Insurance Claim - offer?

Morby

Hi all,

Approx. 2 years ago my OH was involved in a collision.

Long story short, the third party were at fault and not my OH, but the insurance company denied all liability. We had to get a solicitor involved and at long last, after almost 2 years they have finally come back to us with a figure.

The car at the time of the accident 2 years ago was a 07 Honda Accord, one owner from new, absolute mint condition like new, leather seats, just passed NCT, fully taxed etc..

As a result of the crash the car was an economic write off and is since laid up in our drive way and hasn't been driven since. OH never got to claim for any car hire or anything as the other insurance company didn't want to admit liability until lately. She had to buy a new car as this has been going on nearly 2 years now.

She got word the other day that the insurance company have offered her €4,500 for the car and she gets to keep it. Repairs are around the same..

Does this offer sound reasonable?

It's the first time any of us have ever had to ever deal with an insurance company like this, so we're greenhorns in at all.

Should we be looking for more based on what the car was worth 2 years ago, and not it's current value today as it's not our fault the other insurance company took nearly 2 years to finally start playing ball.

Can you negotiate with insurance companies when it comes to what they offer for an economic write off?

Car was running like new up until the crash, not to mention all the stress and inconvenience of having to get solicitors involved and having to buy a new car and not having the use of a hire car in the interim etc.. but I suppose a lot of this is neither here nor there.

Obviously we're not looking to make a profit from this, but to be put back into the same position we were at before the accident. Don't fancy letting the insurance company trod all over us either seeing as it's our first time dealing with this sort of thing.

Would appreciate and advice or peoples previous experiences in scenarios similar to this.

Thanks

duckduck1991

Morby wrote: »

Hi all,

Approx. 2 years ago my OH was involved in a collision.

Long story short, the third party were at fault and not my OH, but the insurance company denied all liability. We had to get a solicitor involved and at long last, after almost 2 years they have finally come back to us with a figure.

The car at the time of the accident 2 years ago was a 07 Honda Accord, one owner from new, absolute mint condition like new, leather seats, just passed NCT, fully taxed etc..

As a result of the crash the car was an economic write off and is since laid up in our drive way and hasn't been driven since. OH never got to claim for any car hire or anything as the other insurance company didn't want to admit liability until lately. She had to buy a new car as this has been going on nearly 2 years now.

She got word the other day that the insurance company have offered her €4,500 for the car and she gets to keep it. Repairs are around the same..

Does this offer sound reasonable?

It's the first time any of us have ever had to ever deal with an insurance company like this, so we're greenhorns in at all.

Should we be looking for more based on what the car was worth 2 years ago, and not it's current value today as it's not our fault the other insurance company took nearly 2 years to finally start playing ball.

Can you negotiate with insurance companies when it comes to what they offer for an economic write off?

Car was running like new up until the crash, not to mention all the stress and inconvenience of having to get solicitors involved and having to buy a new car and not having the use of a hire car in the interim etc.. but I suppose a lot of this is neither here nor there.

Obviously we're not looking to make a profit from this, but to be put back into the same position we were at before the accident. Don't fancy letting the insurance company trod all over us either seeing as it's our first time dealing with this sort of thing.

Would appreciate and advice or peoples previous experiences in scenarios similar to this.

Thanks

Your solicitor should be able to make a claim for Miscellaneous expenses it's common enough

To Elland Back

You are entitled to claim for the value of the car at the time of the loss, reasonable car hire (no more than 2/3 weeks, even though it took years to resolve) and other reasonable expenses incurred. I'm surprised that your solicitor hasn't sorted it for you

Morby

Thanks for the responses. We're meeting with the solicitor next week to discuss the above.

We're all new to this though and don't want to be walked all over by the insurance company and are not sure how receptive they will be to negotiating given the way they have treated us thus far.

Would still be very interested to hear of any similar stories and how they got on with insurance companies from other members on here.

bear1

The first offer by the insurance company is usually the lowest. Id talk to your solicitor and more than likely refuse the first offer.

To Elland Back

Back to my point about your solicitor. They should be experienced enough to know what your claim is worth and what is a reasonable offer by the insurer. Luckily, none of us is used to being in the position you find yourself in. Hopefully, you have the right person in your corner

Don't be concerned about how they have handled this so far, they have a duty to defend their client until liability is eventually decided. Now that it has, they will want to box it off for what similar claims go for

Ken.

If it was me I'd be looking at a few websites and seeing what the average a honda accord with your specs is going for today. That would be the absolute minimum I'd be accepting off the insurance company.

Had an uncle in a similar situation and the insurance company low balled him. Went to court and the judge awarded everything my uncle was looking for and told the insurance company that if he'd asked for more he'd have got it because of their arse dragging in a clear cut case. 3 years 4 months from accident to court.

Don't know how clear cut your wife's was.

Skatedude

I wish you well and hope it works out for you, i was rear ended while stationary waiting for a roundabout and after 8 months with a solicitor i managed to to get app 1/3 the price of replacing my car with the same model car. Insurance can be just for show with some companies.

Cee-Jay-Cee

They've admitted liability by offering you €4500. Tell them you want €10k or see you in court. They will pay it as it'll cost them more if they go to court.

My mother in law was in an accident where she was 100% in the right and suffered a broken wrist and her car was totalled. The first offer was an insulting €2500 for the value of the car. I dealt with the insurance company on her behalf, I basically told them not to ring write or contact us until they were prepared to offer €12500. They rang back 2 days later and offered it (in full settlement)

TheDoc

I'm about to go through a similar situation myself. I was hit by another driver at fault during the week. Damage is minimal, but still €800 for it to be repaired. It's a 00 Opel Astra Sport model, and I value it higher then normal as a brand new engine went in from Opel a number of years into use. Serviced every year and kept in pristine condition.

Speaking with my insurance company today they have indicated it will likely be a write-off, and the offer will be based on the market value of the car.

Is a solicitor probably where this is going? I want my car repaired, I'm in no situation to buy a new car, and I'm really not going to deal with any stress or hit to my pocket from someone else's mistake.

The more I've had to deal with insurance past the initial paying my insurer a premium each year, the more I question what the hell is the point of it all. In my situation it looks very much like I'm going to be pressured by both the party that was in the wrong and crashed into me, and their insurer.

Cee-Jay-Cee

TheDoc wrote: »

I'm about to go through a similar situation myself. I was hit by another driver at fault during the week. Damage is minimal, but still €800 for it to be repaired. It's a 00 Opel Astra Sport model, and I value it higher then normal as a brand new engine went in from Opel a number of years into use. Serviced every year and kept in pristine condition.

Speaking with my insurance company today they have indicated it will likely be a write-off, and the offer will be based on the market value of the car.

Is a solicitor probably where this is going? I want my car repaired, I'm in no situation to buy a new car, and I'm really not going to deal with any stress or hit to my pocket from someone else's mistake.

The more I've had to deal with insurance past the initial paying my insurer a premium each year, the more I question what the hell is the point of it all. In my situation it looks very much like I'm going to be pressured by both the party that was in the wrong and crashed into me, and their insurer.

The thing is your not. Tell them you'll settle for €5000 as a full and final settlement. Tell them that you dictate what happens and you'll speak with your solicitor if they don't settle quickly. They usually will as it'll cost considerably more if it were to go to court. Dont let them bully you, dont take any first or second offers and stick to your guns, you need a car and €800 won't get you one.

TheDoc

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

The thing is your not. Tell them you'll settle for €5000 as a full and final settlement. Tell them that you dictate what happens and you'll speak with your solicitor if they don't settle quickly. They usually will as it'll cost considerably more if it were to go to court. Dont let them bully you, dont take any first or second offers and stick to your guns, you need a car and €800 won't get you one.

Well I don't want to get extorting anyone either.

I just want my car repaired. €5000 sounds a bit of an excessive figure to be asking for

But I know what you mean, €800 is not getting me a car that is the same quality and spec for what I have, and on top of that, there will costs involved relating to car hire(I drive to and from work) and also getting an engineer to come out and assess the car to get it back on the road, which can range from €100-300 I'm told.

I don't have much time for being messed about, I really just dislike how in these scenarios it appears the person who was totally innocent ends up wit hthe stress and burden of getting things sorted. My car has a market value imo of €1000, so if that was offered as the write off I'd happily accept as it will cover the cost of the repair and assessment. But then they arn't going to offer me that if they write off will they

To Elland Back

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

The thing is your not. Tell them you'll settle for €5000 as a full and final settlement. Tell them that you dictate what happens and you'll speak with your solicitor if they don't settle quickly. They usually will as it'll cost considerably more if it were to go to court. Dont let them bully you, dont take any first or second offers and stick to your guns, you need a car and €800 won't get you one.

