Hi
Am wondering if the write-off prices offered by insurance companies have increased in line with actual real world prices of second hand cars. Anyone had recent experience please?
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">A relative has bumped her 10 year old Corsa (fault claim) - needs new bumper and hatch panel is bent. In ordinary times the car would probably be valued at about £600 and therefore be written off by insurance company. But autotrader is currently showing prices of about £3-£4k to replace. </span>
She wants to get the car repaired but is worried about it getting written off at low value, and then having to replace it at am expensive price.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">(I appreciate that there is always a gap between the price of selling and buying).</span>
Thanks in advance for any advice / experience.
In ordinary times the car would probably be valued at about £600
I strongly disagree that a 10 yr old Corsa would be only worth £600 in 'ordinary times'.
However, the relative can only wait on the insurance offer before deciding what to do.
No idea on the write off cost to buy back but you can always counter any offer with options available to buy as evidence of what you'd expect (I've used available vehicles on Autotrader as options in the past). I have recently bought a Corsa of similar vintage for junior to learn in and it was 2K. Looking on Ebay there are lots of panels available to give a quick fix, and you might be lucky and also get a colour match. Corsa's are popular.
I think it depends on the insurer. Wife's car got written off, and the ****ers stuck solidly to 'book price'. They absolutely would not budge even with threats of ombudsman, providing loads of autotrader evidence and so on.
Eventually they increased it a little but I still feel we lost out by a fair amount. I can't really bring myself to work out how much though.
The contract is to indemnify you with the value of the car - second hand car values go up, settlements should reflect that.
Thanks both for the advice. Much appreciated
As per Multi21. They absolutely, would not budge from their "book". And even then they play a game, lowballing you till the 3rd offer.
Mine even tried to claim it wasnt worth the book price because it failed an MOT 7 years ago for the fuel cap ratchet being broken!
You can take them to the ombudsman afterwards if you like.
In the end (summer 2020, so peak silly season on cheap car prices, they're definitely dropping now, it's the "nearly new" stuff that's going for new prices now) I got about £900 out of them when completed eBay listings were saying £1600 ish. I recouped the difference by buying back the car for 15%, selling the (un-kerbed) wheels and tyres for £280, the radio for 50, the battery (swapped to another car with a knackered one), roof rack 50, and the towbar 50. The got £350 for scrapping it. So was quids in overall.
Depends, how much the excess is as well, and if it's worth getting it fixed locally, depending on how bad it is, bumpers can be repaired, panels can be brought back and filled?
