Last September my girlfriend had a car accident in which her Almera was shunted from behind. The other driver admitted liability and his insurance company decided it was an uneconomic repair and agreed it was a write off and agreed to pay out. However the car is still drivable and so she is still driving it and has asked to keep the car and they said they would deduct £50 from whatever payout she is made.
After 2 months of mucking around a cheque arrived out of the blue for £1200. This was strange as she had turned down this amount over phone and so was annoyed they had gone ahead anyway.
So we wrote a letter back explaining that seeing as she brought it for £1800 4 months before, it was worth a lot more and enclosed 2 print outs from Auto Trader for £1600 odd, and asking for a fair price nearer to that.
Today, 5 months after the incident, they have said there value system only values the car at £1200 and that all she is going to get.
This stinks, as a few years ago when my sister had a claim (with a different co) they were open to negotiation.
Just on the principal alone we are going to put up a fight, any suggestions welcome on the best way to proceed.
Edited by Pugugly. on 27/02/2008 at 20:02
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Get more evidence of prices for similar cars, and keep pestering them. You can cash the cheque if you still have it, and confirm that you are only accepting it as in interim payment.
Whether you bought it privately or from a dealer, you should normally be able to get the dealer price for the car, not the private sale price, as the dealer a) has it in stock and b) gives you buyer's rights that are not present in a private sale.
Take it up their internal chain, and have a look at the Insurance Ombudsman site.
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I would take the money & run. As of now, the car is hers (..and presumably & legal/driveable) & she has £1150 in the bank. If she paid £1800 for the car - it must be almost banger land anyway. The price paid & the market value of the car aren't necessarily the same - without further detail of mileage, age, spec, condition it's the price paid for the car is meaningless. Regard this as a very good 'trade-in' price for another car.
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No matter what you pay for a car, it's value drops by a few hundred as soon as it leaves the forecourt. If she had bought the ar for £1800, she probably would not have been offered more than £1200 as a trade in after a few months (if as much as that - dealers don't want to buy cheap cars - they are a liability and risk they want to avoid, so will drop the buy-back price accordingly.)
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The trade-in value is irrelevant.
The relevant value is the current purchase price - not necessarily the windscreen price, but the price that could be negotiated without a trade-in.
If you have evidence that this is £400 more than you are currently offered, then I would pursue it.
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Hang on a minute, Grumpy. This is an accident where somebody hit her, she has established it would cost £1600 to buy similar now (which allows depreciation of £200) and so why should she accept less? You are meant to be put back in the position you were at the time of the accident, not given the trade-in value of the car.
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Beardy, has the car had an MOT since the shunt? It may be driveable but may not be legally roadworthy. Would suggest that this is checked out before you decide how much compensation is required.
If the car is OK, then the payout is probably fair.
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I have just had a car written off the first offer of £4100 was rejected out of hand and after some rangling arrived at £5100 this of course is less my excess of £250 so I would keep badgering them.
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thanks for all your replies.
no the car hasn't had an MOT since the bump.
this is the spec:
1998 R Almera, 5 door hatch, AUTO, 32,000 warranted miles, FSH, there are only 10 on autotrader, and the cheapest and nearest spec is £1594 at the moment.
you are right, it should be the cost to return the car to how it was before it was shunted, not the trade in value.
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Are you claiming off your own or the other party's insurance? - makes a difference.
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I get flak every time I suggest it; but ignore the other party's insurer and go after the owner of the other vehicle for damages - that way you don't have to get involved in arguments over value - the car always belongs to you anyway.
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I get flak every time I suggest it; but ignore the other party's insurer and go after the owner of the other vehicle
I don't see why anyone should give you any flak for it at all. Your suggestion is absolutely the first thing you should do where the blame is 100% attributable to the 3rd party.. It is up to the 3rd party how they settle your claim. If they do not day your damages, then you have the legal right to go direct to their insurance company who are jointly and severally liable.
re. the point made by others. Absolutely correct that the value is the "market value" as defined by the Insurance Ombudsman - simply put, it is the price that you have to pay a dealer for a similar age/condition car. It is not the trade in value.
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Perhaps I'm missing something - but at the moment she has a drivable car AND £1200?! Thats surely worth same/more than £1600?
Is she going to repair it, if not where's the loss??
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The loss is in the sale value, which might be close to zero. I had a Jetta rear-ended - boot floor crumpled, and it was BER. Luckily the boot opened/locked, but it was of very low value afterwards. I kept it, and the cheque for £700, and then sold it a year on for £200.
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The loss is in the sale value which might be close to zero.
I'm not so sure - if it had damage that bad then the insurance company would have written it off and taken it off the road. It seems as if the damage is bad enough to say its not worth them repairing it with new parts, but chances are if done by a back street garage or mechanic it would not cost anywhere near that - otherwise why would she be so keen to keep it?....
If she thinks its worth £1600 then give it back to them and argue for the full amount - otherwise the offer together with the car seems quite reasonable....
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To link in to that - has she had a quote from someone to say how much it would cost to repair?
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>>otherwise the offer together with the car seems quite reasonable....
Unless I'm missing something, I'd say even more than reasonable.
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the problem is clearly laid out in the op. the insurers have said they will deduct £50 for the car from the final settlement figure. if it costs £1600 to replace the car like for like then she should be given £1550, the insurers have said the car is £50 and she should be put back in the position she was in prior to the accident which would take £1600.
as has already been said, bank the cheque, and send a letter back saying it has been accepted as part payment but you expect a further £350 as this is what it would take to replace the car like for like, the fact she has kept the car is irrelevant
chris
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thanks for even more replies.
firstly we sent the cheque back, as a matter of protest, with a letter on 2nd Jan.
some of the questions have answered themselves, but she wants to keep the car, as its pain finding and buying a new car. I guess she will be in a better financial position, but the car isnt worth what it once was and as someone does quite rightly said, if fails an MOT, she has the option to source a new car.
we will fight on....
Edited by beardylondon on 29/02/2008 at 09:36
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