Elephant Car Insurance - want to write off old car after i was hit at lights by HGV - not happy!

[AnnC]

Really unhappy with Elephant Car Insurance.

 

My vehicle was hit by an articulated lorry which squeezed down the side of my car when there was insufficient room.

My vehicle was stationary at lights at the time.

There was a small amount of damage to the bodywork, but the car is drivable.

Its an old car W reg, but extremely reliable plus my 21 year old son can drive it.

 

I have now been advised that Elephant are going to write the vehicle off as not worth repairing.

They may give me about £200 for it and basically its a take or leave it kind of situation.

Surely this cannot be right.

 

Apparently if they were to repair the vehicle properly the other side with the irresponsible driver can complain and get away with paying the cost of repairing my vehicle.

In this economic climate I can't afford to find another £800 to buy another car, why should I be left without a vehicle when it is someone else's fault.

 

Maybe I should have made a whiplash claim or something along those lines, but my problem is I am too honest.

 

It has taken the other side 3 months to accept responsibility.

I bet they have only done so now because they know it is an old car and they will only be faced with paying the scrap value of £200 for my car.

 

In the meantime I am left without a vehicle.

Is there any forum or group I can add my complaint to, surely something needs to be done about this.

 

Elephant were happy to take my £1,200 insurance premium (due to my son's age) and less than 6 months later want to scrap the vehicle.

 

How convenient.

 

Any advice?

[Conniff]

Are you still in possession of the car Ann?

 

If so, you could get a quote for the repair and sue the driver of the truck or his company. Because we 'have' to have insurance, it doen't follow that we 'have' to use it. You can make a civil

claim against the other party as you are entitled to be put back into the position you were before the incident.

 

If you have a read of your policy, I bet you it doesn't say 'claim limited to £200'

[AnnC]

Thanks very much, never thought of that! I will definitely give it a go. The other side had failed to even admit liability for 3 months even though he hit my car when I was stationary at lights. Now all of a sudden they have accepted it. Doubtless they are under the impression that they can get the vehicle written off and only pay scrappage. My car is an old one, I accept that, but I need it and in the two years I have had it, it has never not started or let me down, so I want to keep hold.

[Conniff]

If you decide to go that way, you would send them a copy of the quote to judge their attitude, if it wasn't positive, then you get heavier.

 

You can use the small claims track up to £5,000 and do it on line. Have a read so you know who it works if you do go that way.

 

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

[Mwynci]

Don't go suing the other party, in my mind that's not the best way , their insurers (who the other party has paid to take on their risk and will therefore deal) will pick it up and produce a copy of the engineers report issued by your own insurer. The judge will tear you apart.

 

bottom line is you are only entitled to the pre accident value (it will say market value on your policy), you may be able to keep the salvage and repair it yourself (depending on the write off catagory), but it will always remain an ex write off (not that it matters on the age of the car as you will probably be the last keeper).

 

Check what value elephant have given you, they are well known for going in at a low price, ask them if they have given you glass's guide retail, and ask them to prove it. Under FOS guidleines (check out their website) they are to provide this unless they have good reason to.

 

Whilst you are not at fault, if your car was truly only worth £200.00 prior to the accident but you can't get another car for £800.00, your car was only worth £200.00 and that's all in law you can claim.

 

If your car was undrivable after the accident, there's nothing to stop you claiming loss of use of the vehicle, roughly £10.00 per day from the third party's insurer.

 

Right now you need to forget the blame issues and concentrate on making sure your own insurer gives you the right deal.

 

Let us know how you get on.

[labrat]

check on parkers for a free market valuation as well

[AnnC]

MwynciI am not asking for £800, I am asking them to repair the vehicle not write it off. It has been perfectly capable of being driven for the last 3 months and Elephant have been happy for me to do so, they haven't even bothered to get a quotation until very recent, and with a little work on the wing mirror and wheel arch, the car is perfectly capable of being driven for a good few more months.I have had another quotation of £150 to do the work and have asked Elephant several times now for the "approved" garages quotation so I can see what they are trying to claim needs doing. Albany who are supposed to be the firm arranging the work etc never answer their phone. Tried ringing them for 3 hours yesterday to ask them how much the garage has quoted, and just kept getting the message "there is no one here to take your call", mind you it is Christmas party season.I am not accepting that I should not have a car just because someone else can't judge how wide a road is.

[Mwynci]

AnnC, where are Elephant coming into this, is it them or Albany dealing (as elephant legal expenses) if the latter, they (Albany) are dealt with by a seperate underwriter, it may be worth contacting them.

[AnnC]

Elephant are the insurance company but Albany are dealing with the repair. Or not dealing with it in this case. They don't respond to phone calls, emails or letters. They have now written asking my son to sign forms in order for them to claim back the repair expenses from the other side, which is a little confusing as they aren't intending to repair the vehicle. I suppose they mean the write off costs. What incentive is there for youngsters to insure their vehicles when this happens. My son tried to be responsible. He took out the insurance, and as he knew that he needed his vehicle, he paid the additional cost of taking out fully comprehensive insurance. At the first bump, the insurance company are trying to write off the vehicle. The person I spoke to at Elephant told me that for a car as old as his, (W reg) it wouldn't take much for it to be written off. He could have saved nearly £400 by just taking out third party and with what they are offering him now, he may have been able to purchase another car.Despite several phone calls, emails and letters, neither Elephant or Albany have put in writing their intention to try and write the vehicle off. In fact apart from Albany's letter asking my son to sign the forms, they haven't or won't put anything in writing. I am going to complain to the Insurance Ombudsman - for what it is worth.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I think you need to go through the insurer's inernal complaints procedure first if you haven't already. After 8 weeks, if you're still not happy you can go to the ombudsman.

 

My best, HB

[AnnC]

I have just had sight of the garage's quote. Bearing in mind it is to sort out a bump on the wheel arch and a couple of tiny marks on the passenger doors, they have quoted £1,703! Nearly £1,000 of that is for labour. They haven't even quoted for the wing mirror casing which is now missing. Obscene. No wonder the insurance company want to write the vehicle off!I am sure I can get another quote for the repair at a fraction of that.