Insurance valuation - how to negotiate a higher amount?
Discussion
Someone went into the back of my car last month and the insurance have written it off. No fault claim as 3rd party have accepted responsibility. I had expected it to be written off, but we're currently discussing the valuation and getting nowhere.
They have offered X amount, which is taken straight from Glasses Guide, taking into account the age/mileage etc... however...
It is a top spec engine
It is in a desirable colour
It is a "special edition"
I have every receipt ever spent and FSH
The general overall condition is excellent, passenger seats are largely unused, bonnet and boot resprayed a few years ago etc.
It has a factory fitted detachable tow-bar which would cost £700 to replace.
In short, I feel that it is worth more than what a Glasses Guide book suggests, especially given the well publicised increase in 2nd hand car values. The only other car on Autotrader with the same combination of model, spec, age and colour is a 60,000 mile example for sale for £9995. By comparison mine is a 185,000 mile example and they've offered £3750.
I explained all this in an email to them and have spoken on the phone, but they won't negotiate and just point to Glasses Guide, with no movement from the initial figure. Is there anything else I can do, or just suck it up and accept that I'm going to be out of pocket through no fault of my own?
They have offered X amount, which is taken straight from Glasses Guide, taking into account the age/mileage etc... however...
It is a top spec engine
It is in a desirable colour
It is a "special edition"
I have every receipt ever spent and FSH
The general overall condition is excellent, passenger seats are largely unused, bonnet and boot resprayed a few years ago etc.
It has a factory fitted detachable tow-bar which would cost £700 to replace.
In short, I feel that it is worth more than what a Glasses Guide book suggests, especially given the well publicised increase in 2nd hand car values. The only other car on Autotrader with the same combination of model, spec, age and colour is a 60,000 mile example for sale for £9995. By comparison mine is a 185,000 mile example and they've offered £3750.
I explained all this in an email to them and have spoken on the phone, but they won't negotiate and just point to Glasses Guide, with no movement from the initial figure. Is there anything else I can do, or just suck it up and accept that I'm going to be out of pocket through no fault of my own?
You should be getting the a valuation between that of a dealer and franchised dealer - you aren't a dealer so won't be able to buy at trade price and private sales no longer really exist...
Parkers isn't really worth the pixels its displayed on.
When my E39 540i was written off the AMC sent a specialist vehicle valuation firm out to look at it, appraised its condition and write a valuation report for insurance etc. After speaking with the valuer after he'd done his initial work and sending a few market comp's I got the number I wanted for it.
Parkers isn't really worth the pixels its displayed on.
When my E39 540i was written off the AMC sent a specialist vehicle valuation firm out to look at it, appraised its condition and write a valuation report for insurance etc. After speaking with the valuer after he'd done his initial work and sending a few market comp's I got the number I wanted for it.
Screenshot a minimum of 3 examples from Autotrader of equivalent models/specs within 50 miles. You can adjust price wil mileage if nothing is available (for example: when my Mums car was written off it had 8k on it and no equivalent cars were available as they had 23k on).
Send them the screenshots by email and ask to invoke their complaints procedure. If you feel the price you want is fair then, escalate all the way to the FOS.
Send them the screenshots by email and ask to invoke their complaints procedure. If you feel the price you want is fair then, escalate all the way to the FOS.
If they can buy a car for the price they are offering why not ask the insurance company to provide one to you.
Find three similar cars to yours and send screen shots dated with when you took the screen shot (not links as they can go dead).
I’ve always thought that really the insurance company should be providing you with a replacement car.
It’s a bloody cheek what they try and get away with.
Find three similar cars to yours and send screen shots dated with when you took the screen shot (not links as they can go dead).
I’ve always thought that really the insurance company should be providing you with a replacement car.
It’s a bloody cheek what they try and get away with.
I just had to deal with this, it was a bit of a pain, as the insurance company used a salvage company to determine values, and their stance for negotiation based on advertised cars for sale was that they wanted them to be the same registration age (so a 6 month window), and +/-5k on mileage.
I made it very clear to them that their requirements were completely unreasonable, as it wasn't a common car (every one I could find for sale, irrespective of age/mileage, nationwide, across multiple platforms, came to a grand total of a dozen examples), and after a week of being awkward, they did manage to find enough extra down the back of the sofa to make it an acceptable offer.
Insane way to organise things to my mind, as it was a non-fault claim, so the cost would be passed on to the other insurer, and the uplift I was asking for was less than it'd cost them if I got the ombudsman involved, but it all felt very computer says no.
I made it very clear to them that their requirements were completely unreasonable, as it wasn't a common car (every one I could find for sale, irrespective of age/mileage, nationwide, across multiple platforms, came to a grand total of a dozen examples), and after a week of being awkward, they did manage to find enough extra down the back of the sofa to make it an acceptable offer.
