60 replies to this topic

[The Matt]

I would also take the salvage value into account really. If you're getting it back you'll be able to sell a load of your stuff on with relative ease. Maybe the £2k isn't soooo bad really.

[The Matt]

what did you put as the valuation on the car when you got the insurence??? also a full re spray is no more then £1500 the guy is talking bull.
The worse thing is that if you put the valuation of the car lower then the price its going to cost them to fix they will just write it off and give you the valuation minus that excess surely?? which may screw you over.
I will be putting a value of 6-7 grand on mine as its what im paying to restore it so it sure as hell will be what they pay out for it if they want to write it off! lol

But the insurance company will NEVER pay out exactly what someone's put into restoring a car. As far as what you tell them the car's worth when getting a quote is concerned, that's just a guide. They'll pay out what they deem to be market value (or in most cases offer a lot less).

[se_juggles]

what did you put as the valuation on the car when you got the insurence??? also a full re spray is no more then £1500 the guy is talking bull.
The worse thing is that if you put the valuation of the car lower then the price its going to cost them to fix they will just write it off and give you the valuation minus that excess surely?? which may screw you over.
I will be putting a value of 6-7 grand on mine as its what im paying to restore it so it sure as hell will be what they pay out for it if they want to write it off! lol

But the insurance company will NEVER pay out exactly what someone's put into restoring a car. As far as what you tell them the car's worth when getting a quote is concerned, that's just a guide. They'll pay out what they deem to be market value (or in most cases offer a lot less).

they have no choice if its a valuation they agreed upon then they have to pay it

thats like me getting insurence and not crashing for 1 year then not paying the next because there service wasnt worth the money i spent....

id instently take them to court and garentee they would pay me off before it even got there knowing that they would have no case

[The Matt]

I wasn't referring to your agreed valuation, I was referring to what he put as a value when he took out his policy.

[Beej123]

To be fair 2k doesn't look like a bad valuation for the car, if I was you I would work on trying to get the car back as cheaply as possible or even for nothing, then you have 2k to repair the damage to the car.
If you like, send me a load of pictures of the damage, as detailed as possible and we will give you a quote on the repair work, then you have another figure to give the insurance company that is from a Mini specialist.
Rear end damage even with a respray wouldn't come to 2k I would say (haven't seen the car so it is a guesstimate) so you can have your car back to its former glory if you can get the salvage cost down.

[Guess-Works.com]

I wasn't referring to your agreed valuation, I was referring to what he put as a value when he took out his policy.

To reinforce what Matt has said...

There are two types of valuations on vehicles, the valuation which you put on the car when you insure it ( usually the purchase price ), and this is used primarily to calculate the premium based on that and other risk factors. This is NOT an agreed valuation and is only there as a guide. As time goes on this valuation is subject to change because of depreciation, usage of vehicle and wear and tear.

An agreed valuation is a separate document to the insurance which states the condition of the vehicle, usually coupled with a number of photographs and sometimes an engineers report or supporting documentation by a recognised organisation, for example the British Mini Owners Club. This agreed valuation will usually cost a small amount to administer and protects your investment.

[joshspragg]

Just out of curiosity, and you obviously don't have to answer if you don't want to, but which insurance company is it? If it's a run-of-the-mill high-street organisation, it's probably no surprise that they haven't a clue about current market trends with the Mini but if it's a specialist then it seems to me there's no excuse...unfortunately insurance companies are arses most of the time but the pain of fighting them is worth it. I had a claim once that took a year to settle (insurance company was the AA) but on principal I wasn't prepared to let it go and I got what I wanted in the end.

Don't give up!!

its direct line who is the 3rd party insurers so they are the 'run-of-the-mill high-street' organisation.

[joshspragg]

but its all well and good you saying accept it and repair it, what am i gonna drive for the next 2 weeks? and what if somehow the bills shoot up 200 quid more than what the insurance have paid me? i dont see why i should have to put my hand in my own pocket to pay for this. i'd rather be able to pay for it all and have a little bit of cash left just for the safe side.

plus it being written off wheres the value of the car gone now? i could repair it in the most amazing condition and before a crash it could be worth 3000 but with it being a write off no one will want to buy it. so its a loss for me if i ever go to sell it on.

