Car written off by a drink driver but offered a really low settlement from insurance company!!!

[simonetalbot]

Hi I hope I am posting this in the right place! My car was parked outside my house on 08/08/2012 when at 11pm a drink driver came speeding up the road, clipped a curb and ended up smashing into my car and also my niece's car who lives three doors away from me. The driver was 4 times over the limit and is going to court at the end of the month. My insurance company has just informed my today that the assessor has written off the vehicle and decided on a value of £500 as there was pre-accident damage on my car which is a scuff on the wheel arch, a scuff on the front bumper and also something on the passenger door! The car is ten years old so I am sure that there will be a few marks on it but overall it was a lovely looking car with a lot of service history but not full service history. I have been looking around for replacement vehicles and they vary between £1200 and £2000 depending on private sale or forecourt prices. The car was a 52 (2002) Vauxhall Vectra but it was the new shape. I understand that the insurance company will try to pay out as little as possible but what sort of car can you buy for £500??? I have contested the offer and they have said that they will contact me again in a couple of days but I feel so upset that because of a drink driver I am going to end up with a car that is nothing like my own one. It seems really unfair that I lose out when all I was doing was sitting in my house! My niece has been offered nearly full value for her car and it is the same year as mine. I feel really sad that yet again good people who do nothing wrong are penalized for the actions of others. Any help and advice would be so gratefully received. Sorry for the rant but I feel really angry and upset.

[Lilythepink]

Been there twice, you really have to fight with these insurance companies. I eventually went to the FOS, and got another £750 for my old Renault Laguna. But learnt my lesson the hard way, I took out GAP insurance, and it paid out for me the second time my other car was stolen. Fight them all the way, taking notes and dates, and then go to the FOS. My insurance asked me to send them prices from Autotrader, and kept asking me to phone the police, none of which I would have had to do.

Get the police officer in charge, to maybe include in the charges/summons that you need compensated for your loss.....

[raydetinu]

as you say they will offer a low price, which you have not accepted, so they should come along with another offer.

Give them the adds for similar cars in a similar condition in your area.

they should take into accounr any recent repairs you have had done, new tyres, exhaust and the like.

Keep plugging away until you get a reasonable offer.

[simonetalbot]

Thanks for the advice, I will keep plugging away. I foresee a long road ahead!

[oddjobbob]

if you've been given a courtesy car, do NOT give it back uner any circunstances unti yuo have a reasonable settlement from them in writing.

 

The courrtesy car wil be costing them £150 a week so they WILL settle at a figure yuo want.

 

If they say you can't keep it, you simply say that you need it until such time as yuor claim is settled.

 

Did this years ago with a honda they kicekd off @ £1200 i said £2000, after sending them a few ads they eventuallt settled

[Lilythepink]

thats right, I was told my courtesy car was only for a fortnight, when in fact I was told because my car was a right off, I should have kept it until I got another car, and you are not going to get one with £500.

 

Also I got a bill from the hire company, and the claims company just laughed and said they would sort it out. People take them to court all the time over this,as that is what you pay insurance for. Have you no legal protection or advice along with your policy.

[simonetalbot]

if you've been given a courtesy car, do NOT give it back uner any circunstances unti yuo have a reasonable settlement from them in writing.

 

The courrtesy car wil be costing them £150 a week so they WILL settle at a figure yuo want.

 

If they say you can't keep it, you simply say that you need it until such time as yuor claim is settled.

 

Did this years ago with a honda they kicekd off @ £1200 i said £2000, after sending them a few ads they eventuallt settled

 

Thanks, I do have a courtesy car that is costing them £72 per day. I have gathered some ads so I will forward them on. Hopefully they will offer me a figure that allows me to buy something like what I had!

[simonetalbot]

thats right, I was told my courtesy car was only for a fortnight, when in fact I was told because my car was a right off, I should have kept it until I got another car, and you are not going to get one with £500.

 

Also I got a bill from the hire company, and the claims company just laughed and said they would sort it out. People take them to court all the time over this,as that is what you pay insurance for. Have you no legal protection or advice along with your policy.

