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Son has had his car written off, at fault accident, settlement offer is £3250, I have disputed this as like for like there is nothing available in this country for less than £3500. How can I get an improved settlement?
Dont accept the offer and write back showing the details you mention.
Show cars for sale that match your car, and the prices.
When this happened I mailed links of autotrader adverts for similar cars.
The insurance then re-adjusted the offer to an acceptable level on the back of that information
When you take out insurance don't they ask you the value of the car?
A few years ago after I hit a deer when on holiday up in the Lakes I ended up in an argument with the insurance company about the valuation on the car when it was written off. Initially I accepted an offer on the understanding they would trailer the car back to me, and I would buy it off them and fix it back up.
However, after they changed their minds about getting the car back to me, I then complained about the valuation... I was happy with the original offer if I didn't have to buy a new car, as I knew it covered the parts I would have needed, but the original offer didn't cover the cost of buying a similar car...
I ended up getting a call from the assessor who then went looking for similar cars, and agreed that the original valuation was too low. I eventually ended up with a valuation which was at about the mid-point for that model and age of car.
So OP, definitely speak to the insurance company again about it.
Cougar... I am not sure that they take any notice when you stick in the value of the car, as I am fairly confident that if you put a value which was 10 times the amount the car is worth they wouldn't pay out on that!! I don't think it has any bearing on premiums either... so have no idea why they ask really!
Reject it with reasons / evidence.
However do be cautious - is he in a courtesy or rental car currently while his is being assessed / fixed / scrapped. Because i have heard say that the cost is only covered until the point that a write off / settlement offer is made which can include them sending you the cheque whether you agreed to that figure or not. Definitely don't cash it which can be taken as agreement.
It also can be an issue because they might only offer a courtesy car for a fixed period - so if they drag their heels over revising your offer, and you're in their courtesy car beyond that period they can according to T&C's start to charge the rental to you.
Combined - sending you a lowball offer (maybe with cheque attached) and putting the fear in that if you keep the car beyond x date you get the cost - and they can bully you into accepting.
Cougar… I am not sure that they take any notice when you stick in the value of the car, as I am fairly confident that if you put a value which was 10 times the amount the car is worth they wouldn’t pay out on that!! I don’t think it has any bearing on premiums either… so have no idea why they ask really!
Maybe it's on the off-chance that you low-ball yourself? You're right though, it doesn't commit them to anything. You can get an "Agreed Value" policy for classics though I think the figure you put has to be supported by a credible valuation from a specialist.
When you take out insurance don’t they ask you the value of the car?
lol, as if answering this makes the slightest bloody difference!
I have emailed them a list of cars and apparently the average value of 3495, 3875 and 3795 is 2840!!! They are not willing to budge but this is via a Total Loss Settlement Negotiator from the repairers. He has said to discuss with insurance directly. Courtesy car is from the repairers, they have been told to collect the car from us but have not yet made contact, the repairers are aware of this and we are still waiting. The thing that bothers me most is should I have a total loss with my house, the insurance rebuilds so I get the same as I had, car insurance should be the same in my view eg I have written a car of certain make, model, spec and age off, it should be replaced with the same make, model, spec and age.
Maybe it’s on the off-chance that you low-ball yourself? You’re right though, it doesn’t commit them to anything. You can get an “Agreed Value” policy for classics though I think the figure you put has to be supported by a credible valuation from a specialist.
Yep. I have this for my van. Insured for agreed £3.5k, would be very lucky to get £1.5k if I tried to sell it but to buy a replacement in good nick and pay someone to do the conversion (don't fancy spending all that time and effort on it again) would easily cost £3.5k. Replacement cost and value are not necessarily the same. For a bog standard normal car they probably are though
I had this exact situation, OP. Insurers weren't budging on a stupidly low offer, I went through all the rigmarole of supplying adverts of similar cars in my area, etc. to no avail.
The minute I mentioned my desire to refer my case to the financial ombudsman they agreed to pay out the insured value of the car.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html
Had this myself. Twonk drove in front of SWMBO at a roundabout. His fault - no argument. My insurance wanted to give me 25% less than I needed to buy a like for like replacement. I copied all the local ads that I could find. I bought a better replacement, and garage man wrote me a letter stating what his opinion of the written off car was worth, which tied in with everything else. I got my money.
I used to know an insurance guy who looked at write offs. As a matter of course he would deduct the cost of a service "It needs one" and wear and tear on tyres "Don't care how new they are - they are used", and he could always find damage to body work - on an accident car!!! He was on target to write down the values as much as he could, and any excuse was valid.
Get your facts together and argue. It's a game they play.
If all else fails go to the Ombudsman.