Advice needed on write off value
Discussion
Much to my immense regret, I have written off my 53 plate Elise S2 111S only 8 months after buying it. The upside was that in a pretty high speed crash I was uninjured and no-one else involved; although I was going too fast, it was the road that caught me out, not me trying to prove anything to myself. The high speed just left me no margin for error. Anyway, enough of the self pity. My car was in very good condition and standard spec, with 41K on the clock. I bought it in Feb for £12.7K and my insurance company has offered me £12K; it's insured value was £13.5K. The insurance company say they only offer market value based on Glass's Guide and the like, which is not an unreasonable position. My argument is that you won't find a car of equivalent quality at £12K so 'market value' is not necessarily as clear cut as looking at Glass's Guide. Am I wasting my time and should I accept their (pretty good) offer? Or is it worth digging in for a fight?
And I am still in mourning for a fabulous car.
And I am still in mourning for a fabulous car.
Sorry to hear about your car, but at least you're around to talk about it....
The insurance response is fairly normal I guess, they have little to go on other than the trade guides. I think I'd collate information from current adverts for similar cars on the market with the same age, mileage, etc, and present that as a case for deciding the market value as a realistic alternative to a guide that's more suited to run of the mill cars.
My first step would be to talk to someone like Paul Matty's for what you could expect to pay for such a car & if he has anything like that in stock. Looking at their website they have a 2003 car with 36k up at £14.5k which can't be too far off your car and might get you a higher offer.
Dropping £700 over a summer doesn't sound too bad if I'm honest, but of course you should never accept the first offer on principle !
The insurance response is fairly normal I guess, they have little to go on other than the trade guides. I think I'd collate information from current adverts for similar cars on the market with the same age, mileage, etc, and present that as a case for deciding the market value as a realistic alternative to a guide that's more suited to run of the mill cars.
My first step would be to talk to someone like Paul Matty's for what you could expect to pay for such a car & if he has anything like that in stock. Looking at their website they have a 2003 car with 36k up at £14.5k which can't be too far off your car and might get you a higher offer.
Dropping £700 over a summer doesn't sound too bad if I'm honest, but of course you should never accept the first offer on principle !
Try to find examples for sale now at similar mileage and specification and supply them with details. Don't accept the first offer if you've got evidence to prove you can't re-purchase the same car with the payout. You might get lucky. TBH, the comment above's pretty valid. £700 loss over that period's not terrible.
Some insurance cos will only offer trade price. As S Works says you need to provide evidence of today's market value so copies of pages from Autotrader.co.uk and PH classifieds should help to support your claim. Be aware that they may well find the cheapest (and shabbiest) car and make you an offer based on that - you need to argue that value of Elises varies greatly according to condition and provenance. Just push hard and let them know you know what your car is worth and won't be settling for less. Good luck.
Finally, unless you have an agreed valuation then the insured value is meaningless.
Finally, unless you have an agreed valuation then the insured value is meaningless.
My son had his Impreza UK 300 stolen a couple of years back. The insurance companies first offer was low. I spent a couple of days obtaining values of several examples of equivalent cars, both private and dealer, and presented them to the insurance company. The second offer was better but still on the low side, with no satisfactory explanation as to why they would not match the examples we had found. Finally, the third offer was accepted, as it came within the range of values relevant to the car. Hold out for a sensible and reasonable price, especially if you can show that other equivalent models are selling for that price.
As said get 5 PH / Autotrader ad's showing the 'market value' of same year / milage / spec cars and hold out for it.
I went through a similar experience a few years ago, 1st offer a joke, sent the ad's in and second offer still way too low, so I turned the tables and asked the insurance company to provide me with 5 current adverts showing I could replace my car with what they were offering me...
I received a cheque for the full amount I'd asked for within 72 hours!
I went through a similar experience a few years ago, 1st offer a joke, sent the ad's in and second offer still way too low, so I turned the tables and asked the insurance company to provide me with 5 current adverts showing I could replace my car with what they were offering me...
