Car Insurance Payouts.

[The Cumbrian]

I recently wrote my car off, and the offer that I've had from my insurance company is (in my opinion ) about £1,000 short of the actual value. As this is the first time I've had to do this, do insurance companies routinely give low offers in the hope that they will just be accepted, our is it worth refusing the offer and trying for a higher offer?

Cheers, Michael.

 

[Lurch]

Always worth a go mate, shy bairns get nay sweets.
What happened?

 

[sapper1]

Always refuse the first offer,they may ask you why you think their offer is too low.Tell them the car was in superb condition and was well serviced and had many years left in it.

 

[nuggets]

Try and get a few adverts for the same type of car -Thats being advertised for sale-To show the current `market` value ,might help show them what a pack of robbing Ba****ds they are !!

 

[The Cumbrian]

Always worth a go mate, shy bairns get nay sweets.
What happened?

Driving work on the Cold Fell road, hit some black ice followed by much spinning and rolling. I finished upside down in a bog with a massive lump on my head, which has turned into two spectacular black eyes, bruised ribs and sternum and general cuts and bruises. Very lucky to walk away with nothing more serious.

 

[santaman2000]

The value is as is set in the dealers guide ( a guide book posting the average transaction prices by individual model and year of auto) published every 3 months. It lists retail value, wholesale value, and loan value. Your bank should have a copy of it; when I was stationed over there my credit union (a membership bank) provided one so that I could determine a fair asking price for the vehicle I sold before leaving.

 

[wingstoo]

Tell them the car was in superb condition and was well serviced

And show them all the receipts for the servicing/ repairs you have had done.

What car was it BTW

 

[roger-uk]

I recently wrote my car off, and the offer that I've had from my insurance company is (in my opinion ) about £1,000 short of the actual value. As this is the first time I've had to do this, do insurance companies routinely give low offers in the hope that they will just be accepted, our is it worth refusing the offer and trying for a higher offer?

Cheers, Michael.

Yes what you now need to do is to look at adverts for a comparable model and mileage and compare.

You then politley convince the claims handler that the only way he is going to get ride of you is by uping the offer. This may mean ringing every day.

If they ask for something in post then if its documnets post recorded 1st class and ring 2 days later to make sure they have got it.

make such a nuisance of yourself politley that they are fed up of the sound of your voice.

 

[wingstoo]

might help show them what a pack of robbing Ba****ds they are !!

Might be the case, but had Micheal hit another car and paralysed someone and the insurance company paid out several million for the rest of the persons life for nursing and home care it isn't bad for such a small premium, is it.

And no I personally am not an insurance company ;-)

I have asked the question of someone in the insurance industry though, and they are doubtful that you will get the £1000 extra you think the car is worth, good job you were fully comp, otherwise there would be no payout at all :-(

 

[No Idea]

Insurance is a business based on gambling.

The insurance gambles that you will not cost them more than say, a tenth of the premium.

When you have a claim against them, they gamble again and offer you the minimum they think they can get away with paying you.

If you tell them your claim is worth £1,000 more, then they will gamble on whether they can get away without paying you.

They will look at whether you can prove your claim is worth the extra.

They will then look at whether they think you will settle for less, if say they offer you half of the difference...

At the limit - if you take them to court, they will look at whether the court will find in their favour, whether they will have to pay all the costs, whether it could damage their image.

Then they will decide whether to gamble or settle.

If you can convince them that they should pay you asap, rest assured, they will.

One of my cars caught fire one night. I managed to persuade the Prudential to send an assessor out the following day and agree to give me a third more than book price. I then convinced him to telephone the office and tell them to fax me the offer. I had the cheque in my hand 23 hours after I first called them.

Another of my cars was hit by a tractor. It had a 3 month old engine in it, and the plough weights broke the front of the block. They apid me the extra £900 the enging had cost on top of the book price.

You can do this. It takes determination, a little savvy and balls.

 

[santaman2000]

Insurance is a business based on gambling.

The insurance gambles that you will not cost them more than say, a tenth of the premium.

When you have a claim against them, they gamble again and offer you the minimum they think they can get away with paying you.

If you tell them your claim is worth £1,000 more, then they will gamble on whether they can get away without paying you.

They will look at whether you can prove your claim is worth the extra.

They will then look at whether they think you will settle for less, if say they offer you half of the difference...

At the limit - if you take them to court, they will look at whether the court will find in their favour, whether they will have to pay all the costs, whether it could damage their image.

Then they will decide whether to gamble or settle...You can do this. It takes determination, a little savvy and balls.

And at the same time, YOU have to decide how far you're willing to take it before it costs YOU more than it's worth.

 

[No Idea]

Thats the other side of the coin.

If you push it to court....

If a court decides their offer is fair, you get that amount and the costs.

If the court decides in your favour, they get the costs.

Losing could mean you end up owing them more than the total claim.

If the insurers refuse to budge on an offer, then their last offer is probably the best you will get safely.

 

[Bush Matt]

insurance is based on statistics. basically the cost of meeting liabilities versuses the premiums received and its investment value.

so they work hard to minimize the payouts - the good condition price in glass's is the normal starting point. If you can prove low mileage, extras or if you experience higer values within a reasonable area you should be able to squeeze them up towards the top guide price - you won't get any better than that.

 

[DavidJT]

My car was written off by a rear end shunt. I got their offer up about £1000, by telling them it was worth £1,500 more than their first offer. All only took a couple of phone calls.
I supported my stand point with an official valuation from Glass's (which will cost you £10 or so IIRC). And yes tell them you were very happy with the car it was well serviced as you planned to keep it for several years to come.
Glad you didn't get too seriously injured anyway.

http://www.glass.co.uk/Valuations/

 

[Andy T]

you can get free car valuations online......might be worth a look .....i did it when my wifes car was written off, sorry i cant remember the sites

 

[Rob]

worth a go - good luck.

 

[santaman2000]

I might add that IF you do succeed in convincing them to up the valuation too much; then they might reconsider writing it off as a total loss and decide with the higher value it's worth repairing instead. After all the decision to write a vehicle off is based on how high the cost to repair is compared to the value of the vehicle.

 

[roger-uk]

I might add that IF you do succeed in convincing them to up the valuation too much; then they might reconsider writing it off as a total loss and decide with the higher value it's worth repairing instead. After all the decision to write a vehicle off is based on how high the cost to repair is compared to the value of the vehicle.

That would be highly unlikley in my opionion. I've never come across that scenario or heard of it unless its been a marginal write off an dthats the clinets wish.

 

[verloc]

Missus recently bumped our motor and despite the car driving fine (the the point the Police told her to drive it home from Aberdeen to Kirriemuir - 50ish miles) the insurers wrote it off as not economical to repair. Which of course meant no courtesy car. They offered about £800 less for it than I wanted and after 3 phone calls and speaking the the team leader above the call handler he asked what I would accept - told him and it was sorted no bother. Not happy it was written off but was enough to pay off the finance, excess and more or less buy the Old X reg Volvo V40 we are running around in now.
Don't be in a hurry to sort it - remember that every day they spend not having you claim settled is an outstanding one that will be affecting their clearance targets and will still be sitting on their books as a liability.
Good luck.

 

[santaman2000]

That would be highly unlikley in my opionion. I've never come across that scenario or heard of it unless its been a marginal write off an dthats the clinets wish.

Yeah it would have to be fairly close to the pivot value. But nonetheless a possibility.