Crashed yesterday - 2 cars a write off. My fault.

Overblood

I was involved in a car crash yesterday and I'm hesitant to admit it but I was the cause of it. Both our cars were written off. My insurance company is going to sort out the other drivers compensation. How do they value the car? Will they give her the amount that she has declared on her insurance? Or will they get the average price off carzone or an auto magazine?

mike65

It'll be judged by 'book value' rather than the insured value I belive (which is why you should write the value of your cars worth down as it gets older or you are paying for what you won't get. Open to correction on that!)

hustlergraham

They'll give her the BOOK Value,meaning Trade price = what the car is worth to a garage at a trade in. Be lower than what it's worth anyway

mickdw

I thought they had to give a reasonable retail figure for it to enable person to buy the same again

Overblood

hustlergraham wrote: »

They'll give her the BOOK Value,meaning Trade price = what the car is worth to a garage at a trade in. Be lower than what it's worth anyway

That can't be true.

mickdw

Overblood wrote: »

I was involved in a car crash yesterday and I'm hesitant to admit it but I was the cause of it. Both our cars were written off. My insurance company is going to sort out the other drivers compensation. How do they value the car? Will they give her the amount that she has declared on her insurance? Or will they get the average price off carzone or an auto magazine?

You wrote off the womans car. You should be over at her house apologising for the distress you have caused and not on here complaining that your insurance might give her what her car is actually worth.

mike65

He might have done that bit already, eh?

tin79

mickdw wrote: »

You wrote off the womans car. You should be over at her house apologising for the distress you have caused and not on here complaining that your insurance might give her what her car is actually worth.

i dont see where the OP is saying that or where he/she is complaining. all i see is a request for information

DanGerMus

mickdw wrote: »

You wrote off the womans car. You should be over at her house apologising for the distress you have caused and not on here complaining that your insurance might give her what her car is actually worth.

Seriously get off your high horse mate. The OP has admitted liability unreservedly and is here asking a simple question as to how insurance companies value cars. Maybe he's worried how much she'll get for her sake. Question seems genuine to me.

OP afaik it's based on the book value try and find this out yourself. I think the info on the VRT calculator is actually provided by simi so could be an indicator for you also you could ring a local dealer to try get the book value of the car just for peace of mind.

Sorry to hear about your accident, these things happen and i hope you learn from it and i hope noone was hurt.

Overblood

mickdw wrote: »

You wrote off the womans car. You should be over at her house apologising for the distress you have caused and not on here complaining that your insurance might give her what her car is actually worth.

What the **** is your problem? Where did I complain?

I'm just asking a question. I hope she gets enough compensation to buy the exact same model & year of car she lost. I don't want my insurance company to try and shaft her in any way with that "book value" crap.

DanGerMus wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your accident, these things happen and i hope you learn from it and i hope noone was hurt.

Nobody was hurt, just the odd scrape and bruise. I was very nearly killed though, it was one of those "if they were just 1foot to the left" moments... Serious wake up call.

Overblood

DanGerMus wrote: »

OP afaik it's based on the book value try and find this out yourself. I think the info on the VRT calculator is actually provided by simi so could be an indicator

I just used that vrt calculator and the result was pretty much the average price for the model/year of the car on carzone. So going by that result she should hopefully be able to buy the exact same car again.

By the way, does anyone know how long this process usually takes? There was no real carnage caused and nobody was injured.

DanGerMus

Overblood wrote: »

I just used that vrt calculator and the result was pretty much the average price for the model/year of the car on carzone. So going by that result she should hopefully be able to buy the exact same car again.

By the way, does anyone know how long this process usually takes? There was no real carnage caused and nobody was injured.

A mate from work had an accident in april 2008 it was the other persons fault and his wife was injured. The Car damage side of things was settled a few weeks ago but the personal injury part is still pending. The other person accepted liability from the start. These things still take a long time.

Lord Nikon

Might be worth a shot, but ask if they have any repossessed cars that you would be willing to take in it's place. Might work out better too, if it's in good condition. Although, don't know how warranties work out though.

Overblood

^^^It took over a year to get the compensation sorted?!! What was the insurance company doing for the year?! Surely you mean the car damage part was settled a few weeks "afterwards"?

Overblood

neuromancer wrote: »

Might be worth a shot, but ask if they have any repossessed cars that you would be willing to take in it's place. Might work out better too, if it's in good condition. Although, don't know how warranties work out though.

Who's "they"? My insurance company? I sure as hell won't be getting anything from them, I'm only covered for 3rd party.

_Kaiser_

mike65 wrote: »

It'll be judged by 'book value' rather than the insured value I belive (which is why you should write the value of your cars worth down as it gets older or you are paying for what you won't get. Open to correction on that!)

I've always wondered this myself and can't get a straight answer on it, so I (like yourself) renewed the premium this year at less than last year (what I figure she'd be worth now) - probably wouldn't even get that of course

Doesn't make sense to pay a higher premium when they wont ever pay out that value. Is that even ethical/legal given the constantly depreciating nature of cars?

legs11

seems to be alot of crashes lately..!

Ginger83

It doesn't always go by book value!
My mam was driving my dad's car last year, an elder man drove through a stop sign at a Y junction and hit her head on. A guy from the insurance crowd called out to view the damage and wrote the car off. He then proceeded to offer my dad the book value of the car which he claimed was 2,000 at the time.
My dad refused to accept as he claimed he had his car insured for the value of 4,000. While the process was ongoing they provided my dad with a new car, alot better than what he had. They rang him again and again and offered 2,050 and 2,100. My dad still refused and also stated he was not returning their new car until the claim was settled.
In the end they met both ways and my dad received 3,000 for a car I wouldn't have given him 1,000 for before the crash. (I know cos I drove the nuts out of it for nearly 2 years)

yop

Thats fine, but what options do you have, have you not to accept it?

Henry Ford III

Ginger83 wrote: »

It doesn't always go by book value!
My mam was driving my dad's car last year, an elder man drove through a stop sign at a Y junction and hit her head on. A guy from the insurance crowd called out to view the damage and wrote the car off. He then proceeded to offer my dad the book value of the car which he claimed was 2,000 at the time.
My dad refused to accept as he claimed he had his car insured for the value of 4,000. While the process was ongoing they provided my dad with a new car, alot better than what he had. They rang him again and again and offered 2,050 and 2,100. My dad still refused and also stated he was not returning their new car until the claim was settled.
In the end they met both ways and my dad received 3,000 for a car I wouldn't have given him 1,000 for before the crash. (I know cos I drove the nuts out of it for nearly 2 years)

In that case the book value was up to €3000. They just made him lower offers all along.

old boy

please remember folks that insurance companys are like grave yards they take in every thing and give nothing out.