Insurance? Yea right!

[goodridge 0]

Hi guys, got an insurance problem and am after some advice. My brother recently wrote off his Mk3 Golf TDI with heated leather, alloys, all electrics, etc. To which he added:- smooth bumpers, crystal lights etc...It took us ages to find the car of such a high spec to start with and just over a year ago cost him £4k. Add to that the money spent on top and it owes him fair few quid as you can imagine. Thing is, they have only offered him £3k for it so minus his £500 excess thats only £2.5k, not a lot. The Insurer is Highway and they say its their policy not to sell the salvage either so we can't even flog the leather etc to re-gain some money :mad: He has told them he is not happy with their offer but has been told to prove it is worth more :!: Whats the best way of going about this :?:

[dr_mat 0]

I refer your honour to the previous posts with the same question...

 

Trawl autotrader. Send ads. Ebay postings. Anything like that.

 

But you won't get any of the modifications value back, they will never pay for that.

 

So it was worth £4k a year ago - how many miles have been added since then? Losing £1k in a year is a *little* harsh, but that all depends.

[dr_mat 0]

Your other option is to simply tell them about the accident (you have a legal requirement to inform them), but that you're not claiming for it. You keep ownership of the car, break it yourself.

Might work out better, financially.

[goodridge 0]

Ok I'll have a look around for ads etc.Thanks. Is there anything I can do about getting the car back? After all surely it is my brothers car until an acceptable offer has been made for it??

[dr_mat 0]

Erm, good question actually. I don't know who owns the car between claim-being-made and claim-being-accepted-by-both-parties.

I've heard of other people storing the car themselves while this takes place, but I'd guess different insurers have different rules on that.

Tell them you'll save them the storage fees if you store it yourself while this process takes place.

[Jim 2]

So even if you have a load of modifications on the car, and then you have a smash, those modifications are not covered? They are only charging you that extra money JUST to cover them whilst on your car - and it won't have any bearing on the amount you recieve when it comes to a payout?

[dr_mat 0]

Dunno jim, but I sincerely doubt it. Depends on the details of your policy. Point is if you replace a bumper with another one that's had work done on it, that's your choice. The car still only has ONE bumper on it. (And the OE was probably more expensive anyway!)

But if you were to add a turbo or supercharger (or Schrick!) that's something that is additional value.

Tarting a car up just makes it more stealable, because it attracts more attention, hence the increased premium.

[Jim 2]

Hm - kinda worrying and yet another reason to steer clear of owning a modified car unless you have a very good understanding with a trustworthy insurer!

 

TDI Passat for me next year I think! :)

[goodridge 0]

Hm - kinda worrying and yet another reason to steer clear of owning a modified car unless you have a very good understanding with a trustworthy insurer!

 

TDI Passat for me next year I think! :)

If only it were so easy! Don't know about you but I really couldn't drive round in a standard motor anymore, I've been bitten by the modifying bug and I think it's here to stay 8) Insurance however is just turning into a real nightmare! :mad: :mad: :mad: I wish now I had the car brought home and it was sat outside under a sheet. Do agreed value policies work then???

[Henny 0]

I've been through this one with my first Corrado when I wrote that off...

 

The insurance company came to inspect it at my mates garage and declared it a write off (twist mark in the roof showed that the chassis had warped) then a tow truck came and took it away... I phoned the insurance company and told them that I wish to notify them that I was about to report my car stolen as they had taken it without my consent as I had not EVER stated I wished to claim, only that I'd had an accident which I felt would write the car off and wanted to know what they would pay out for it, as it may have been more financially viable for me to scrap it myself rather than take the hit on the insurance no-claims... They bricked it BIG STYLE! :lol: It was back in the yard within 2 hours! 8)

 

The upshot is that until you have a cheque in your hand for the money they are paying out to you, it's YOUR car. If someone gets done for speeding in it, you still get the summons etc.... :|

 

Unfortunately I'm going through similar again after my recent (seems like it's gonna go through as a non-fault! :D ) accident which has just written my G60 off... Buying the salvage back depends on the catagory write off which the car has been issued with.... if it's a CAT C, you CAN buy it back, and if the insurance company tells you otherwise, they're talking crap. Oh, and Highway DO do salvage retention, as that's who I used to be insured with until this year, and I always make sure I can retain the salvage just in case! ;) 8)

 

Keep pestering them, and don't let them get away with anything... you've paid your money, it's up to them to earn it now.... ;) At the end of the day, you can always threaten them with the obudsman which normally gets their attention as it causes them a shed load of paperwork! Oh, and ALWAYS refuse their first offer and send 'em a wodge of autotrader and classified adverts for similar cars showing that they're selling for more than the Glasses guide shows 'em for... ;) 8)

[goodridge 0]

Thanks for all that info Henny. The car has been classed as a cat B write off, does this mean you can't get it back then? It's soo annoyin when I know I could get at least £500 quid for the leather!! :mad: Started searching for adds now to bombard them with stuff. Looks like more time arguing on the phone is required :(

[TomB 0]

goodridge, don't bother with the phone, do it all by letter, and keep copies. I've just gone through this exact procedure with Highway, and may I say what a bunch of fools they can be (I'm in the middle of reporting them for malpractice). One trick they tried to pull on me was the 'principle of indemnity one' where they send you a letter saying that 'We will not increase our offer because you only paid X for the car.' THIS IS A LIE. Their policty document clearly states that they will either:

1) Pay the value that the car was insured for

2) Pay for the cost of a replacement at the value of the car immediately before the accident

3) Pay for the cost of repairs to the car

They will only pay the cheapest one though, and as the last point doesn't apply, either hunt for similar spec/mileage ones on autotrader etc. They also use Glass' guide as the book price as to what it's worth, 'adjusted' by the inspecting engineer depending on mileage, condition etc. Have you got any photos of the car looking mint? That may put the wind up 'em.

As to the status of the car, if it's a Cat B write off (as mine was) , the car is not allowed back on the road (although you MAY be able to buy it back if you put in a claim for repairing it soley for racing use). More likely is that the car will go to Holden and Barnes plc (http://www.hbc.co.uk) once a settlement has been reached and be auctioned off to a scrappy for parts. You can buy it back from here, but like any auction check the terms and conditions of their website just in case.

Sorry for the length of the post, but I know exactly what you're going though, having fought the exact same b*stards for 3 months to get a settlement. :mad: Good luck, keep fighting, and sing out if you need any more advice.

Cheers,

Tom

[ben16v 0]

cat B AFAIK you have to have a salvage licence if you want it for racing or not,

 

insurance is just the worst thing on earth if you own a car that you care about and dont have money to throw away(who does??)

 

your gonna get screwed and thats it unfortunatly!!

 

anyway good luck to you mate!!

[Unclebuck 0]

This all sounds familiar. About a year ago my C was taken to the insurers repair/salvage yard after an accident. Insurers were helpful about getting car fixed, but I needed access to the car to drive it around to a few places for quotes. Salvage yard said I didn't own it any more and wouldn't let me have it back. I told them they were talking cr*p, but they were absolutely insistent, and things got quite nasty. I took legal advice, told them I was coming to collect the car, and if they impeded me they would be guilty of theft, and they needed to think hard about how far they wanted to take this. I went to their premises expecting trouble, but prepared to call the police. I was met by their manager who was grovellingly apologetic, showed me to my car, and said that the bloke I'd been dealing with didn't know what he was talking about. He then went on to say that a couple of the 'lads' in the workshop had expressed an interest in my C, and would be interested in offering me a 'write-off' value! At that point, the reason for my problems became clear: the cheeky b*st*rds fancied my C for themselves! Watch out for people making your life difficult.... they may have a motive!

[goodridge 0]

Thanks for all the advice. It makes very interesting reading! I'll pass this info onto my bro and get him on the case! Thanks again

[jamesmilsome 0]

It seems to me that highway are crap but cheap. I am with highway through a broker and they were the cheapest I could find. Just hope I dont crash.

[goodridge 0]

It seems to me that highway are crap but cheap. I am with highway through a broker and they were the cheapest I could find. Just hope I dont crash.

You have to ask though is it really worth the risk? If you do end up actually needing them you could end up more than a few hundred quid out of pocket :roll:

[JoeNose 0]

So even if you have a load of modifications on the car, and then you have a smash, those modifications are not covered? They are only charging you that extra money JUST to cover them whilst on your car - and it won't have any bearing on the amount you recieve when it comes to a payout?

 

Check your policy, but if the cars damaged and repairable the mods should be covered in most cases, e.g. replacing an alloy wheel. Many insurers don't like modified cars for this reason - they don't want to do the work searching for parts which can be hard to source, especially if engine tuning might be involved.

 

If the car is written off OTOH, that's where you get stung because most mods are held to add next to nothing to the insured 'market value' of the car itself.