insurance offer for a write off / salvage value

Psypher5

Psypher5

Psypher5

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Joined
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Birmingham
So, was in an incident on the M40, near standstill bump to a guy infront then got shunted in the rear. (Causing more damage to the guy infront)


I'm not arguing the claims etc yet (as nothing has happened...) but the insurance has just got back to me about my car..

So, my excess was £500, and they valued the car at £450 so they would just scrap it. Before they do, they were getting a final quote from the salvage yard as to howmuch my car was worth (how much I'd be finally getting)

Comes back as £25quid. Twenty five quid! Yes the car was old (T reg (98) mk2 clio) about 90k miles and the boot got hit quite bad (couldn't open the boot..)

Seriously though, £25?! I understand if I dispute it I'll have to get engineers reports / checks etc which I have to think is it worth the effort, but how can they get away with taking my car and telling me its worth £25 :/

Little rant, don't know what to do, if I can do anything at all.
 
Completely understand that, however insurance have said that it could take months (6+) to iron this all out. Claim for the first hit (and any damage his car has is my fault. acceptable) and then claim it back from the guy who hit me.

It's just all a bit confusing, (never had a claim/dealing with the insureres so, first time for everything) I feel like insurance are telling me the bare minimum and not actually explaining anything even though I ask multiple times.


I'm more concerned in how they have valued it as £25quid... (from 450) Surely scrap value is more than that?!

I 'spose it's just the initial sting, I'd spent 3 months over christmas fixing her up to pass the MOT and then they tell me they are sending a cheque for 25... urgh. And ontop of it I need to go buy a car now as I dont get a courtesy or anything.
 
The scrap yard my company uses is currently taking regular steel (not stainless) at £40-50/tonne.

Bear in mind that not all of your car is steel, there's probably quite a bit of hard plastic in there that is non-recyclable. Unfortunately regular steel isn't that valuable at the moment and cars tend to be built out of regular mild steel.

Of course, this is just the scrap value of the metal parts and I may be completely wrong!
 
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jono_astra said:
They shoudnt be giving you scrap value or trade value of a car. It should be the price that it would cost to replace that car with the same spec, condition and millage etc pre accident. You have the right to be in the same position as you were in before the accident happened.

after all your not a motor trader, and you dont buy cars at scrap value or at trade prices. You pay the retail price for that car.
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None of this is particularly relevant because he is claiming from his own insurer as if it was a fault claim at this stage (Which if he hit the guy in front first part of it *is* a fault claim). This is why they are mentioning the excess - and it's the excess that is resulting in him getting nothing for the car as the excess is similar to the cars value.
 
That's how I would be moving forward anyway. Assume responsibility for any front end damage, pay out third party for the person the OP hit. Claim for rear end damage, which will likely also be writing the car off anyway. So no excess to pay.
 
where is the car ? cancel your claim and get the scrapman to go pick it up ? i got 120 for a car just last month and that was collected , with bits missing.
 
jono_astra said:
Well it depends on if its relevance really. Reason being. Unless he is claiming for his car off his own insurance
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Which he is.

he shouldnt pay the excess unless its voluntary excess because his claim for his car should be made from the guy that then hit him.
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He will get his excess back once his insurer makes a recovery from the third party. Until that happens its processed as a fault claim.

This is why it's best not to go through your own insurer but the complex issue here is that there are two crashes - the OP crashed into somebody in front first - THEN was hit from behind. So he may have little choice but to deal with his own insurer to sort it all out as he's at fault for the first bit.
 
Yes, let the front car's driver claim from your insurer for their damage and you should claim directly from the rear person (who will no doubt pass to their insurers) for yours.

If you let your insurer claim for both impacts, you may be liable for two excess payments!
 
jono_astra said:
He needs to tell his insurance that he wont be claiming for his car through his policy, but will want his company to represent him in the claim for his car from the 3rd party that hit him.

That way he wont have to pay excess, and he will still be at fault, and will get a pay out for his car and be in the position he was pre accident.
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So what about the damage he caused to his car when he hit the guy in front?

This is too complex to go doing it like that, I think he needs to sit back and let his insurer sort the mess out and wait to be reimbursed any excess later (Which he won't be as he is at fault for the first collision and thus the first pile of repair work) if appropriate.

Dealing direct with the third party is the right thing to do when it's straight forward but not in a messy situation like this IMHO.
 
Psypher5,
What they actually valued your car at.... (£450) is this a true representation of what it would cost you to purchase a similar model with similar mileage and in similar condition?
 
[TW]Fox;28316333 said:
So what about the damage he caused to his car when he hit the guy in front?

This is too complex to go doing it like that, I think he needs to sit back and let his insurer sort the mess out and wait to be reimbursed any excess later (Which he won't be as he is at fault for the first collision and thus the first pile of repair work) if appropriate.

Dealing direct with the third party is the right thing to do when it's straight forward but not in a messy situation like this IMHO.
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He is at fault for the first collision, but my understanding of third party insurance is that the driver at fault doesn't pay any excess on this. Excess is only paid when you are claiming for your own repairs.

Sure, not every policy will be the same, but pretty sure that is a standard feature of car insurance. It is here in the FAQ section on Nationwides Car Insurance page : http://www.nationwide.co.uk/support...xtab:twistyitem19-do-i-have-to-pay-the-excess

Do I have to pay the excess towards a Third Party claim?

No, you only need to pay the excess towards your own repairs.
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So he shouldn't have an excess claim to pay out at all. The third party (the person he hit) is paid out without excess needing paid, and he claims, as a third party, off the person who hit him. Where he doesn't have to pay excess again.
 
the above sounds right in my head.
what I would do however is get right back on the phone to the insurers and advise them you wont be claiming for your car and would like it returned.

From the info in here it sounds as if the rear damage was worse, how will the 3rd parties insurance assess this if its been scrapped?
 
You've basically been offered £525 for the car, being your excess and the £25, you can easily get another car the same age for that.

Andi.
 
xs2man said:
He is at fault for the first collision, but my understanding of third party insurance is that the driver at fault doesn't pay any excess on this. Excess is only paid when you are claiming for your own repairs.

Sure, not every policy will be the same, but pretty sure that is a standard feature of car insurance. It is here in the FAQ section on Nationwides Car Insurance page : http://www.nationwide.co.uk/support...xtab:twistyitem19-do-i-have-to-pay-the-excess



So he shouldn't have an excess claim to pay out at all. The third party (the person he hit) is paid out without excess needing paid, and he claims, as a third party, off the person who hit him. Where he doesn't have to pay excess again.
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If someone is claiming against /your/ insurance policy (in the case of the OP, he hit the person in front first so some section of that claim will come his way), you still have to pay your excess in relation to this claim. There's a reason they give you a discount for more excess, so that if you do have an accident, you'll pay more towards it. It's a risk vs reward situation.

Else, what's to stop me going down third party insurance and saying I'll have a £2k excess.. if I never actually need to pay this, I'd be quids in.
 
Can't say I have ever seen this. I have NEVER seen an insurance policy where there is any excess on a third party claim. I'm not saying they aren't out there, but I've never come across one.

I did actually link to this in the post you quoted, as well as quoted the actual wording from a policy to prove this point. Albeit only from one insurer.

Having just run a quick quote on one of the comparison websites for a third party F&T policy, there is no option to change the excess on a TPFT policy, which kinda backs up my thinking. And goes against yours.
 
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