Car Write Off - Low Compensation Offer

[bwerd]

I was involved in an RTA two weeks again.

 

I was stopped in queue of traffic on motorway when a van hit me at 40-50mph.

 

3rd party insurer has already admitted liability.

 

My insurer has offered £3.5k for my car. The FOS site states that the market value should be what you need to pay to replace your car (i.e. dealership price).

 

I have rejected their offer and provided a dealership service history for my car over the past 5 years, invoices for other maintenance and ads for car similar to mine that are being offered for approx £5k.

 

I have sent all of this to my insurer, threatening the involvement of the FOS if they do not significantly increase their offer.

 

I have obtained a glass valuation tonight which values my car at £4.9k from a dealer. This has not yet been sent to my insurer as part of the debate. I am holding this in wait for their second derisory offer.

 

Can anyone provide advice on whether I have taken appropriate action or if there are other measures I can use.

 

I cant understand why they are being valuing my car so poorly when 3rd party insurer has already accepted liability.

 

 

Regards

[banker_rhymes_with]

Hello bwerd!

 

Welcome to CAG!

 

The main problem is all Insurance Companies are part of the same system, so whilst they pretend to be on your side, they are not. Their overall aim is to reduce what they pay out, overall.

 

So, yours will play their game to deflate your vehicle's value to help the other side out.

 

Just stick to your guns, get as much evidence as you can to establish a reasonable Market Value, and dig your heels in to get what you are owed.

 

Most now start off with a daft offer, hoping you are daft and will accept.

 

Prove otherwise, and eventually they will negotiate up...but even then, stick to your guns and don't let them off anything.

 

Cheers,

BRW

[bwerd]

Thanks for the advice.

 

Its pretty much what I thought. I kept my car in greact nick so it was worth more than the market value. I accept I have no chance of getting more than the realistic mv of the vehicle. At least, I survived the accident, which you cant put a price on.

 

It looks to me like £5k is about right in the current market conditions so I am going to hold out for every penny, even if it means getting the fos involved.

 

Regards

[un1eash]

Stick with it, when our C2 VTS was written off the first offer we got was £5000. The car was only 2 years old and we stuck with it and sent of autotrader ads for similar spec cars and ended up getting £6900 which was a much better price.

[bwerd]

Hi.

 

I received a second increased offer of £4.5k, significantly better than the first offer.

 

They are going to send me further evidence from their "internal engineer" (classified ads etc) as to why this is now fair. They didnt want to talk about justification for their first offer. LOL.

 

As Glass values my car at £4.9k at a dealership, is it worth trying to squeeze a few extra hundred pounds out of them.

 

eg car owned from new so they cannot put me back in the position I was prior to accident as any car I buy will have a previous owner. Am I withing my rights to continue to insist on £5k.

 

Are they able to reduce or withdraw the second offer?

 

Does delaying acceptance mean I keep my hire car for longer? I still have it and it is being provided separately by third party insurer

 

Any further advice appreciated.

[bwerd]

Just an update. After much to-ing and fro-ing, the insurer has finally backed down and offered £4.8k plus separate amount for my personal audio in the vehicle. Thats pretty much top book value.

 

This was after several extremely agressive phone calls from them and an insistance that they were right and I was wrong.

 

Stick with it. If you are right, they will cave in eventually and do not allow yourself to be bullied.

 

Thanks to all advice received.

[bwerd]

As a further update, I complained to Lloyds regarding my claim handling and negligence. Too much to list here......

 

I received a further £500 in compensation.