You're asking a person who is looking for reasonable advice to commit fraud? Why would you do that? The Doc, stand your ground and demand what you think is the fair market value, plus any other out of pocket expenses you have, such as car hire. If you feel the 3rd party's insurers are not being reasonable, PM me and I can recommend a good solicitor who specialises in these things. They don't charge you a fee or a % of your settlement, they bill the 3rd party

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

They will. I spent ages finding a nice, straight little micra for my cousin as a present for doing well in her exams. Put a year's tax & test on it for her. She was barely on the road a month when some lad rear ended it. He wasn't even insured, though the car was, in his wife's name.

They tried to say it'd be written off for market value, but I was having none of it, I spent long enough sourcing the car. They first wanted it taken to their approved repairer (dearest fella in town), I said no, that I had a guy in mind for the repairs, but if they wanted to use their lad purely for assessment, I would. Then they said that because my fella wasn't their approved repairer that they couldn't guarantee his work.

I said that's fine, he'll guarantee his own work. Last of all they reiterated that if the repairs exceed 60% of the valuation that it'd be written off. I said no it won't, and if you offer me that, then I'll reject it & sue you for the cost of repairs.

Cousin got a call from my repair guy 2 hours later, giving her an appointment to drop the car into them, and they sorted her out a brand spanking new little rental for the few days that her car was off the road.

Just be polite, but firm. Explain that the car's worth more to you than the market value & you just want it fixed. They'll never fight you in court over a few hundred quid.

Cee-Jay-Cee

To Elland Back wrote: »

You're asking a person who is looking for reasonable advice to commit fraud? Why would you do that? The Doc, stand your ground and demand what you think is the fair market value, plus any other out of pocket expenses you have, such as car hire. If you feel the 3rd party's insurers are not being reasonable, PM me and I can recommend a good solicitor who specialises in these things. They don't charge you a fee or a % of your settlement, they bill the 3rd party

it is not fraud and I'd ask you to retract that comment! It's compensation for the loss of his car, the whole stress of having to sort a replacement, taxing the new car, organising transfer of insurance (and possible increase depending on car type/value) It's compensation for being hit by another driver through no fault of your own. It's compensation for having to deal with insurance companies who do everything to screw you no matter if your the innocent party or culprit in the collision.

He has a car he values himself at €1000. Now if he were offered and accepted €1000 I'm quite sure he would incur considerable costs trying to find a car which has been maintained and kept to the same level as the last one for that price. No one replaces a 00 car with another 00 car, through nonfaultvof his own he's being forced to have to look for a new car when his own was in pmo and not in need of repairs and/or replacement.

The €5000 figure is compensation not the value of the car.

TheDoc

The actual driver involved is very reasonable, and I understand fully they want to try avoid going through their insurance. And I, just want to get my car repaired with no hassle or frills.

So we had another chat there where I agreed to go to another garage to get a second estimate. If it's cheaper (which it probably will be) they will just cover the cost themselves. Result for me to be honest. The thought of a write-off and potential costs to me were freaking me out

To Elland Back

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

it is not fraud and I'd ask you to retract that comment! .

Having read your detailed explanation, not a chance!

Skylinehead

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

it is not fraud and I'd ask you to retract that comment! It's compensation for the loss of his car, the whole stress of having to sort a replacement, taxing the new car, organising transfer of insurance (and possible increase depending on car type/value) It's compensation for being hit by another driver through no fault of your own. It's compensation for having to deal with insurance companies who do everything to screw you no matter if your the innocent party or culprit in the collision.

He has a car he values himself at €1000. Now if he were offered and accepted €1000 I'm quite sure he would incur considerable costs trying to find a car which has been maintained and kept to the same level as the last one for that price. No one replaces a 00 car with another 00 car, through nonfaultvof his own he's being forced to have to look for a new car when his own was in pmo and not in need of repairs and/or replacement.

The €5000 figure is compensation not the value of the car.

You've just made up the 5000 figure though, on what basis is it that high?

coolbeans

Skylinehead wrote: »

You've just made up the 5000 figure though, on what basis is it that high?

On the "I've paid my insurance premium for years now I want a piece of that fat pie" basis. €5000 for a car worth less than a fifth of that figure. Jog on man!