100% Non fault claim

[LittleMissHappy]

I feel like i'm always asking advice for other people here!!!

 

Short story, My dads car was parked on the road, Gent driving down the road didn't stop and hit my dads car pushing it about 150 ft down the road. (dads car was a volvo estate).

 

Fortunately the gent had insurance.

 

It has been declared a write off my dads insurance co. Not heard anything for 13 days decided to ring the insurance company they say they sent a letter out last Thursday offering £200.

 

Yes my dads car was very old (E reg) but is was extreemly reliable, just recently had a MOT.

 

We wont be accepting this offer. (i assume we can do that?)

 

I have been searching the web for similar cars (so we have some form of back up to reject their offer) but there doesn't seem to be many around.

 

How similar do the cars have to be? How much leeway with age, style, milage is reasonable?

 

Many thanks in advance for any replies:-)

[Mwynci]

I'm assuming the third party insurers have valued. if not my post is not a huge amount of use.

No problem with turning down the cheque, bank it but let them know it's an interim, sending it back will do nothing

If this is the case you are in an awkward position, where you have to prove the amount, you could go out and get your own engineer, but this will probably cost as much as the increase you may (they could come up with the same) get. If you complain, you can only go so far as you are third party and cannot go to the FOS. IF you issue, they probably have an engineers confirmation of the amount, you would still have to prove this.

Re valuation, you would need a pretty exact match, mileage can be different, reg can be out a littlie bit, but it has to be the same model spec. Get as meany examples as you can, but if only one or two are around, use this to your advantage by stating these are the market therefore they need to be in line with these.

Their offer is lame, the second hand car market is strong right now, any vehicle with an MOT offering a full years driving must be worth £4-500.00.

The bottom line is they don't have to be nice to you, just offer indemnity.Gone are the days where insrurers are nice to thrid party's, they tried that apporach and they still lost money.

Ask them nicely for another couple of hundred, ask what they would need for an increase, complain, be a nag, claim loss of use (unless they have given hire) at £10.00 per day.

Good luck, I hate to see a good car being ruined for no good reason.

[unclebulgaria67]

I am not sure the guides Insurers use e.g. glass.co.uk will have the current market value of E reg cars. See if they do, but be aware to get a value from the guide costs £3.50. This may just prove that £200 is about right.

 

See what you can find in the small ads for a similar car. It must be for the same make/model, but not necessarily the same milleage. There are plenty of Volvo estates around of the same age, as they are built to last.

 

Don't argue for too long, as if the Insurers increase their offer it will only be by a very amount, to reflect the new MOT and things like service record. The Insurers settlement should put your Dad in a position to buy a similar replacement car, but as he will probably be looking at something a bit newer, he will have to come to a compromise. If the car has road tax then the tax disc can be sent to DVLA to obtain the relevant refund for unused tax.

 

I have just checked Auto Trader and I can get a P reg for £595. Have a look for yourself.

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/

[LittleMissHappy]

Many thanks for replies.

 

I have found several volvo estates they were the right age but different models. Will go back and look for the right model and see what I can find.

 

Dad is really gutted because it was so reliable.

 

Thanks again

[LittleMissHappy]

This is still on going and I would really appreciate any advise.

 

I will try and keep this short and understandable!

 

Parked car (no one in it) got hit by third party over 4 weeks ago. Rang insurance company to report it. They took all the details told me I wouldn't have any excess to pay and passed me through to another company who organised a hire car. Hire car arrived the following day and didn't hear anything for about 2 weeks. rang insurance company to find out what was happening they tell me a letter in the post offering £200. Nothing arrives.

 

Try ringing insurance company again can't get hold of them.

 

Receive a cheque from insurance company for £50 along with a letter from hire car people who act like they are dealing with the claim so ring them and tell then the insurance company have sent a cheque for £50 and this isn't good enough, they agree and say they will email the insurance comapny to see what is happening.......................hear nothing.

 

Phone my broker to find out if they can help and they put me onto another company who will deal with me.

 

Phone this new comapny who sound like they will be able to help, they ask to email any adverts for a similar car along with any other details which may be relevant. I do this and hear nothing, after a week I email and ask for a response to the email.

 

I received an email basically telling me I shouldn't have the hire car anymore I should sent a copy of the letter whic came with the cheque (no letter, only cheque in evelope) to hire car people and basically thats it. They say they will try and claim the £150 excess which my insurers have taken out even though I have it in writing they wont be deducting any excess.

 

The whole thing seems to be a complete mess, I have a hire car which is costing someone £66 a day, I have had the car for 30 days now.

 

What can I do, Can I go direct to the third parties insurers? Can I put in a complaint about how the whole thing has been handled.

 

The impression I get is my insurance company is raking in the cash for themselves (on the hire car) and whatever other costs they can claim but are doing jack for me.

 

Also why do my insurers pay out the money?

 

I am so confused and angry by this whole situation, I paid my premium and they are doing nothing in return.

 

Sorry for the rant but i would really like some advise on how I stand with this.

 

 

Ooops not as short as I thought!!!!!!!

[unclebulgaria67]

They probably have so many claims going through that yours has got caught in the system somewhere. I think your dad needs to speak to his broker/Insurers about this.

 

It is possible that the third parties Insurers will not pay for the hire car beyond a couple of weeks hire. Your dad needs to ask his broker/Insurers who will be liable for the hire car costs, beyond what can be claimed back from the third parties Insurers. I would do this asap, so he knows the situation about this and can make a decision about whether he needs to hand the car back.

 

It sounds like given the value of the car, your dads Insurers have dealt with the claim and have passed responsibility to another company to reclaim all the various costs back from then third parties Insurers. So you have ended up with £50 based on the £200 car value less the excess and are now in limbo. The hire car costs will so far massively outstrip the cars value and I can't see the third parties Insurers paying. If this is so, will your Insurers or company dealing with this accept the excess hire car costs?