Help against Insurance company!

[r69bp]

Hi Guys,

My name is Bobby I am a new member to this website I was a proud owner of a Civic VTi 4 door saloon UK model until some scrote decided to attempt to nick it and my lovely insurance company is deluded in thinking that this car is only worth £480 even though I have provided them with detailed evidence on how rare these cars are becoming and how desirable they are,but it looks like I have a long battle on my hands,so could someone please advise me on how I can get them to replace my car with an equivalent one as this is what I paid my insurance for?.

Cheers guys.

[10 Pence Short]

You need to provide them with current adverts proving how much the cars are fetching at the moment. Use Autotrader and any owners club classifieds to give them an idea. Print them out and send them off with a letter telling them you're rejecting their first offer, and perhaps indicate how much you're looking for from them. Don't forget to keep copies of everything for yourself.

I had a similar issue with a written off Integra and they eventually made me a satisfactory offer.

[Eddh]

bds its worth a damn sight more than that! how many miles did it have on it?

[Carfiend]

For anything that is desirable you will have to fight since insurance companies look at book prices. Even worse for imports as there is no book price so they instantly assume its worth a pack of salt and vinegar walkers

[r69bp]

Hi guys thanks for the tips I have given these legal thieves four examples ALL being sold in Autotrader and here on Pistonheads and the lowest price example was £1700,however mine I brought in Sept/Oct last year paid £1200 and spent money on it to get it through MOT and taxed,my car had 144000 miles on the clock and some history.
So yes I know you are all valid with your tips and points and I greatly appreciate all of your help,I was just thinking maybe a letter headed from a solicitor might push them along a bit quicker?If any could recommend a descend solicitor that has experience in this field?

[r69bp]

Hi Guys I am having serious grief with this crappy Insurance company they have upt there offer to £480 even thoguh the cheapest example is £1400,they are ignoring ALL the examples that they requested and keep banging on about ," Markey Value",which these examples show.Please help again guys if you can.

[randlemarcus]

r69bp said:

Hi Guys I am having serious grief with this crappy Insurance company they have upt there offer to £480 even thoguh the cheapest example is £1400,they are ignoring ALL the examples that they requested and keep banging on about ," Markey Value",which these examples show.Please help again guys if you can.

Keep banging back at them then. They're presumably looking at book price, you're giving them market examples of a broadly similar car (mileage, import service history etc) so there'll be some compromise. You might suggest that they pass it to a loss adjuster, and see if they are more amenable to your suggestions. A solicitor wont help. Out of interest, how much did you declare the car to be worth when you took out the policy? (as far as I know, its not a material fact, but for my own curiousity)

[r69bp]

Hi I declared the value at £1250 exactly what i paid for it and looking at the prices of some these cars they appear to be increasing,why does this make a difference?

[randlemarcus]

r69bp said:

Hi I declared the value at £1250 exactly what i paid for it and looking at the prices of some these cars they appear to be increasing,why does this make a difference?

It shouldn't (which is why I said it wasn't a material fact) but if you'd declared the value at £400 they'd have had a small opening.
Remember that the purpose of insurance is to restore you to the position you were in prior to the incident (minus any excesses that apply).
I got so carried away with that last time I had a claim I actually had to go back to them and accept a prior offer that was for less money, as I'd have found myself in profit