Thread: hsbc insurance re car total loss - ADVICE please!

I have a quick question. I had a tyre blow at high speed on the motorway resulting in the car doing a 360 degree spin into the crash barrier. Fortunately no-one else was invovled but the car has been declared a total loss. HSBC have made an offer and I have rejected it as insuffficient, but they steadfastly refuse to make me another offer. They have said if I disagree with their in-house evaluation which they beleive is fair then I have to pay for an independent engineer's report/evaluation to demonstrate it is unfair. Unfortunately I am in a debt plan and I am unable to do this. Their offer will leave me short on the finance (I bought the car as an ex demo from the dealer 10 months ago) and less than 3 weeks before the accident I paid £360 for a service and 4 new tyres. Every penny matters in this as I also have a £300 excess. Do I have any recourse of action or must I accept their first and only offer. I have stated my case, provided all the documentation but they refuse to change their offer although they state they have reviewed it? I am not trying to be greedy, just cover as much as I can from the finance. I am out of my depth so any clariifcation so I can get that will help me resolve this and put behind be will be very gratefully received. Thank you in advance. They are having the tyre/fitting examined but my broker says its unlikly they will take on the manufacturer or fitter as its rarely a clear cut case of defect or negligence. This means I cannot claim for whip lash injury as there is no-one to claim against. It's very frustrating as I don't feel I did anything wrong but I wil still end up even deeper in debt, paying more for insurance as I didn't realise I could have protected my no claims and with physical pain to boot!

Hi - can you advise where you've got to with this? I'm in exactly the same situation and don't know how to move forward - I've rejected the first (ridiculous) offer and, the insurer now ignores all my communication. Cheers, PD.

Hi SE18. Sorry to be the bearing of bad tidings, but I got absolutely no-where. In order to challenge it I would have had to hire an independent engineers report and valuation. As I'm in a dmp this wasn't an option for me. So I've ended up adding a significant sum to my dmp as I didn't have gap insurance and HSBC simply refused to budge. I also could not claim for injury as there was no-one to claim against; it's practically impossible to prove tyre/fitting negligance.

Have you tried going on Autotrader and looking for comparable vehicles, then print and send copies to the insurers (if they are for more money than they are offering you!)

Hi, I did that but they could find 50 to support their valaution and I could find 50 to support mine. They were happy to discuss only if I paid for an independent assessment wihtin quite a limited timeframe. They made it impossible for me but someone with the resources could have taken on the battle. If, as you say se18, it is a rediculous offer then you should be able to produce a wealth of evidence to support your ascertion. I was in a stalemate situation and in the end had to accept and move on; having said that, to be fair mine was not a rediculous offer, just about £500 off the mark!