I received a cheque for the full amount I'd asked for within 72 hours!
Now that I finally have the cheque in my sweaty hands, I thought some feedback might be helpful. The insurance company initially valued the car at £11.8K but in fact first offered £12K. After my rejection, they then went to £12.4K which I rejected before we settled at £13K. In determining 'market value', they rigidly stuck to the main used car valuation guides, and wouldn't move away from those, claiming adverts were irrelevant as they did not necessarily bear any relation to what the car finally sold for. My contention was that whilst that might work for a mass market car like a Golf diesel write-off, it did not for a small niche market and so the figures they were offering did not reflect market value if you actually looked at the Elise market rather than the guides (which are exactly that - guides). The argument that appeared to tip the balance was that 'market value' had to be a figure that allowed me to go straight back out to the market and buy an equivalent replacement car, not purely what the guides stated. When they offered £13K, I felt that I would not be able to argue higher with that particular line and it felt to me to be a fair valuation (and it was more than I paid). Some top tips - although the value assessors do this every day and so probably know the used car market very well, you will almost certainly know more about the very niche market that is the Elise (and more so your particular model) than they will, so don't be afraid to refute their assessments of value - I politely but firmly reminded them that notwithstanding their general experience, I knew the Elise market better than they did. There was much talk about the appeal process and how long it might take (somewhat overly dramatic I felt) but they will almost certainly be under a PI for settling claims, so be in no hurry to settle (assuming your financial position allows that). The other line they used was when I told how much I'd paid for it (a mistake, I realise with hindsight), they spent a lot of effort trying to show how I was not losing that much as I had to expect depreciation. In fact in one notable call, they tried to show that I was dipping in with the first offer! As always, it pays to be calm, rational and not lose your temper - once we'd agreed the value, the assessor actually thanked me for being professional and said he regularly would get sworn at and abused, which is never going to help your position. I also contacted a couple of dealers (well known on these pages) who provided good advice, and in particular one emailed some dynamite words that backed up my position perfectly with his credibility.
So that closes that chapter - just the hardtop to sell. I thought I'd done that this week to a French dealer who was apparently coming over to pick up an Elise in Liverpool but since then there has been complete radio silence. Perhaps he is still there. If anyone wants a storm titanium hardtop, it is in the PH classifieds.
Much more importantly, my better half has agreed that I can get another Elise - but not just yet. Tiny steps...
So that closes that chapter - just the hardtop to sell. I thought I'd done that this week to a French dealer who was apparently coming over to pick up an Elise in Liverpool but since then there has been complete radio silence. Perhaps he is still there. If anyone wants a storm titanium hardtop, it is in the PH classifieds.
Much more importantly, my better half has agreed that I can get another Elise - but not just yet. Tiny steps...
Thanks for the update. Bit of a result as you had an uninsurable interest of £300 - you say you bought the car for £12.7k and received a £13k payout. I don't condone it but it should give you enough funds to replace your car with similiar. Pleased to hear you didn't lose out and are big enough to accept fault rather than make excuses.
Spend the £300 on a Walshy day http://www.carlimits.com/
It makes sense
Spend the £300 on a Walshy day http://www.carlimits.com/
It makes sense
TIPPER said:
And the OP clearly needs it? 
Walshy will teach you on limit and beyond limit control. He'll show you how to recover from what seems a terminal tail out slide. He'll teach you a whole lot about car control at real (in fact in excess of) road speeds and you'll have an absolute hoot doing it. At the end of the day he'll send you off for a timed run around a Sprint circuit he puts up on the airfield. All in total safety - there's nothing to hit.
Well worth the money - I've found his teaching very useful on track and on one occasion on the road it probably saved me from a smack.
Lotus acadamy is about a different sort of thing really.
Even if you only ever do a single day with Walshy then do it
Well worth the money - I've found his teaching very useful on track and on one occasion on the road it probably saved me from a smack.
Lotus acadamy is about a different sort of thing really.
Even if you only ever do a single day with Walshy then do it
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