Motor Insurance company stalling so I'll accept low settlement offer

M

mystrikeoff

Registered User
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Hi all

I'd really appreciate some advice here.

I was in an accident a few weeks ago and my car was declared an economic write-off. The other driver and I are with the same insurance company. He accepted liability on the spot.

On the suggestion of my broker, I brought the case to a law firm who gave me a temporary car immediately and I'll have that until Monday.

The problem is, the insurance company have made an offer on the replacement value of my car which is far too low. If I don't have a car on Monday, I can't work. So, I feel I'm being starved into accepting a low offer on the car.

The law firm have gone to the insurance company with my valuation on the car two days ago and they haven't come back yet. Tick, tock...

My question is, can I hit the insurance company for the cost of a rental car while they dilly-dally around? Also, would I have a case for the Ombudsman for what I feel are underhanded tactics by the insurance company?
 
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If you have a law firm negotiating with the insurance company on your behalf ask them this question and also to include the issue in the negotiation of hte overall settlement.
 
I'm starting to regret having gone to them. I get the impression they're just going through the motions - a bit on the watery side.

I'm hoping to get opinions on whether my request for reimbursement of rental car would fly or not. Also, I've just amended my OP to ask if people feel I would have a case for the Ombudsman here - any thoughts? Thanks missdaisy.
 
what does your policy say about a replacement car while yours is being repaired? most policies would have a provision for that but it may be limited to a certain amount of time. I don't understand going straight to a law firm and I can't understand why they're giving you a temporary car instead of your own insurance provider.
 
It's very odd going to a law firm for a routine insurance claim.

Tell the insurance company that you are accepting the claim under protest but that you reserve the right to complain to the Ombudsman.

however, most people probably overvalue their own car.

Brendan
 
Hi Derek. We're claiming on the other driver's policy. Correct me if I'm wrong but I wouldn't have thought that my policy T&C's entered the equation (not being smart - I'm just pretty green to this...).

Brendan. I wasn't aware that I could "claim under protest". Is that a common thing? Am I not waiving my right to take the matter further if I accept the low value?
 
Have you checked the correct value of your vehicle on the likes of cbg.ie or autotrader? You need to find a similar model that is being sold privately (the company won't pay a garage's mark up) and even then remember that that is an asking price. If you print that off and submit it to the insurance company, most companies will increase their offer based on this. If not tell them your solicitor will be resolving the issue.


www.powerinsurances.ie
 
Hi. I work in Motor Claims and deal with situations like this every day. First of all Im a bit confused why a law firm are giving you a hire car????Ive never heard of this before. If your car is a write off and the other party accepts liability then you are normally entitled to two weeks car hire or there abouts. Regarding the valuation EVERYONE values their car higher than the actual market value. But market value is all you are entitled to. You are not entitled to the value that your local garage put on the vehicle. And all prices that you see advertised on carzone\cbg etc are all asking prices and obviously open to negotiation. The last poster is wrong in saying just print off details of a similar car for sale and send in to the insurance company. That generally wont make a difference. The valuation that was put on your vehicle was put on it by an independent motor engineer and he must be able to stand over this figure should this go to the ombudsman or go to court. From what I can see they have made an offer but its you that is holding up settlement. I cant see why they should have to pay excessive car hire because of this. On the other hand you can accept their offer with the clear understanding that this IS NOT in full and final settlement as far as you are concerned. You can then refer this on to the ombudsman or a solicitor if you wish. But my advice is to realise that the second hand car market is a buyers market and be realistic regarding the valuation
 
Hi all

Many thanks for the replies. That's all very helpful.

corcoran, in my view, it's the insurance company holding up matters as their valuation of my car is insufficient. I have queried this with the assessor and, nearly a week later, still no reply.

The law firm which is taking care of this (can't say I'd hire one again!), have said that the Ombudsman wouldn't deal with this matter as I wouldn't be complaining as their customer, I'd be complaining as a third party.

What recourse does someone have if they feel they're having their eye wiped by an insurance company on the value of their car if they don't have the Ombudsman?
 
Well, what value do you place on the car? Have you got three or four values online, from sites that sell cars? (and how do these compare?).. and finally, what percentage of your valuation of your own car are the insurance company prepared to pay? Is it 80% or more?, 90% perhaps?

Insurance companies only pay out what they consider the car to be worth... but they always refuse to tell you what that figure is when you go to insure your car, thus ensuring that the majority of people over-insure their cars...


edited to add... There is a clear conflict of interest here. The same insurance company insures both drivers. Have there been breaches of the Data Protection Laws (i.e,,, is one part of the insurance company viewing documents that they would normally not have access to?)

The conflict of interest is that your insurance company should be seeking to maximise your claim, but they are also trying to minimise the payout from his policy.. so there's a conflict of interest. Ask them how they intend to resolve it?
You can refuse to accept the claim, in which case it goes to court, and you may have to pay the legal fees. If your insurance company were to agree to go to Court, then they'd be fighting themselves in court... which is obviously silly.
I'd be asking for a written assurance that there is no conflict of interest here, and that the company has policies, and is following them, for when it is taking both sides of a fight or claim.
 
I seriously doubt the insurance company are trying to short change this guy. I deal with 20--30 write offs in my section every week and in 95% of the cases the person whose car was written off(regardless of whether they are insured with us or third partys)are unhappy with their valuation. Most people overvalue their cars when insuring them and also forget to reduce the value every year. If you do get some valuations from websites my advice is not to go straight to the top(first 3 or 4 cars). This dosent reflect the overall market value and these cars are usually way overvalued. And also take into consideration that any cars that you see advertised for sale in garages will come with a guarantee(albeit a small one), fully serviced and valeted and in most cases at least one year of its NCT left. The prices you see will also only be asking prices and are always negotiatable. My advice if you are adamant that you are not accepting the valuation is to appoint your own independent assessor. But if I was you I would not have a hire car out too long as you will likely have to end up paying some of this yourself. Is this a high spec high value car
 
And by the way insurances companies dont side with one policyholder over another as the last poster inferred. Anapologies for sounding blunt but they wont waste their time sending you a letter assuring you that there is no conflict on interest
 
Well, there could easily be conflicts of interests... for example, if both policyholders deny responsibility.. what then? Have insurance companies policies for dealing with real or imagined conflicts of interest?

OK, so you say that in 95% of cases people are unhappy with the valuations... so perhaps the valuations are wrong, have you considered this possibility? Have the insurance companies a 100% rate of success when valuing cars, and the average punter only has a 5% rate?

Where do the insurance companies get the definitive valuations from?.. if not from the open market? After all, the insured parties must replace their car on the open market, not from some book.


Can the policyholder insist on having a replacement car delivered to him? For example, if he claims that it is impossible to get a replacement car for the money offered?, and he backs this up with real evidence from the real world?, i.e prices advertised in magazines etc...
 
Its not a conflict of interest. Two policyholders are treated the same was as a policyholder and another party insured with another insurance company.

Valuing is not an exact science. And regarding getting valuations from a "book". That really dosent count for much these days as most cars are not making book value.

A policyholder can not insist on having a car delivered to him. Its not up to the insurance company to go out and purchase a replacement vehicle. As said before prices advertised are only asking prices and not bottom line prices. A motor assessor when doing his research gets valuations from not only online websites but also main dealers. They also take in to consideration the condition of the policyholder\third party vehicle(general condition, milage etc) and this is also taken into consideration. I'll give you an example. I had a vehicle last week that was valued at €3500 by an assessor. This car(a 05 belingo) had 280000kms on the clock. The book value was €3500 with 154000kms and the assessor had a number of replacements one of which was the same car but with 60000kms for €3800. The policyholder wanted €5000 because that is what his local garage valued it at. Completly off the mark.

At the end of the day the insurance company need to justify their valuation
 
Well, there could easily be conflicts of interests... for example, if both policyholders deny responsibility.. what then?
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They will mark it down as a 50/50 and screw over both policyholders.
 
Isn't it a pity that the insurance companies don't check the book value when writing or renewing the policy, and give the customers some idea of the value at that stage.
 
Their are specialist companies that will agree a value with the insured at inception (and review it every year) but these are usually for high value/specialist vehicles. In the UK you can insure against the difference an insurer will give you for your car compared to whats owed on finance, AFAIK this is not available in this country. It would probably take an outside company to come in & offer these products in Ireland to make the others change tact.


www.powerinsurances.ie
 
Moral Ethos said:
Nope. They invite your unqualified valuation and quote on that basis.
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Indeed - that is what they do. But is there any good reason why they don't check the valuations at quoting stage? Surely this would allow them to give more competitive quotes in some cases?
 
Jimbobp said:
In the UK you can insure against the difference an insurer will give you for your car compared to whats owed on finance, AFAIK this is not available in this country. It would probably take an outside company to come in & offer these products in Ireland to make the others change tact.


www.powerinsurances.ie
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Windsor offer this service for a €350 fee. They will pay the difference between the price you purchased the car at less the Write off amount the insuance company pay you. The policy life is 3 Years I believe. Well woth looking into if you drive anything thata is expensiveish.
 
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