Need to claim off insurance

Trhiggy83

Lads,
Looking for some advice here. I wrote my car off a few weeks ago and had to claim on my insurance as no one else was involved in the accident.The accident could not be avoided really as it was kind of an act of god and i was just lucky to walk away from it to be honest(lets not get into it).

My problem now is my insurers are not giving me the true value that my car is worth. I have appealed their valuation and they came back to me and raised it by 500 euro to 10k. Im still not happy with this as i insured my car for 11500 and i still honestly thinkk it is worth this amount if not more.

The problem i face is that i bought the car in the UK and the mileage is very low and there are no cars in ireland that can be directly compared to it. I cannot buy this car here with the mileage i had on it.

I have given them examples of cars with higher mileage and the price was 11500 and 12k roughly. I know my car is worth more than 10k because i done my research before i bought it a few months ago. I just want to be able to replace my car with exactly the same model and specification.

They seem to be only playing a game with me as i sent all the examples yet they found one car with a price of 9500 and they seem to be basing their evaluation on this it and it had 80k miles but the majority of cars are 12k(my car only had 60k miles). They said they talked to bmw dealers and they came up with a price of 10k but i know for a fact if it was in a forecourt that a dealer would be looking for 12-12500 with the mileage on it.

Anyone have any experiance with dealing with a situation like this before.
They said they taked to dealers but like i said i would not be able to buy this car off a dealer for 10k and i know that for a fact. So what do i do.

L1011

Don't accept the offer. Provide them with as many low mileage, suitably priced examples as you can, but just do not accept any overly low offers.

You won't get a cent more than what you insured it for, though; and do bear in mind that the higher claim value will have (some, slight) impact on future premiums for 3 to 5 years depending on what insurers you go with.

jaffa20

You insured your car for €11,500. That is the max they will pay out.

What car is it? When did you buy it and for how much? Also what was the vrt? There has to be some cars on the market to compare it to. Normally the average in the prices will be what the insurance companies value it on.

Trhiggy83

jaffa20 wrote: »

You insured your car for €11,500. That is the max they will pay out.

What car is it? When did you buy it and for how much? Also what was the vrt? There has to be some cars on the market to compare it to. Normally the average in the prices will be what the insurance companies value it on.

2004 bmw 320cd coupe 60000 miles usual extras. VRT was 2k burt i cant buy the car here with the same mileage and know it would set me back 12k at least. I will take the 11500 as i realise i kind of under insured it. They said they talked to bmw dealers but the dealers wont have a car with this mileage, if they did i would have bought it here. To be honest there is very few cars around to compare directly.

pah

fight them, hound them, every single day.

my other half wrote off her 2005 saab 93 in november 09 in a single vehicle RTC. she spun out on a plane of water going up airport hill in cork and was lucky to walk away from it too!

the car was insured for 14k but I dont think it matters too much about that, it is more about the market vslue of the car as you say above.

the were giving her €10,500 for the car and she refused to accept this, she got a couple of quotes from dealers and printouts online and sent them off with a letter explaining how the value of the car was more.

like you we had imported from the UK the previous May and the specific model (1.9 Tid Vector, 150 bhp) with similar spec and mileage was hard to get examples of.

The end result of her actions and her hassling them for over two weeks solid was a payout of €12,700!!!

this was a fair and realistic value on the car. so the moral is, phone, write, email, hound, hassle until you get a satisfactory result.

Interestingly she bought a 02 Megane 1.4 for €2,600 to have cash available to get something down the line, which turned out to be an Smax after our third was born recently. Her renewal premium for the megane in Sept was slightly less than what she insured the Saab for in Sept 09!

Trhiggy83

pah wrote: »

fight them, hound them, every single day.

my other half wrote off her 2005 saab 93 in november 09 in a single vehicle RTC. she spun out on a plane of water going up airport hill in cork and was lucky to walk away from it too!

the car was insured for 14k but I dont think it matters too much about that, it is more about the market vslue of the car as you say above.

the were giving her €10,500 for the car and she refused to accept this, she got a couple of quotes from dealers and printouts online and sent them off with a letter explaining how the value of the car was more.

like you we had imported from the UK the previous May and the specific model (1.9 Tid Vector, 150 bhp) with similar spec and mileage was hard to get examples of.

The end result of her actions and her hassling them for over two weeks solid was a payout of €12,700!!!

this was a fair and realistic value on the car. so the moral is, phone, write, email, hound, hassle until you get a satisfactory result.

Interestingly she bought a 02 Megane 1.4 for €2,600 to have cash available to get something down the line, which turned out to be an Smax after our third was born recently. Her renewal premium for the megane in Sept was slightly less than what she insured the Saab for in Sept 09!

Seem to be in a very similar situation to yourself so. All i want is the market value like you said. To be honest i didnt even want to claim but had no choice. I have not really harassed them so far but i have wrote two letters to them. They are saying they talked to bmw dealers but these dealers definately would not sell the car for 10k like i said already. I would be really annoyed but a good friend of mine told me that they would do exactly what they are doing now.

Trhiggy83

MYOB wrote: »

Don't accept the offer. Provide them with as many low mileage, suitably priced examples as you can, but just do not accept any overly low offers.

You won't get a cent more than what you insured it for, though; and do bear in mind that the higher claim value will have (some, slight) impact on future premiums for 3 to 5 years depending on what insurers you go with.

I have provided all of the above already but they are just making excuses.How do i take a tougher stance with them. Should i just hound them like OP said.

L1011

Trhiggy83 wrote: »

I have provided all of the above already but they are just making excuses.How do i take a tougher stance with them. Should i just hound them like OP said.

Basically. You may be just too nice on the phone, literally. Nice gets you nowhere when costs come in to it.

Ask them to name the dealers they're checking and provide details of the cars they're finding for the price they're offering - as one single car priced very low is likely a lemon.

pah

Trhiggy83 wrote: »

I have provided all of the above already but they are just making excuses.How do i take a tougher stance with them. Should i just hound them like OP said.

yes, you could also start mentioning ComReg in your corrspondence if you're getting nowhere. also google if there is an insurance complaints authority, i'm not sure


Edit:- http://www.financialombudsman.ie/

L1011

pah wrote: »

yes, you could also start mentioning ComReg in your corrspondence if you're getting nowhere. also google if there is an insurance complaints authority, i'm not sure

comreg are the communications regulator - you may have meant the Financial Regulator?

pah

MYOB wrote: »

comreg are the communications regulator - you may have meant the Financial Regulator?

Yes, please forward my post to IdiotReg immediately

i've been posting about problems with my iPhone on three :rolleyes:

Trhiggy83

MYOB wrote: »

comreg are the communications regulator - you may have meant the Financial Regulator?

I have been told this alright but i have also been told that you have to exhaust the complaints procedure with your insurers before they will deal with you. Im going to ring the insurers monday and ask them to give me there final offer in writing, then i will make a complaint to the regulator and then take their recommendation.

pah

Trhiggy83 wrote: »

I have been told this alright but i have also been told that you have to exhaust the complaints procedure with your insurers before they will deal with you. Im going to ring the insurers monday and ask them to give me there final offer in writing, then i will make a complaint to the regulator and then take their recommendation.

do but tell them you want the final offer in writing as you will be submitting it to the financial regulator as part of your complaint.. let them know you're not happy and intend on following it through.

BTW... who are you insured with, she was with Zurich, Ladystar

Trhiggy83

pah wrote: »

do but tell them you want the final offer in writing as you will be submitting it to the financial regulator as part of your complaint.. let them know you're not happy and intend on following it through.

BTW... who are you insured with, she was with Zurich, Ladystar

I dont really want to post it, ill PM it to you.

Henry Ford III

Ever hear of the "average" clause in insurance claims?

Here's how it works:-

1/. Proposer deliberately understates value. Say a €10k value car insured for €9k.

2/. Total loss.

3/. Claim value is €8100 (9 x 9/10).

Might be an issue here.

Trhiggy83

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Ever hear of the "average" clause in insurance claims?

Here's how it works:-

1/. Proposer deliberately understates value. Say a €10k value car insured for €9k.

2/. Total loss.

3/. Claim value is €8100 (9 x 9/10).

Might be an issue here.

I dont follow- Please explain

oldyouth

The OP insured the car for €11,500 now openly admits that it cannot be replaced for that amount, so it is underinsured. The OP is deemed to self insure for any total loss over the sum insured. Luckily the difference is not that significant but, as Henry states elequently, the OP has dug his own hole

sean1141

when the sister crashed her 307 2years ago her insurance crowd tryed to do the same. gave her a low value and she told them she could not buy back a 307 for that money. they told her she could so she asked them to show her where they could get one. they sent her a link to an auto trader add for a 307 carvan which were making about 2k less than a car... she printed off a load of adds for high priced 307s and faxed them to the insurers and also rang them and said she had provided 15 examples of a 307 at the price her car was valued at and if they wanted to pay less they would have to give her 15 examples of cars priced at the value they said they were worth... 2 days later she had a cheque in the post for 500euro less than the value she insured it for...

you wont get more than what you have it insured for but get as many print outs of cars with similar spec and milage to your own and keep on to them and dont be nice.. let them know you will not take any crap from them

oldyouth

sean1141 wrote: »

2 days later she had a cheque in the post for 500euro less than the value she insured it for...

That was probably the policy excess

Henry Ford III

Trhiggy83 wrote: »

I dont follow- Please explain

Thought I already did

If you deliberately under insure something (to save on the premium) then the claim value will be the sum assured "averaged" by the proportion of sum assured/true value.

slimjimmc

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Thought I already did

If you deliberately under insure something (to save on the premium) then the claim value will be the sum assured "averaged" by the proportion of sum assured/true value.

I understand the mathematics but what is the rationale behind paying out even less than the already under-insured amount? Surely if the car was under-valued in the first place then that's the max allowable under policy, and the insurance company still make a saving on not having to pay out the full book value?

In my experience (confirmed with various insurers over the years) there has been no price saving in under-valuing a €10,000 car by a couple of €1000 and likewise it didn't cost more to over-value a couple of Gs either.

Henry Ford III

No point over insuring - and averaging if you under insure it. It's standard practice.

sean1141

oldyouth wrote: »

That was probably the policy excess

no i thik she had to pay the excess seperate

oldyouth

sean1141 wrote: »

no i thik she had to pay the excess seperate

But you said she got a cheque for €500 less than the value she insured it for. Own loss claims are always paid net of the policy excess

djimi

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Thought I already did

If you deliberately under insure something (to save on the premium) then the claim value will be the sum assured "averaged" by the proportion of sum assured/true value.

Does the amount you insure the car for actually make too much difference to the premium? Obviously if you try to insure a 00 Punto for €25k, but would there be a difference between insuring a car for €5k and insuring the same car for €7k? Usually when getting insurance policies I just guesstimate an average value of the car and then add about a grand to cover myself.

I was also told that the value you insure for is largely irrelevant as they will only pay the list value of the car?

Trhiggy83

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Thought I already did

If you deliberately under insure something (to save on the premium) then the claim value will be the sum assured "averaged" by the proportion of sum assured/true value.

I actually didnt underinsure it on purpose, sadly i underestimated the price by about 1000 euro or more. In relation to saving on the premium, this is not true because i could have put the value in as 15k and it wouldnt have changed the premium. I live and learn i suppose.

Trhiggy83

sean1141 wrote: »

when the sister crashed her 307 2years ago her insurance crowd tryed to do the same. gave her a low value and she told them she could not buy back a 307 for that money. they told her she could so she asked them to show her where they could get one. they sent her a link to an auto trader add for a 307 carvan which were making about 2k less than a car... she printed off a load of adds for high priced 307s and faxed them to the insurers and also rang them and said she had provided 15 examples of a 307 at the price her car was valued at and if they wanted to pay less they would have to give her 15 examples of cars priced at the value they said they were worth... 2 days later she had a cheque in the post for 500euro less than the value she insured it for...

you wont get more than what you have it insured for but get as many print outs of cars with similar spec and milage to your own and keep on to them and dont be nice.. let them know you will not take any crap from them

I have done this as well and have sent in as many examples as i could find so the evidence is pretty clear in my mind. I have asked them to post out the final offer today and they said they would but have since backed down and said they would review the price for a third time before they send me out the final offer. Ill be off to the ombudsman if im not happy. Its just not good enough when you pay your premium in good faith and they hold you to ransom. It has been 5 weeks since i lodged my claim.