Insurance Question??

Gryzor

My car is an 04 diesel accord, exec with all extras in mint condition (was anyway!!)

Van rolled down a hill (handbrake slipped) on sat and smashed into the front of mine, dealer has valued repair at €3800. On the VRT site, car is valued at 4K.

I heard somewhere, his insurance will only pay out for the repair if it's less than 70% of the value of the car...is that true?? What happens then, do they offer me the 70%, and i have to cough up the other 30??

Anan1

They pay you the market value of the car, and the car then belongs to them.

jinkybhoy

They'll write it off and offer you market value for it.

Gryzor

Is the VRT site a good indicator of market value??

jinkybhoy

Anan1 wrote: »

They pay you the market value of the car, and the car then belongs to them.

they may offer you the option of keeping the car yourself and getting it repaired depending on what kind of a write off it is. The wreckage of the car is yours to keep if you want and they'll will just take a salvage value off the market value they offer you.

IE - Car valued at 4k - scrap dealer offers 500 euro for car - they pay you 3500 and you get 500euro or whatever you can get off anyone you want.

Hope that is understandable - in a rush:)

jinkybhoy

Gryzor wrote: »

Is the VRT site a good indicator of market value??

not sure - i know the insurer will more than likely come back with a price you won't be happy with so be ready.

Have the VRT site price and go on websites and get equivalent cars with their prices - be ready for them and have all the stuff download and ready to be emailed off to them.

I'm a broker so deal with them all the time!!

kippy

Sadly OP,
That is what they will do.

It's something I don't necessarily agree with in all instances.

The car may be a relatively old car, and that may be the open market value to the car however to the owner, in general and in a lot of cases the car has more than that value to them.
I drive a 00 TDI focus, 160K on the clock. Probably work (at most) I would reckon 2k. I bought it five years ago for 5K.

It wouldn't take much to financially write of the car and I would be peed off if they offered me 2K instead of fixing it (if it were fixable for a similiar amount)

Why?
I know the history of the car, I know what has been replaced in the car in the five years since I have had it and in the past year I have replaced a lot of wear an tear items in it, shocks, bushes, brakes, tyres, a MAP sensor and a fair few other bits and pieces, car has been serviced well since the day I got it.
Were this car to be written off, all the money spent on the above would be written off as well. Then I'd have to go to the hassle (time etc) to get another car that I knew very little about, to replace it.
All in all, leaving me in a far worse situation than before the accident (which was not my fault).

Apologies for the rant, just felt it a good place mention it.

Gryzor

kippy wrote: »

It's something I don't necessarily agree with in all instances.

The car may be a relatively old car, and that may be the open market value to the car however to the owner, in general and in a lot of cases the car has more than that value to them.
I drive a 00 TDI focus, 160K on the clock. Probably work (at most) I would reckon 2k. I bought it five years ago for 5K.

It wouldn't take much to financially write of the car and I would be peed off if they offered me 2K instead of fixing it (if it were fixable for a similiar amount)

Why?
I know the history of the car, I know what has been replaced in the car in the five years since I have had it and in the past year I have replaced a lot of wear an tear items in it, shocks, bushes, brakes, tyres, a MAP sensor and a fair few other bits and pieces, car has been serviced well since the day I got it.
Were this car to be written off, all the money spent on the above would be written off as well. Then I'd have to go to the hassle (time etc) to get another car that I knew very little about, to replace it.
All in all, leaving me in a far worse situation than before the accident (which was not my fault).

Apologies for the rant, just felt it a good place mention it.

Exactly my feeling on it too....4K is no good to me, not really in a position to go out and buy another car.

djimi

€4k seems a bit low tbh; going on Carzone (which I know isnt the best gauge!) they range from €8k to €4500, so for a top spec one in mint condition Id say the value would be higher than you think.

If youre not happy with the value they are offering go around to three or four dealers who have cars that are as close to yours as possible and get prices from them. The amount you get from the insurance company is supposed to replace your car with one of similar value, and if you cannot do that with the amount they are offering then they are offering too low.

jinkybhoy

kippy wrote: »

Sadly OP,
That is what they will do.

It's something I don't necessarily agree with in all instances.

The car may be a relatively old car, and that may be the open market value to the car however to the owner, in general and in a lot of cases the car has more than that value to them.
I drive a 00 TDI focus, 160K on the clock. Probably work (at most) I would reckon 2k. I bought it five years ago for 5K.

It wouldn't take much to financially write of the car and I would be peed off if they offered me 2K instead of fixing it (if it were fixable for a similiar amount)

Why?
I know the history of the car, I know what has been replaced in the car in the five years since I have had it and in the past year I have replaced a lot of wear an tear items in it, shocks, bushes, brakes, tyres, a MAP sensor and a fair few other bits and pieces, car has been serviced well since the day I got it.
Were this car to be written off, all the money spent on the above would be written off as well. Then I'd have to go to the hassle (time etc) to get another car that I knew very little about, to replace it.
All in all, leaving me in a far worse situation than before the accident (which was not my fault).

Apologies for the rant, just felt it a good place mention it.

Depending on the type of write off it is, the OP may be able to get it repaired himself and get it back on the road. - Im not sure of the names of the write offs.

1. The car cannot be put back on the road - must be scrapped.
2. The car can be repaired (beyond ECONOMIC repair) - you just get it assessed that it is roadworthy and you can insure it again.

djimi

jinkybhoy wrote: »

Depending on the type of write off it is, the OP may be able to get it repaired himself and get it back on the road. - Im not sure of the names of the write offs.

1. The car cannot be put back on the road - must be scrapped.
2. The car can be repaired - you just get it assessed that it is roadworthy and you can insure it again.

Im not sure about over here but in the UK Cat A and B are complete writeoffs (A must be scrapped completely and B can be somewhat salvaged for parts but the car itself is gone), and Cat C and D are repairable.

Gryzor

djimi wrote: »

The amount you get from the insurance company is supposed to replace your car with one of similar value, and if you cannot do that with the amount they are offering then they are offering too low.

That puts a different angle on it, thanks.

jinkybhoy

http://www.cartell.ie/how-it-works/help/write-off-help/#30

seems that there are 4 types on this website but not sure if they all apply to republic. Pretty sure there is only 2 maybe 3 types.

jinkybhoy

djimi wrote: »

€4k seems a bit low tbh; going on Carzone (which I know isnt the best gauge!) they range from €8k to €4500, so for a top spec one in mint condition Id say the value would be higher than you think.

If youre not happy with the value they are offering go around to three or four dealers who have cars that are as close to yours as possible and get prices from them. The amount you get from the insurance company is supposed to replace your car with one of similar value, and if you cannot do that with the amount they are offering then they are offering too low.

Gryzor wrote: »

That puts a different angle on it, thanks.

That's the way it should be but insurance companies don't like giving out money so they will try and screw you - be prepared that's all I'm saying - you will more than likely have to fight with them - Im not saying its right but I know from experience what they are like.