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My car was written off - what happens to the finance payments I've made so far?
My Ford B-MAX was involved in an accident and the other party accepted liability. I didn’t want the hassle, so I claimed against my own insurer. I lost my excess but, as I have legal cover under my insurance, it should be recoverable. However, my car was under finance when it was written off. The same model isn’t available, so I can't get a replacement even though it's new. Gap insurance will cover the difference, but they don’t agree with the settlement figure. I need to know what happens to the finance payments I have made so far and the initial deposit to Ford Finance. Do I get that back? Is it counted as an uninsured loss? I don’t want to be left with nothing when I have paid nearly £5000 towards the car already.
Asked on 7 March 2018 by Jayne walters
Answered by
Honest John
Any payments made after the accident are considered an uninsured loss, any made before are not. As for the gap insurance, it depends on what type you had - whether it was bridge the gap or back to invoice. I would be very surprised if you cannot get another B-MAX the same as you had, always ask for a new vehicle replacement if it is part of the policy. This way, if they cannot source the exact model, they should pay out the last list price of that vehicle. The market value at the time of loss can be very different and gap insurance should bridge the gap between the settlement and what you owe. This does, however, mean you may lose your deposit. Is your car actually a total loss? If the repair costs are less than the market value, insist on it being repaired.
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