Any insurance experts out there?
My Mercedes E320 Estate was stolen in April - eventually the insurers Tesco's paid out - but IMHO about £3k less than it would cost to buy an exact replacement - so I've referred the case to the Insurance Ombudsman, who is looking into it. In the meantime I've bought a new car.
Today, out of the blue, the police have called to say the Mercedes has been found. Presuming it's in good nick and the mileage isn't through the roof (it's been found literally up the road) - I'd like to buy it back from the insurance company for the amount they gave me in settlement.
Does anyone know if this is possible?
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Anything is possible. I would imagine your insurer would accept the deal, although they might refuse to continue your insurance without an inspection on the car.
But be careful that you really want to do it. If you do buy the car back and then you find something wrong with it, you will be on your own. I would probably not take the route of buying the car back - its fraught with risk.
Also, has the car been classed as stolen/recovered ? Which won't help its value.
Probably I would talk to the insurer; I would suggest that they inspected the car. Then I would give them the option, having stated my preference, that they take the cheque back and instead carry out any repairs to the car as if it had never been regarded as a total loss.
*IF* they agree this will at least allow you some comeback if you find damage on or to the car.
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Just to reinforce Marks point.
This car will always have a stolen/recovered flag against it, that any HPI check will find. Therefore its reslae value is diminshed. Its only worth buying if you want to keep and run into the ground.
PS the engine may now be cream crackered.
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If you really beleive they offered you £3k under market value for the car, and they are willing to accept that price to get it back, you could always re-sell it yourself if you wanted?
The ex-stolen aspect would knock off some value but you could perhaps make a nice little profit from it?
Just an idea...
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Offer them half what they paid you,because they will be lucky to net that at auction or a trade out.Regards Andy
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>>Offer them half what they paid you,because they will be lucky to net that at auction or a trade out
A very good point. In fact, if you decide to go that route, ask them what they would want for it since that may be even less than half.
Having said that, your issue will be that they may just see it as less hassle to send it to auction or other disposal route
M.
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If the car was stolen in April it is bound to have suffered to some degree, were the doors/ignition forced or did they steal the keys? Has it been sitting still since April?, if so the tyres could be flat spotted and it will not have done the engine, brakes etc etc any good. Has it been regularly used?, if so even if the mileage is not excessive assume it will have been thrashed, kerbed, no oil level checks etc. Beware.
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Totally agree with Cheddar on that. My Dads old company MG Montego was stolen from the centre of Bristol, found a few days later not too far away but missing wheels and with some damage.
Even though there was a short timespan between the theft and the recovery the car was never the same again. Engine was rough from where it had been hammered- there were cigarette burns in the seats and the electrics became tempramental afterwards too.
Even supposing your car was resold onto someone who looked after it, it would be very prudent to give a very thorough once over before spending money on it.
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The other issue is that of keys. One of my staff had their Merc stolen three months ago from outside their house. It was recovered a day or so later minus keys, on a housing estate. Apparently it's a trick used by low life, they dump the car for a day, wait and see if anyone spots it, and if not it's picked up by a "collector".
Although it was undamaged, it has been sitting in the dealership for three months awaiting new locks. Without new locks, it could have been retaken anywhen.
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