Insurance - low payout. Out of pocket
Discussion
Looking for some advice please...
My partners car has been defined as a total loss ( it is technically unrepairable) and the insurers given several low offers, each slightly more than the last and now won't budge.
The issue is, the specific model of the car is rare (Alfa 159 3.2) and the guides state a retail value of about 2.2k and we've been offered £2000. Trouble is, the cheapest I can find are 4.9k and 8k(!) (roughly same year, but lower miles) which leaves us out of pocket. The car is over miles at 89k compared to others.
I can't really find any info on what is right here, should insurers try and get us back into something similar at their cost? It's pretty unlikely we will find anything with the exact mileage at that price. I've given them examples but they don't want to know. Seems unfair, it's the first time we've had such an event so have no experience.
Any advice appreciated.
My partners car has been defined as a total loss ( it is technically unrepairable) and the insurers given several low offers, each slightly more than the last and now won't budge.
The issue is, the specific model of the car is rare (Alfa 159 3.2) and the guides state a retail value of about 2.2k and we've been offered £2000. Trouble is, the cheapest I can find are 4.9k and 8k(!) (roughly same year, but lower miles) which leaves us out of pocket. The car is over miles at 89k compared to others.
I can't really find any info on what is right here, should insurers try and get us back into something similar at their cost? It's pretty unlikely we will find anything with the exact mileage at that price. I've given them examples but they don't want to know. Seems unfair, it's the first time we've had such an event so have no experience.
Any advice appreciated.
Have a look at the policy document. I insured my previous Karmann Ghia for what I paid for it plus a bit. I then restored it and quadrupled the value of it but never got round to changing the insured value. The policy document said 'market value' so I found all that were sale anywhere in the world and they paid me what it was worth.
Take copies of any ads for as-near-as-possible identical cars. Trade ads as private sellers often have an overinflated idea of what they think their cars are worth.
If you & your insurers are unable to reach an agreement then, after exhausting their procedures, you can raise it with the Ombudsman.
They will look into it.
It will take time.
There is no guarantee they will agree with you.
Went through this some years ago with one of my eldest's cars. We did eventually get an acceptable offer but it took 9 months.
If you & your insurers are unable to reach an agreement then, after exhausting their procedures, you can raise it with the Ombudsman.
They will look into it.
It will take time.
There is no guarantee they will agree with you.
Went through this some years ago with one of my eldest's cars. We did eventually get an acceptable offer but it took 9 months.
I had the same situation when Mrs H’s Subaru was written off by another driver.
You could sense the glee when they invited me to use the insurance ombudsman if I didn’t like the book valuation that they were offering.
But the line went a bit quiet when I suggested that with a good selection of actual market values to use against their book figure I would just sue them instead.
30 minutes later we had a more sensible figure on the table.
You could sense the glee when they invited me to use the insurance ombudsman if I didn’t like the book valuation that they were offering.
But the line went a bit quiet when I suggested that with a good selection of actual market values to use against their book figure I would just sue them instead.
30 minutes later we had a more sensible figure on the table.
Insurer is Esure. I have explained the used car market situation (they say they are aware) and supplied examples of cars for sale, however samples are limited and there is nothing with the mileage/age combo and this engine choice is quite rare. They seem to want to push us to going to the ombudsman but I'm not sure if that'll make any difference.
Logically I can understand, car is worth x so here is some money - go away. The fact there is nothing similar on the market to buy for the amount - not their problem!
However it kind of blows a hole in my understanding of how insurance should work. They should at least make some effort to get us back to where we pre accident, it's not my fault there isn't anything identical for sale?
As for legal action, sure, is small claims suitable?
Logically I can understand, car is worth x so here is some money - go away. The fact there is nothing similar on the market to buy for the amount - not their problem!
However it kind of blows a hole in my understanding of how insurance should work. They should at least make some effort to get us back to where we pre accident, it's not my fault there isn't anything identical for sale?
As for legal action, sure, is small claims suitable?
Edited by Yomamaisasnowblower on Wednesday 7th December 20:28
You really need to read your policy.
Some promise market value. And if it’s that wording you’d have a better case to go for more.
But some other policies say things like “Market Value” and the capitals mean it’s a defined term. You then need to go to the definitions to see what they say. Some define the MV by reference to a book price, other don’t, and there was one example on here that confusingly referred to both book price and market value in the undefined sense .
Post up the section from the policy and you’ll get better advice.
Some promise market value. And if it’s that wording you’d have a better case to go for more.
But some other policies say things like “Market Value” and the capitals mean it’s a defined term. You then need to go to the definitions to see what they say. Some define the MV by reference to a book price, other don’t, and there was one example on here that confusingly referred to both book price and market value in the undefined sense .
Post up the section from the policy and you’ll get better advice.
Maybe there are plenty of policies that do it, maybe I just haven’t found them. But what I really want is a policy the puts me into an exact same car that has been written off. They should be providing me with adverts and saying here are the examples so here is x money you could buy any of these four cars.
Book price is a joke as you can’t buy a car for book price. I’m not aware of house insurance saying, ok your tv was stolen, here’s £50 it’s what cash converters would offer you.
I have gap insurance to try and cover this, but I wouldn’t mind paying a lot more if the main insurer just said we will guarantee to put you at x amount agreed at the beginning of the policy.
Book price is a joke as you can’t buy a car for book price. I’m not aware of house insurance saying, ok your tv was stolen, here’s £50 it’s what cash converters would offer you.
I have gap insurance to try and cover this, but I wouldn’t mind paying a lot more if the main insurer just said we will guarantee to put you at x amount agreed at the beginning of the policy.
Flumpo said:
Maybe there are plenty of policies that do it, maybe I just haven’t found them. But what I really want is a policy the puts me into an exact same car that has been written off. They should be providing me with adverts and saying here are the examples so here is x money you could buy any of these four cars.
Book price is a joke as you can’t buy a car for book price. I’m not aware of house insurance saying, ok your tv was stolen, here’s £50 it’s what cash converters would offer you.
I have gap insurance to try and cover this, but I wouldn’t mind paying a lot more if the main insurer just said we will guarantee to put you at x amount agreed at the beginning of the policy.
Mine did that - they asked me to provide adverts of similar cars to help with their valuation. It was a different kind of car / value than the OP but my total loss payout would allow me to be in an identical car. I was pleasantly surprised (Admiral).Book price is a joke as you can’t buy a car for book price. I’m not aware of house insurance saying, ok your tv was stolen, here’s £50 it’s what cash converters would offer you.
I have gap insurance to try and cover this, but I wouldn’t mind paying a lot more if the main insurer just said we will guarantee to put you at x amount agreed at the beginning of the policy.
All I can find on the online portal is a "policy booklet" which is a dummies guide. Was hoping for something with more substance. It merely states this:
"If the car is a total loss -
Once an approved engineer has inspected and assessed the market value of the car, we will send you an offer of payment."
Market Value defined in the booklet as
"The cost of replacing the car with one of similar age, type, specification, mileage and condition, immediately before the loss or damage happened."
I'm assuming there should be a more detailed document somewhere, but nobody at the insurer knows where to find it!
"If the car is a total loss -
Once an approved engineer has inspected and assessed the market value of the car, we will send you an offer of payment."
Market Value defined in the booklet as
"The cost of replacing the car with one of similar age, type, specification, mileage and condition, immediately before the loss or damage happened."
I'm assuming there should be a more detailed document somewhere, but nobody at the insurer knows where to find it!
Edited by Yomamaisasnowblower on Wednesday 7th December 21:04
https://help.esure.com/article/qed00328/how-can-i-...
You seem to need to register and then you can download the policy doc.
You seem to need to register and then you can download the policy doc.
Well that's their definition, so tell them you're holding them to that and the offer they've made won't satisfy their definition. And yes, small claims if they don't up their offer. It's dead easy to issue a claim online, and it's remarkable how much a company's position shifts once they have received the notification of a claim being raised.
Austin_Metro said:
https://help.esure.com/article/qed00328/how-can-i-...
You seem to need to register and then you can download the policy doc.
Sorry, the insurer is Tesco in this case, not Esure who insure another car we own. Tesco just have a policy doc from which I pasted earlier.You seem to need to register and then you can download the policy doc.
If you want an agreed value for a rare vehicle, such policies are available.
At a cost.
Often, when you get a quote for insurance, they give you a value estimate?
Sometimes they take an interest in what you paid for the vehicle.
It's all debatable.
Asking prices of low mileage cars are not the same as selling prices or higher mileage cars.
At a cost.
Often, when you get a quote for insurance, they give you a value estimate?
Sometimes they take an interest in what you paid for the vehicle.
It's all debatable.
Asking prices of low mileage cars are not the same as selling prices or higher mileage cars.
I can understand the points about an agreed value policy however I'm just wondering if people know how insurers actually behave when they need to pay out. There is a chance you may not be able to get back into the same type of car without taking a substantial financial hit.
I'm being pushed towards the ombudsman now but it almost feels like they are ready for this and aren't bothered.
Does anyone here have any industry experience?
Yomamaisasnowblower said:
I can understand the points about an agreed value policy however I'm just wondering if people know how insurers actually behave when they need to pay out. There is a chance you may not be able to get back into the same type of car without taking a substantial financial hit.
I'm being pushed towards the ombudsman now but it almost feels like they are ready for this and aren't bothered.
Does anyone here have any industry experience?
As I said - different type of car / different value - but I had an accident in August and car was declared total loss.I'm being pushed towards the ombudsman now but it almost feels like they are ready for this and aren't bothered.
Does anyone here have any industry experience?
I had to send adverts of similar cars for sale - there were not very many for sale, so none that were the same spec / mileage as mine - but I explained the differences. I also had to send info about what I paid for the car when I bought it (3 years earlier) and proof I had paid for it.
My insurers (Admiral) paid a fair amount, which would allow me to buy a similar car - and in fact, their payment was more than the value I told them when I insured the car.
I think it does vary a lot with different insurers - and maybe it would have been different with mine for a different type of car - but my insurance did exactly what insurance is supposed to do.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff