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Push for a higher offer - show them the car is worth more than £800 in the condition it was in before it was damaged.
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The offers seem so low I am not sure what to do.
The only way to get a higher offer is to do your homework.
Scour the papers/autotrader & on-line databases and find cars that are of a similar age / condition / mileage and pick the best / highest prices.
Print them off and then send "the proof" off to the 3rd Party Insurer - their 1st offer is an opener that they hope you are daft enough to take - there are probably 2/3 more offers available but you need ammunition to prove a higher price. You have had the car for ages, reliable and much loved............
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Thanks to all for the feedback. THey wont budge on price.I will have to approach the 3rd party and see if we can sort it out. If i scrap the car i guess i can get a refund of the road tax i had to buy 3 days ago,less a month, and an insurance refund from my insurers.
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What happened to the the old saying that insurance was " to put you back in the position you were before the accident " but without betterment.?
And don't believe all that guff about insurance companies not making money on vehicle insurance.Just check out how many pages of adverts appear in your yellow pages, touting for business. Would all these hard nosed companies be in the business if they didn't make money ? No.
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Soooo much to catch up on....
>>To my knowledge these offers are derisory,and probably less than the repair cost
Not really. The problem that they don't address is the difference between what a car is worth to you (swayed by knowledge, experience, familiarity, trust, etc, etc) and what its worth on the open market. (A small example would be its servicing. You might know that its oil has been changed religiously but as its done by you there is no proof.)
>>.If the offer is not high enough,I'm told I can just keep the damaged car!
To generalise, if you are paid by your own insurer then you do not keep the car but where you are paid out by the third party insurer the terms are typically along the lines of car + £x cash = total offer. Do bear in mind that I said "to generalise".
>>Surely,as I have been paying for fully comp. insurance for TEN years with no claims,I am entitled to be put back in the situation I was in before the incident at no cost to myself?
Doesn't really matter if you've had it for 10 years or the last 7 minutes. Depends on what your cover was at that one point in time. However, what you summarise as your entitlement is a good working statement. The difficulty comes in the valuation of that loss.
And why is MY insurance company limiting how much I can claim if it is the 3rd party's insurance company that should be footing the bill?
Yeah, why aren;t they giving you £10million for the car ? I mean, other than it being inappropriate, potentially fraudulent, liable to taxation and with no chance of recovering the payout, and having to bear the direct costs themselves.
Outrageous. Its not like your entitlement is limited to "in the situation I was in before the incident " if you can potentially make a profit.
>>as ridiculously, it may be cheaper to pay the garage myself for repairs and not claim on insurance.
Why ridiculously ? You have no claims bonus, which is what I assume you are referring to. Maybe if they had given you less NCD over the years then it would be perceived that claiming was a mroe viable option. Its almost like they give you an NCD discount to discourage you from claiming.
>>Then all I need do is sue my neighbour, how nice!
Why would you sue them ? Why wouldn't you say "here's the bill woudl you mind paying it"? or even to their insurer ? Unless you think they're some kind of scumbag who is going to try to avoid payng ? In ehich case they deserve to be sued.
>>Estimate £1200 -£1400!!! which is technically a total loss claim.
Technically ? Certainly nobody would pay that to repair the car. Hwoever, don't forget that your insurer and the repairer must repair EVEYRTHING and must use new bits. Neithe rof those restrictions apply to you neccessarily.
>>they advise me to claim on the 3rd partys insurance and let them do all the work as her car is also damaged.
Good advice.
>>Surely the 3rd party must repair my car OR compensate me for the damage OR buy the car from me for a generous price.
Why "generous" ? After that profit again ?
The should repair the car, or compensate you for the loss or damge, yes. But at a reasonable and market level.
>>Insurance companies are not generous.
They are no more generous than their clients when it comes to paying out. Unless you're on of the people who slips an extra tenner into your insurance renewal premium just to help them out. And insurance company is a business, not a charity,. The difference is they typically know exactly what they;ve sold but must people can't be btohered to find otu what they've bought.
>>I'd strongly recommend looking at "agreed value" insurance - buy a copy of one of the classic car magazines for a range of insurers. You get your car valued by one of the car clubs (who will pay attention to rarity, condition etc), ....
