Surprise, car write off, crap settlement figure!
Discussion
Is it a category B? I've recently had this experience, have you sent them anything to dispute book value (i.e. adverts for good condition cars like yours)? If they revalue it to a decent figure you'll probably find it gets re-classified as a Cat. C (categories are based on the cost of repair and vehicle value).
Best of luck with it!
Best of luck with it!
Edited by Krikkit on Friday 24th January 12:40
They will always lowball you...never accept the first offer.
Gather evidence on the cost of others in the market as supporting evidence and put it to them, often via both e-mails and calls. If you want the car back their appraisal of this value will be deducted from your settlement.
When my brother wrote off his fiesta I managed to get them to move their offer from £2,600 to £3,500 over a 30 minute phone call.
This was for a then 5 year old 1.25 fiesta with 30k miles in absolutely awful condition....I bought it from the auctions at 3 years old and 3k miles for £3,900 so got an amazing result doing this.
Gather evidence on the cost of others in the market as supporting evidence and put it to them, often via both e-mails and calls. If you want the car back their appraisal of this value will be deducted from your settlement.
When my brother wrote off his fiesta I managed to get them to move their offer from £2,600 to £3,500 over a 30 minute phone call.
This was for a then 5 year old 1.25 fiesta with 30k miles in absolutely awful condition....I bought it from the auctions at 3 years old and 3k miles for £3,900 so got an amazing result doing this.
Best thing to do is search online for similar spec cars and provide this info to insurance company whilst rejecting first offer.
When I dealt with an insurance assessor end of 2012, we spoke at length and he'd found the same comparables as I had and reached a very amicable settlement figure. He seemed to be a bit of a petrol head which probably helped.
When I dealt with an insurance assessor end of 2012, we spoke at length and he'd found the same comparables as I had and reached a very amicable settlement figure. He seemed to be a bit of a petrol head which probably helped.
Gather up as many classified ads as you can for vehicles in similar condition to yours, with asking prices in the region you feel is fair and make your case to them. Perhaps the insurance ombudsman can help with it, if there is a case to answer.
How does their settlement tally with your declared value of the car? What are their grounds for not offering a higher settlement?
How does their settlement tally with your declared value of the car? What are their grounds for not offering a higher settlement?
My offer went from £700 initially to £1850 - still uneconomical to repair though. (And I'd struggle to find a comparable replacement for that price, even before the excess was deducted.)
Something to note though, is that having a Cat C (uneconomical to repair) write off has turned out to be a bit of a hassle:
All in all, claiming has been a bit of a balls-up for me. If I knew the ins and outs of the process, I'd never have done it. If it was a more mainstream car, I'd definitely not have bought it back off them.
Something to note though, is that having a Cat C (uneconomical to repair) write off has turned out to be a bit of a hassle:
- Car needed a vehicle identity check with VOSA (£41) and subsequent new V5C (£?? - haven't done it yet)
- Ins co demanded MOT cert and V5C back before they settled.
- My cover was reduced to third party only, and cover for driving other cars withdrawn until I'd done the VIC, got a new V5C, passed an MOT, and got an engineers' report to say all damage repaired.
All in all, claiming has been a bit of a balls-up for me. If I knew the ins and outs of the process, I'd never have done it. If it was a more mainstream car, I'd definitely not have bought it back off them.
The answer is to see what the market thinks similar cars are worth.
There are two potential scenarios here:
1) The insyrance company are giving you a low offer in the hopes you just accept it
2) Your view of what your car is worth is out of step with what it's actual value is.
If the former is the caswe then gather evidence to support the actual valuation and use it.
If the latter is the case then suck it up.
A friend of mine recently wrote off his car and he got a very good offer from his insurance company. More than we both thought the car was worth.
There are two potential scenarios here:
1) The insyrance company are giving you a low offer in the hopes you just accept it
2) Your view of what your car is worth is out of step with what it's actual value is.
If the former is the caswe then gather evidence to support the actual valuation and use it.
If the latter is the case then suck it up.
A friend of mine recently wrote off his car and he got a very good offer from his insurance company. More than we both thought the car was worth.
trickywoo said:
kiethton said:
They will always lowball you...never accept the first offer.
Not always. I know someone who was offered £1,600 for a 180,000 mile 10 year old, 2L petrol, Honda Civic.I was very fortunate to buy the car in July last year for 15,500ukp. It was a the time well below market value as the seller needed a quick sale for a house deposit. (don't have a pound sign on my keyboard).
20,000mls, Elise S (toyota) with tan leather and metalic titanium colour. Very nice combination. The car was immaculate with FLSH.
I had the accident in December, the mileage is now 25,000.
The nearest comparison I can find is a 2008 car, 24,000 miles, from a garage with a strange choice of interior on PH classifieds.
(18,450)
They offered me 14,350.
If anything it looks like values have risen.
20,000mls, Elise S (toyota) with tan leather and metalic titanium colour. Very nice combination. The car was immaculate with FLSH.
I had the accident in December, the mileage is now 25,000.
The nearest comparison I can find is a 2008 car, 24,000 miles, from a garage with a strange choice of interior on PH classifieds.
(18,450)
They offered me 14,350.
If anything it looks like values have risen.
I work in the trade and generally over the last few years I have found that when a car has been written off by an insurance company their financial offer to settle has been very favourable.
If you aren't happy with their offer gather evidence to back you up and present it to the insurance company and tehy should then increase their offer.
If you aren't happy with their offer gather evidence to back you up and present it to the insurance company and tehy should then increase their offer.
deltashad said:
I was very fortunate to buy the car in July last year for 15,500ukp. It was a the time well below market value as the seller needed a quick sale for a house deposit. (don't have a pound sign on my keyboard).
20,000mls, Elise S (toyota) with tan leather and metalic titanium colour. Very nice combination. The car was immaculate with FLSH.
I had the accident in December, the mileage is now 25,000.
The nearest comparison I can find is a 2008 car, 24,000 miles, from a garage with a strange choice of interior on PH classifieds.
(18,450)
They offered me 14,350.
If anything it looks like values have risen.
Contact several Lotus dealers, ask them to value a car of your spec and mileage.20,000mls, Elise S (toyota) with tan leather and metalic titanium colour. Very nice combination. The car was immaculate with FLSH.
I had the accident in December, the mileage is now 25,000.
The nearest comparison I can find is a 2008 car, 24,000 miles, from a garage with a strange choice of interior on PH classifieds.
(18,450)
They offered me 14,350.
If anything it looks like values have risen.
if you do a quick google you can find the ombudsman link for valuing cars. In brief :
you're entitled to retail value for the car, not private
they take book values as being more reliable than just adverts
they assume any adverts have some wiggle room on price, that is taken into account for payoff.
so I would recommend getting the guide prices (for full retail), adjusted for milage/options as appropriate, plus a bunch of similar adverts, plus a copy of the ombudsman guidance, and send them all in together. Phone them every day for an update, if after 3 days nothing has happened, escalate. Be polite, but firm.
I had an offer of £1300 for a 944 s2 upped to £3,000 (which I accepted) by presenting the details as above.
you're entitled to retail value for the car, not private
they take book values as being more reliable than just adverts
they assume any adverts have some wiggle room on price, that is taken into account for payoff.
so I would recommend getting the guide prices (for full retail), adjusted for milage/options as appropriate, plus a bunch of similar adverts, plus a copy of the ombudsman guidance, and send them all in together. Phone them every day for an update, if after 3 days nothing has happened, escalate. Be polite, but firm.
I had an offer of £1300 for a 944 s2 upped to £3,000 (which I accepted) by presenting the details as above.
kiethton said:
They will always lowball you...never accept the first offer.
Gather evidence on the cost of others in the market as supporting evidence and put it to them, often via both e-mails and calls. If you want the car back their appraisal of this value will be deducted from your settlement.
When my brother wrote off his fiesta I managed to get them to move their offer from £2,600 to £3,500 over a 30 minute phone call.
This was for a then 5 year old 1.25 fiesta with 30k miles in absolutely awful condition....I bought it from the auctions at 3 years old and 3k miles for £3,900 so got an amazing result doing this.
So their first offer wasn't lowball at all. Their final offer was highball.Gather evidence on the cost of others in the market as supporting evidence and put it to them, often via both e-mails and calls. If you want the car back their appraisal of this value will be deducted from your settlement.
When my brother wrote off his fiesta I managed to get them to move their offer from £2,600 to £3,500 over a 30 minute phone call.
This was for a then 5 year old 1.25 fiesta with 30k miles in absolutely awful condition....I bought it from the auctions at 3 years old and 3k miles for £3,900 so got an amazing result doing this.
deltashad said:
I was very fortunate to buy the car in July last year for 15,500ukp. It was a the time well below market value as the seller needed a quick sale for a house deposit. (don't have a pound sign on my keyboard).
20,000mls, Elise S (toyota) with tan leather and metalic titanium colour. Very nice combination. The car was immaculate with FLSH.
I had the accident in December, the mileage is now 25,000.
The nearest comparison I can find is a 2008 car, 24,000 miles, from a garage with a strange choice of interior on PH classifieds.
(18,450)
They offered me 14,350.
If anything it looks like values have risen.
A friend of mine bought a second hand Elise S from a dealer. 18 months later he sold it back to them for MORE than he paid for it. Granted, it was absolutely immaculate, but values do appear to be on the up.20,000mls, Elise S (toyota) with tan leather and metalic titanium colour. Very nice combination. The car was immaculate with FLSH.
I had the accident in December, the mileage is now 25,000.
The nearest comparison I can find is a 2008 car, 24,000 miles, from a garage with a strange choice of interior on PH classifieds.
(18,450)
They offered me 14,350.
If anything it looks like values have risen.
The advice here is good - get adverts (hard copy too), get a quote from the dealer as well. Have a Google and establish exactly what your rights are for this, and what your insurance should cover you for. Remember that options do increase the value of a vehicle in many cases.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
kiethton said:
They will always lowball you...never accept the first offer.
Gather evidence on the cost of others in the market as supporting evidence and put it to them, often via both e-mails and calls. If you want the car back their appraisal of this value will be deducted from your settlement.
When my brother wrote off his fiesta I managed to get them to move their offer from £2,600 to £3,500 over a 30 minute phone call.
This was for a then 5 year old 1.25 fiesta with 30k miles in absolutely awful condition....I bought it from the auctions at 3 years old and 3k miles for £3,900 so got an amazing result doing this.
So their first offer wasn't lowball at all. Their final offer was highball.Gather evidence on the cost of others in the market as supporting evidence and put it to them, often via both e-mails and calls. If you want the car back their appraisal of this value will be deducted from your settlement.
When my brother wrote off his fiesta I managed to get them to move their offer from £2,600 to £3,500 over a 30 minute phone call.
This was for a then 5 year old 1.25 fiesta with 30k miles in absolutely awful condition....I bought it from the auctions at 3 years old and 3k miles for £3,900 so got an amazing result doing this.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff