Help car insurance valuation

[Mabs]

long story short:
bunch of stupid wankers managed to total my car at the weekend

its been written off by the insurers, and waiting to hear what they reckon its worth so i can fail to get a replacement. however:

ive been told that when they give you the quote you can contest it, so :

is that true ?
is it sensible to do it ?
and if you do ,can it then go down ?

 

[MYstIC G]

Sorry to hear that. To be honest, I know nothing. Best read I've come across is this: Accidents and Theft : insurance valuation - The AA

I take that to mean they should give you enough money to buy a like for like replacement and if they don't it's up to you to prove to them they're short changing you.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

A good idea is to look through Autotrader etc and try to find the closest replacements you can for your car and the prices being asked for them. As I understand it the Insurance companies often try to get away with under valuation, but do change if the evidence is strong.

The condition of the car before the accident would also effect the value, as well as mileage etc, so any proof that you have of that may help too.

RB

 

[Gumbo]

A good idea is to look through Autotrader etc and try to find the closest replacements you can for your car and the prices being asked for them. As I understand it the Insurance companies often try to get away with under valuation, but do change if the evidence is strong.

The condition of the car before the accident would also effect the value, as well as mileage etc, so any proof that you have of that may help too.

RB

Everything RB says is the truth, they will start with a low offer, which you can and should contest, but you need to provide the proof for why you think it is worth more. Even better than just ads is ads with 'sold' written on them, check on Pistonheads as the ads stay up for a bit longer with 'sold via pistonheads' on them.

Was the accident your fault? You could use a claims management company if it wasn't which can see you sorted out with a decent courtesy car, whether you specced one when you took the policy out or not, they will often do the arguing over valuation for you. I can give you the name of a well respected one which the Lotus community seem to use, if you need it.

 

[Mabs]

definately wasnt my fault, wasnt in it at the time

peons lost control overtaking, went across road, and into parked cars

was an 8 year old Vectra, only had 50k miles on it

apart from being smashed to fuck its still in good condition ;\

 

[old.user4556]

Yes, you can and should contest it, but it really depends on what it was worth and what they are offering to give you.

For example, if it's worth £1200 and they offered you £1100, then I wouldn't bother.

 

[Scouse]

Yep. They start with a low offer. Send it back to them a minimum of THREE times. They expect that and will raise it by a hundred or so quid each time.

Then, when you get to the third time the monkey at the screen will read from her script and I quite "we've come to the end of the negotiation process now" - and that's where your real negoatiation skills kick in

 

[Wazzerphuk]

A good idea is to look through Autotrader etc and try to find the closest replacements you can for your car and the prices being asked for them. As I understand it the Insurance companies often try to get away with under valuation, but do change if the evidence is strong.

The condition of the car before the accident would also effect the value, as well as mileage etc, so any proof that you have of that may help too.

RB

^^ This. I've had to do it on a couple of occasions, the second time I got an extra £400 out of them by being very careful about the car selection I gave them as evidence. Make sure you only go for ones you know are your value or preferably higher, as they will go for the lower value ones. The higher you can get to give them, the more likely they are to give you what your care is actually worth.