Insurance claim, car written off

**Auntsally** · 26th December 2006 00:32

Hi

I hope this is in the right forum, apologies if it's not.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on a problem I have with my car (now my ex-car)

On 16th December, a lorry reversed a few yards the wrong way up the one way street next to my flat. He hit my wing mirror while going back,then drove forwards, turned too soon round the corner and wrecked the front side of my car and pushed it up on the kerb. There was a passer by who was shouting at him telling him to stop (but he carried on until he finshed draggind my car), there were also witnesses in the shop downstairs that saw it (i didnt see anything because I was in bed!). He did stop, but i think it was only because so many people saw him.

So thats what happened and the problem I have is my car has been written off. My insurance will sort everything out and I have GAP insurance on the finance which should cover the balance after i get £1700 from my car insurance icon

as my car value. But is there anything else I can claim, becuase I think it's bang out of order that I get left with no car.I was due to finish paying for it in 12 months so would have been looking at owning a car worth about £1000. I know I dont have any debts to pay but surely there's something else i can get back since i've lost my car

Any help would be great because I really dont know what to do

Thanks

Claire

Similar Threads:

**freebird** · 26th December 2006 00:48

Claire do you have legal cover with your insurance, if so, any solicitor worth his weight should be fighting for every penny for you and advising you on the out of pocket and inconvenience payments you should get. Does your insurance not cover you for car hire ? mind you it should be the other guys insurance who pays for that.
I'll ask for more help on this one for you.
Freebird

**Auntsally** · 26th December 2006 01:02

Hi Freebird, thanks for the reply

I definatley have the legal cover on my insurance but I didnt realise I could ask for a solicitor to fight for me. I've got a hire car at the minute which im allowed to keep for 7 days after the finance company receive the car value cheque (which is in about 10-14 days i thinkg) After that im up the creek without a paddle!!!

Thanks

Claire

**Jimbo44** · 26th December 2006 07:20

Hi Claire

Sorry to read about the incident with your car. Was the incident reported to the police at the time or, better still, did they attend? If so, what action are they proposing to take?

For you to be able to reclaim anything other than the insurance pay-out a solicitor will probably need to sue, (or threaten to at least), the lorry driver and/or it's driver.

I assume you've got the registration number and driver's details?

Were any photographs taken?

It's good you've got witnesses as their evidence will become important. That's in case the lorry driver has 'memory lapse' such as happened to me when someone ignored Give Way signs and road markings and wrote my car off about five years ago. In my case the third party managed to contort facts to the extent that I was made out to be the one to blame. Fortunately photos taken at the time proved I was the innocent party and I got paid out.

Also it's worth remembering the insurance company will make an offer that's probably less than they will eventually settle for. It's always worth contesting an initial offer.

**BankFodder** · 26th December 2006 08:47

Firstly on the matterof legal insurance:

I'm afraid that you won't get a solicitor worth his weight and the in mist cases you won't get a solicitor.

In most cases you will get a clerical assisant of varying experience whos main concern will be to get the case cdleared as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
If the case isn't straightforward then they willbe reluctant to see it all the way and they will need constant chasing, reminding and cajoling to move the case on.
The wil encourage you to accept compromise offers which will be worth lss than you might receive if you pushed it more, merely because they want to close the case and the more time they spend on it the more it costs them.

You don't say much about the figures.

You don't seem to give a full story. Would you like to post nore details about the losses and liabilities

Why have you been left with nothing if the insurances are properly covering the loan and the damage?

In the meantime I would advice against accepting any settlements from any insurance companies until you have worked it all out. You will have to pm me with a link to this thread when you respond.

**Auntsally** · 26th December 2006 15:19

Hi Bankfodder

Since they're more likely to use a clerical person, would it be worth me getting my own solicitor? I understand that I have to get written permission from my insurance company (as it says in my policy) to allow it. I have witnesses that can sign a witness statement if needed and I took photos of my car before It was taken away. The claim has been put down as the HGV drivers fault

As for the figures, they look like this

Balance on finance £2770
Amount offered by First Alternative insurance £1700 (retail price for my car which I havent accepted yet, still waiting for paperwork)
Balance to be paid by GAP £1070

The reason I have been left with nothing, if my car and the finance are both written off, ok, I have no financial balance to pay, but I also have no car that I have been paying off for the last 3 years, which would have been worth approx £1000 when the finance ends. So instead of having a car to part-exchange in 12 months. I have nothing.

Thanks

Claire

**onlymepault** · 26th December 2006 17:01

I think the full outstanding balance on finance should be met by the lorry driver,s insurance..not the gap insurance you payed for... it,s there for your peace of mind (not third party,s)i.e if youd had an accident that was your fault...Imagine what would of happened if you didn,t have it >at the very least the lorry drivers insurance should re-imberse you your preniums of at least 50% seek legal advice m8

**BankFodder** · 26th December 2006 19:15

It will be a bit of a brain teaser but the logic can be worked out.

Firstly, how much have you paid of the capital and how much in interest icon

since the loan started.

Secondly you must not forget that as the entire loan is paid off at this point you are making a gain by not having to pay anything further.
How much of the outstanding 1700 is capital. How much - if any is early repayment penalty? How much will you have saved by not proceeding with the loan?
Why can't you take the money and use it to buy another car and continue with the loan committment?

**BankFodder** · 26th December 2006 19:17

Also, what in your view is the replacement value of the car.

Should you get a solicitor? You would be better off getting a plumber.

**MARTIN3030** · 26th December 2006 20:50

Originally Posted by BankFodder

Also, what in your view is the replacement value of the car.

Should you get a solicitor? You would be better off getting a plumber.

I dont know about that BF........did you see the rates plumbers are charging now ?......Deffo more expensive than a solicitor......unless of course its a Polish plumber who are undercutting their English counterparts.

**hhhhmmmm....** · 27th December 2006 02:21

First Alternative......no comment!! I have alot of experience with this company and they aren't the greatest insurer I have used.

Take as many pictures as you can, use legal protection to speak to someone who can give advice, dont accept anything FA propose to you, obtain as many estimates on value and examples of similar cars as you, you need to iron out the liability issue or you will be left probably out of pocket til it gets rectified.

**Bailiffchaser** · 27th December 2006 02:23

I have been down this route on the 3rd of jan this yer some chick hit me in the rear. she admiutted the damage etc a.d her insurance took over. They offered me £1100 as there was only 7 days till my mot and also that was the value of my car at the time. i said no to it. i told them i want my car back in the position it was before it was hit. also i told them that i was going to keep it for 2 years and because of their drivers negligence not mine i hve lost that and i have to go out and by another one. (this was diesel as well) they upped to £1200 is said be fair i want £1500 they said no so i told them where to go and hung up .10 mins later the lady phoned(3rd party insurance) and confirmed that they will be issuing a cheque for £1600 and if i wanted to by my wreck . hich i agreed to for the nominal price of £25.00 i then had the car recovered and paid £300 all in and had it moted etc and resold it back for £900 as because there was no serous damage just a rear bumper it was not registered.i made a mint and then bought a treg mondeo for 3750 with 1 years mot etc and yes it was a diesel. you can do this as well. You must stick to your guns and tell the 3rd party it was not your fault. if they throw any crap at you update this thread and i will give you the wording you need.

**demon_x_slash** · 27th December 2006 12:13

Originally Posted by BankFodder

I'm afraid that you won't get a solicitor worth his weight and the in mist cases you won't get a solicitor.
In most cases you will get a clerical assisant of varying experience whos main concern will be to get the case cdleared as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
If the case isn't straightforward then they willbe reluctant to see it all the way and they will need constant chasing, reminding and cajoling to move the case on.
The wil encourage you to accept compromise offers which will be worth lss than you might receive if you pushed it more, merely because they want to close the case and the more time they spend on it the more it costs them.

This is precisely what happened to my OH who was with Tesco Insurance, underwritten or whatever they call it, by Direct Line. We went through three 'solicitors' - the incident happened in Sept 05, a woman pulled across a junction suddenly as my OH was coming up straight - no time to brake sufficiently - boom, write off. Her car was barely scratched!

We were fobbed off and fobbed off and given the run-around, got a new 'solicitor' after a complaint, the company moved to a different name and premises, equalling more delay...we were always ringing them, not the other way around! It finally got settled in NOVEMBER this year...50/50 liability. After all that, they refused to proceed with court as 'we were not likely to be awarded anything if you go to court'... (I wasn't dealing with this personally btw, twas my OH - I wouldn't have let it drop, but...)

We waited for the cheque in vain. More phone calls icon

, 'it's in the post', 'we'll electronically transfer it to you...' '3-5 working days'. Cheque finally arrives...without the interest gained from it sitting around in the solicitor's account for a couple of months. A strong phone call icon

and another e-mail to a partner of the company, and after a while we finally received that too, with a veeery supercilious letter attached hoping that we were not implying that they had intended to keep the interest gained on the amount...

The funds were electronically transferred, and we got the original (by then cancelled) cheque in the post a few weeks later - cheque dated a few months ago, accompanying letter dated a few weeks after the cheque, and the envelope containing it postmarked three days after the electronic transfer. 'It's in the post', sheesh, yeah, in your Doctor Who timeline, maybe, Mr Solicitor...

**hhhhmmmm....** · 27th December 2006 19:52

Sounds like a similar scenario to mine, but i got a 3rd party solicitor and they have been great and really put pressure on everyone involved and speeded things up..... well as fast as you can do with al the 3 month liability assessment stuff that happens with accidents.

First alternative use all different percentages when classifying or trying to resolve a claim - if new car and within 1 year old, 60% repair costs or more damage constitutes a total loss and entitles you to a new car replacement (great feature i thiught). But when it comes to that situation happening they try and skirt round the in's and out's of the policy.
They would not strip mine back to see engine damage so claimed damage was less than that %. I argued that how do they know if it isnt stripped back and they came back with " the salvagers wont buy it for as much if it is stripped!!!".
And they use the retail value when calculating that % so in most peoples cases the crash would have to be horrific to get near that value in repairs, but are happy to take a massively undervalued figure when calculating a payout!!

I think the regulating bodies need to seriously look at this industry and try to build some sort of framework that everyone can understand. I can imagine people who have little experience or are just 'naive' can get absolutely shafted by insurance payouts

**Bailiffchaser** · 27th December 2006 20:02

Advice you need. When involved in a no fault always grab a hire car/ courtesy car as this always speds payments up. the hire car can be kept till the cheque sent actually clears. onus on the 3rd party to settle the claim even faster.

**hhhhmmmm....** · 27th December 2006 20:08

good point mate, forgot about that. First Alt dont supply courtesy cars when your car is a write off i.e when you need it most!! My solicitor used an acc man co and dont settle for a random ford ka or corsa (no offence to people who drive them). The accident management company will assess your risk / cliam i.e likelihood of liability and lend you a car based on your cars spec.
And the 3rd party settles this. They are also liable for loss of earning, unnecessary expenses etc so dont let yourself fall out of pocket

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