Car written off, insurance offering too little to replace - anyone knowledgeable aronud?

[PacificState]

DP and I were in a collision a week ago -- thankfully everyone concerned was fine but our lovely car was written off.

The other party has admitted fault.

We're now at the stage of looking at the cost for replacing our car - and our insurer, Admiral, is offering around £2k below the price of the exact replacements we can find on AutoTrader. Even more confusingly, Admiral says (and has sent us the PDF to prove it) that the £2k-under price is one they've gotten from Admiral's 'market value' tool.

I just don't know where this number comes from -- it doesn't bear any relation to what we're seeing on AutoTrader.

Admiral is also saying there's 'no haggling' about the amount they're offering us, because 'the regulations have changed' and 'we don't do that any more'.

If anyone knows more about car insurance than I do I'd be really grateful for some insight - basically, is it worth pushing for more or do we just take it on the chin (and never go with Admiral again, obviously).

Thank you!

@MarketValveForks thank you - I mean, I don't think it's fair, but that does at least seem like the probable explanation for the difference. It was driving me mad. (We tend to keep cars and drive them until they die - I've never traded a car in, so this policy REALLY doesn't suit me)

Thanks (the explanations are genuinely making me feel less cross). I was looking at automatics on AutoTrader FWIW

i mean obviously you accept that they’re not going to pay you the same amount that you bought the car for a year ago, don’t you?

Isn’t gap insurance for when you finance the car and the market value is less than the remaining finance? Not sure it would be relevant if the car bought outright.

Oh yes - I was just hoping they'd offer us the cost of buying a like-for-like replacement.

We haggled with Admiral (well, the claims firm they were using) just a few months ago. Any example cars that you find of a higher value have to be exactly the same model and plate age and the mileage very close too. We did get them increase by a few hundred but that was it.

Yeah, we bought it outright.

Thanks. I have compiled a list of useful questions from this thread and will give it a go - even if we only get an extra few hundred it will feel like honours even I think

DH had this issue when his car was written off after it caught fire. Offer was way less than it would have cost to buy another identical vehicle, so he looked up several online, sent them the details, and told them that was what he was prepared to accept. They coughed up very nearly what he had asked for.

Glad you got yours sorted. We have tried this already but Admiral is stonewalling. Sounds like it's worth us doubling down and seeing if we can get them to shift.

@PacificState I agree it's unfair, but that's the rationale which is hidden in the smallprint of your policy. However as PP have said, it is possible you might be able to get more given that the other party is 100% to blame. At present you are being offered exactly the same as you would be getting if the accident was your fault, with the insurance companies simply agreeing between them which company pays (although it's entirely possible that both drivers are insured by the same company). If your policy includes legal cover you could instead sue the at-fault party to be fully restored to the same position you would be in without the accident (like for like replacement) but take legal advice as it could be risky and as the court doesn't always award costs it could cost you more than the additional amount gained.

Yes do either send them the links to the auto trader vehicles but ensure they are as lkke for like as possible to your car or it could harm your case. Point out that these are replacement vehicles. Is this your own insurance company or the other party's insurance company? If the other party you should point out the quicker you reach settlement the less likely it will you need to hire a car and claim for that too!

The whole reason for the existence of loss adjusters is to avoid paying claims altogether if at all possible, or otherwise to pay the absolute bare minimum they can get away with. Nobody should ever accept their first cheeky offer.

that is not how car insurance works i’m afraid

Insurers must now ensure customers get a good outcome, under Consumer Duty.
Write a complaint, stating that you are not getting a good outcome and will escalate to FOS.
Send your examples of similar vehicle. Tell them that you know that FOS will offer you the highest of the market guides they use. Glasses Guide, CAPs and Percayso. Ask them to review their offer against this.Tell them that by using their own tool, you cannot compare against FOS expectations. If they do not budge, request an interim payment of their max settlement and Final Response Letter, then submit it to FOS.

Amazing @HellofromJohnCraven thank you

Data Subject Access Request. Only applies to personal data, won’t apply to anything to do with car costs!

Tell them they are not being reasonable, state your reasons once again, and inform them that they have 7 days to make a more sensible offer, or you will be reporting the matter to the insurance ombudsman.

I have insider knowledge! Hope it helps x

Of course you can haggle. Dsd did with admiral and cost £1500 more. I was egging her on across the room. We found 3 identical cars within 5k mileage, same colour even and within 50 miles and she held out. She got the money though ironically by the time we went at the weekend none were available and everything was higher priced

This is why I love Mumsnet (many thanks to all the other posters too of course)

@mitogoshigg gawd. Second hand cars seem to get both more expensive and less valuable at the same time...

I know someone who has haggled on an offer for writing off their car quite recently, obviously things could have changed but I would definitely try and verify this ‘new regulation’ stuff.

“I have suffered a loss. The other party agreed they were at fault. So mine is a non-fault loss. I should not be being offered a settlement figure that is so much lower than the price of reasonable comparables we have found. Here are 3 vehicles of similar age/condition/mileage - you can see the figure you are offering does not match. Please could the comparables be escalated to the loss adjuster and my case be re-reviewed. If you are not willing to revise the settlement figure then I will then have to raise a written complaint, and I’ve already had advice from a friend about the FCA’s statements and financial ombudsman process - I hope we can avoid that, and that a more constructive approach can be taken?”

the FCA warned firms about valuing assets too low in 2022: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/insurance-providers-warned-not-undervalue-cars-or-other-insured-items-when-settling-claims

The advice on this sort of situation from the ombudsman is here https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs