[loz_the_guru]

Had a nasty crash in my 206 on thursday, and unfortunately it looks like it'll be written off. I've had a flick through my policy and for some reason ive only given the estimated value as £1000. Its a 99T 206, and has only done 60k + has every bit of paper going, so in my opinion it should be worth more than this (although not by very much. Does this mean any moneys i am due will be capped at the £1000, or will it just be whatever they think?

Also, when giving me a price, do they take things like paperwork/mileage etc into account?

[Ron240]

I Know that you can wildly overestimate the value of your car, but unless you have an agreed value policy with your insurer, then they will only pay out the current market value, so it doesnt matter what you have stated.
To give an example....i renewed my insurance with a new company back in June, and when i looked over the policy, i noticed they had made a clerical error and stated the value of my car as £60,000 - i have a 2006 Focus Titanium.
I would like to think the opposite is also true - if you underestimate the value, you will still get current market value.
In fact, i dont know why standard insurance policies even bother to ask the value.

In a write off situation, it is common for insurance companies to make a low offer first, and hope you accept it. you are perfectly entitled to reject this first offer if your car is genuinely worth more. Condition, mileage etc would be grounds for this.
They should up their offer if this is the case.

[Honeywell1945]

A friend of mine undervalued his car , he got the banding wrong on the drop down box as by default it was £5,000-£25,000 , his car value was £32,000 , he never noticed . The car was unfortunately written off in a fault crash , he got £24,965 . When he tried to obtain more he was told he was under insured , it is like house insurance , under insure & you get a proportion back based on the fact you never paid the full premium involved .

[sean5302]

Hi Loz.

Have you checked sites such as Parker's?

Depending on which 206 it is you may be very lucky to get £1k for it.

2000/V Peugeot 206 1.1 L 3d Valuation - Parker's

It depends on the mood of the assessor, the phase of the moon and your knowledge about having to accept their first offer (don't).

Was the crash your fault?

If so, you'll have to be more accepting of their offer.
If not, you can take their offer and sue the instigator for the full cost of putting you where you were before the crash, ie an equivalent vehicle price.

[loz_the_guru]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I had a quick look at parkers the other day, I dont think itll be valued significantly higher, but would hope to get £1300-1400 for it to be honest. Its a 1.6 XS and was in immaculate condition before the crash, no problems with it whatsoever, and as I said all bits of paper/FSH etc.

The crash didnt involve another car, and was very strange. Whether or not i'm at fault is debatable, I basically went into a very solid wall after loosing grip in slippery conditions. Luckily I was only doing around 25-30mph otherwise it would have been very nasty indeed.


Back onto the original question, seems we have a difference of opinion so I guess i'll just have to wait and see. I've just checked my insurance document and the exact wording is 'estimated value' so I'm hoping that will give me a bit of room for manoeuvre. What do others think?

[DVD-Man]

When did you get the car?

Perhaps at the beginning of the year the £1K was more appropriate?

Liam

[sean5302]

This will be viewed as a "fault claim" by your insurer since no other vehicle was involved.

They will probably offer you around £650 to start with.

Unless you have a protected NCB your bonus will drop by 20% next year and your premiums will increase by 50% next year, 30% the year after, 20% year 3 etc until you're level again in year 5.

(ie premium taken at 100% currently, then 150% of current etc.)

You need to be aware of this as many folks with protected NCBs are surprised when their premiums increase, expecting they'd be protected too.

[loz_the_guru]

This is my first year of driving so effectively I have no no claims bonus as it is, otherwise I probably wouldnt bother claiming. Ive done a quick search on the price comparison websites, using my now defunct car, and my premiums appear to have gone up by about £200-250 compared to before the accident.

The car was only purchased in June, so i'm not sure if it would make that much of a difference really.

[sean5302]

Factors to consider:
How much would a good independent dealer charge to fix it?
Could you fix it yourself with parts from a scrapper?
If you get the insurance assessor to value it you are not obliged to pursue the claim.
How much can you afford to lose? You could get £600 to £800 for the claim and will pay an extra £250 this year, £150 next, £100 following year and £80 year after, which is £580 so I see it's close.

You only have to make it roadworthy depending on how you feel about driving with a few dents and strange colours (don't mention the VW Polo Harlequin).

Is it a complete wreck?

[paul1967]

Had the road been resurfaced if so you miht be able to claim agaist the council as this is common problem if you notice the new signs that go up when they have been done. it been on a few investigating programs.

[loz_the_guru]

Its not a complete wreck by any means but the chassy has been damaged (the front portion has been knocked forward on the left hand side). The local mechanic took a look and said it really wasnt worth it, and we've been going to him as a family for years.

