The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club®

[LeeSavell]

Hello,

Does anyone here work for an insurance company, I really need some help with a theft claim.

Many thanks,

Lee

[Google]

[SIAC]

Did you do it !!  

[LeeSavell]

He he  

The insurance company would probably treat the thievs better than their policy holders based on my current experiences.    

[SIAC]

give the info you can (no names, addresses etc) and you'll get sensible responses soon

[LeeSavell]

My other half's car was stolen and damaged......It's an R Reg SAXO VTR.......They removed many parts from the car, cut wiring etc etc etc which deemed the vehicle a total loss

I have done my homework looking at cars on "Cartrader" "Pistheads" "EPay" etc found vehicles with exact age mileage all for around £950

BUT the insurance company have offered £350

When I questioned them about this they said they go by the GLASS guide, I have paid £3.50 to get the exact same check done and the price they are quoting is the "TRADE IN" price against another vehicle and not the cost to purchase a like for like vehicle ie: Dealer/Private sale price.

So the question is what are my rights and how should I move on from here?

Any help and advice would be much appreciated.

Lee

[subzero]

was that there first offer ??

now before you do anything you need to print off as many examples of cars like yours to fight your case with

how much is your excess ?
was the policy paid in full or on direct debit ?

[LeeSavell]

[subzero]

[LeeSavell]

Thank you SUBZERO for you advice, and i wouldn't have thought about the trade ones.

Working on that as we speak.

Thanks

[REVOGEL]

A good source might be the Bay completed items, as this would reflect the actual price they sell for also of course Classified ads, but remember they are asking price not selling.

[subzero]

[SIAC]

have you checked ts and cs in the policy what does it say about total loss payouts?

[nodigitsever]

Insurance is yet another example of the "Victim" getting the poor deal!

why should you ever even lose a single Penny for being the Loser?, just doesn't make sense to me?!

[IGOR]

I do work for an insurance company and deal with  issues like the one you are raising all the time.  I've probably heard every argument in the book about valuations including the threats to my person, my family and where I work as well (yes people do get that wound up about it)

1st thing to remember is that your policy of insurance covers you for the value of your vehicle at the time of the incident NOT the cost of replacing it .. they are 2 totally separate things.

As Subzero has said, Insurers are reluctant to accept adverts for vehicles for sale as they don't establish the value of a car or what the vehicle actually sold for, they  simply are a starting point in a sale negotiation... how many people here turn up to a car dealers or private sale and hand over the full price of the car ?

When dealers price up a car that price has to include the cost of any rectification work, servicing, warranty, salesmans salary, costs of premises ..oh and and element of profit as well....hence the cars are "over priced" ...they are a business with the purpose to make money after all.

A written valuations from dealers tend not to carry much weight either ..... after all  the dealer is working on the basis that if helps you out then you're more likely to come back to him with a nice insurance cheque to spend ...an easy  cash sale for him...

Private adverts can be placed by anyone, I've even unearthed a case where a claimant put a false advert in a paper with an inflated value and tried using that to support his claim.

The way to approach this is to establish that your car was in the best possible condition for a vehicle of its age and type to back up the "top book" value that you think it is worth.

Things which will help you do this include full dealers service history,  proof of any major work done to th vehicle recently (this  helps establish that it was in good running order, not that the value has been increased by the cost of the work.) recent pictures of the car proving its in good condition also help (don't try any photoshop trickery  though).

Complete auctions on Ebay are a reasonably good source of proof as that provides the value of an actual sale price for that type of vehicle.

The argument of "never accept the first offer" they'll always increase"  is long outdated and irrelevant, The FSA and consumer actions (quite rightly) put an end to that around 15 years ago . ..insurers will generally value a car based on Glasses guide price of  it being in average to good condition (adjusted for mileage) unless the inspecting engineer advises it wasn't in good condition.  that's the way the Ombudsman has specified to insurers he expects to see cars valued, so that thew way insurers do it.

The amount of excess on the policy isn't really relevant ..  after all as a customer you agreed to pay the excess (probably to make the premium cheaper) at the start of the policy so trying to change your mind about it now or saying "ah yeah but  then  the excess comes off the value and that's not fair I cant replace the car for that"

Remember it's not personal ...the insurance company is not out to "do you", the claim handler doesn't get a bonus on how much  below a value they settle your claim for. Be polite , friendly and keep your cool and  the person you are dealing with will be much more amenable to helping you as much as they can ... go the other way, shout, swear at them, threaten them, accuse them of deliberately ripping you off and being out to get you and all that will happen is that they will less likely to want to try to help you.

The final option (and probably the best) if you are convinced that the insurer has seriously undervalued a car is to get your own QUALIFIED motor engineer to inspect the car and provide a report.

The AA or RAC are very good for this as they are acknowledged as being both expert and independent. this will cost somewhere in the region of  £150 ish but be aware you wont get the cost of the engineers fee back,  so unless you are 100% sure the car has been undervalued by more than the engineers fee it's a false economy.

I hope that's of some help  but feel free to  ask away if you have more questions.

[midnight buffalo]

[quote="IGOR"]

Remember it's not personal ...the insurance company is not out to "do you",

YEA RIGHT    

FACT they want your money but dont want to give you any back when somthing happens or they insult with a stupid offer