Fighting a write off valuation
Discussion
Hi All,
I had a car accident the other morning, the third party accepted liability at the road side and I have since had a voicemail left for me off the third party insurance advising their client has accepted liability so I'm hopeful its going to be a fairly straight forward process, my little run around though is a mess and I think 100% a write off.
its a 2010 60 plate Smart Fortwo CDI "Ice Edition" which was a special edition that included extras on it such as Pioneer headunit and subwoofer (hence ICE), Brabus wheels, leather heated seats, flappy paddles for gearbox etc. It was quite a nice spec, I'd say 1 down from a full Brabus but with the CDI engine and £0 road tax.
My insurance straight away have offered £1800, I had it insured for £3500. i rejected that and said no thanks, this happened on Thursday, so with the bank holiday its been quiet.
So a quick look online to "replace" it like for like suggests I cant, all of the Smart CDi for sale, none of them have a similar spec, mainly the leather heated seats but they all range from £2.5-5k.
For example this is close to my car, but its missing the heated leather and headunit for a start , mileage is a little lower than mine.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403127...
So how do I come up with a "reasonable figure" to suggest to the insurance?
They are sending somebody out to it this week to inspect it, its currently at a Copart compound somewhere, basically it needs 2x new airbags, 2x new Brabus front wheels and tyres (discontinued) , a new dash, new steering wheel, new drivers side front suspension, new front panels, probably new headlights, new radiator/intercooler and the list goes on, I would imagine the 2x airbags from Mercedes will make it a write off straight away.
People with knowledge of fighting valuations how did you do it? I can provide screenshots of "similar" cars but none are the same spec.
I had a car accident the other morning, the third party accepted liability at the road side and I have since had a voicemail left for me off the third party insurance advising their client has accepted liability so I'm hopeful its going to be a fairly straight forward process, my little run around though is a mess and I think 100% a write off.
its a 2010 60 plate Smart Fortwo CDI "Ice Edition" which was a special edition that included extras on it such as Pioneer headunit and subwoofer (hence ICE), Brabus wheels, leather heated seats, flappy paddles for gearbox etc. It was quite a nice spec, I'd say 1 down from a full Brabus but with the CDI engine and £0 road tax.
My insurance straight away have offered £1800, I had it insured for £3500. i rejected that and said no thanks, this happened on Thursday, so with the bank holiday its been quiet.
So a quick look online to "replace" it like for like suggests I cant, all of the Smart CDi for sale, none of them have a similar spec, mainly the leather heated seats but they all range from £2.5-5k.
For example this is close to my car, but its missing the heated leather and headunit for a start , mileage is a little lower than mine.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403127...
So how do I come up with a "reasonable figure" to suggest to the insurance?
They are sending somebody out to it this week to inspect it, its currently at a Copart compound somewhere, basically it needs 2x new airbags, 2x new Brabus front wheels and tyres (discontinued) , a new dash, new steering wheel, new drivers side front suspension, new front panels, probably new headlights, new radiator/intercooler and the list goes on, I would imagine the 2x airbags from Mercedes will make it a write off straight away.
People with knowledge of fighting valuations how did you do it? I can provide screenshots of "similar" cars but none are the same spec.
Edited by the-norseman on Monday 1st April 22:16
the-norseman said:
My insurance straight away have offered £1800, I had it insured for £3500
Was the car insured with an agreed insured value? Or, was that just the suggested value you gave when taking out the cover. If the former, surely, they'll have to pay out £3500. If the latter, I suspect you've got a bit of a fight to look forward to. Also, did you inform the insurer of all the additional spec as you've detailed in your post? If not, and if these are in addition to standard spec, can't see insurance paying out for these.