[craig 1010cc]

How are you getting about at the minute? When I was rear ended a few years back, the £500 a week they were paying out for a hire car helped to keep them interested

I wouldn't let direct line (or any insurance company) send a mini off to thier approved bodyshops, they have a fixed price for each job and they will try and do it as quick as poss. Fine for a mondeo, not for yoru pride and joy. If it is going to be repaired, make sure it goes to a bodyshop you trust (the place you got it painted at would be a good place, they should hopefully be able to match the paint)

If I was in your situation, the first thing to do is have a long hard think about what you realisticly think you could have sold it for. Look at similar private sales, and knock a bit off (you'd never pay the asking price normally) and set this in your head as the value you need to exceed. Then have think about how much you could break it or sell it for as it stands

I would be looking to get the pay out value of your car raised using places like P&L minis/ GC minis ect stock to show the current retail values. Then I would look to get the salavge price down for your current mini (shouldn't be more than 20% so unless they are agreeing your mini is worth 3k, 600 sounds a bit steep). You might find that they will be happier selling your car back cheaper than upping the payout.

Then if you can get the pay out - buy back + selling/breaking price to be more than the sale value you came up with, then you are prob about as good a deal as your going to get.

It is worth asking for a hirecar for 1-2 weeks after they payout so you can find a replacement (a reasonable request, but your age might be a problem with that) then you have a couple of options

either get yours repaired and VIC tested and backon the road

Sell off yours complete as a project and go and find a new mini with this and the payout

or buy another mini with the payout (I see you were looking at mini clubby estates), and then use your current mini to update the mechanicals/ interior if wanted and sell off the remains (if the shell is a good as you say, even with the ben rear end the shell with docs should sell for a bit). This is what I would do.

[Ethel]

Agreed values are meaningless if you're claiming off someone else's insurance (as should be the case here). They can give you salvage on the car without writing it off.

It's because of those potential extra costs that they'd prefer to write it off with a single payment up front. They are liable for all your (reasonable) related expenses & losses until they make a fair offer; if you need a car, hire one.

[mk3 Cooper S]

what did you put as the valuation on the car when you got the insurence??? also a full re spray is no more then £1500 the guy is talking bull.
The worse thing is that if you put the valuation of the car lower then the price its going to cost them to fix they will just write it off and give you the valuation minus that excess surely?? which may screw you over.
I will be putting a value of 6-7 grand on mine as its what im paying to restore it so it sure as hell will be what they pay out for it if they want to write it off! lol

But the insurance company will NEVER pay out exactly what someone's put into restoring a car. As far as what you tell them the car's worth when getting a quote is concerned, that's just a guide. They'll pay out what they deem to be market value (or in most cases offer a lot less).

they have no choice if its a valuation they agreed upon then they have to pay it

thats like me getting insurence and not crashing for 1 year then not paying the next because there service wasnt worth the money i spent....

id instently take them to court and garentee they would pay me off before it even got there knowing that they would have no case

If you can get them to agree to the valuation and are prepared to pay for the loading on the policy!!!!!

[CooperMad93]

I've had enough of arguments with garage folk over my cars, I go elsewhere if that's the case

[Sam14]

Your insurance company should provide you with a hire car and recovery all the costs from the other party and you can have that until you have your mini repaired.

[joshspragg]

to clear a few things up. i do have a courtesy car atm. like ethel said agreed valuations are pretty pointless as i'm claiming on someone elses insurance.

and a response to what ethel said about hiring a car, you have to be 21 to hire a car so i wont be able to.

i've called my insurance and the 3rd party insurance and said what i think my car is worth and i have sent an email with plenty of links of minis the same age and similar mileage so hopefully they'll be sent to the engineer.

i have also complained about the engineer, i said he was lying to me and making up prices and treated me like i know nothing. so hopefully he'll get a kick up the backside or they'll swap engineers.

and all i can do is wait now. i'll be phoning up next week to see if anything else has happened,