Please help!! Car insurance company trying to give me £11k for my car which is worth about £16k

[Swifey40]

I have fully comp insurance with direct line, and have had for over 5 years. I had an altercation with a tractor and came off worse. It was technically my fault, although on private land, but hey ho. Anyway they have written my car off and in order to buy the same car with same full service history and mileage etc I will need at least £16k.

They first offered me £11k which I refused, and they put it through to the disputes team who would contact me within 48 hours. That was on Wednesday afternoon about 1pm. I have then received a Text message this morning, which is obviously over the 48 hour window, saying
'We confirm that your claim payment of £11480 has been posted out to you by cheque.'
I have had no telephone or email contact and no discussion, so jave not agreed rp this. What are my options?? I'm on hold now whilst I try to get hold of someone to say I have not agreed this sum and need more! Any advice would be greatly appreciated 🙏 x

Where did you get your figure of £16K?

Send them screen shots of similar vehicles to show that's what it would cost

Insurance doesn't pay out to get you exact same car, it pays out what your car is worth now.

Did you not take out gap insurance? That is what covers the cost between what you paid for your car and what insurance pays out so you have same amount of money to go buy a new car.

They never pay you what a forecourt purchase with warranty would be. Even if you had that before.

Email we buy any car your regular number and see what they say it’s worth. Or pay the £8 or £8.99 to Totalcarcheck for a full report of what they think it’s worth. (They are fab, they know lots about your car)!

Then you will have a couple of prices to compare.

The insurance always gives you the market value. It’s more than the auction value but not as much as you’d pay to buy a car off a forecourt.

Personally I feel it’s disgusting how little they give. I wish they’d offer a service for an extra fiver a month they’ll give you an extra £1000 in the event it’s ever in an accident and written off or whatever and you can choose to pay or not.

Then you don’t have to take separate gap insurance.

When my car was written off, I did a lot of research ready for the expected "fight" with direct line. I knew what I wanted and what was the absolute minimum I'd accept. They offered me more than my top price, so I do wonder where you got your figure from. The policy covers what the car is worth (ie what you could sell it for) not what you'd need to replace via a dealer. What's it worth on We Buy Any Car?. I'd expect a little bit more than that.

I've always found Direct Line very fair and efficient when I've needed to claim

I’m guessing they are giving you trade value which is probably what I would expect in these circumstances.

They aren’t going to give you the costs of an equivalent as such. They’re going to give you the value of yours.

Dont cash the cheque as this would confirm that you accept the valuation.

Don't forget that a garage bumps the price of a car up to make a profit because you're paying for a warranty as well, which is why you will nearly always pay less with a private seller. Have a look at the trade in prices for your car that will be what the insurance company is basing that figure on.

You are unlikely to get anywhere with them and it will spend, weeks, months and even longer trying to get more money out of them which may prolong the purchase of a replacement car if you are relying on this payment and will cause you a lot of stress and grief.

As already mentioned you needed to have taken out a gap insurance.

GAP stands for Guaranteed Asset Protection

There are several types of GAP insurance but the overall purpose of this type of cover is to assist you financially in the event of a total loss claim on your vehicle

GAP Insurance can be taken out on new and used vehicles. Depending on how long you have owned the vehicle, you may be offered a policy that returns your finances to the vehicle’s current ‘value’ or to the value on your purchase invoice.

Used car depreciation is a major risk to any motorist, especially if the motor is subject to a finance agreement. At the time that a car is stolen or involved in an accident, the car may be worth less than the remaining finance.

Up to 77% of the value of a brand-new vehicle can vanish over a 3-year period, while some used cars can depreciate by more than 20% within the first 12 months of ownership. Vehicle theft has accounted for around one in seven crimes in recent years, and the number of cars written off in accidents is ever-increasing too, as modern cars are often uneconomic to repair.

GAP cover attempts to provide you with insurance towards the difference between your insurer’s total loss pay out and your vehicles value or purchase invoice.

Have a look in your policy for sum insured, or estimated value. You sign up to the policy (and premiums) based on this value - you can't expect them to fork out 50% more if its not in your policy.

This happened to me a few months ago although the value of my car was far less.

Obviously they will try to get away with giving you as little as possible and to rush you into a decision. They have some tough nuts working the phone lines who seem like they won't budge an inch.

Do some research and have a few examples of cars like yours which are selling for more. They will probably make you a higher offer. Keep going till you're happy but bear in mind that you probably won't be getting the full amount.

It isn’t surprising that the price you’ve seen to replace with the same is higher, because car prices in general are higher, owing to a shortage.

What you’re being offered is probably closer to the list price, but not the price for you to replace, bearing in mind the garage’s cut and the price of the warranty.

I successfully argued this, although it was 20 years ago.

Rang, told them I was rejecting the offer and would accept my figure, my car back on the road or the equivalent vehicle (and I was specific about spec).

New cheque in 24 hours.

We disputed the amount offered for a stolen van. We had to provide evidence that it was worth more. I gathered some adverts from Gumtree and Auto Trader for exactly the same age, model and condition and they paid the price we asked for