Insurance. I simply Don't understand.

fatboypee

I just had the assessors the other drivers insurance visit my car to see how much it would cost to repair.

I drive an old car, it is a 1994 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.8, it has 63k on it and drives perfectly. I kept it in exceptional condition until now.

The damage is in excess of 1100 euro for panel work.

The assessor has written off my car and valued it at 750 euro.

I don't understand, if its HIS insurance and not mine, why I cannot have my vehicle repaired at HIS / insurance costs.

I did not ask to be hit, it was not my fault. WHY should I lose out ? Soooo bl00000dy angry over this kind of thing, makes me wonder why i bother with insurance at all !!!

FBP.

SV

Tis all your car is worth I'm afraid.

Yes you should be angry, rightly so. That's how insurance companies work however..it's very annoying.

fatboypee

just one big f'off club, each insurer says to the others, "you pay market value only, we pay market vaule only, we all minimise our losses (oh, and by the way, fook the punter whose car gets mashed along the way"...

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

FBP.

Anan1

OP - You don't just have to accept this figure, if you can make a good case for why your car was worth more then the figure may be increased.

seamus

fatboypee wrote: »

I don't understand, if its HIS insurance and not mine, why I cannot have my vehicle repaired at HIS / insurance costs.

When you make an insurance claim, whether it's against your insurance or someone else's insurance, you're not allowed to be in a better position financially than you were in before the accident.

Having €1,100 worth of repairs done to a €750 car means that you would be better off financially.

fatboypee

Anan1 wrote: »

OP - You don't just have to accept this figure, if you can make a good case for why your car was worth more then the figure may be increased.

I know, thanks, The thing is, in this country, a 1994 1.8 cavalier is not worth more, regardless of it's condition.

Just simply put, if its not my fault, I see no reason why I should lose out, to that end, the insurer / assessor should be required to justify their valuation, as, if they say its worth 750 euro, then find another cavalier with 63k on the clock for 750 euro in the same condition and I'll buy that as a replacement !
If you can't find one, FIX THE DAMN CAR !!!!

sorry, just so unfair ! My car is rare enough here, not special, just rare and I don't want to find a banger for 750 euro to replace it, nor do i want a bodge job from some side-alley panel beater...

FBP.

fatboypee

seamus wrote: »

When you make an insurance claim, whether it's against your insurance or someone else's insurance, you're not allowed to be in a better position financially than you were in before the accident.

Having €1,100 worth of repairs done to a €750 car means that you would be better off financially.

minding my P's & Q's here, I see no financial benefit in getting a car repaired that I was not responsible for crashing ? Regardless of the market value of the car, it was intact, operational and in good, roadworthy condition prior to the crash, I want to keep my car on the road, to me, thats not benefitting me financially, thats returning my car to the state it was prior to the crash.

FBP.

seamus

I understand your position of course. But insurance companies and the law look at the cold hard figures.

In much the same way that someone might consider their grandmother's engagement ring to be priceless, an insurance company will still only give you the few hundred quid that it's actually worth.

You should be given enough to replace what you had. As someone else mentioned, fight them on it and find out yourself how much it will cost you to buy a similar car (same year/condition/mileage) and get them to give you that.

maidhc

fatboypee wrote: »

minding my P's & Q's here, I see no financial benefit in getting a car repaired that I was not responsible for crashing ? Regardless of the market value of the car, it was intact, operational and in good, roadworthy condition prior to the crash, I want to keep my car on the road, to me, thats not benefitting me financially, thats returning my car to the state it was prior to the crash.

FBP.

That is a fair point of view, but insurance has never worked on that basis.

Cookie_Monster

Is the whole point of insurance not to return you to the position you were in before the accident or as if it didn't happen?

fatboypee

I know, thanks for the posts, I'm merely venting really, as, if you take the moral argument to it's conclusion, say I drove a total wreck and it got totalled, in theory, I'd end up owing the other guy's insurance assessor to come and look at it !!..

Just feel violated really. I had intentions of going fully comp (road is one way track where I live), NOT ANYMORE.. there's no point...


