insurance claim right off

[stevvieboi]

hi folks thanks for any advice in advance, i am on here due to an insurance claim for my vehicle, where they are saying the value to repair is £2800 and that they are going to write off my vehicle and off me only £2200 i have looked online at cars on a like for like basis and they are nearly £1500 more than what i am being offered for mine.

 

the accident was not my fault, was a young driver aged 18 who has had 4 other accidents since passing his test, he was driving on the wrong side of the road, windscreen covered in frost, unable to see a thing, have taken pictures of this, we were nearly stopped as it was just outside our driveway when he drove in to the front of us

 

whats annoying is we are going to be out of pocket by nearly 2k because of his actions we have a private plate on the car, so will have to pay for that to be removed, we had just filled the car full of diesel, and to get something the same its going to cost us a lot more than the insurance company is offering, can anyone offer us some advice where we can go with this, if we have any rights

 

many many thanks

[citizenB]

Can you sue the other driver for the extra costs ?

[gregs07]

E-mail your complaint, keep it in writing highlight your issues, link pictures adverts of similar vehicles. Insurance is there to make sure you're not out of pocket ie dvla plate change. Do they have the car? If so tell them you want it back until dispute resolved.

[stevvieboi]

am not sure if can sue the driver, if i tried that then as he is 18 prob have to wait for ever, at the moment the garage still has our car, they came back to us with the options today, telling us the price of repair and that the insurance company are going to write it off, still not sure if thats what my insurance company is offering, or if thats his insurace offering that, the garage that has the car we could take the money buy the car back for £200 and have it fixed ourselves, i would rather the car back as it is well maintained no faults on it and reg serviced, but the hassle of trying to deal with finding someone to do it

[dacouc]

Who is actually initially paying your claim out, is it your own Insurer or the other Insurer?

 

It's important to know who is paying your claim out as if it's your own they need to abide by the Ombudsman's guidance on settling write off claims, if it's the other Insurer then they do not need to abide by it.

 

It will affect what advice you're givem

[stevvieboi]

not sure really, it was just the information from insurance assessor, will need to check that out tomorrow, thanks for that

[dacouc]

not sure really, it was just the information from insurance assessor, will need to check that out tomorrow, thanks for that

 

Who are your Insurers?

 

Are you in a like for like hire car?

[stevvieboi]

with privalage, they have given one close enough, as they never had one in at the time for a like to like hire car, but did say we could swap it over when it did, but one we have is fine

[dacouc]

Find out if your own Insurers are physically paying you out or if it's the other Insurers paying you out initially as it makes a difference to the advice

[Aretnap]

Can you sue the other driver for the extra costs ?

If you do he will (or should) pass it onto his insurers, so you still end up dealing with them.

[not-a-number]

I had a similar problem. I claimed on my own policy (protected no claims) but if I had taken their offer I would have been out of pocket even though I wasn't at fault . In the end I contacted the third party's insurance . It saves them money if you deal direct and they will pay you out within a couple of weeks . Got a better settlement and keep the car! I would ring them . Just a phone call .

[ericsbrother]

You can sue the other driver and his insurer as joint parties. They will take over the claim fairly quickly unless he informs them that he isnt going to settle the full amount himself. Do you have legal cover on your motor or household insurance? If so, use it.

[Conniff]

As you have a driveway, why not say to the company that you will accept their offer as long as you get the car as well, after all, they are sold for pennies.