Stolen car - insurance advice

mikehhhhhhh

mikehhhhhhh

mikehhhhhhh

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So in the unluckiest week of my life, I purchased a "new" car, had it crashed in to a couple days later and then stolen a couple of days after that.

The car was the perfect spec for what I wanted - The all important LSD, Pro nav, adaptive suspension, m performance exhaust as well as a lovely set of genuine BBS CH-R.



This brings me on a few questions regarding insurance settlement.

I can't find a car with even pro nav and adaptive suspension for less than £1k more than I paid for the car. Will the insurance company take spec into account, and are they going to limit settlement at my purchase amount seeing as it was bought so recently? (They requested a receipt!) - To throw a spanner into the works here, the guide price for a private sale based on just reg and mileage seems to be around £3k less than I paid :idea:

Secondly, is it simply tough luck that I'm unlikely to find another car with the nice optional extras like LSD and M performance exhaust, let alone for what I paid for the car?

Should I just shut up and hope that I get as close to what I paid for the car as possible?

I've never been in this position before, so hoping someone that unfortunately has the experience might know the answers to some of my questions.
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I've had lots of speculation about how insurance might work, I'm looking for people that have experienced it, ideally.
 
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Insurance will low ball you.

Hard ball them back and as you said, show them examples of the same car with the same options for the right price.
 
I'd concentrate on what it will cost to replace and drill that into them, dig your heels in, don't back down and prepare for a fight with them.
 
I had a similar situation years ago, I had a car stolen (bmw 130i) 6 months after buying it and values had remained steady. I pushed for full purchase price and got within £500 on a 12k car.

I think I rejected their offer twice and sent examples from main dealers, autotrader and pistonheads.

I take it you insured it for purchase price? From what I remember that is only a guide but I doubt you would get more than that for it
 
As said they will low ball you to start with. The value they give you should be to replace exactly what you had through private sale. So gain evidence to that effect through ads etc.
 
They will low ball you, its their starting pitch :p
AFAIK the offer must be adequate enough for you to go out and buy the same spec now

My dad ended up going to the insurance ombudsman after he let slip that they gave him for his car "how much you'd get for trade in"
Not sure if he's heard back from them as yet.
 
I don't have any insight i'm afraid, but I'm sorry to see this. Lovely looking car that, especially with those wheels. Rare that a 100% blacked out car can look that good.

Best of luck getting things sorted.
 
mattx2 said:
I had a similar situation years ago, I had a car stolen (bmw 130i) 6 months after buying it and values had remained steady. I pushed for full purchase price and got within £500 on a 12k car.

I think I rejected their offer twice and sent examples from main dealers, autotrader and pistonheads.

I take it you insured it for purchase price? From what I remember that is only a guide but I doubt you would get more than that for it
Click to expand...

What he paid for the car is irrelevant, Admiral tried this with me.
They ram down your throat at each opportunity "fair market value" then said they couldn't pay me more than I paid for the car.
So I said to them ok, I paid £1 in a raffle and won the car, the chap actually said "ah I see your point" as if he'd never heard that before
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
What he paid for the car is irrelevant, Admiral tried this with me.
They ram down your throat at each opportunity "fair market value" then said they couldn't pay me more than I paid for the car.
So I said to them ok, I paid £1 in a raffle and won the car, the chap actually said "ah I see your point" as if he'd never heard that before
Click to expand...

Did you get a settlement over the purchase price or the amount you insured it for?
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
What he paid for the car is irrelevant, Admiral tried this with me.
They ram down your throat at each opportunity "fair market value" then said they couldn't pay me more than I paid for the car.
So I said to them ok, I paid £1 in a raffle and won the car, the chap actually said "ah I see your point" as if he'd never heard that before
Click to expand...

I'm interested in the outcome of your case.

I'm also with Admiral.
 
Just to put a bit of balance in to the thread though, my wife's car was written off before Christmas - AXA offered me something like £800 more than similar examples that were available, and around £1300 more than the glasses' price. Needless to say I didn't bother haggling, but was certainly better than the experiences most people have.
 
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Gap insurance makes things a lot easier. Just take whatever from the insurer and gap will cover up to X amount, which is usually enough to get you back to whatever you paid for the car originally.
 
Surely if it has been stolen a week after you purchased it, you can just show the insurance company the invoice??
 
I had a high spec MK5 gti, leathers, xenons, DSG, some special black paint, the limited shadow alloys etc.

Paid £4k, insured for £3800. Wife talked them up to £4500 because you couldn't get the same spec for less than that. They didn't even argue.

Had to pay out £4.9k for a similar model, but 3 door red with a sun roof :( not what I had but no rust, great condition and a nice motor.
 
The insurance should put you back in the position you were in prior to the loss! If you can't replace the car like for like for what they are offering you then challenge them to do it for you! (They may have access to markets that you don't!)

Other than that you don't mention how old the car is but if it is brand new I know a lot of insurers will have a "new replacement" clause that basically says you will get a brand new car!

The only slight anomaly is the accident you had before the theft - was there a lot of damage that you hadn't had repaired because that would obviously affect the pre-theft value!
 
I'd be amazed they would even waste everyone time in such a short space of time - you have a receipt from a week ago, send them that and that should be enough. Especially if it's from a main dealer.

A private sale might be slightly less easy to deal with as it would look mighty suspicious to have it nicked inside a week as well as an accident.
 
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