FBP.

fatboypee

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Is the whole point of insurance not to return you to the position you were in before the accident or as if it didn't happen?

Yes, unless the Insurance company can wriggle out of it :mad:

FBP.

Henry Ford III

When an insurer pays out on a total loss the car becomes their property.

Why not look at buying back the car and getting it fixed more economically (but still safely)?

Pat Mustard

fatboypee wrote: »

I know, thanks, The thing is, in this country, a 1994 1.8 cavalier is not worth more, regardless of it's condition.

Just simply put, if its not my fault, I see no reason why I should lose out, to that end, the insurer / assessor should be required to justify their valuation, as, if they say its worth 750 euro, then find another cavalier with 63k on the clock for 750 euro in the same condition and I'll buy that as a replacement !
If you can't find one, FIX THE DAMN CAR !!!!

sorry, just so unfair ! My car is rare enough here, not special, just rare and I don't want to find a banger for 750 euro to replace it, nor do i want a bodge job from some side-alley panel beater...

FBP.

It is the insurance claims handler's job to settle this claim for a reasonably small amount of money. He says that your car was worth €750. Don't take his word for it.

It is your job to make sure that you get fairly treated. You need to know how much you could successfully recover if you win your case in court. Firstly, you need to know the pre-accident value of your car. A motor assessor should be able to carry out an inspection and prepare a report for say €200 + VAT. Check the price yourself amongst a number of motor assessors in your area. You will need to ensure that your car can be inspected before some insurance company sells your car for scrap and it gets destroyed, so notify the other driver's insurance of the fact that your assessor will be on his way over to see the wreck. In any case, get a report. From what you say, the accident was not your fault, so you should be able to recover the cost of the assessor's report as a legal cost, whether in an out of court settlement or in a court action. Remember, a motor assessor is an expert witness when it comes to these matters, so his word will carry more weight than most with a judge, regarding the value of your car.

You may also be able to claim for towage of the vehicle, car hire, legal costs, cost of expert reports and other things, depending on the exact circumstances of your case.

I am pulling figures out of thin air here but it could be that your total claim is worth the following:

1. €1,500 Car damage(Pre-accident value less scrap value)
2. €150 car hire
3. €50 towage
4. €X legal costs.

€1700 Total + X legal costs

So that would mean that you could possibly claim €1,700 for your car. Go get a motor assessor's report and see what happens.

If you don't like what the insurance people are saying to you when you have your report, go see your solicitor, sue the driver of the car that damaged your car, and make his insurance company pay.

fatboypee

thanks for posting. The issue really isn't getting it fixed as I have 'sources' to do a good job should I choose. The issue is simply that my car is worth more to me than the 750 they're willing to pay for the repair, but not enough to take the court route.

It is impossible, in this country, or even in the UK to find a comparable cavalier (or vectra) of that mileage and condition for 750 euro, so how can such a valuation stand ?

Well, of course, the valuation stands as an assessment of pre-crash value, not as a replacement for me (the injured party). That is where the insurers have it arseways.

Still, try finding ANY (reasonable) 1.8 car with 63,000 genuine miles on the clock for 750 euro.....

sad tho i might be, I enclose a pic as when i got it, 4 years back, with 13+k on it the clock.. still in very good condition...

FBP..

T-Maxx

fatboypee wrote: »

... makes me wonder why i bother with insurance at all !!!

FBP.

Because you're legally obliged to.

fatboypee

T-Maxx wrote: »

Because you're legally obliged to.

ah ! thats true....

galwaytt

if it is impossible to find a replacement car of the same ilk, to replace it, for that value, then the valuation on your car is wrong.

Don't forget that even if you do repair it, a 94 crash-repaired Cavalier will be, tbh, worth nothing. So, you have to add that depreciation into the equation.

At cars of that value, realistically you need to be looking at like-for-like replacement, if the only way to do that is to buy a newer car, then they should have to fork out for that replacement, irrespective of the arbitrary value they attach to your car.

Look at it this way: if you get them involved in this to any great depth, they should look at the cost of fighting you, and quickly figure out that the solr and assessor will cost more than just writing you a cheque ......