Car Insurance Claim. What a pain.

[doorframe]

On Boxing day (Thursday) a silly girl (about 25 yrs old) in a Fiat 500 (08) drove into the back of my 17yr old Mondeo while I was waiting to pull out onto a roundabout. She was very calm and immediately apologised and pleaded for the opportunity to settle without going through insurance. The damage didn't look any worse than a smashed bumper. I took it into my local Ford dealer on Friday and they gave me written quote for well over £1000! I called a local back street garage who quoted £400 for a cash deal, but wanted £50 for a written estimate and that would include extras such as VAT and be well over £600. I offered the girl a deal at £400. Her Dad called me later and said that's fine. He wanted me to get the repair done and then send him the bill. I told him it was cash up front and I'd give him a receipt. He told me to send the receipt and then he'd send me a cheque. Told him no way. Cash in my hand by end of Sunday or I'll be going through insurance Monday morning. No cash in my hand so it's over to the insurance in the morning.

But here's the problem.

The car's value is around £700. It's a high spec Automatic. Mechanically perfect, with excellent bodywork, well below average mileage, and up till now, no gaffer tape on the bumpers! The insurance are going to want to write my car off and give me a pittance. For me, writing it off is not an option. I simply want it returned to pre-accident condition. I don't want to 'buy it back' from the insurance company, have to get a VIC, and be driving a Cat C or D, and have my own insurance policy loaded in the future. I just want a financial settlement and no 'Mark' against the car.

Anyone got any advise on any of this??????

 

[nev]

ask the dad to arrange the repair at a garage of his choice and he pay the bill?

 

[marcros]

You could pay the 400 yourself. If you claim, even though not your fault, your premiums will go up for the next 3 or 5 years, depending on the company. dung but true. The alternative is to source a pumper in the right colour from ebay, and get it fitted by a local garage. That will save respraying costs, etc. At least there should be plenty of mondeo parts around. That is likely the cheapest option, and may not be a bad one, whoever ends up paying.

I think, though, that you can insist on your car being repaired to pre accident condition. They may try to write it off, but cant force you to do so. I believe that it is your legal right to put you back to the position that you were in. That may well cost you more than the 400 quid.

 

[n0legs]

If it doesn't work out with the third party go to the insurance. If the assessor says they will write the car off, ask the insurance to consider a contract repair with a garage of your choice. Or the value of an agreed repair price. If there are no claims for injuries and no need/claims for a hire car the insurance may settle with you very quickly and could avoid you losing the car.
If you need any more advice please pm me as my brother in law runs his own bodyshop and this kind of thing is a normal for him and he's only a phone call away.

 

[rafezetter]

Years ago an silly person drove into the front of our car not long after an engine rebuild.. Same thing ins wanted to write off it at fraction of the value to us. We told them simply the car may have a set value according to their tables but it was mechanically perfect and writing it off just was not an option.

We kept refusing their offer until they agreed to pay for it to be repaired. Unless you have a hidden clause somewhere, I'd recommend doing the same - insurance is for YOUR protection not theirs regardless, and if they baulk tell them you will make this 'hidden but unpublished' clause of theirs public any you will also not agree to any extra clauses or riders being added to your policy as a result of this claim.

Why the hell have comprehensive cover if it doesn't do what YOU need it to?

 

[devonwoody]

Same thing happened last year to my BIL, nice car around 12 years old around 18K on the clock, spotless, wrote off at around £700, repair bill £1500, he had to find the difference.

The insurance industry need sorting out, they should not decide the motor cars value, its in their interest to create a low value figure in this sort of instance.

But owners would always want a higher figure so its a Solomon situation.

 

[RogerS]

You have my sympathies. I am going to watch this thread with interest as I didn't realise that insurance companies can be forced to repair the vehicle even if they judge it as an un-economical repair.

As far as your record goes, it should go down as a No Fault. As far as no-claims bonus goes it will depend on whether you have a protected NCB or not.

Had I known about the 'you must repair it option' then I would have insisted that my Hyundai was repaired. I am assuming that we are all correct in saying that this is how it works?

 

[nev]

I have twice argued with insurance company 'policy' and by remaining polite (just :evil: ) and insistent with a sensible argument and holding my ground (... I understand what you are saying but I do not agree with you, if there is nothing you can do please pass me on to your manager.. ) have come away victorious, if thats the correct term for getting what you should have got in the first place.

 

[Harbo]

I've taken out Gap Insurance on my new car - £200 for 5 years ( 4yrs + 1 - the first year deferred, as my Insurance Co covers that).
Supposed to pay the difference of any insurance claim value to the price of a new one?

Rod

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The "Protected No Claim" is a bit of a con - if you are paying say £200 for your insurance after a 50% ncb, and you make a claim all some companies will do is increase your premium to perhaps £800, then inform you that you will only have to pay £400 as you've protected no claims.

 

[devonwoody]

I've taken out Gap Insurance on my new car - £200 for 5 years ( 4yrs + 1 - the first year deferred, as my Insurance Co covers that).
Supposed to pay the difference of any insurance claim value to the price of a new one?

Rod

Interested in that as well, please give more details?

Mind you if they have got to repair would I need it?

 

[MMUK]

The car's value is around £700. It's a high spec Automatic. Mechanically perfect, with excellent bodywork, well below average mileage, and up till now, no gaffer tape on the bumpers! The insurance are going to want to write my car off and give me a pittance. For me, writing it off is not an option. I simply want it returned to pre-accident condition. I don't want to 'buy it back' from the insurance company, have to get a VIC, and be driving a Cat C or D, and have my own insurance policy loaded in the future. I just want a financial settlement and no 'Mark' against the car.

Anyone got any advise on any of this??????

You're talking about a car that's worth naff all so why are you worried about the "stigma" of having it marked as Cat C or D? We're talking cosmetic damage here so having that label on the car is going to make pineapple all difference in the real world. If you're not likely to be selling it but running it into the ground, your comment baffles me even further!


Just put it through the insurance. The longer you leave it, the more questions are going to be asked. Technically, the insurance company should have been informed within 24 hours. The salvage value of the car won't be more than £150 I would have thought. So if you get offered your valuation of £700 and repairs cost you £400, you're still £150 up on the deal.

Oh, and as long as your insurance company can recover their costs from the third party, your premiums won't suffer at all. Mine didn't when my Alfa was rear ended with £1800 of damage. If anything, my renewal still went down.

 

[MMUK]

I've taken out Gap Insurance on my new car - £200 for 5 years ( 4yrs + 1 - the first year deferred, as my Insurance Co covers that).
Supposed to pay the difference of any insurance claim value to the price of a new one?

Rod

Interested in that as well, please give more details?

Mind you if they have got to repair would I need it?

GAP insurance is a con. There are so many get outs it is worse than normal insurance. The theory is that this insurance will pay the difference between what the car is worth as a write off and what you still owe on the finance. You get nothing out of it in your pocket, all it does is clear the finance and leave you without a car. In practise, it doesn't work that easy (experience talking here :evil: ). For example, if your service book is missing a MAIN DEALER stamp during the warranty period, they won't pay out. If your service book shows a service was late, even by a day or a few miles, they won't pay out.

And it only applies to BRAND NEW vehicles, not ex-demo or second hand. It can only be used if you buy your vehicle on finance.

 

[marcros]

I've taken out Gap Insurance on my new car - £200 for 5 years ( 4yrs + 1 - the first year deferred, as my Insurance Co covers that).
Supposed to pay the difference of any insurance claim value to the price of a new one?

Rod

Gap insurance is to cover the difference between the outstanding finance and the present value isn't it. So if you borrow 15k to buy a car and when it is written off, you owe 12k on it but market value is 11, the car insurance pays out 11 and the gap insurer 1. Some policies may be different but I don't think it is a new for old type policy.

 

[doorframe]

Well, it's in the hands of the insurance company now. They want to collect the car, assess and repair, hire me a car, then return my car, then claim off the 3rd party. But, if they find it's an uneconomical repair the sh*t hit's the fan. They will make an offer to me, collect their hire car, recover their costs from the 3rd party insurance and consider it to be 'case closed'. But what about my car? I have to buy it back and collect it myself! Then if I get it repaired I have to take it for a VIC (about £40), then I'm left driving a CAT ? write off and my insurance premium goes up, as my ins comp reluctantly admitted and confirmed!!

My ins comp gave me her ins details, so I called her ins comp. She hasn't reported the accident. I told them that they can settle all this with a quick payout. Otherwise it will cost them a lot more. I've stalled the garage and the car hire comp to give her ins comp time to contact her and (hopefully) make me an offer.

While on the phone to my ins comp, he looked on Autotrader website for a price guide (which surprised me). He reckons the most they will value it at is £450. So they'll def write it off.

All my cars have always been old bangers, and I'm always the last owner. But this one is particularly nice and I very much want to keep it for as long as possible.

 

[MARK.B.]

I do hope that you have a witness to the accident as it sounds to me that you are going to have problems getting the other driver to own up or pay up, did you exchange details/get the reg number etc ?. I had a similar incident a few years back and being a nice person i felt sorry for the young couple in the car that rear ended me and agreed to settle without going through the insurance, got a quote to fix it and they said ok,job got done £250 and then they denied all knowledge of the accident and refused to pay up. I had no witness and could not prove they were involved so it cost me and not them , what could i do ? well pipper all (legally) i was stupid and should have gone through the insurance instead of being a nice guy.

Never did get the money back but it cost them a lot more than £250 in the end :wink: , I havent always been a nice guy :twisted: and sometimes its hard to stop old habits from re-surfacing :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

[Baldhead]

I told my kids the day they passed there driving tests,

1. If your involved in an accident get a written statement from a witness if there is one
2. Take photos before any vehicles are moved (don't concern yourself with other motorists wanting the cars moved)
3. Exchange details
4. Never agree to accepting the other party will pay for the damage, they probably won't
5. Always inform your insurance company
6. Go to casualty. This is most important, if you are injured the police will have to carry out an investigation
7. Report the accident to the police
8. Let the insurance companies argue it out

I know there will be several people that will disagree with my advice, but I have attended several accidents and unfortunately been involved in a couple, and once the dust settles and people are 'advised' by others unconnected with the accident, lies will be told.

I know it won't help you now, and hopefully you will carry on driving accident free, but food for thought as they say.

Baldhead

 

[Harbo]

No Marcros this one pays out the current new price difference even if it's gone up in the meantime.

Rod

 

[MMUK]

No Marcros this one pays out the current new price difference even if it's gone up in the meantime.

Rod

http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal ... otaled.htm

I think you're misunderstanding GAP insurance Harbo.

Example:

You buy a brand new car for £15000. You lose, for argument's sake, 20% depreciation in the first month. So it's now worth £12000. You bought it on finance so you will owe more than what it's now worth after the first month. It's written off a month after you bought it.

Lets say the insurance company value the remains at £7500 and you still owe £13250 (including interest and charges) to the finance company. This is a deficit of £5750.

The GAP insurance covers the difference between what the insurance company value the car at and the total amount of finance outstanding. So in this example, the GAP insurance will pay the £5750.

It has nothing to do with current showroom prices or market value. It's all based on the invoice price paid.

 

[blackrodd]

I told my kids the day they passed there driving tests,

1. If your involved in an accident get a written statement from a witness if there is one
2. Take photos before any vehicles are moved (don't concern yourself with other motorists wanting the cars moved)
3. Exchange details
4. Never agree to accepting the other party will pay for the damage, they probably won't
5. Always inform your insurance company
6. Go to casualty. This is most important, if you are injured the police will have to carry out an investigation
7. Report the accident to the police
8. Let the insurance companies argue it out

I know there will be several people that will disagree with my advice, but I have attended several accidents and unfortunately been involved in a couple, and once the dust settles and people are 'advised' by others unconnected with the accident, lies will be told.

I know it won't help you now, and hopefully you will carry on driving accident free, but food for thought as they say.

Baldhead

Wise word above, me thinks!
Sadly, trust no one. Rodders