The road hadnt been resurfaced, it was a bit wet and theres a lorry works entrance about 50m from where I came off. My suspicion would be a rogue patch of something or other dropped/spilt by a lorry, but ive absolutely no way of proving it.

Ive just got off the phone to the underwriters and they will be collecting/assessing/offering within the next 3 days. Thanks for all the help, i'll keep you posted and in the mean time feel free to chip in with any more nuggets of advice!

[dapprman]

Back to the value. Even if you can prove it will cost you more than £1000 to replace it with a like-for-like you'll most likely be capped. The premium you pay for your insurance is part based on the valuation and while you could plead that you were trying to be as honest as possible with the value but got it wrong, insurance companies are not exactly renowned for their compassion.

As some one else has already said, you also need to consider carefully if it's worth making a claim as your future premiums will be higher and some of the really cheap insurers may refuse to cover you in the near future, again raiding the premium price.

[penno116]

Yep insurers will pay you the sum insured or the market value whatever is less.

You can specify your vehilce value at anything you like but if you say it is worth £60,000 you premium will reflect this and they will pay market value, equally if you specify the value at £1 you will only be paid £1!

If valued over £1000 your insurers will take you excess then apply the limit, they will not cap it at £1000 then take the excess

[Ron240]

I am very sceptical about when you are asked to state the value...because i dont think it makes much difference, so i decided to do a little test...

I used all my existing details on confused.com to obtain 3 separate quotes starting on 1st Dec - 1st with a value of £6000, 2nd £60000 and 3rd £60
The results were more or less what i expected.
The 2nd quote had most of the insurers quoting exactly the same, but there were a small number that had increased by a few pounds.
The 3rd quote had most of the insurers quoting exactly the same, but there were a small number that had decreased by a few pounds.

There were a couple of notable exceptions - Admiral and Elephant - identical for quotes 1 & 3, but increased £144 and £149 respectively for quote 2.

When i was filling in the value, there was a help question mark next to it, and when i clicked on it, this is what it said....
"Overvaluing your car could result in increased premiums. Your car will generally be valued at market rate in the event of a claim where your vehicle is stolen or written off"
That to me, suggests that for total loss claims, it makes no difference what you have stated as the value.

[penno116]

I would check your policy wording also, it will say what they will pay out on. It will say one of two things either that they will pay market value and therefore your value will not mean a thing or pay the amount in the schedule, this way you value will reflect settlement.

[Ron240]

Originally Posted by penno116

or pay the amount in the schedule, this way you value will reflect settlement.

I hear what your saying, but this being the case, it would sugggest an agreed value policy, which is different to standard policies.

[penno116]

Originally Posted by Ron240

I hear what your saying, but this being the case, it would sugggest an agreed value policy, which is different to standard policies.

I totally agree, depends on who the insurers is.

[loz_the_guru]

Hmm all seems very confusing, my insurance is with Kwik Fit although the underwriters are Fortis, not sure if this makes a difference. From what ive been told on the phone, I think it will be the market value i'm paid, but I suppose i wont really know until i get my first offer.

On another point, how many offers should I refuse? Just the first one? And is there a way I can go about proving the value of my car?

[penno116]

Yeh fortis pay market value on their motor policies.

I never really get the 'refuse the first offer' rule a lot of insurers these days cannot be doing with arsing around with offering low first up knowing you will refuse it, it just wastes time and money. If i were you pay for a glass' guide valuation then you will know if the offer is fair, if its lower then just fax over the printout to them. It will cost you £3.50

Simples

[loz_the_guru]

Excellent, I was about to follow your advice to the letter when I read this just before making payment on the glass website:

Please note, valuations obtained from this site CANNOT be used for insurance settlement purposes. For more information on this, please click the 'FAQ' link at the top of this page.


Any other options? I presume they wont accept parkers either.

[DVD-Man]

You need to hit autotrader etc and get examples of the same spec cars and print them off.

Liam

[penno116]

Originally Posted by loz_the_guru

Excellent, I was about to follow your advice to the letter when I read this just before making payment on the glass website:

Please note, valuations obtained from this site CANNOT be used for insurance settlement purposes. For more information on this, please click the 'FAQ' link at the top of this page.


Any other options? I presume they wont accept parkers either.

Insurance engineers often use glass' to value the vehicle, it will be based on the trade value. I think it's probably just glass' covering their backsides

[loz_the_guru]

Bonza, really appreciate all the help everyones offered. Its only £3.50 so ive gone for it and got a quote, but i'm not sure which of the 5 prices I should push for. Ive got the following options:

Trade in - excellent: £1315
Trade in - average: £1155
Trade in - below average: £990
Dealer Retail price :£2400
Private Sale price: £1910

What do you reckon?

[penno116]

Maybe ask for £1300