Low insurance offer

Author
Discussion

TOPTON

Original Poster:

1,514 posts

235 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
So what is the next step???

Insurance company have offered a payout of approx £1200 below the price it would cost to buy another car of the same model.

The same cars on PH are around £7400+ private sales for very similar, Ins Co have offered £6250 and are saying they cannot possibly go any higher.

Our car was lower miles than all of them, (43k) with full service history. So as I said at the beginning, what is the next step?

Any help appreciated..TT

Added----It is our own fully comp insurance not a third party's ins co, if it makes a difference

daz3210

5,000 posts

239 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Suggest they buy you a like for like replacement.

oldcynic

2,166 posts

160 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Ask them to show you where you can replace your car for the money they're offering

TwigtheWonderkid

43,248 posts

149 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Print out the adds for similar vehicles at the higher price, send them to insurers and ask them to explain the discrepancy.

Greengecko

594 posts

146 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Mind me asking what car make/model/year it is? smile

But yes, I agree with above, find examples from multiple sites/dealers with similar cars of mileage/condition/age and send them in.

OdramaSwimLaden

1,971 posts

168 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
13:09
Suggest they buy you a like for like replacement.

13:10
Ask them to show you where you can replace your car for the money they're offering

13:11
Print out the adds for similar vehicles at the higher price, send them to insurers and ask them to explain the discrepancy.

TOPTON

Original Poster:

1,514 posts

235 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Thanks guys, I thought that was the case.

It was the way the guy on the phone wouldn't entertain the thought of increasing the offer. Thats it, full stop, no chance may as well have been his words.

The car was a Z3m roadster, 43k miles. After reading the responses on here, I have since spoken to the Ins Co and they said the same as you helpful guys, send in 3 private adds for price comparison and we'll see where we go from there.

So I guess I should have rang them first but then you guys would of had nothing to do cool


daz3210

5,000 posts

239 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
One other thing though. If you had owned the car from new, they cannot possibly provide a direct like for like. Any replacement will have had at least one more careful owner....

littlebasher

3,767 posts

170 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
I'm sure it's just the tactics these use to save themselves a few quid

My daughters Fusion was destroyed by an old duffer a few weeks ago, first offer from the insurance company was £3.8k. This was supposedly their 'best and final' offer.

I got on Autotrader and found some (albeit) top notch similar examples which averaged out at around £5k. She got back on the phone and in under a minute they offered her £5k - i gave her a nod and the cheque arrived a couple of days later

Get evidence, stick to your guns and you'll get something closer to what you're after

Red Devil

13,055 posts

207 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Rule 1. Never accept the first offer - it's a fishing expedtion to discover if you're a mark.
Rule 2. Never forget Rule 1.

Jujuuk68

363 posts

156 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
I have to say, as someone a bit higher up the food chain, if insurers are/were deliberately undervaluing policyholders vehicles, it really irritates me. It's not worth the time, let alone the money.

Its not always clear who does this - the claims department/handlers are only taking advice from the inspecting engineers, who are the people who see cars daily. By and large they are using tools like Glasses Guide, so there should be little room for getting it wrong. They adjust for colour, spec, extras, market conditions locally as well as the usual like condition and mileage. Perhaps you bought a 1 Series in Red rather than silver in error or just liked the colour, and are surprised no one else does.

Obviously someones "pride and joy" is another mans st heap, and just because you fitted new tyres or had it serviced because it needed it doesn't make it "more valuable", but essentially, a valuation dispute complaint probably costs more in time and money, than any "perceived saving" you think the insurers are making.

Realistically, you have autotrader printouts, but I bet you don't plan on paying the listed price for anything you see. Its odd how when we buy cars, we "always spotted a bargain", yet any time the car is written off "we can't replace it for what your offering". I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle - the insurer expect you do do a good deal, they don't insure for "bad bargains", and that car you bought only a couple of years ago can lose a breathtaking amount. But essentially, cars do lose value.

Remember, if its non fault, the insurer is only moving the claim on, so costs them nothing to value correctly. an FOS complaint also costs £500 even if they're right, and so it just shouldn't happen. I expect a large part of it is expectation management. I rarely ever found a dispute where I couldn't find cars similar when after taking into allowance a negotiation on sales price (and factoring in say the warranty/dealer facilities/valet you get trade).


daz3210

5,000 posts

239 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
We had it with a van at work. Was hit behind by an HGV, 8 years old, 50k miles, so a bit unusual in that it was low mileage. Also had FSH, 11 month MOT etc. Insurers offered something silly like £250. Repair estimate was around £1000 or so, basically needed back door sorting.

Looking on Auto Trader etc showed minimum price we would have to pay to replace the vehicle was about £1200. None had less than 100k miles, so not exactly like for like. Insurance said the most they would offer was something like £400 as a result.

Boss said in that case, forget a payout, replace the vehicle. In theory by doing that you are giving them the power to negotiate etc. The only van they could come up with had 95k miles on clock, and had never been serviced. We managed to contact the seller, and it turned out van had been a brewery site maintenance runabout in later life, and was in the words of the seller 'a shed'. It was therefore rejected as unsuitable.

Suddenly the insurer decided to repair our own.

But, I now wonder, would the van have been put on one of the Cat lists as a result? Initially it was declared a total loss.


simoid

19,772 posts

157 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Remember not to expect 100% of the asking price of other equivalent cars, they're not try to do you over my offering you a few hundred quid less, as that's usually haggle room smile

pherlopolus

2,087 posts

157 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
OdramaSwimLaden said:
13:09
Suggest they buy you a like for like replacement.

13:10
Ask them to show you where you can replace your car for the money they're offering

13:11
Print out the adds for similar vehicles at the higher price, send them to insurers and ask them to explain the discrepancy.
This, and add recent photos....

I also paid a couple of quid for a glass valuation and sent it off saying I wanted top private selling price, rather than the trade in...

Red Devil

13,055 posts

207 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Jujuuk68 said:
I have to say, as someone a bit higher up the food chain, if insurers are/were deliberately undervaluing policyholders vehicles, it really irritates me. It's not worth the time, let alone the money.

Its not always clear who does this - the claims department/handlers are only taking advice from the inspecting engineers, who are the people who see cars daily. By and large they are using tools like Glasses Guide, so there should be little room for getting it wrong. They adjust for colour, spec, extras, market conditions locally as well as the usual like condition and mileage.
I am going by my own experience and that of 4 others I know who have also had to fight for a realistic offer. In my case, if it was the inspecting engineer who was responsible, he was way off base and failed to take account of several relevant facts (one of which was rarity). I spent a lot of time searching and could only find 5 cars comparable to mine being offered for sale in the whole of the UK. The final agreed settlement was one third more than the derisory original offer (£2400 uplifted to £3200).

It also took far longer than it need have done to reach agreement. The obstructionist approach adopted all down the line by the insurer was unbelievable. Needless to say I took my business elsewhere when I bought my next car.



catfood12

1,410 posts

141 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
There's an FSA document on how their onbudsman arrives at vehicle valuations based on Glass's Guide and similar rather than adverts. Threaten to serve proceedings on their insured for the full value. If they still don't budge, then serve proceedings and go for all your associated costs, etc.

khevolution

1,592 posts

194 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Red Devil said:
Rule 1. Never accept the first offer - it's a fishing expedtion to discover if you're a mark.
Rule 2. Never forget Rule 1.
Not entirely true that one, i had an accident a few years ago and they paid about 1k more then what the car was worth a year ago. and the car was nothing special a box standard Audi A3

Red Devil

13,055 posts

207 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
khevolution said:
Red Devil said:
Rule 1. Never accept the first offer - it's a fishing expedtion to discover if you're a mark.
Rule 2. Never forget Rule 1.
Not entirely true that one, i had an accident a few years ago and they paid about 1k more then what the car was worth a year ago. and the car was nothing special a box standard Audi A3
The exception proving the rule..... wink

simoid

19,772 posts

157 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Red Devil said:
khevolution said:
Red Devil said:
Rule 1. Never accept the first offer - it's a fishing expedtion to discover if you're a mark.
Rule 2. Never forget Rule 1.
Not entirely true that one, i had an accident a few years ago and they paid about 1k more then what the car was worth a year ago. and the car was nothing special a box standard Audi A3
The exception proving the rule..... wink
Think of how much more you could've had biggrin

khevolution

1,592 posts

194 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
I was just happy, i pretty much got a years free motoring