 

I do have legal cover but they are only interested in uninsured loses and do not negotiate over the valuations given by the assessor!

[Lilythepink]

Just keep at them, and don't forget if it was MOT'd, new tyres, and anything you had in the boot.

 

Mine wouldn't cough up a penny more,and I complained to the FOS, and got an extra lot of money.

[Yukiko]

Swinton offered my Mum £200 for her Peugeot 405 Estate.

 

After they told me I could get a 406 for £300 on eBay, I mentioned that it was SPARES/REPAIR which they said was "Better condition than your mothers car!".

 

I went to view the car and it was like it'd been in another accident, I demanded the pictures and found;

 

Dents on the roof (Not there when we handed the car over)

All wheel trims missing (All present when handed over)

Airbags Deployed (Apprantly done to de-toxify the car ready for scrapping!?)

 

I threatened to call the police for criminal damage as the vehicle was only taken away to be assessed!!! They instantly upped the offer to £600 and said "No more, we've found one identical on autotrader".

 

Got £775 for an M-Reg 405 Estate in the end as Mum's was the top spec with AC, ABS, 7 seats etc... It's worth the fight in the end.

 

Ask for the pictures of the vehicle to be emailed over if you're in any doubt of the condition of the vehicle or inspect it. Without the pictures, Mum would have rolled over and taken the first offer, which WOULDN'T buy a Peugeot Diesel of any sorts.

[Psycho Bob :o)]

I totally empathise with the OP.

I'm going through this rubbish at the moment with my motorcycle.

 

I was hit from behind whilst I was stationary at a mini roundabout giving way by a 4x4 doing approx 30mph.

 

The 4x4 drivers insurer assessed my bike, wote it off CAT B, then said it was worth £800, let me keep the bike for £80 ( i wanted it back regardless ) and then sent me a cheque for £720. ( which I will NOT be cashing )

 

I contested as soon as I found out how much the insurer said my bike was worth as I knew straight away there was no way on earth I'd manage to buy a like-for-like bike in the same condition to replace my own, and sure enough, having trawled through ebay and auto-trader, I'd be lucky to get a totally *worn-out* one for that price. It's a crappy situation to be put in.

 

I forwarded half a dozen ebay and auto-trader adverts to the company who had the bike for assessment and they said they will forward those to the insurer to see what happens.

 

The CLOSEST bike for sale ( same make as mine ) so far has been 65 miles away, but was in a pretty poor state.

 

Just to rub things in deeper, my solicitor has informed me that because the insurer has sent me a cheque that they believe covers the cost of replacement, that I can now no longer recover any further travel expenses.

 

I was originally offered a courtesy/hire bike, but due to injury was unable to meet the criteria to use one ( if you get one, you have to be fit enough to ride it, and show you need it ), and now that the insurer has sent a cheque, I no longer qualify for a hire bike so have no transport, and none likely for the foreseeable future.

 

The insurer or solicitor arranged physiotherapy for me, but it's 5.6 miles away from my home, it's in a rural location and the appointments are always in the evenings. As I have nobody to call on for a lift, I have no option other than to use a taxi.

The return fare is £30 each session. I don't know why the insurer didn't just choose a physio in the town where I live!

 

I have 4 more physio session booked by the insurer/solicitor still to attend, so I'm going to be a minimum of £120 out of pocket for those.

If I don't go to any more, the solicitor has said that would be viewed as non-co-operation ( to aid recovery ) and things would all come crashing down.

 

I've had to tell the solicitor that I'm going to have to consider ABI and FOS intervention as I feel I'm being severely stuffed by the insurer and all the knock on effects.

 

So.. totally empathise with OP.. why should an innocent party be made to suffer, have to jump through endless hoops and be left out of pocket when absolutely none of the situation is their fault.

[Lilythepink]

Go to the fos, they got me the true value of my car, and contents, I should have went to them in the first place.

 

But anyway, you will suffer whenever you try and get insurance again, because nobody would give me insurance, as my car was stolen twice inside 6 months. Now I can hardly afford the insurance its over £900 plus a year. I was used to paying £300. Victims always come off worse, the OP always get the better treatment.