Options for forcing write off with Insurance Company
Discussion
As I've talked about elsewhere my (12 month old) Golf R was stolen from my drive on the 1st April. The Police recovered the car four days later and arrested the people in the car in the process of trying to steal other cars. As the Golf had been serviced a few days earlier by VW I have proof that the thieves drove at least 400 miles in that 4 day period, in which the car picked up the following damage:
Engine over rev warning - VW state the engine has been constantly driven on the red line and their warranty is currently void on the car because of this
Clutch fried, likely flywheel and possibly the gearbox/diffs wrecked as well
Internal water leak in the engine requiring a rebuild - I'm pushing for a replacement engine
Damage to front wing including a cut in the wing
Broken front wheel on same side as the broken wing
A number of deep scratches all over the vehicle - I am pushing for a full respray here as they are everywhere and coupled with the wing it'll stand out with a blow over/fill in
Interior trim including glovebox broken/ripped out while the thieves looked for the tracker
Obviously I have pushed the Insurance company hard already to write the car off as a nearly new car without manufacturer warranty will be worth considerably less than it should be and I'm opening myself up to potential big bills in the future. The Insurance company refuses to write the car off as the Golf will always be worth more than the cost of the repairs. I've had to push very hard to get and keep VW involved, originally the insurance company told the body shop (they are not mechanics let alone VW specialists) to drive the Golf to assess the state of the drive train.
Now the icing on the cake, last night I was called by the Police, apparently while the car was at the garage it (and 6 other cars) were broken into and Sat Navs stolen. So now there is a downstream insurance claim/work to do on the Golf, when I already have been waiting 63 days (I chase every 3 days so far) since the car has been recovered and it is going backwards not forwards in terms of repair.
What are my options here? I am just sick to the back teeth with this and want shot of the car ASAP.
Engine over rev warning - VW state the engine has been constantly driven on the red line and their warranty is currently void on the car because of this
Clutch fried, likely flywheel and possibly the gearbox/diffs wrecked as well
Internal water leak in the engine requiring a rebuild - I'm pushing for a replacement engine
Damage to front wing including a cut in the wing
Broken front wheel on same side as the broken wing
A number of deep scratches all over the vehicle - I am pushing for a full respray here as they are everywhere and coupled with the wing it'll stand out with a blow over/fill in
Interior trim including glovebox broken/ripped out while the thieves looked for the tracker
Obviously I have pushed the Insurance company hard already to write the car off as a nearly new car without manufacturer warranty will be worth considerably less than it should be and I'm opening myself up to potential big bills in the future. The Insurance company refuses to write the car off as the Golf will always be worth more than the cost of the repairs. I've had to push very hard to get and keep VW involved, originally the insurance company told the body shop (they are not mechanics let alone VW specialists) to drive the Golf to assess the state of the drive train.
Now the icing on the cake, last night I was called by the Police, apparently while the car was at the garage it (and 6 other cars) were broken into and Sat Navs stolen. So now there is a downstream insurance claim/work to do on the Golf, when I already have been waiting 63 days (I chase every 3 days so far) since the car has been recovered and it is going backwards not forwards in terms of repair.
What are my options here? I am just sick to the back teeth with this and want shot of the car ASAP.
What a horrible situation, I don't blame you for not wanting the car back. Will VW reinstate the warranty after certain work has been carried out? Perhaps this is an angle to pursue and may push the value of repairs closer to the write off point.
You had a nearly new car with warranty so that's the position you should be in after all is settled.
You had a nearly new car with warranty so that's the position you should be in after all is settled.
tankplanker said:
That is still under discussion with VW, but it is looking unlikely. The insurance company state they will issue a third party warranty if they do not, but that is not the same as it will not cover as much as VWs would have.
Third party warranty is not putting you back in the position you were before..mgv8 said:
Do you have legal cover with your insurance? Depending on cover, this can be used to fight your case with the insurance. We have done this with the AA who wanted to re-body a car that there own advice line advanced us not to touch.
I have legal cover, how do I set their legal department on themselves?tankplanker said:
mgv8 said:
Do you have legal cover with your insurance? Depending on cover, this can be used to fight your case with the insurance. We have done this with the AA who wanted to re-body a car that there own advice line advanced us not to touch.
I have legal cover, how do I set their legal department on themselves?Do you have a hire car that they are paying for? This will ramp up the costs and might aid your case for a settlement. They are meant to leave you in the same position after a claim, TP warranty won't provide the same cover, you will lose all VW goodwill where they may repair stuff even though it is technically not covered by their warranty. You need to get anniesdad involved!
Damn, I used to have general legal cover with my old bank but my new bank doesn't offer it as part of my banking account. I'll need to dig out the home insurance and see if it is covered, I don't think it is.
Just been speaking to their complaints department (again), they reiterated that they would issue a 3rd party warranty if VW wouldn't, they then said that if VW refused to cover a fault that this would then fix the fault if it was proven to be due to the claim on the insurance, he didn't seem to understand why I doubted this would be workable with the wide range of future faults I could experience across the drive train.
Just been speaking to their complaints department (again), they reiterated that they would issue a 3rd party warranty if VW wouldn't, they then said that if VW refused to cover a fault that this would then fix the fault if it was proven to be due to the claim on the insurance, he didn't seem to understand why I doubted this would be workable with the wide range of future faults I could experience across the drive train.
If they're not willing to write off then how about another approach - get some offers to buy the car in it's current and previous state and and ask the insurance company to stump up the difference.
Don't know if it will work but it's what I would try in your position - anything to hasten the departure of the car.
Don't know if it will work but it's what I would try in your position - anything to hasten the departure of the car.
One of those rare occasions where torching the car would have been kinder...
I think all parts and labour from VW has a 2 year warranty on it, why not push to have everything which is suspected to have been affected replaced - then you will have the 2 year VW warranty on those parts and the original warranty on the rest of the car.
So...
Complete Engine including ancilliaries,
Gearbox,
Clutch
Catalytic converters
Rear Diff
Propshaft,
Drive shafts
Wheel
Front suspension on the side with the wheel damage
I think all parts and labour from VW has a 2 year warranty on it, why not push to have everything which is suspected to have been affected replaced - then you will have the 2 year VW warranty on those parts and the original warranty on the rest of the car.
So...
Complete Engine including ancilliaries,
Gearbox,
Clutch
Catalytic converters
Rear Diff
Propshaft,
Drive shafts
Wheel
Front suspension on the side with the wheel damage
tankplanker said:
Damn, I used to have general legal cover with my old bank but my new bank doesn't offer it as part of my banking account. I'll need to dig out the home insurance and see if it is covered, I don't think it is.
Just been speaking to their complaints department (again), they reiterated that they would issue a 3rd party warranty if VW wouldn't, they then said that if VW refused to cover a fault that this would then fix the fault if it was proven to be due to the claim on the insurance, he didn't seem to understand why I doubted this would be workable with the wide range of future faults I could experience across the drive train.
As far as I know there are NO third party warranties on the market that come anywhere close to a manufacturer warranty. Quite simply I wouldn't accept it and you would be looking at an ombudsman complaint. They would need to replace engine to remove the overrevs and have the ECU reset or the car woudl lose value anyway.Just been speaking to their complaints department (again), they reiterated that they would issue a 3rd party warranty if VW wouldn't, they then said that if VW refused to cover a fault that this would then fix the fault if it was proven to be due to the claim on the insurance, he didn't seem to understand why I doubted this would be workable with the wide range of future faults I could experience across the drive train.
LeoSayer said:
If they're not willing to write off then how about another approach - get some offers to buy the car in it's current and previous state and and ask the insurance company to stump up the difference.
Don't know if it will work but it's what I would try in your position - anything to hasten the departure of the car.
