know if the 3rd party insurer hasn't offered say £ 5800 & his insurer keeps the rest ?
With regards injuries, diesel & reg transfer if the 3rd parties insure should cover these why hasn't my Son's insurer told him, they just said he couldn't claim for these but this would appear to be incorrect ?
If this is the case how does he go about claiming ? This takes me back to the point of why people use accident management companies, the insurers do not make it easy to understand what your rights are & what you can claim for.
With regards the cost of the car, I could take the point if he'd bought it 9 months or a year ago but 6 weeks ! Why should he have to buy privately with all the pitfalls that brings just so he can buy a similar car. The reason he bought it from a dealer was mainly because of the peace of mind that brings.
With him being 20 he hasn't got a huge choice with regards insurance & fuel costs ( he has a 50 mile a day round trip to work )
If the insurance company think that the car can be replaced for that price then let them provide one for him & save all the hassle, it's easy looking at prices in a book & saying you can buy one for £x but a little different when you actually come do doing it. We have also found that the choice of cars where we live in the North East is far less than you would get in say the South East & hence prices tend to be higher.
The car is ( or should I say was ) a Honda Civic Type S GT 2.2 CDTi so not exactly a limited edition but there are not that may around.
I appreciate all your input, will keep you posted.
Phil.

Driver101

14,376 posts

121 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
How old was the car and what kind of mileage?

philip600

Original Poster:

216 posts

174 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
Sorry, 57 reg with 84k miles. Nearly new tyres & brand new clutch fitted prior to him buying it & alloy wheels fully refurbished as well by the garage as well as part of the deal.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
philip600 said:
LoonR1, I don't pretend to know how insurance works, it's his insurer that has offered the initial £5400 but why are they making the offer to him when it will be the others insurer who are paying for it, how would we know if the 3rd party insurer hasn't offered say £ 5800 & his insurer keeps the rest ?
With regards injuries, diesel & reg transfer if the 3rd parties insure should cover these why hasn't my Son's insurer told him, they just said he couldn't claim for these but this would appear to be incorrect ?
If this is the case how does he go about claiming ? This takes me back to the point of why people use accident management companies, the insurers do not make it easy to understand what your rights are & what you can claim for.
With regards the cost of the car, I could take the point if he'd bought it 9 months or a year ago but 6 weeks ! Why should he have to buy privately with all the pitfalls that brings just so he can buy a similar car. The reason he bought it from a dealer was mainly because of the peace of mind that brings.
With him being 20 he hasn't got a huge choice with regards insurance & fuel costs ( he has a 50 mile a day round trip to work )
If the insurance company think that the car can be replaced for that price then let them provide one for him & save all the hassle, it's easy looking at prices in a book & saying you can buy one for £x but a little different when you actually come do doing it. We have also found that the choice of cars where we live in the North East is far less than you would get in say the South East & hence prices tend to be higher.
The car is ( or should I say was ) a Honda Civic Type S GT 2.2 CDTi so not exactly a limited edition but there are not that may around.
I appreciate all your input, will keep you posted.
Phil.
What you've described in the first paragraph can not happen legally and it does not happen. Your insurer pays out to you and then they recover it from the other side. They aren't a middleman and they don't take "cuts" unlike these magical Accident Management Cos whose sole aim is to drag hire out as long as possible to line their pockets.

philip600

Original Poster:

216 posts

174 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
LoonR1 said:
philip600 said:
LoonR1, I don't pretend to know how insurance works, it's his insurer that has offered the initial £5400 but why are they making the offer to him when it will be the others insurer who are paying for it, how would we know if the 3rd party insurer hasn't offered say £ 5800 & his insurer keeps the rest ?
With regards injuries, diesel & reg transfer if the 3rd parties insure should cover these why hasn't my Son's insurer told him, they just said he couldn't claim for these but this would appear to be incorrect ?
If this is the case how does he go about claiming ? This takes me back to the point of why people use accident management companies, the insurers do not make it easy to understand what your rights are & what you can claim for.
With regards the cost of the car, I could take the point if he'd bought it 9 months or a year ago but 6 weeks ! Why should he have to buy privately with all the pitfalls that brings just so he can buy a similar car. The reason he bought it from a dealer was mainly because of the peace of mind that brings.
With him being 20 he hasn't got a huge choice with regards insurance & fuel costs ( he has a 50 mile a day round trip to work )
If the insurance company think that the car can be replaced for that price then let them provide one for him & save all the hassle, it's easy looking at prices in a book & saying you can buy one for £x but a little different when you actually come do doing it. We have also found that the choice of cars where we live in the North East is far less than you would get in say the South East & hence prices tend to be higher.
The car is ( or should I say was ) a Honda Civic Type S GT 2.2 CDTi so not exactly a limited edition but there are not that may around.
I appreciate all your input, will keep you posted.
Phil.
What you've described in the first paragraph can not happen legally and it does not happen. Your insurer pays out to you and then they recover it from the other side. They aren't a middleman and they don't take "cuts" unlike these magical Accident Management Cos whose sole aim is to drag hire out as long as possible to line their pockets.
It was just a question, I just wondered why the other insurer isn't making him the offer direct if he has to got to them for the other losses such as registration transfer cost etc ?
Just because something can't happen legally doesn't mean it doesn't happen

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
quotequote all
philip600 said:
It was just a question, I just wondered why the other insurer isn't making him the offer direct if he has to got to them for the other losses such as registration transfer cost etc ?
Just because something can't happen legally doesn't mean it doesn't happen
Go direct to the other side and see if they will make the offer.

Do You really think that a multi million pound probably global business is going to risk the wrath of the regulators over £600?



Edited by LoonR1 on Thursday 16th April 08:43

philip600

Original Poster:

216 posts

174 months

Thursday 16th April 2015
quotequote all
No, my comment was slightly tongue in cheek but stranger things have happened, just look at the bankers !
On another note, if the insurance company hate injury claim companies so much how come my Son has just had a call from a company of solicitors who have been given his number ( apparently ) by his insurance company asking about injuriy claims ?
Phil.

LoonR1

26,988 posts

177 months

Thursday 16th April 2015
quotequote all
If you understood insurance in the slightest, which you should try to as a purchaser then you'd understand.

Your insurer will never pay out for injury to you on the basic policy (some have small benefits but not for this type of injury). The other drivers insurer is the one who will pay out. You may have a legal expenses policy and that is what this exists for. Your insurer has contacted them to advise that you may have a claim and for them to ring you.

You know. Just like the situation you were complaining about earlier in the thread where insurers don't tell you what you can claim for. They have here and now you're questioning that.

philip600

Original Poster:

216 posts

174 months

Thursday 16th April 2015
quotequote all
I just thought it strange that you make out the insurance industry hates companies that specialize in injury claims & then my Son's insurer gives his number to just such a company ?
I'm not having a go here, just genuinely interested how it all works & you are right I should look into it more but like most other things, I can find better things to do with my time & then worry about it when sh*t happens !!
On a more positive note we sent off a copy of the purchase invoice for the car & they have rang him today to say they will pay out the price he paid 6 weeks ago, money should be with him soon so that's good news.
Just the uninsured losses to chase now, on that point why are things like the reg transfer etc classed as uninsured losses ?
Phil.
P.S. I see on anther thread you've left SP&L so maybe I won't get the answers, but thanks for every ones replies, they have been most useful.