Car Accident : Insurance Settlement

[Keith Lawrence]

Here we go... :( Hassle time!!!

As we expected, the wife's car is a total write-off, White Van Man did a thorough job on it. So now the hassle phase begins. The insurance company have already been on with their "we'll offer you a fair value" (yeah, the other one has bells on it...) so what next?

As is traditional with insurance companies I fully expect them to take the p*ss somewhat, they come up with a silly offer which we are going to have to counter. Anybody got any experience of this? It's the first time that either of us has had anything like this happen.

Cheers

Keith L

[PeteM]

Here we go... :( Hassle time!!!

As we expected, the wife's car is a total write-off, White Van Man did a thorough job on it. So now the hassle phase begins. The insurance company have already been on with their "we'll offer you a fair value" (yeah, the other one has bells on it...) so what next?

As is traditional with insurance companies I fully expect them to take the p*ss somewhat, they come up with a silly offer which we are going to have to counter. Anybody got any experience of this? It's the first time that either of us has had anything like this happen.

Hi Keith

Do some research, work out a realistic value for the car and get some evidence to support it, i.e. adverts for similar cars in Autotrader, entries in Parkers Guide etc. When they make an offer if it is unreasonable tell them so, and show them the evidence why.

If the offer is not increased sufficiently then you have the option of getting your own valuation. Get this from an independant inspector not a garage (garage has a vested interest), you will have to pay for it but you can claim the cost back if thier valuation is greater than the offer.

If the offer is still not enough then ask to go to arbitration

The biggest problem on this sort of thing is unfortunately people over valuing their own car. Remember that the claim should cover the cost of replacing the car with like for like, no more. The hassle factor and the cost of traveling to look for a new car will not be covered by your insurance but you can claim for this from WVM.

HTH, if you want more info email me

Cheers

Pete

[Beanie]

well if its not your fault you should be able to go further you can claim for all the extras time off as have no transport alternatice transport costs. Loss of earnings.

could be worth seeing what Parkers say the car was worth for resale - the insurance company will probably try to palm you off with trade value.

[Edward]

Hi Keith,

This was what we did.

We got values from Autotrader for cars with equivalent mileage and age of the car when it was hit (luckily, it had been MoT'ed on week earlier so the insurance couldn't argue about the mileage). Where we got evidence off the Net it was printed so effectively date stamping it (as we had to wait 6 weeks before the write-off notice).

If we had used the insurance company for a courtesy car, my wife would have got two weeks before we would have had to pay for it. However, we used Accident Exchange, where the car is billed to the 3rd Party, and we got 10 weeks (could have had longer, but it wasn't worth fighting over £100).

Accident Exchange also dealt with the insurance companies and kept us informed of the progress, what there was of it.

We have a No-win No-fee solicitor chasing the recovery of my wife's lost wages, and the cost of hospital treatment (£505 a day - outpatient, £620 a day - admitted), plus whiplash compensation.

We have already got the excess back and my wife's No-claim discount reinstated.

Edward

[garethwebber]

If its a definite no-fault and you have comprehensive insurance, ask for a cover car while this is all being sorted out.

Gareth

[Nigel Hewitt]

The first offer is just to see if you will be fobbed off.

Go back with a letter that implies you are prepared to argue and they will come back with a better one that they know they can make stick. They do not want to be involved in a bidding war.

The first nearly new motorbike I had destroyed by some idiot I did lots of research and got an upped offer. The second I just wrote and said 'no, do you want me to quote the guide prices?' and got a better offer back. I suspect they don't even read the letter once they've got past the accept/decline bit.

[Tony Dwyer]

Some years back my then car was shunted in the rear while stationary at a junction. The hatch was bent as was the rear panel. My towbar took out the front of the car that hit me. :) Did major damage!

The car was quite old but in very good nick, with low mileage. I had fully comprehensive insurance. First off the insurance company wanted to go 'knock for knock'. I was QUITE insistent that since I bore no fault for the accident, the other party should cover all costs. They then made me a laughable offer for the car, saying that the cost of repair was greater than what they considered to be market value. Again, I told them to put their suggestion where the sun doesn't shine. I wanted MY car put back to the condition it was before it was assaulted and the other party should pay. It would cost me more than what they were offering to cough up to replace the car with one of similar quality. I was quite intransigent. I also insisted that my no claims bonus should not be affected as the insurers would recover all their costs from the other party.

Guess what. The car was repaired and I kept the NCB.

Don't let them get away with anything. We pay lots for insurance and they should hold up their end of the bet.

[IainC]

It may not be as bad as you fear!

Sending off the service history and a letter saying how lovely and well kept and low mileage the car was, got me a good deal for the first car I had written off.

The second one the initial offer from the insurance company was considerably more than a near identical replacement vehicle I had already found at a garage.

Finally, my car was rear-ended a couple of years ago at a round about and their insurance company just wrote to me and said, 'here is our nearest repairer, take it in at your convenience' - I almost felt bad for the guy as I also had a towbar. The repair bill was more than the value of the car, but there was no suggestion of writing my car off.

You may be lucky.

Iain.

[Steve Pearson]

All of the above comments are sound advice, and applied when I had a problem with a car that was written off through no fault of mine.

The insurance company ofered a slly price which I refused, they refused to up it, so I gathered all my comparable info, from the parkers guide, autotrader etc to ensure the price I was asking for could be substantiated. I then issued a county court summons to their registered office address, knowing that they wouldn't have a clue what it was about, judgement was given in my favour as they failed to respond, I then issued the high court sheriffs Office to enforce judgement, who then turned up at the head office to seize goods to be auctioned off (high court sherrifs have a lot of power with business's) The directors of what is quite a well known insurance company claimed that all the computers/office equipment were leased, but immediately made a settlement of my judgement amount plus costs.

It's one way of ensuring you get what you want, pretty drastic but using the law to your advantage to avoid being shafted by those who think they are in control.

If all else fails, it's one way of ensuring satisfaction.:)

[Paul Morris]

All of the above comments are sound advice, and applied when I had a problem with a car that was written off through no fault of mine.

The insurance company ofered a slly price which I refused, they refused to up it, so I gathered all my comparable info, from the parkers guide, autotrader etc to ensure the price I was asking for could be substantiated. I then issued a county court summons to their registered office address, knowing that they wouldn't have a clue what it was about, judgement was given in my favour as they failed to respond, I then issued the high court sheriffs Office to enforce judgement, who then turned up at the head office to seize goods to be auctioned off (high court sherrifs have a lot of power with business's) The directors of what is quite a well known insurance company claimed that all the computers/office equipment were leased, but immediately made a settlement of my judgement amount plus costs.

It's one way of ensuring you get what you want, pretty drastic but using the law to your advantage to avoid being shafted by those who think they are in control.

If all else fails, it's one way of ensuring satisfaction.:)
Good show, but remind me never ever to lend a fiver off you! God forbid I ever dive with you and forget to pay dive fees.. :eek:

:D :D

[Paul Watts]

All of the above comments are sound advice, and applied when I had a problem with a car that was written off through no fault of mine.

The insurance company ofered a slly price which I refused, they refused to up it, so I gathered all my comparable info, from the parkers guide, autotrader etc to ensure the price I was asking for could be substantiated. I then issued a county court summons to their registered office address, knowing that they wouldn't have a clue what it was about, judgement was given in my favour as they failed to respond, I then issued the high court sheriffs Office to enforce judgement, who then turned up at the head office to seize goods to be auctioned off (high court sherrifs have a lot of power with business's) The directors of what is quite a well known insurance company claimed that all the computers/office equipment were leased, but immediately made a settlement of my judgement amount plus costs.

It's one way of ensuring you get what you want, pretty drastic but using the law to your advantage to avoid being shafted by those who think they are in control.

If all else fails, it's one way of ensuring satisfaction.:)

Wow !
Don't forget to read the small print..

*don't fcuk with Steve!!*

[Keith Lawrence]

Wow !
Don't forget to read the small print..Using the Small Claims Court is a good trick, I've used it a few times now :D You don't actually have to do it - what works wonders is get the forms, fill them in, then post them recorded delivery to the company giving you grief. The gist of the covering letter is "It is clear to me that we are far from agreement, I therefore intend to put this matter to adjudication. Unless a satisfactory settlement is achieved within the next seven days the enclosed papers will be submitted". That is normally enough to get them moving ;)

Keith L

[Mike Halligan]

Using the Small Claims Court is a good trick, I've used it a few times now :D You don't actually have to do it - what works wonders is get the forms, fill them in, then post them recorded delivery to the company giving you grief. The gist of the covering letter is "It is clear to me that we are far from agreement, I therefore intend to put this matter to adjudication. Unless a satisfactory settlement is achieved within the next seven days the enclosed papers will be submitted". That is normally enough to get them moving ;)

Keith L

Yes, but Steve's pointing you towards the one and only way of bringing a body-corporate to heel. I used to instruct Bailiffs, albeit from an unusually privileged position, they really do work!

What's more when they're on your side, it is the other side who pay for them, their costs come as part of the judgement.

Well said, Steve, and even if Paul won't dive with you, I will :D

Mike

[Steve Pearson]

Cheers Mike :D

[Keith Lawrence]

I can't believe it was April when this started :( They did the standard "taking the p*ss" offer (why do they bother?), which we of course rejected and supplied evidence... they then "lost" it!

But, finally - it's sorted. They got to within £75 of what we were expecting, not worth the hassle over that, but it's an improvement of around £500 on the £3,900 offer they first came up with :) Thanks for the advice folks, it went exactly as predicted :rolleyes:

Keith L

[Chris Cherrington]

Mmm.. good on yer Keith. Just ours to do now then :(

Chris

[Jon H]

Insurance is a pain. Happened to my dad they gave him a quote and then half way threw they stopped insurance saying we never replied to the letter about payment. Which we never got and they tried raising the payment by £200. Just a scamming game. But you tell them

[mandy22]

Hi,

We are a taxi company in London. We provide Airport Transfer service from all london
airports. We do have insurance cover for all over Taxi.

But, Can anyone please advice us what are all the important steps that we should keep in mind when we are claiming for a accident claim like taking photos of the damage car, and other legal documents.


Thank you

[ChristianG]

Hi,

We are a taxi company in London. We provide Airport Transfer service from all london
airports. We do have insurance cover for all over Taxi.

But, Can anyone please advice us what are all the important steps that we should keep in mind when we are claiming for a accident claim like taking photos of the damage car, and other legal documents.


Thank you
Tsk, tsk.

Did you notice (a) the dates of this thread and (b) the principal reason for these Forums?

I'm fairly sure that it's not part of the BSAC's charter to advise members of the general public on matters not within the BSAC's area of expertise.

[MattS]

Hope you don't mind me removing the spammer's link from your post Christian.

[steven matthews]

Finally, my car was rear-ended a couple of years ago at a round about and their insurance company just wrote to me and said, 'here is our nearest repairer, take it in at your convenience'
Iain.

You do not have to use their nearest repairer, you're with your rights to take it where you like

[PeteM]

You do not have to use their nearest repairer, you're with your rights to take it where you like

Hopefully 3.5 years later he has already had it repaired

[ChristianG]

Hope you don't mind me removing the spammer's link from your post Christian.
Of course not, stupid here usually does that sort of thing automatically but didn't this time.

D'oh!