Mate got shunted from behind - insurance question?

Eoin

Hi folks,

A mate of mine got hit from behind a week ago. He in turn then hit the person in front of him. The person who hit him has admitted full liability, but he wants to check out the insurance payout side of things.

He reckons his car has a resale value of about 16K. 5K damage was done - a few panels plus front and back bumpers, and possibly lights and all that stuff. As far as I know, there is no damage to the frame. He was told that he will get about 10% of the repair bill as compensation for depreciation. This sounds quite low - I'd have thought that the value of the car has dropped a bit more than €500 now it's been in a crash?

What's his best course of action, or is this fair? He doesn't want to make a buck out of it, just make sure that he's not hit in the pocket when he goes on to trade in or sell the car at a later date.

Eoin

RosieJoe

eoin_s wrote:

Hi folks,

A mate of mine got hit from behind a week ago. He in turn then hit the person in front of him. The person who hit him has admitted full liability, but he wants to check out the insurance payout side of things.

He reckons his car has a resale value of about 16K. 5K damage was done - a few panels plus front and back bumpers, and possibly lights and all that stuff. As far as I know, there is no damage to the frame. He was told that he will get about 10% of the repair bill as compensation for depreciation. This sounds quite low - I'd have thought that the value of the car has dropped a bit more than €500 now it's been in a crash?

What's his best course of action, or is this fair? He doesn't want to make a buck out of it, just make sure that he's not hit in the pocket when he goes on to trade in or sell the car at a later date.

Eoin

I would tell your mate to go through the insurance company as the person in front of him will also be claiming. So to avoid your mate getting stitched with that bill let all of them go through the companies.

Usually the 3rd car will need to pay out all the money, this covers fixing your mates car and the car in front of him.

I have never heard of anyone getting a 10% figure for compensation before, might be a yarn to make the deal sound sweet!

R.O.R

RosieJoe wrote:

I have never heard of anyone getting a 10% figure for compensation before, might be a yarn to make the deal sound sweet!

10% of the value for depreciation is an industry standard for newish cars.

RosieJoe

Never heard that one before.

Eoin

RosieJoe wrote:

I would tell your mate to go through the insurance company as the person in front of him will also be claiming. So to avoid your mate getting stitched with that bill let all of them go through the companies.

Usually the 3rd car will need to pay out all the money, this covers fixing your mates car and the car in front of him.

I have never heard of anyone getting a 10% figure for compensation before, might be a yarn to make the deal sound sweet!

Thanks - liability has already been admitted, and the insurance is paying out. His concern is that he thinks the car's value may have depreciated a lot more than 500.

R.O.R

eoin_s wrote:

Thanks - liability has already been admitted, and the insurance is paying out. His concern is that he thinks the car's value may have depreciated a lot more than 500.

He could refuse the offer from the insurance company and try to claim more depreciation. If he can get written confirmation from a dealer that the car has depreciated by more than €500 it may help - but good luck!

Eoin

R.O.R wrote:

He could refuse the offer from the insurance company and try to claim more depreciation. If he can get written confirmation from a dealer that the car has depreciated by more than €500 it may help - but good luck!

Thanks R.O.R., that's pretty much what I recommended