Insurance claim advice
Discussion
We bought a 2018 Renault Zoe (battery owned) in august last year.
Very low mileage, 1 owner, full service history.
Since buying it we have MOT'd it and replaced all 4 tyres.
A couple of weeks ago the wife got rear ended in stop start traffic causing considerable damage and the car is a write off.
We had no contact from the other driver so started a claim through our own insurance.
They arranged a rental car.
We bought the car for £9995, traded her car in against it and financed the rest.
Assessor has stated the car is worth £6500, outstanding finance is £6800 effectively we will lose the trade in value of her old car and still owe £300 to the finance company.
Looking on autotrader, there is 1 similar car locally (NI) being sold privately for £7500 which is a battery lease model, anecdotally it would cost a further £1500 to buy the lease out, it also has higher miles.
Looking nationally similar cars are more expensive plus there would then be the theoretical cost of getting one transported to NI.
Obviously we are going to reject their initial offer using the cars i have found on autotrader as evidence.
What should we do about the rental car in the meantime? We have a replacement car lined up which has to be prepped by the dealer and MOT'd, finance is in place to pay for it etc.
Very low mileage, 1 owner, full service history.
Since buying it we have MOT'd it and replaced all 4 tyres.
A couple of weeks ago the wife got rear ended in stop start traffic causing considerable damage and the car is a write off.
We had no contact from the other driver so started a claim through our own insurance.
They arranged a rental car.
We bought the car for £9995, traded her car in against it and financed the rest.
Assessor has stated the car is worth £6500, outstanding finance is £6800 effectively we will lose the trade in value of her old car and still owe £300 to the finance company.
Looking on autotrader, there is 1 similar car locally (NI) being sold privately for £7500 which is a battery lease model, anecdotally it would cost a further £1500 to buy the lease out, it also has higher miles.
Looking nationally similar cars are more expensive plus there would then be the theoretical cost of getting one transported to NI.
Obviously we are going to reject their initial offer using the cars i have found on autotrader as evidence.
What should we do about the rental car in the meantime? We have a replacement car lined up which has to be prepped by the dealer and MOT'd, finance is in place to pay for it etc.
I've just gone through this, find as much evidence as possible for other cars that are for sale for more and send it off to insurance company.
I got low balled £1800 offer straight away, rejected that, then got a final offer of £2500, rejected that told them I wanted £3000 and they offered £2976 which I accepted.
I got low balled £1800 offer straight away, rejected that, then got a final offer of £2500, rejected that told them I wanted £3000 and they offered £2976 which I accepted.
mgv8 said:
Its is common to reject first offer and as you are doing put information together to prove the replacement will cost more. Will be some work, but well worth ti.
This - they'll try and screw you any way they can. Gather as much evidence as possible and definitely highlight the battery ownership. Reject everything until you get a sensible offer and if you don't, then complaints procedure/ombudsman. Sadly the ombudsman is inconsistent and you might/might not get a result. Good luck and don't let them get away with it.ooo000ooo said:
How many offers do they make before giving up? Wife spoke to them this morning and they advised it could be up to 10 days before a revised offer is made, so, that’s another 10 days they are paying car rental at about £100 a day!
No set number of offers but until the words “ best and final offer “ are made offers remain just that. When they get back to you and assuming the offer isn’t to your liking make the point about the car rental and see if that then makes any difference to their offer.
Arguing over valuation becomes a bit of a Dutch auction sometimes but providing you can back up your thoughts with real cars out there you stand a fair chance of an increase although you also need to be realistic.
If you don’t like their final offer you can then speak with their complaints dept.
alscar said:
No set number of offers but until the words “ best and final offer “ are made offers remain just that.
When they get back to you and assuming the offer isn’t to your liking make the point about the car rental and see if that then makes any difference to their offer.
Arguing over valuation becomes a bit of a Dutch auction sometimes but providing you can back up your thoughts with real cars out there you stand a fair chance of an increase although you also need to be realistic.
If you don’t like their final offer you can then speak with their complaints dept.
The amount offered is the equivalent of a smaller battery car with more miles or a high mileage similar battery size but with a battery lease which would cost either £1500 to buy or if were to continue paying the lease, an extra £2400 for the length of time we expected to keep the car.When they get back to you and assuming the offer isn’t to your liking make the point about the car rental and see if that then makes any difference to their offer.
Arguing over valuation becomes a bit of a Dutch auction sometimes but providing you can back up your thoughts with real cars out there you stand a fair chance of an increase although you also need to be realistic.
If you don’t like their final offer you can then speak with their complaints dept.
Off topic slightly but why do insurance companies seem to insist on offering what is in effect trade in values at best for write offs? Surely they should be there to put you back in the position you were in before the accident not low ball and force you to spend thousands extra for something that wasn't your fault?
Zippee said:
Off topic slightly but why do insurance companies seem to insist on offering what is in effect trade in values at best for write offs? Surely they should be there to put you back in the position you were in before the accident not low ball and force you to spend thousands extra for something that wasn't your fault?
Exactly. It seems that the regulation isn't strong enough here, plus the ombudsman is inconsistent. I'm not an expert but it looks like they low ball most and if some accept then they win overall. Assuming they're not then losing on extended hire car periods, but I'm sure they've factored that in. We do have to be realistic with older, rarer cars, in that finding one in similar spec and condition can be difficult, but they should be forced to be less of a PITA and given clearer, more effective and realistic rules on valuations.
They seem to be so keen to save a couple of £k or even a few hundred on write off payouts yet will refer claimants to AMC's charging absurd credit hire rates.
Zippee said:
Off topic slightly but why do insurance companies seem to insist on offering what is in effect trade in values at best for write offs? Surely they should be there to put you back in the position you were in before the accident not low ball and force you to spend thousands extra for something that wasn't your fault?
Mine didn't. I had total loss in Sept 22 and my insurers paid out enough that it did allow me to be back in the same position - in fact, probably better.davek_964 said:
Zippee said:
Off topic slightly but why do insurance companies seem to insist on offering what is in effect trade in values at best for write offs? Surely they should be there to put you back in the position you were in before the accident not low ball and force you to spend thousands extra for something that wasn't your fault?
Mine didn't. I had total loss in Sept 22 and my insurers paid out enough that it did allow me to be back in the same position - in fact, probably better.
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