Insane way to organise things to my mind, as it was a non-fault claim, so the cost would be passed on to the other insurer, and the uplift I was asking for was less than it'd cost them if I got the ombudsman involved, but it all felt very computer says no.
MB140 said:
If they can buy a car for the price they are offering why not ask the insurance company to provide one to you.
Find three similar cars to yours and send screen shots dated with when you took the screen shot (not links as they can go dead).
I’ve always thought that really the insurance company should be providing you with a replacement car.
It’s a bloody cheek what they try and get away with.
If he's claiming off his own insurance company, there is a contract in place, and that contract allows them to settle total loss claims with money rather than a car. If he's claiming off the tp insurer, there's no contract, but law of tort allows them to settle a tp loss with money rather than a replacement item. Find three similar cars to yours and send screen shots dated with when you took the screen shot (not links as they can go dead).
I’ve always thought that really the insurance company should be providing you with a replacement car.
It’s a bloody cheek what they try and get away with.
It's not a valuation, it's an offer. You have no obligation to accept it and it's probably a bad idea to accept the first offer from an insurer
I have read in the past that it is impossible for a third-party insurer to write off your car - they don't own it, you do. Also, they have to "make you whole" - ie, put you back in the position you were before the accident. If they consider the car uneconomic to repair then their offer should put you back in an equivalent car
Whether this is achievable in practice is, of course, another matter
I would email them examples of equivalent cars, with prices, and negotiate the settlement up that way. The more info you give them, the better as they want to settle & move on
I have read in the past that it is impossible for a third-party insurer to write off your car - they don't own it, you do. Also, they have to "make you whole" - ie, put you back in the position you were before the accident. If they consider the car uneconomic to repair then their offer should put you back in an equivalent car
Whether this is achievable in practice is, of course, another matter
I would email them examples of equivalent cars, with prices, and negotiate the settlement up that way. The more info you give them, the better as they want to settle & move on
bolide said:
It's not a valuation, it's an offer. You have no obligation to accept it and it's probably a bad idea to accept the first offer from an insurer
This was my opinion too, although there is seemingly no negotiation on their behalf. I will try again with a Parkers valuation in hand and some more Autotrader adverts. Not sure if the problem is the claims handling company who are dealing with it - my insurance company passed the job over to Auxillis and they use independent assessors to value the car, which they are going to recover from the 3rd party. Obviously the 3rd party want to pay as little as possible, and one would assume that Auxillis are going to pass back what they pay, but knowing how business works it wouldn't surprise me if they were trying to make a cut in the middle.
Condi said:
Someone went into the back of my car last month and the insurance have written it off. No fault claim as 3rd party have accepted responsibility. I had expected it to be written off, but we're currently discussing the valuation and getting nowhere.
They have offered X amount, which is taken straight from Glasses Guide, taking into account the age/mileage etc... however...
It is a top spec engine
It is in a desirable colour
It is a "special edition"
I have every receipt ever spent and FSH
The general overall condition is excellent, passenger seats are largely unused, bonnet and boot resprayed a few years ago etc.
It has a factory fitted detachable tow-bar which would cost £700 to replace.
In short, I feel that it is worth more than what a Glasses Guide book suggests, especially given the well publicised increase in 2nd hand car values. The only other car on Autotrader with the same combination of model, spec, age and colour is a 60,000 mile example for sale for £9995. By comparison mine is a 185,000 mile example and they've offered £3750.
I explained all this in an email to them and have spoken on the phone, but they won't negotiate and just point to Glasses Guide, with no movement from the initial figure. Is there anything else I can do, or just suck it up and accept that I'm going to be out of pocket through no fault of my own?
Stating the obvious & by no means am i disrespecting you or your car, but 185k miles is one hell of a mileage, so is the valuation (offer) really that far off the mark? Can't imagine unless it's a very special car, that the market even in its current state is riddled with folk wanting cars with a mileage that high.They have offered X amount, which is taken straight from Glasses Guide, taking into account the age/mileage etc... however...
It is a top spec engine
It is in a desirable colour
It is a "special edition"
I have every receipt ever spent and FSH
The general overall condition is excellent, passenger seats are largely unused, bonnet and boot resprayed a few years ago etc.
It has a factory fitted detachable tow-bar which would cost £700 to replace.
In short, I feel that it is worth more than what a Glasses Guide book suggests, especially given the well publicised increase in 2nd hand car values. The only other car on Autotrader with the same combination of model, spec, age and colour is a 60,000 mile example for sale for £9995. By comparison mine is a 185,000 mile example and they've offered £3750.
