Mitsubishi - Insurance Issue after Accident - thesoupdragon

Dear Back Room Mob,

I am writing on behalf of a friend.

They were hit at a roundabout by a driver who didn't give way, car almost certainly written off and my friend suffered side impact whiplash with full dashcam footage. The other party ( 17 year old) has accepted full responsibility. Police attended took brief statements and left saying insurance will deal with it. My friend has no hire car as yet after 2 weeks and they are resisting letting him have one! He has been offered approximately 50% of what it would cost him to replace the car and his own insurance company are urging him quite forcefully to take an interim payment. He is quite distressed and feels like his own insurer isn't acting in his best interest. Any pearls of wisdom would be appreciated. He is now using public transport and lifts from friends to get around.

Edited by thesoupdragon on 03/05/2023 at 13:35

Mitsubishi - Insurance Issue after Accident - Crickleymal

They'll probably only get the market value of the vehicle. We've had a couple of cars written off by i****s at traffic lights and roundabouts and much as we'd have liked to replace a car we'd owned for 3 years with one that was 3 years younger we only got market value.

As for hire car, what does it say in the T&C of the insurance? If you think they're being unreasonable there is an ombudsman but how quickly that would progress I don't know.

Edited by Crickleymal on 03/05/2023 at 15:34

Mitsubishi - Insurance Issue after Accident - Andrew-T

They'll probably only get the market value of the vehicle. We've had a couple of cars written off by i****s at traffic lights and roundabouts and much as we'd have liked to replace a car we'd owned for 3 years with one that was 3 years younger we only got market value..

Yes - your insurer should give you 'market value' - the typical cost of replacing the vehicle written-off with an 'identical' one. When my 8-year-old car was written off in a minor collision and the third party immediately admitted blame (drove out of a hidden side-entry) their insurer (Aviva) offered me their assessment of current dealer prices, which I agreed with, but chose to keep the car and have it repaired. If your car is written off in a no-fault incident your insurer has agreed to return you to your pre-incident situation. If they won't, dig your heels in.

Mitsubishi - Insurance Issue after Accident - thesoupdragon

Thanks for the reply, but how do you judge market value? It all seems to be linked to Glasses guide which Joe Blogs doesn't have access to!

Mitsubishi - Insurance Issue after Accident - sammy1

Find similar cars year mileage model on Autotrader/dealers/ebay ads and refer insurance to these As someone else said if the car is a write off you can often get it repaired for a fraction of what the insurance will tell you Do not let them intimidate you and speak to a manager if the person dealing with you is not helpful... Have you considered claiming for the whiplash. I would and if you policy has legal cover get them involved. Too often some companies stall on their legal liabilities in the hope that claims will go away or be settled in their favour

Mitsubishi - Insurance Issue after Accident - thesoupdragon

Its a fairly rare car and not many about but he managed to pull 4 ads together and average value was about £6700 and was offered £4100.

Mitsubishi - Insurance Issue after Accident - Andrew-T

Its a fairly rare car and not many about but he managed to pull 4 ads together and average value was about £6700 and was offered £4100.

In that case dispute the offer and ask for a better one ! Suggest that if they can find a car at that price they buy it for you, then you can swap cars.

Mitsubishi - Insurance Issue after Accident - Gibbo_Wirral

I had a similar issue. Hit by another car, totally their fault. They insurer - Churchill - was dragging their heels for weeks and my insurer didn't seem to be bothered either.

Local garage recommended a local law firm. Within the day I had a hire car dropped off to my door. (My own insurance didn't have any hire car in my policy)

My vehicle was inspected and advised to be written off. The company used prices of exact same make, model and age as my car from Autotrader to get me much more than the "book price" Churchill were offering.

And it was all settled within a week.

Sometimes they can be called ambulance chasers but it really helped me at no cost to myself.