Alternatively, as I believe you bought it from a dealer, get them to give you a retail value based on it's current/repaired/stolen recovered status vs what you paid for it.Don't know if it will work but it's what I would try in your position - anything to hasten the departure of the car.
This should show you how much you've lost solely due to the theft and subsequent damage/SR marker.
If it's a significant difference, and I've not seen anything about you having RTI/gap insurance, then there's nothing to stop you taking it to the ombudsman to get their view on diminution, once the insurer's appeals/complaints process is exhausted.
Although I believe you'd prefer it taken away and disposed of, rather than being paid a bit of extra cash to accept the repaired vehicle back.
I want to get rid of the car ASAP but I would be morally bound (regardless of legal requirements) on a personal level to tell any private purchaser of the car's history. From my initial investigation on this I would be taking a significant loss over the car if I did that, and the likes of webuyanycar are worse for valuation on the Golf. I could be stuck with the damn thing till the end of the agreement then get rid back to VW Finance.
I was only a day or two away from having a settlement from the insurer before the car was found, which would have been perfect as I was replacing the car this September.
The insurer will only replace parts that VW tell them need replacing. However I have told them I will not accept the vehicle back without manufacturer warranty on the whole drive train, in writing stating that it has been assessed as ok. So either VW take the risk or they force the insurer to replace.
The insurer has agreed that the entire car minus the roof needs respraying. I've made it clear that a blow over/fill in isn't going to be acceptable and I will be paying for an independent assessment of the paint before I accept it back.
I was only a day or two away from having a settlement from the insurer before the car was found, which would have been perfect as I was replacing the car this September.
The insurer will only replace parts that VW tell them need replacing. However I have told them I will not accept the vehicle back without manufacturer warranty on the whole drive train, in writing stating that it has been assessed as ok. So either VW take the risk or they force the insurer to replace.
The insurer has agreed that the entire car minus the roof needs respraying. I've made it clear that a blow over/fill in isn't going to be acceptable and I will be paying for an independent assessment of the paint before I accept it back.
If the glovebox has been ripped apart, does it not require a new dashboard too?
There must be some damage to it from them ripping it apart and there's no way they'd be able get it back to a pre-damage state, if so.
If they've hit something hard enough to break a wheel there must surely be suspension damage too.
Have VW got all that down for replacement?
I'd be looking especially closely at the dashboard and any other potential interior damage that can be added to the list.
There must be some damage to it from them ripping it apart and there's no way they'd be able get it back to a pre-damage state, if so.
If they've hit something hard enough to break a wheel there must surely be suspension damage too.
Have VW got all that down for replacement?
I'd be looking especially closely at the dashboard and any other potential interior damage that can be added to the list.
tankplanker said:
I want to get rid of the car ASAP but I would be morally bound (regardless of legal requirements) on a personal level to tell any private purchaser of the car's history. From my initial investigation on this I would be taking a significant loss over the car if I did that, and the likes of webuyanycar are worse for valuation on the Golf. I could be stuck with the damn thing till the end of the agreement then get rid back to VW Finance.
Would you not be on a bit of a sticky wicket there? The insurance company have to put you in the same place were it not for the event, not for some nebulous future loss if/when you came to sell the car?(playing Devils Advocate somewhat, but still)
The warranty issue is a strong one though - the manufacturer warranty is very robust by Law and will cover a multitude of things that even the best third-party ones won't.
The glovebox hinges are broken where they join the glovebox lid, the actual hinge is still in place in the dash itself. The lid is beyond repair as the hinges are part of the lid, but I think the bit that holds the hinges is fine. Lots of interior trim pieces and wiring has been pulled out, so likely bits and pieces will need replacing. I think the rear parcel shelf and covers in the boot are missing as well?
They reckon that the suspension has been checked, I am not so sure it has had anything more than a once over. This is on my list to get independently checked before handover.
They reckon that the suspension has been checked, I am not so sure it has had anything more than a once over. This is on my list to get independently checked before handover.
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