hsbc insurance re car total loss - ADVICE please!

[brokebutnotbeatn]

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!

[se18driver]

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.

[brokebutnotbeatn]

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.

[cymruambyth]

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!)

[brokebutnotbeatn]

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!