Hit by disqualified driver

[maser_spyder]

bramley said:

maser_spyder said:

So why was I offered £12k for my car, and when I pointed out that was a ridiculous offer, they changed it to £14500?

Quite a jump, no?

'Hearsay' from my parents is hardly 'hearsay' per-se. I know them pretty well. I lived with them for 18 years.

They also had car sales, so used to help their customers with write-offs that came in for estimates, by quoting like-for-like prices for replacing written off cars.

Sorry if you don't like it, but it's fairly standard practice to decline the first offer from an insurance company and ask for a more realistic value for a replacement vehicle.

In any case, it can't do any harm to check the market to make sure you're getting the correct value for your car back, shirley? Especially in a non-fault accident.

Not doing this would be just silly!

OP - make sure you're getting market value for your car by checking for similar for sale, autotrader, etc. And be aware that if the offer seems low, you can often negotiate.

Ignore the naysayers!

Certainly every instance I've heard of amongst friends etc where a write-off is concerned, the initial offer was pathetically low. Expecting us to believe that these low offers are somehow "accidental" is going to get you precisely nowhere - it's bollards. It's a game that insurers play very well, but of course someone in the industry will argue til they're blue in the face that that isn't their practice <strokes chin>.

Most recent one was a young lad that wrote off his Evo 6. The initial offer was £6k for a car he had paid £8,500 for only a few months earlier. After much messing about and threats of the Ombudsman he got £8k or £8.5k (can't remember). They really dug their heels in with him, totally out of order. Once the word ombudsman was mentioned he received a call back within minutes from "someone higher up" offering the CORRECT settlement figure.

Rather like the little kid with chocolate round his mouth denying the empty wrapper next to him is anything to do him, insurers may as well give up defending the very obvious and well-known 'game'.

Careful what you say there buddy, I tried to say something similar and all I got was a tirade of personal abuse!

[Noger]

Don't think anyone is saying don't negotiate.

We are just saying there is no industry standard practice of undercutting the first offer. If it is low, and of course it can be, that will be because the model for automated valuation didn't have all the details. Once an engineer gets to look at it, then they will adjust. Nobody complains if it is too high !

Although looking at autotrader isn't that helpful. Even the FOS say they pay little regard. And they say that on their website !

Get a Glasses/Cap Etc valuation for retail. Try to talk to the engineer, not the office, if you can.

[oldsoak]

mcdjl said:

Insurance companies do make silly offers...I know of 2 people who have had cars written off and been offered more than they paid (market value) for the cars...one of them replaced theirs with a lower milage but otherwise identical car the same day and 'made' £400.

Oh no they don't......
They make an offer based on the book price for replacement(dependant on the average local prices to you)...if you accept that offer and subsequently find a replacement at a lower price, that doesn't make their offer 'silly'...
Perhaps you would prefer them to require you replace the car and they would pay for it up to a certain value rather than sending you a cheque to do with as you will? For instance, Household contents insurance policies now often supply replacement goods rather than send out cheques in settlement of claims as they have found that policy holders either don't replace the goods like for like or buy a cheaper alternative and pocket the remainder....

[maser_spyder]

Noger said:

Don't think anyone is saying don't negotiate.

We are just saying there is no industry standard practice of undercutting the first offer. If it is low, and of course it can be, that will be because the model for automated valuation didn't have all the details. Once an engineer gets to look at it, then they will adjust. Nobody complains if it is too high !

Although looking at autotrader isn't that helpful. Even the FOS say they pay little regard. And they say that on their website !

Get a Glasses/Cap Etc valuation for retail. Try to talk to the engineer, not the office, if you can.

No, what 'people' are saying is;

"I am sure Mr knowitall has an aunt that will explain all this"

Crikey buddy, admit this was out of order and apologise.

Advice is one thing, personally directed abuse is another.

We can agree to disagree, but don't make it personal. It's unpleasant, and unnecessary.


The reason you would look at autotrader is not to use it to negotiate with the insurance company, just for your own personal use to know you can replace your motor with a similar one. In my instance, I was quite surprised how much it had depreciated over my ownership, but it was still worth way above the first offer that was made. I then used the proper channels to confirm a value and re-negotiate.

I added 20% on to my settlement with a bit of digging and negotiation. There's no reason others can't do the same.

Just don't be a mug, and make sure you're getting the right value for it.

[funkyrobot]

saaby93 said:

funkyrobot said:

The BIB arrived and went through the motions of checking cars, details etc. It was at this point when they informed me he was a disqualified driver. The car was insured but as he was disqualified he wasn't.

I thought we'd agreed in previous threads that third party cover still holds?
In which case go direct to someone like europa as it's a straightforward(!) no fault third party claim

Sorry, but who is this Europa you speak of? Can they actually help me in this situation now my insurers are involved?

Thanks.

[saaby93]

http://www.europaconsultants.co.uk/
no connection but they generally seem to do what they say they will

Have a chat with them, see if anything's feasible

Edited by saaby93 on Friday 8th January 14:14

[Noger]

maser_spyder said:

Noger said:

saaby93 said:

funkyrobot said:

The BIB arrived and went through the motions of checking cars, details etc. It was at this point when they informed me he was a disqualified driver. The car was insured but as he was disqualified he wasn't.

I thought we'd agreed in previous threads that third party cover still holds?
In which case go direct to someone like europa as it's a straightforward(!) no fault third party claim

You can get out of RTA insurer. But it will usually dump you into Article 75 insurer instead. Which may or may jot be a good thing. I am sure Mr knowitall has an aunt that will explain all this

That's a bit personal, no?

I would appreciate you retract that.

I was trying to help the OP, so that he didn't get ripped off by a silly low offer.

I'm actually quite offended at your tone, when all I was trying to do was help.

How is providing incorrect (as per autotrader) advice being helpful ?

I am sure you would equally annoyed if someone, with little factual basis, started to explain exactly how your particular occupation worked. I have spent weeks and months trying to define buiness processes and requirements for Total loss claims, at several different insurers. And to have someone glibbly say "oh it's standard practice" is, I am sure you can imagine, frustrating.


If you want whine about insurers, then I will leave you alone in GG to do just that. But stop getting opinion muddled up with facts, please.

[funkyrobot]

saaby93 said:

http://www.europaconsultants.co.uk/
no connection but they generally seem to do what they say they will

Have a chat with them, see if anything's feasible

Edited by saaby93 on Friday 8th January 14:14

Thanks, will do.

[bramley]

Noger said:

Don't think anyone is saying don't negotiate.

We are just saying there is no industry standard practice of undercutting the first offer. If it is low, and of course it can be, that will be because the model for automated valuation didn't have all the details. Once an engineer gets to look at it, then they will adjust. Nobody complains if it is too high !

Although looking at autotrader isn't that helpful. Even the FOS say they pay little regard. And they say that on their website !

Get a Glasses/Cap Etc valuation for retail. Try to talk to the engineer, not the office, if you can.

I'm sure there isn't a paragraph in a code of practice book, or a mission statement stuck on a wall in the insurance office, that says "First offer must be stupidly low" but IME there is simply no denying that the insurers first offer is well below market value. We call that "a piss-takingly low offer that they always give to everyone" and you call it "room for negotiation".

I think we all know the score!

maser_spyder - wasn't your Maser I pushed along in the snow in Chelt the other day was it?

[maser_spyder]

bramley said:

Noger said:

Don't think anyone is saying don't negotiate.

We are just saying there is no industry standard practice of undercutting the first offer. If it is low, and of course it can be, that will be because the model for automated valuation didn't have all the details. Once an engineer gets to look at it, then they will adjust. Nobody complains if it is too high !

Although looking at autotrader isn't that helpful. Even the FOS say they pay little regard. And they say that on their website !

Get a Glasses/Cap Etc valuation for retail. Try to talk to the engineer, not the office, if you can.

I'm sure there isn't a paragraph in a code of practice book, or a mission statement stuck on a wall in the insurance office, that says "First offer must be stupidly low" but IME there is simply no denying that the insurers first offer is well below market value. We call that "a piss-takingly low offer that they always give to everyone" and you call it "room for negotiation".

I think we all know the score!

maser_spyder - wasn't your Maser I pushed along in the snow in Chelt the other day was it?

Not being in the industry, I agree with you!

Being in the industry (mentioning no IDs), you probably do have a different slant on these things.



You pushed a Maser in the snow in Cheltenham? Well done! Wasn't mine though!

There's a couple more in town, one 4200 coupe, and a 3200.

Mine was safely tucked up on the driveway, I've been driving the Landcruiser with winter tyres (insert pros/cons here........), much safer!

[maser_spyder]

Noger said:

maser_spyder said:

Noger said:

saaby93 said:

funkyrobot said:

The BIB arrived and went through the motions of checking cars, details etc. It was at this point when they informed me he was a disqualified driver. The car was insured but as he was disqualified he wasn't.

I thought we'd agreed in previous threads that third party cover still holds?
In which case go direct to someone like europa as it's a straightforward(!) no fault third party claim

You can get out of RTA insurer. But it will usually dump you into Article 75 insurer instead. Which may or may jot be a good thing. I am sure Mr knowitall has an aunt that will explain all this

That's a bit personal, no?

I would appreciate you retract that.

I was trying to help the OP, so that he didn't get ripped off by a silly low offer.

I'm actually quite offended at your tone, when all I was trying to do was help.

How is providing incorrect (as per autotrader) advice being helpful ?

I am sure you would equally annoyed if someone, with little factual basis, started to explain exactly how your particular occupation worked. I have spent weeks and months trying to define buiness processes and requirements for Total loss claims, at several different insurers. And to have someone glibbly say "oh it's standard practice" is, I am sure you can imagine, frustrating.


If you want whine about insurers, then I will leave you alone in GG to do just that. But stop getting opinion muddled up with facts, please.

'Little factual basis'.

Does that not include experience?

If you're not going to apologise, I'll just call you a money grabbing retard of the highest order who clearly has no morals, who couldn't give a st about other people being ripped off by insurance companies because he's in the industry himself and is trying to mitigate this by denying what we all know happens in the real world.

If that upsets you in any way, then I categorically do not apologise in advance, in the same way you have not done.

There's room here for disagreement, of course, but it should never be made personal. That's beyond the pale.

[Noger]

The only "fact" you have is that you had one undervalued offer. Once.

Quite how you can translate that into an industry wide "fact" elludes me.

I work for a consultancy, so your arrows miss the target. And we probably get called worse by the client

So....are we going for mutual retraction. Or mutual post reporting. Bear in mind I didn't refer to you directly, and it was just my opinion that you must have a clever aunt is hardly up there with your little diatribe.

You choose

[bramley]

maser_spyder said:

You pushed a Maser in the snow in Cheltenham? Well done! Wasn't mine though!

There's a couple more in town, one 4200 coupe, and a 3200.

Mine was safely tucked up on the driveway, I've been driving the Landcruiser with winter tyres (insert pros/cons here........), much safer!

Yeah it couldn't get even the slightest bit of traction so I pushed it about 400m to the main road! Landcruiser with winter tyres would be very useful right now.

[maser_spyder]

bramley said:

maser_spyder said:

You pushed a Maser in the snow in Cheltenham? Well done! Wasn't mine though!

There's a couple more in town, one 4200 coupe, and a 3200.

Mine was safely tucked up on the driveway, I've been driving the Landcruiser with winter tyres (insert pros/cons here........), much safer!

Yeah it couldn't get even the slightest bit of traction so I pushed it about 400m to the main road! Landcruiser with winter tyres would be very useful right now.

Was it a blue one?

Feel quite sorry for him, mine won't even get off the driveway right now!

[maser_spyder]

Noger said:

The only "fact" you have is that you had one undervalued offer. Once.

Quite how you can translate that into an industry wide "fact" elludes me.

I work for a consultancy, so your arrows miss the target. And we probably get called worse by the client

So....are we going for mutual retraction. Or mutual post reporting. Bear in mind I didn't refer to you directly, and it was just my opinion that you must have a clever aunt is hardly up there with your little diatribe.

You choose

You made it personal matey, not me.

All I asked for was a retraction, as it was unnecessary, and poor form.

Shame, as this is a nice forum, with just a handful of egos. I appear to have just come across one.

Not enough room in here for both of us, I'll bow out.

The floor is yours, use it as you will.

[saaby93]

maser_spyder + Noger said:

stuff

At risk of stating the obvious this is an internet forum where everyone exchanges frank views about what they think.

Stop taking it so personally and treat it as opinions

gets off soap box

Edited by saaby93 on Friday 8th January 15:04

[ZOLLAR]

maser_spyder said:

Noger said:

maser_spyder said:

Noger said:

saaby93 said:

funkyrobot said:

The BIB arrived and went through the motions of checking cars, details etc. It was at this point when they informed me he was a disqualified driver. The car was insured but as he was disqualified he wasn't.

I thought we'd agreed in previous threads that third party cover still holds?
In which case go direct to someone like europa as it's a straightforward(!) no fault third party claim

You can get out of RTA insurer. But it will usually dump you into Article 75 insurer instead. Which may or may jot be a good thing. I am sure Mr knowitall has an aunt that will explain all this

That's a bit personal, no?

I would appreciate you retract that.

I was trying to help the OP, so that he didn't get ripped off by a silly low offer.

I'm actually quite offended at your tone, when all I was trying to do was help.

How is providing incorrect (as per autotrader) advice being helpful ?

I am sure you would equally annoyed if someone, with little factual basis, started to explain exactly how your particular occupation worked. I have spent weeks and months trying to define buiness processes and requirements for Total loss claims, at several different insurers. And to have someone glibbly say "oh it's standard practice" is, I am sure you can imagine, frustrating.


If you want whine about insurers, then I will leave you alone in GG to do just that. But stop getting opinion muddled up with facts, please.

'Little factual basis'.

Does that not include experience?

If you're not going to apologise, I'll just call you a money grabbing retard of the highest order who clearly has no morals, who couldn't give a st about other people being ripped off by insurance companies because he's in the industry himself and is trying to mitigate this by denying what we all know happens in the real world.

If that upsets you in any way, then I categorically do not apologise in advance, in the same way you have not done.

There's room here for disagreement, of course, but it should never be made personal. That's beyond the pale.

I'd have to disagree with your comments about Noger i've read the advice he's given on insurance on many post and i honestly can't find a single time where he hasnt helped the OP,remember just because you dont like the advice givien dosn't mean its wrong.
What alot of people outside the "industry" dont' realise is that we are tightly regulated especially the larger insurance companies my insurer has a whole department that just deal with compliance ( a good 40+ staff members) Things change everyday so if we were doing anything under handed it would be picked up immediately it isntt in an insurers best interest to "rip off" any our customer's where is the business sense in that?? granted there are people who you just cant please!
Maser_spyder if yuo have a claim in the future regarding a car being written off ( and i hope you dont as i like maserati's ) if you disagree take it all the way to the FOS, FSA insurer's have to provide the market value for your car if you can provide 100% evidence that they are tryin to rip you off the insurer will get a heavy fine, but in almost all the cases i've heard about the insurer has been fair and that the policyholder is tryin to get "betterment" and unless you have a specific policy that provides that you wont get it!

Edited by ZOLLAR on Friday 8th January 15:04

[maser_spyder]

saaby93 said:

[quote=maser_spyder_&_Noger]
At risk of stating the obvious this is an internet forum where everyone exchanges frank views about what they think.

Stop taking it so personally and treat it as opinions

gets off soap box

Bog off shorty.

Edited by maser_spyder on Friday 8th January 15:05

[Noger]

If you had been paying attention, you would have seen I said sorry at 13:24

[maser_spyder]

Noger said:

If you had been paying attention, you would have seen I said sorry at 13:24

Crikey, if you call that an apology, there's no way you can be married.

You would have had more practice by now.