Belfast Bap said:
We used a specialist solicitor in our case and he was worth every penny. We got more than we paid for the car 12 months previously. If we were ever unfortunate enough to be in the same situation I’d do the exact same thing again.
and who did you claim from? I assume directly from the third party, or did you unleash the solicitor on your own insurers?BertBert said:
Belfast Bap said:
We used a specialist solicitor in our case and he was worth every penny. We got more than we paid for the car 12 months previously. If we were ever unfortunate enough to be in the same situation I’d do the exact same thing again.
and who did you claim from? I assume directly from the third party, or did you unleash the solicitor on your own insurers?Belfast Bap said:
Claimed from the third party’s insurance, they weren’t playing ball initially and after a chat with my own solicitor he suggested someone who dealt mostly with insurance companies.
That makes sense. I think in this case that the OP is dealing through his own insurer who have decided to make a write off and decided the value to offer. So not an immediate situation to wield a solicitor.the-norseman said:
Hi All,
I had a car accident the other morning, the third party accepted liability at the road side and I have since had a voicemail left for me off the third party insurance advising their client has accepted liability so I'm hopeful its going to be a fairly straight forward process, my little run around though is a mess and I think 100% a write off.
its a 2010 60 plate Smart Fortwo CDI "Ice Edition" which was a special edition that included extras on it such as Pioneer headunit and subwoofer (hence ICE), Brabus wheels, leather heated seats, flappy paddles for gearbox etc. It was quite a nice spec, I'd say 1 down from a full Brabus but with the CDI engine and £0 road tax.
My insurance straight away have offered £1800, I had it insured for £3500. i rejected that and said no thanks, this happened on Thursday, so with the bank holiday its been quiet.
So a quick look online to "replace" it like for like suggests I cant, all of the Smart CDi for sale, none of them have a similar spec, mainly the leather heated seats but they all range from £2.5-5k.
For example this is close to my car, but its missing the heated leather and headunit for a start , mileage is a little lower than mine.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403127...
So how do I come up with a "reasonable figure" to suggest to the insurance?
They are sending somebody out to it this week to inspect it, its currently at a Copart compound somewhere, basically it needs 2x new airbags, 2x new Brabus front wheels and tyres (discontinued) , a new dash, new steering wheel, new drivers side front suspension, new front panels, probably new headlights, new radiator/intercooler and the list goes on, I would imagine the 2x airbags from Mercedes will make it a write off straight away.
People with knowledge of fighting valuations how did you do it? I can provide screenshots of "similar" cars but none are the same spec.
My previous post on this from other thread.I had a car accident the other morning, the third party accepted liability at the road side and I have since had a voicemail left for me off the third party insurance advising their client has accepted liability so I'm hopeful its going to be a fairly straight forward process, my little run around though is a mess and I think 100% a write off.
its a 2010 60 plate Smart Fortwo CDI "Ice Edition" which was a special edition that included extras on it such as Pioneer headunit and subwoofer (hence ICE), Brabus wheels, leather heated seats, flappy paddles for gearbox etc. It was quite a nice spec, I'd say 1 down from a full Brabus but with the CDI engine and £0 road tax.
My insurance straight away have offered £1800, I had it insured for £3500. i rejected that and said no thanks, this happened on Thursday, so with the bank holiday its been quiet.
So a quick look online to "replace" it like for like suggests I cant, all of the Smart CDi for sale, none of them have a similar spec, mainly the leather heated seats but they all range from £2.5-5k.
For example this is close to my car, but its missing the heated leather and headunit for a start , mileage is a little lower than mine.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403127...
So how do I come up with a "reasonable figure" to suggest to the insurance?
They are sending somebody out to it this week to inspect it, its currently at a Copart compound somewhere, basically it needs 2x new airbags, 2x new Brabus front wheels and tyres (discontinued) , a new dash, new steering wheel, new drivers side front suspension, new front panels, probably new headlights, new radiator/intercooler and the list goes on, I would imagine the 2x airbags from Mercedes will make it a write off straight away.
People with knowledge of fighting valuations how did you do it? I can provide screenshots of "similar" cars but none are the same spec.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Ezra said:
Was the car insured with an agreed insured value? Or, was that just the suggested value you gave when taking out the cover. If the former, surely, they'll have to pay out £3500. If the latter, I suspect you've got a bit of a fight to look forward to.
Also, did you inform the insurer of all the additional spec as you've detailed in your post? If not, and if these are in addition to standard spec, can't see insurance paying out for these.
