Insurance total loss write off

[dennys]

Hi ,Has anybody had dealings with insurance assessors,his first offer was way below what we paid for my sons corsa so we refused it,he then asked for proof ,gave him original receipt and then showed him examples of the same car.he then said we hadn't told him car has a factory fitted bodykit,so would be worth more and our premiums could be wrong.He then asked for the log book,considering the other party has accepted full blame as well as her insurance company.I then quoted the law to him from a solicitor that we contacted, that states we should not be worse off after an accident that's not our fault.Considering that he will be claiming all the costs back from the other partys insurance,I cant work out whats going on any advice anyone.

[X5Sport]

Not had a write-off for many years (about 25) but certainly at that time the original offer made was rejected out of hand.  The advice I was given was to always reject the initial offer as too low.

It was a 3rd party who caused, and accepted liability for the crash.  My insurers did the assessment though.

The second offer was about 40%better.  I had retrofitted alloys and other parts on the car, but the assessor did not seem concerned about it.  He just took photos of the wreck and after a bit of 'negotiating' a settlement was agreed.  It was still less that I thought the car was worth, but not as bad as the initial offer.

A factory body kit should not make any difference because it's not aftermarket!  I have always said on my current car that what is on the car is as it came from the factory and they've never asked for any more detail even though it has £14k of options which were added into the invoiced price/value.  If the car has undeclared mods then the insurers could walk away entirely, but they will always try to get away with paying the least possible because they're in it for them, not the customer.... >:D

Richard

[snipez999]

I always send original invoice for their records when giving quote so you know what's on it. Cover based early doors in case of such arguments. Good luck with it and hold out for better.

[sid10]

never take the first offer !

[Raj]

To be honest, if the other party and insurance have accepted responsibility then it does not matter whether the car was undervalued by your own insurance. This happened with us last year with my wife's car. Written of by third party. There assessor gave what he felt was fair and I argued the toss with him about the proper worth. In end came to a better figure I was pleased with.

At the end of the day the idea is for you to be given the money to replace your total loos vehicle with a direct replacement.

[Denis O]

Is the claim initially going against your own insurer and then to the third party. It sounds like this as it's your assessor who is making the offer. If that's the case then I suspect it's up to your assessor to keep the claim as low as possible.

As others have said, reject first offer as it will alsways be low balled. Your right is to be put back into the same position as you were before the accident. No more, no less.

The body kit, factory or not, if not declared could cause problems.

It's hindsight now but it would have been better to contact an accident management company to deal direct with the 3rd parties insurer. Most would take on an open and shut case and you end up with experts managing your claim. I did this with a Disco a few years ago that was hit in the rear quarter by a motorbike. Fairly minor damage but the biker admitted fault. AMC handled the whole thing, supplied hire car for the 3 days my car was in for repair and it was done and dusted within 10 days. It would have taken months without the ACM.