Aviva Poor Car Insurance Valuation. Please help...

[CousinAvi]

My mothers car was stolen 3weeks ago and written off.

 

Performance car. BMW M3 convertible. Future classic. She paid TOP END for it 5months ago. Viewed 25 Chav Wagons and 'DrugDealer' mobiles then found this one which was COMPLETELY unmolested, had'nt ever had so much as a stone chip in it's life. 5000miles per year from new (1996), now stands at 69,000miles, Full dealership history from new. 1 of only 10 Alpine White M3's ever supplied to the UK market and was one of only 5 LEFT in the UK today and WAY WAY below LOW mileage.

 

So you see a very sought after and hard to come by car. Yes there are PLENTY of 'Badboy' blue or 'Dealer' black examples on the market with suspicious history, molested, top end mileage and nowhere NEAR the pedigree of my mums car and that's the reason we sifted through 25 of these to get the one she eventually bought.

 

She paid £9300 for the car 5months ago from a prestige marques dealership in Boroughbridge, N.Yorks (they sell bugatti's, bentley's, ferrarri's etc etc) so we knew the car was coming from good stock.

 

Plus to keep the car in it's absolute concourse stance my mother invested a further £1800 in nov to have the engine completly regasketted and various other works done.

 

She bought this as her dream car, as a future investment as RARE and ORIGINAL Top Marques in A1 demeanor APPRECIATE and don't fall.

 

This really was a future investment for her to enjoy.

 

Now at the time of looking for this car there WERE and still are EXAMPLES (NOT similar in condition and pedigree to my mums) of M3's.

 

There are WELL used 1996's and there are WELL used 1996's!!! These fetch around 5000-6000 depending on who's willing to take a risk on them.

 

We, my mother and i weren't prepared to do that, we did our homework and we payed OVER £3000 MORE than what alot of these go for because we knew we were getting an ABSOLUTE emerald of a find.

The car was THAT mint that the local BMW specialist garage offered to buy the car for £11,000 cash when she took it to their garage.

The insurance company have now accepted the claim and have made a paltry and insulting offer of £6000...! Take off the £500 excess...

 

My mother paid £9300 for hers, and also provided the car with nearly £2000 in care.

To get one back of such rarity (colourwise, which is unlikely to happen anyway) is simply not going to be possible with £6000. She will have settle for an abused, unlooked after, common, not worth the money example and i'm determined to not let this happen to her.

 

Do we have a leg to stand on??

 

I HAVE however found better examples towards the £9000 mark but are the insurance company like to pay £3000 MORE than their first offer...even though we also have paperwork proving what the car cost only 5months ago and receipts for the nearly 2grand work...

 

Please help. My mother would stand to lose a ridiculous amount of money.

 

If they don't offer what the car is worth can we request that they put the car BACK on the road in the immaculate condition it was in before it was stolen. Bearing in mind it was BADLY written off and would cost them a FORTUNE...

 

Can we use this as a bargaining tool??

O r where do we stand in accepting a lower claim figure (£6k-£7k) and requesting to have the car back aswell (to try and salvage for parts to sell)...??

 

Many thanks for ANY help you offer.

 

Have to talk to the valuation team again today so any help appreciated.

 

 

 

Edited out the Dealers name

Edited February 10, 2010 by CousinAvi

[Mossycat]

First off you CANNOT insist that they repair your car, not even a Court of Law would agree with you on this. If it costs more to repair your car than the car is worth then it is a write off, threatening them or trying to use this as a bargaining tool is a no go.

 

Second off, and I'm sorry to say this, but what you did to the car in terms of maintenance etc after you bought it is again irrelevent. I appreciate you may have spent £2000 on engine work, but that actually adds nothing to the value of the car, unless of course you added something of monetary value to the car that wasn't there before.

 

Insurers work off of guides, in the main it is Glass's Guide or Parkers, this tells them the current market value of most current cars, but in certain cases the value doesn't truly reflect the car that was written off.

 

What you need is hard evidence that the car was worth more than they are offering. Start by looking in Auto Trader or other such places to find a make and model match, then find one as similar in condition and mileage to what yours was. This is your argument with the valuers and it's your best way forward.

 

Ask your insurers for a valuation where you retain the salvage, they will deduct from your offer the best price they receive in bids from salvage yards, that way you can weigh up if it's worth repairing yourself.

 

Mossy

[CousinAvi]

Kinda what i was thinking...many thanks.

 

With cars like this though having the vvt unit replaced which at a dealer would cost 3k + DOES add value. It means whoever buys doesn't have to outlay this cost ever. The engine is safe for another 200k and it's one of THE main issues when buying this particular car...

 

Now probably gonna have o settle for one that hasn't had the vvt unit replaced...

 

But anyway, i shall take you helpful advice. Onwards!!!

 

 

Many thanks.

[CousinAvi]

 

Second off, and I'm sorry to say this, but what you did to the car in terms of maintenance etc after you bought it is again irrelevent. I appreciate you may have spent £2000 on engine work, but that actually adds nothing to the value of the car, unless of course you added something of monetary value to the car that wasn't there before.

 

 

 

Mossy

 

Turns out it wasn't irrelevant...they just increased their offer to £9000!!!!!!!!!

 

Can't believe it, the valuer i spoke to Alex Collinson, who is an absolute asset to Aviva actually had the sense to realise that this money had been spent on the car making it far and above an impeccable example compared to what could be bought for £6k and took just 20minutes to come back with a counter offer of £3000 more!!!

 

Needless to say, my mother is happy, Aviva have done a FANTASTIC job in handling her claim and she will be continuing to insure with them WITHOUT FAIL for as long as necessary.

 

Plus Aviva will be receiving a letter of thanks and sheer satisfaction at the professional, prompt, courteous and personally caring manner in which they dealt with my mothers claim.

 

Alas!!! A happy ending!!

 

Thanks you for your advice Mossy.

[Mossycat]

RESULT

 

I'm really pleased for you

 

Mossy