No agreed value. Also, did you inform the insurer of all the additional spec as you've detailed in your post? If not, and if these are in addition to standard spec, can't see insurance paying out for these.
the-norseman said:
Ezra said:
Was the car insured with an agreed insured value? Or, was that just the suggested value you gave when taking out the cover. If the former, surely, they'll have to pay out £3500. If the latter, I suspect you've got a bit of a fight to look forward to.
Also, did you inform the insurer of all the additional spec as you've detailed in your post? If not, and if these are in addition to standard spec, can't see insurance paying out for these.
No agreed value. Also, did you inform the insurer of all the additional spec as you've detailed in your post? If not, and if these are in addition to standard spec, can't see insurance paying out for these.
All you can do is to gather as much evidence as you can, be firm, stand your ground where you are right & never get nasty/abusive as it will get you nowhere.
E-bmw has already attached the link from a recent similar thread.
To answer your question I would simply find as many adverts for similar cars as you can and take an average value from those.
If you find one car that reduces the average significantly then obviously leave that out of your equation.
Then email the Insurer with that average number ( no harm in including the adverts too ) and a letter saying why your car is better than all those etc to then justify a requested higher valuation if that is higher than the average you find.
Effectively you can then end up with a range ( from the first value the Insurer suggested ) to your maximum and hopefully a negotiation can then take place which both sides are happy with.
Good luck.
To answer your question I would simply find as many adverts for similar cars as you can and take an average value from those.
If you find one car that reduces the average significantly then obviously leave that out of your equation.
Then email the Insurer with that average number ( no harm in including the adverts too ) and a letter saying why your car is better than all those etc to then justify a requested higher valuation if that is higher than the average you find.
Effectively you can then end up with a range ( from the first value the Insurer suggested ) to your maximum and hopefully a negotiation can then take place which both sides are happy with.
Good luck.
alscar said:
E-bmw has already attached the link from a recent similar thread.
To answer your question I would simply find as many adverts for similar cars as you can and take an average value from those.
If you find one car that reduces the average significantly then obviously leave that out of your equation.
Then email the Insurer with that average number ( no harm in including the adverts too ) and a letter saying why your car is better than all those etc to then justify a requested higher valuation if that is higher than the average you find.
Effectively you can then end up with a range ( from the first value the Insurer suggested ) to your maximum and hopefully a negotiation can then take place which both sides are happy with.
Good luck.
Depending on the insurance company that could be a waste of time.To answer your question I would simply find as many adverts for similar cars as you can and take an average value from those.
If you find one car that reduces the average significantly then obviously leave that out of your equation.
Then email the Insurer with that average number ( no harm in including the adverts too ) and a letter saying why your car is better than all those etc to then justify a requested higher valuation if that is higher than the average you find.
Effectively you can then end up with a range ( from the first value the Insurer suggested ) to your maximum and hopefully a negotiation can then take place which both sides are happy with.
Good luck.
Petrus1983 said:
alscar said:
E-bmw has already attached the link from a recent similar thread.
To answer your question I would simply find as many adverts for similar cars as you can and take an average value from those.
If you find one car that reduces the average significantly then obviously leave that out of your equation.
Then email the Insurer with that average number ( no harm in including the adverts too ) and a letter saying why your car is better than all those etc to then justify a requested higher valuation if that is higher than the average you find.
Effectively you can then end up with a range ( from the first value the Insurer suggested ) to your maximum and hopefully a negotiation can then take place which both sides are happy with.
Good luck.
Depending on the insurance company that could be a waste of time.To answer your question I would simply find as many adverts for similar cars as you can and take an average value from those.
If you find one car that reduces the average significantly then obviously leave that out of your equation.
Then email the Insurer with that average number ( no harm in including the adverts too ) and a letter saying why your car is better than all those etc to then justify a requested higher valuation if that is higher than the average you find.
Effectively you can then end up with a range ( from the first value the Insurer suggested ) to your maximum and hopefully a negotiation can then take place which both sides are happy with.
Good luck.
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