>>and that becomes the figure any future offer is based on.
You'd think so, wouldn't you. Its not though. Its just a starting place. The market may have shifted since the valuation ,the car may have deteriorated. An agreed value policy is a good start, but don't be thinking you'll get more than market value for the vehicle just because the value was agreed - because you won't.
>>The only way to get a higher offer is to do your homework.
Good advice.
>>And don't believe all that guff about insurance companies not making money on vehicle insurance blah blah...
You don't know very much about this, do you ? Hint: look at the difference between underwriting profit on motor related business against post-investment profit across all general insurance.
Finally....
Do what you can to show the true value of the car, try to force them to push up their offer, don't blink first. You probably will do better pursing the third party. At least then your eighbour will pressure them also. In addition the TP insurer has the adidtional worry that you might sue their customer, that tends to focus the mind somewhat.
Don't forget that if the car is not drivable they should be stumping up for alternative transport. That can be a way of increasing the offer to something more acceptable.
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As the third party has admitted liability what is to stop the OP getting the work done at a main dealer and then sending the invoice to the third party to pay. Surely its up to the third party to pay. If she doesn't pay then its down to the small claims court. Let her argue with her insurance company.
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" You don't know very much about this, do you ? Hint: look at the difference between underwriting profit on motor related business against post-investment profit across all general insurance."
Your right ,I don't but perhaps you would care to explain why so many companies are fighting for our business only to make a loss.
If what you are saying is that they invest the premiums received elseware, and then make a profit,then the bottom line is that they make a profit .
You are obviously involved in the insurance business and seek to defend it.
There are many people who have paid premiums for many years in all branches of insurance,only to be denied payouts,when the time came to claim on their policy,
with the insurance companies using every devious method they can think of to delay / reduce payment.
I did actually work for a big insurance company in my twenties and saw first hand how much commission they could afford to pay for life insurance and general branch insurance.
So prey tell, why there are so many companies in motor insurance competing to make a loss ?
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Hi Mr Tee
You're new here aren't you ;-)
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Is this a cryptic message ?
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Your statement was...
"blah blah insurance companies not making money on vehicle insurance blah blah"
They do not make a profit on Motor Insurance. They indeed do invest the money elsewhere while they have it, but in reality even that wouldn't justify the business line itself. However, it is either used as accomodation business or to sell on other services. They make a great deal more on other services.
>>You are obviously involved in the insurance business
Actually no I am not. Clearly your specialist subject is commenting on things about which you know nothing. I guess we'll be seeing comments from you about life soon.
>>seek to defend it.
Why on earth would I do that ? I seek to explain it. Dunno why, maybe I enjoy the challenge. Although someone such as yourself is perhaps taking an uphill struggle a little far.
>>There are many people who have paid premiums for many years in all branches of insurance,only to be denied payouts,when the time came to claim on their policy, with the insurance companies using every devious method they can think of to delay / reduce payment.
I defy you to give me an example that you know to be true. And I don't mean some story that your mate down the Y told you about. I mean one that you know to be true. The reality is that a long running claim is expensive. It is cheaper to settle quickly. So they do not delay. Although at times they can be pretty incompetent, it is not deliberate. Unless they're dealing with someone who anoys them and then as part of human nature I guess they can get pretty difficult. In fact you may well know more about that than I.
Not paying a claim is also bad for business since they quickly get a name for it. Consequently, and these figures are not uptodate, approximately 10% of claims which could be rejected are paid.
And they don't use "devious methods" Well unless you call knowing the contract they sold better than the plank that bought it, that is. Have you read yours ?
>>I did actually work for a big insurance company in my twenties and saw first hand how much commission they could afford to pay for life insurance and general branch insurance.
In case you can't tell, I am close to tears, sitting on the edge of my chair with my head in my hands, rocking back and forth and humming to myself tunelessly.
Are you aware of the HUGE differences between those different lines of business and the fact that we were originally referring to just one ?
As an aside, do look up the phrase "first hand" and consider whether your statement actually included that phrase appropriately.
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As an aside, do look up the phrase "first hand" and consider whether your statement actually included that phrase appropriately.
{8< SNIP. Unnecessary quoting of post to which you're replying to removed. See www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=48820 for details - DD}
In reply to No FM2R,
Very good, just like old times really, I particularly enjoyed the sitting-in-the-chair-humming scenario.
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Shame! Shirley the complete quote was essential to maintain the general tone of the thread? Oh well .....
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>>what is to stop the OP getting the work done at a main dealer ....
There's nothing to stop someone doing it. Your worry is that you have a duty to mitigate your claim. If you spend considerably more than was neccessary then an insurer may reject it.
In addition you have to do what is reasonable. Spending £1200 on repairs to an £800 car is nto reasonable.
>>If she doesn't pay then its down to the small claims court. Let her argue with her insurance company.
Assuming you have done what is reasonable above, then those are two very good points. You do have to consider relathionships since living mext door to someone who hates you can be tough, but that to one side the faster way to shift an insurer is to have a go at their client.
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Why not answer the question.
Why are there so many companies in competition to offer motor insurance if they lose money ?
I am always willing to be educated by one so knowledgable !
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>Draws up chair and starts munching the popcorn<
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Watch out for the little hard bits, they may break your teeth !
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Goodness people do go on and on and on about not a lot. No offence to the OP who has a problem caused by the neighbour, but what kind of crash was it? Sounds like a light cluster and a bit of tinbashing to me, plus paint.
It goes without saying that the sort of quotes freely given for this kind of job are all over the place.
''Insurance job is it, squire?'
The answer should be: 'No it damn well isn't.'
People complain about the sort of country we live in and then suggest getting an elderly car's bodywork repaired by a main dealer (which means the main dealer's bodyshop, double it, thanks guv) and sending the neighbour the bill.
Honestly I feel like throwing up when I read some of these posts. Damn glad I don't live next door to some of the posters too.
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Damn glad I don't live next door to some of the posters too.
Ah, but if you lived next the OP I assume the accident wouldn't have happened ?
What is interesting in insurance claims is how otherwise quite reasonable people will adopt the most extraodinary behaviour depending on which side of the fence they're on.
"she ran into me and damaged my car" - "maximise the claim in every way you can"
"I ran into her and she's asking for a lot of money" - "lie through you teeth, refuse to pay, everyone is a git".
Ditto when people are buying/selling cars...
"The dealer sold me a car with the wrong windscreen wipers" - "Sue him, ruin him, take him for every penny"
"When I part exchange my car should I tell him it was written off, the engine's rubbish / its an import" - "take him for every penny you can"
Whatever happened to "do as you would be done by" ??? Or even decent behaviour on your part even if the person you're dealing with stoop low. Personal integrity - if not a lost art in the UK, its certainly fading.
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Several posters in this thread should know that No FM2R is very knowledgeable on insurance matters and his replies are worth heading. Also he used to be one of this sites moderators and kept many posters inline with this sites policies e.g. no naming and shaming.
So when I see a post attacking what No FM2R has said I tend to think they do not know what they are talking about. So anyone who has posted like this, please go back and read your own post again and see if you can still maintain your position.
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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Thank you Roger, but mind you don't attract bullets aimed at me.
M.
p.s. "Also he used to be one of this sites moderators" - yeah, but I was more calm, gentle, shy, retiring and gentle in those days.
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>>but mind you don't attract bullets aimed at me.
I will try and duck.
I just thought a few of the newer posters should know something of your background. Sometimes a little respect can go a long way and feel you were being attacked unnecessarily - even though I know you are more than able to defend yourself.
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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Why are there so many companies in competition to offer motor insurance if they lose money ?
As I said...
"They do not make a profit on Motor Insurance. They indeed do invest the money elsewhere while they have it, but in reality even that wouldn't justify the business line itself. However, it is either used as accomodation business or to sell on other services. They make a great deal more on other services."
I am always willing to be educated by one so knowledgable!
Will is no substitute for ability.
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The Backroom NY Resolutions.. - No FM2R Sun 31 Dec 06 12:25
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=47...0
1) I'm going to be more tolerant in the Backroom
The Backroom NY Resolutions.. - barchettaman Sun 31 Dec 06 12:29
I´ll believe #1 when I see it ;-)
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