Insurance question
Discussion
After some advice please.
Firstly I managed to write off my 12month old Merc Cls last week driving it through standing water. Long story but 5 o clock in the morning pouring with rain hit a puddle etc etc. My fault but that's not the issue.
Loss adjuster tells me his Glass's guide put the car at 21 plus vat so 25k ish. The lease company want 26k (sorry yes it's my company car so leased). Lease company refusing to move a penny and so is the loss adjuster! In the meantime I'm stuck paying the lease and paying for a hire car so all up £1700 a month while everyone dances around their handbags.
I've spoken to my broker and await further comment, should I approach the ombudsman and are there any other pearls of wisdom that can be offered. I have looked on Autotrader and I'm looking at at least 29k to buy a similar car.
Thanks in advance
Steve
Firstly I managed to write off my 12month old Merc Cls last week driving it through standing water. Long story but 5 o clock in the morning pouring with rain hit a puddle etc etc. My fault but that's not the issue.
Loss adjuster tells me his Glass's guide put the car at 21 plus vat so 25k ish. The lease company want 26k (sorry yes it's my company car so leased). Lease company refusing to move a penny and so is the loss adjuster! In the meantime I'm stuck paying the lease and paying for a hire car so all up £1700 a month while everyone dances around their handbags.
I've spoken to my broker and await further comment, should I approach the ombudsman and are there any other pearls of wisdom that can be offered. I have looked on Autotrader and I'm looking at at least 29k to buy a similar car.
Thanks in advance
Steve
Firstly, bad luck. 
This seems to come up fairly regularly and I can only give my one anecdote of personal experience.
I listed every single available car in the same spec available in the country on both AT and PH.
And then stuck to my guns.
It took 10 days or maybe a couple of weeks (insurance co paying for £15 a day hire car) and they agreed £13,500 up from £11k initial offer.
I just kept repeating that I would happily take their money and buy a replacement car as long as they could identify one for me.
They were all at £13.5k so WTF???
In the end they caved.
I did work my way through from I guess someone junior on the phone to a "senior engineer familiar with these types of car" type BS but even a monkey could see that it just wasn't possible to replace like-for-like with the money they initially offered.
This seems to come up fairly regularly and I can only give my one anecdote of personal experience.
I listed every single available car in the same spec available in the country on both AT and PH.
And then stuck to my guns.
It took 10 days or maybe a couple of weeks (insurance co paying for £15 a day hire car) and they agreed £13,500 up from £11k initial offer.
I just kept repeating that I would happily take their money and buy a replacement car as long as they could identify one for me.
They were all at £13.5k so WTF???
In the end they caved.
I did work my way through from I guess someone junior on the phone to a "senior engineer familiar with these types of car" type BS but even a monkey could see that it just wasn't possible to replace like-for-like with the money they initially offered.
sone said:
dacouch said:
Is the car insured in your own personal name or in a business name?
Exactly how old is the car?
Fleet policy, I'm the named driver of the car and it's just 12months old with 25k miles on it.Exactly how old is the car?
Why are you personally getting involved as if it a company car the department who deal with the company cars should sort everything out.
With leasing a car its a bit more complicated as if the car is written off or stolen there is not only the cars value but also a financial aspect the lease company want from the deal to be considered.
Normally to cover any short fall its a good idea to have financial GAP insurance that is pretty cheap for what it offers as I have £7500 liability cover for two years for a total cost of £69.
btcc123 said:
sone said:
dacouch said:
Is the car insured in your own personal name or in a business name?
Exactly how old is the car?
Fleet policy, I'm the named driver of the car and it's just 12months old with 25k miles on it.Exactly how old is the car?
Why are you personally getting involved as if it a company car the department who deal with the company cars should sort everything out.
With leasing a car its a bit more complicated as if the car is written off or stolen there is not only the cars value but also a financial aspect the lease company want from the deal to be considered.
Normally to cover any short fall its a good idea to have financial GAP insurance that is pretty cheap for what it offers as I have £7500 liability cover for two years for a total cost of £69.
Bill said:
You're paying for a hire car so both sides probably figure they have you over a barrel. It seems cheaper to get a new lease and leave them squabbling. (Or just stump up the £1k yourself.)
It's not a thousand pounds its 5k. The lease company tell me vat is not applicable on a write off but the Insurers pay it on their offer which they'll claim back I assume. I cant really get my head around it to be honest, in reality it's 21 v's 26k.sone said:
It's not a thousand pounds its 5k. The lease company tell me vat is not applicable on a write off but the Insurers pay it on their offer which they'll claim back I assume. I cant really get my head around it to be honest, in reality it's 21 v's 26k.
Lease is what the lease is. Nothing to do with anything really.The question is what the cheque is going to be from the insurance co.
They want to pay you £25k but you can't buy a like-for-like car for less than £29k. THAT is the issue.
VAT is irrelevant, isn't it?
walm said:
sone said:
It's not a thousand pounds its 5k. The lease company tell me vat is not applicable on a write off but the Insurers pay it on their offer which they'll claim back I assume. I cant really get my head around it to be honest, in reality it's 21 v's 26k.
Lease is what the lease is. Nothing to do with anything really.The question is what the cheque is going to be from the insurance co.
They want to pay you £25k but you can't buy a like-for-like car for less than £29k. THAT is the issue.
VAT is irrelevant, isn't it?
insurance_jon said:
then you will be able to reclaim the vat from the settlement to the lease co
This is where I'm struggling with the lease company. They tell me whatever they receive by way of payment whether it be capital or Vat they just stick in their back pocket, however the insurers don't agree with this and I've no understanding why!another point (which helped a friend in the same situation) is that VAT on 2nd hand cars is different to new cars.
i.e the insurer is saying £25,200 inc vat to replace with a 12m old 25k mile car. However VAT on a second hand car is calculated on the VAT margin scheme. This is where vat is charged on the difference between what the car was bought in at and what it was sold at.
car bought for £23k into stock, sold at 25k the margin is £2k so the vat is 20% of that i.e £400
i.e the insurer is saying £25,200 inc vat to replace with a 12m old 25k mile car. However VAT on a second hand car is calculated on the VAT margin scheme. This is where vat is charged on the difference between what the car was bought in at and what it was sold at.
car bought for £23k into stock, sold at 25k the margin is £2k so the vat is 20% of that i.e £400
Sorry to bring this back up but still not settled. RSA (insurers) still at 26 k less vat.
The way they view it (insurers) is it is that merc (lease company) claimed all the vat back at first purchase and should not not benefit now claiming the full value of the car inclusive of the vat already claimed.
Piggy in the middle with this one. I think a call to the ombudsman iOS in order.
What a faff!
The way they view it (insurers) is it is that merc (lease company) claimed all the vat back at first purchase and should not not benefit now claiming the full value of the car inclusive of the vat already claimed.
Piggy in the middle with this one. I think a call to the ombudsman iOS in order.
What a faff!
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff