Nightmare

[D1gger5]

So:-

silver car "Cat B" Spares only - I KNEW THAT!!!
white car "Cat D" - I KNEW THAT!!!

The assessor will respond with payout values for both cars tomorrow or Friday.

The silver one cost me originally £200 as a non runner with no interior and only two months MOT remaining four years ago. So will that £200 buy me another similar model?

The assessor said that they would not take the cars - so I have two modified cars that are worth market value, whatever that may be. What will I accept as a value? How much are they in Autotrader/EEKbay? How far must I travel to get one?

And to think some people milk it for all its worth (Hire a Porker circa £1K a day).

Diggers

 

[Xtractorfan]

One thing you cant do is take money or any civil action against a driver who is insured if he is at fault..or not.. The responsibility falls directly on the insurance company, that is why the guy has insurance.. As for paying extra for legal insurance, this is a rip off and a way of making extra money for legal firms and insurance companies..its a bit like payment protection on loans etc.. you dont need it 'cos your insurance company has a legal liability to fight your case.. .. and if a legal firm writes asking for money..they do.. but you pass this on to your insurance company, this is their way of getting round the data protection act.. and lets your insurance co. know of the impending claims..
Oh and the other point about legal insurance, the firms who operate this scheme have a tendancy to sit and wait until the insurance companies have the problem sorted and then take the credit and your money plus they get paid for writing a few letters..great little business to be in..

 

[toby_tobias]

Extractorfan-

I am sure your right about the legal protection being a bit of a scam, it was only after the claim was all sorted that we got a letter from them asking for compensation ( although we were the none fault driver!) that we forward to our insurers, who promptly paid up despite our pleas for them not to. It seemed like a very easy way to make money.

 

[MarkCL]

Well the verdict is in - the assessor reckoned it was going to cost around £6k to repair it which is more than 75% of the estimated value so they're writing it off :evil: Apparently that's the rule they use with regard to repair costs. He then started in by offering just £5.5k for mine which I simply couldn't accept. Trouble is, without an agreed value policy in place the best you can do is argue back & forth and look at current cars for sale etc. In the end he grudgingly went up to £6k, which I'm still not happy with to be honest as I'm damn sure I would have gotten more for mine if I'd put it up for sale what with all the history etc - I'd much rather just have my car back. I'm not prepared to buy it back as scrap and get it fixed up myself thoug as it's just more hassle than I'm prepared to go through to be honest.

It just wouldn't be the same anyway I think. I'm still fuming that (a) it happened in the first place (I hope they throw the book at the guy that caused the accident!) and (b) that regardless of the condition of my car I'm having to fight for a price that I didn't want and don't think is fair as I wasn't planning on selling my car at all! I wanted to keep it till I was good and ready to get something worthy as a replacement.

Having spent two years bringing mine up to perfect mechanical order I'm just not prepared to go through it all again with another C43 so it'll have to be something different - just not sure what now. So, word of warning to any of you C36 or C43 owners out there - if you possibly can I suggest you get a valuation from a respected independant and approach the club to endorse this view and then go get yourselves an agreed value insurance policy as it'll be the only way you really get what you know your car is worth should such a situation as has happened to me happens to any of you. I've now got a lot of hard thinking to do about what to get next and to be really honest my heart's not in it at the moment

Cheers,
Mark

 

[television]

Thanks Mark for telling us, I can understand how you feel, it is a rotten business, but it happens all of the time.

You do drive home the importance of a fixed value policy on these rare cars, just thinking about my own SL with every option, I would never accept one without, but hardly any around

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Well the verdict is in - the assessor reckoned it was going to cost around £6k to repair it which is more than 75% of the estimated value so they're writing it off

Condolences Mark. I have been there, and it just feels like a bereavement aggravated by an insurance system which takes the broad view and can not, or will not accommodate such events.

They do, after all say that the premium is based on "risk assessment" - you pay extra for the performance of your car - presumably the risks are the perceived extra risk of collision, and the costs of repair.

In this case you did not even arrange the collision, so it seems mean that the risk assessed premium is not capable of funding proper recompense.

"Agreed value" policies are exactly that, but they do cost a lot more, and they really only help in the event of a write off. I had one for my SL, but calculated that, through the premium, I was speedily paying the full value of the car anyway, so I reverted to a normal policy, though I risk a similar hit to yours in the event of a write off.

 

[Dave Brooker]

I'd much rather just have my car back. I'm not prepared to buy it back as scrap and get it fixed up myself thoug as it's just more hassle than I'm prepared to go through to be honest.

How badly damaged is it?

Can you not buy it back and get it fixed up by a smaller bodyshop using good used parts?

 

[television]

How badly damaged is it?

Can you not buy it back and get it fixed up by a smaller bodyshop using good used parts?

Welcome Dave to the forum with a good question,,we should have a photo up really on this one

 

[stuartmac]

Hi,

I suspect the assumptions and generalizations I have made probably reflect what happens for real.

My experience is based on a couple of decades beating up insurance companies with the law.

ultimately Mark can sue the rear-ending driver". In principle that is absolutely spot on - but how often does it happen successfully?

I've never had to do it myself but I do know of one case locally where it was done successfully; however, that was successful at least in part because the person found by the court to be at fault was a relatively wealthy business owner.

That said, over the years, the law and other regulation applied particularly to motor insurers has changed considerably; it's now more likely that an insurance company will pay the entire third-party assessment, then go after its insured itself if there's been any wrong-doing.

We would then need recourse to "an expert on 1999 C43's" such as no individual insurer would retain, bearing in mind that Mark is "entitled to the cost of buying a similar (in every sense of the word) vehicle".

Not necessarily. For example, because I've some unusual motorcycles, I take a few pictures every year, especially after major changes; I keep a file on each with the photos all the bills. If the worst were to happen, all this, assessed by someone/organization demonstrably independent and relatively 'expert', would be acceptable certainly to a Small Claims or County court.

Bear in mind that civil actions are decided on 'balance of probablities', so the insurance company must have something to 'balance' against your evidence. While it will undoubtedly have your evidence assessed, as long as you aren't making wildly-exaggerated claims, what other independent expert (in the widest sense of the term) is going to disagree?

piece together a civil action, an expert witness,

So, no.

the inertia of the legal system,

Only there because the legal eagles will send letters to one another rather than do anything. Simple claim, I can get a Small Claims Court action going within three months tops.

an opposing team who will argue that the insurers offer was reasonable

They'd have to have demonstrable grounds - they couldn't just argue that was reasonable.

It could be a real campaign,

Like a lot of things, the first one I ever did looked scarily-daunting and time-consuming. Once I discovered what was really involved, how much help you, as an individual, get from the administration part of the civil courts system and how quickly insurance companies will roll over when faced with the right actions, it became easier (not to mention very satisfying).

I guess the OP was close to the mark with the title of the thread - "Nightmare".

I'm not saying it's the easiest thing in the world but "Nightmare" very much depends on individual circumstances and motivation.

One thing you cant do is take money or any civil action against a driver who is insured if he is at fault..or not.. The responsibility falls directly on the insurance company,

Nope, that isn't how the law works.

In the first instance, you contact the offending driver, or the vehicle keeper. It used to be that you had to keep on at these 'til they officially informed their insurer, usually by the action of filling in a claim form. Nowadays, with the existence of the Motor Insurers Database, you can contact the vehicle insurer direct and they are obliged to take action.

Thereafter, you usually deal direct with the insurer but you always have the option of going back to the driver/keeper at any time - I've usually done this when the insurer tries the 'slow' option. :roll: Certainly, if you have to resort to the 'nuclear option' - going to court - the summons is issued to the driver/keeper, never to the insurance company. The insurance company might be who pays for the defence but that's because their legal status is an 'agent of the insured' - the insured is always 'First Party' in the contact of insurance while the insurance company is the 'Second Party'.

your insurance company has a legal liability to fight your case

Nope. If you read your (any) insurance document, it'll have something along the lines that, if the insurance company takes on the case (i.e. what you're paying for), they can administer and settle it as they see fit. This is why we get bonkers decisions like reimbursing an at-fault third party her excess, 'cos its cheaper than fighting it!

getting round the data protection act

Eh? Where did that come in?

great little business to be in..

You are properly cynical about the worst ones but overly cynical about the better ones, imho.

Hth

Regards,

 

[dervmerc]

Unfortunately insurance companies don't consider our "emotive" value,just the cheapest way to conclude a claim.

 

[D1gger5]

I got my accident compensation value yesterday and agreed on it rather than try and get even more - not bad amount to go into the pot towards the SL. I made a profit on the insurance (or broke even if you include the enhancements) plus keep the cars.

The Cat D car needs a little welding/filling on the wing which will take about half a day. The Cat B spares only is being purchased by a friend for his 1972 Mk 1 Capri restoration project.

It is gutting to lose a family friend, more so when you have tended it with care, but you soon get another model and that becomes the new friend that you cherish and care for.

Diggers

 

[adl]

You want to go over to Pistonheads and contact someone called Anniesdad he owns an accident management company he will be able to assist.

As stated earlier you legally aren't allowed to be in a position worse than prior to the accident, you should insist to your insurance company that as the other person is 100% at fault that you car is repaired to your satisfaction. The 75% market value is poppycock, stick to your guns.

Failing that get the car from the insurance company and sue the other party for the balance of funds to repair the car.

In future get GAP insurance, or insure via chubb with guaranted value.