I explained all this in an email to them and have spoken on the phone, but they won't negotiate and just point to Glasses Guide, with no movement from the initial figure. Is there anything else I can do, or just suck it up and accept that I'm going to be out of pocket through no fault of my own?
I totally get yours might be a more desirable spec/colour etc. but surely market forces to a degree dictate valuations & with 185k miles, i can't imagine any car is still in its prime.
Condi said:
The only other car on Autotrader with the same combination of model, spec, age and colour is a 60,000 mile example for sale for £9995. By comparison mine is a 185,000 mile example and they've offered £3750.
You haven't said what the car is (for some reason, no one ever does), but to be honest with you, the above sounds more or less fair enough to me.w8pmc said:
Stating the obvious & by no means am i disrespecting you or your car, but 185k miles is one hell of a mileage, so is the valuation (offer) really that far off the mark? Can't imagine unless it's a very special car, that the market even in its current state is riddled with folk wanting cars with a mileage that high.
I totally get yours might be a more desirable spec/colour etc. but surely market forces to a degree dictate valuations & with 185k miles, i can't imagine any car is still in its prime.
Well no, this is the problem. If you hid the odometer you could believe it had 85,000 on the clock. Never failed an MOT, seats are almost unmarked, interior is in great condition, paintwork is almost perfect having had the boot and bonnet resprayed a couple of years ago. It's by no means a tired, leggy, worn out ex-taxi. It's still on it's original clutch! Despite the odometer going round a few more times than other cars, based on condition and history it should be worth more than standard valuation. I totally get yours might be a more desirable spec/colour etc. but surely market forces to a degree dictate valuations & with 185k miles, i can't imagine any car is still in its prime.
I had a claim when my wife went 'fording' in my Mercedes E320 Estate. The car had about 175k on the clock but was in really outstanding condition in and our. The insurance company offered me about £1000 to write it off which I rejected. They offered an insurance assessor to view the car in person which took a week or so to arrange but he agreed with me and valued the car at about £2300. It was agreed that we would accept his view which might have resulted in less than £1k but I was alright with that risk.
Can you ask for an independent appraisal ?
Can you ask for an independent appraisal ?
Condi said:
Well no, this is the problem. If you hid the odometer you could believe it had 85,000 on the clock. Never failed an MOT, seats are almost unmarked, interior is in great condition, paintwork is almost perfect having had the boot and bonnet resprayed a couple of years ago. It's by no means a tired, leggy, worn out ex-taxi. It's still on it's original clutch! Despite the odometer going round a few more times than other cars, based on condition and history it should be worth more than standard valuation.
What car is it and how old is it? I’m 100% confident that if you provide this information you will get a better response (probably even from folk in the trade). Condi said:
Well no, this is the problem. If you hid the odometer you could believe it had 85,000 on the clock. Never failed an MOT, seats are almost unmarked, interior is in great condition, paintwork is almost perfect having had the boot and bonnet resprayed a couple of years ago. It's by no means a tired, leggy, worn out ex-taxi. It's still on it's original clutch! Despite the odometer going round a few more times than other cars, based on condition and history it should be worth more than standard valuation.
To be brutally honest, unfortunately all of this 'good stuff' is irrelevant, but I do very much appreciate your approach to the situation in terms of the valuation. Insurers will value your car as an average condition vehicle without any options/extras and mileage has a big bearing on this.Baring in mind how good the car is and how much you obviously like it, is it not possible that they will allow you to buy it from the salvage company for you to repair? On the basis that it would be a Cat-S with 185k on the clock, with a £3750 valuation in perfect condition, it must only be worth £1000-1500?
I am interested to see how this plays out as a mate of mine has just last week been rear-ended in his top spec / low miles 2014 Octavia estate and the repair estimate is £3k so I am half expecting him to have a very similar battle.....
Edited by MattyD803 on Monday 16th May 17:02
sandman77 said:
What car is it and how old is it? I’m 100% confident that if you provide this information you will get a better response (probably even from folk in the trade).
2010 Audi A4 Special Edition in red with 170HP engine. Not exactly rocking horse s
t, but equally an unusual combination of spec and colour. Basically this, but with 130,000 more miles
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202204184...
MattyD803 said:
In this case, baring in mind how good the car is and how much you obviously like it, is it not possible that they will allow you to buy it from the salvage company for you to repair? On the basis that it would be a Cat-S with 185k on the clock, with a £3750 valuation in perfect condition, it must only be worth £1000-1500?
Salvage value is £450, and so I will almost certainly buy it back (has £100 of fuel in it!), but the bigger the valuation they put on it the more I get back. It would be a Cat-S. Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff