Car insurance and assessors acting without my permission and rushing through settlement?

[CarCalamity]

I had a car accident a couple of weeks ago. The other driver - big lorry - was at fault - we were stationary. DC and I are thankfully ok, just shocked. I've been given a hire car and my car was taken off for assessment and - I thought - repair. The assessors have written it off despite damage being relatively and surprisingly minor, and given a valuation/offer. Being inexperienced, I started a thread on here for advice about the general process and also the vague possibility of buying my car back to repair it, but things have moved on quickly since then.

In an ideal world, I would get another used car but so far I haven't managed to find one and a car every day is essential in my family circumstances, living rurally with a severely disabled child. I'll lose the hire car once this is settled, so life in general will become impossible, and finding another car even harder. Before anyone kindly suggests it, getting a Motability vehicle is ruled out because the process would just take too long and we don't really want to go down that route for a number of reasons.

On advice, I asked for a copy of the assessors report. The car doesn't have structural damage. The figure the assessors are offering me is about £1000 less than their own report says the value was pre-accident. Why aren't they offering me that figure?

Based on advice on here, I emailed the assessors back to start the process of negotiating on their offer - or so I thought. They just said the offer is what it is and they were going to get the insurance company to release funds to them to pay me and my car was being collected for salvage. I emailed back and said I didn't agree to any of this! They didn't reply and I've now had an email from my insurers to say they've released the funds to them! I've emailed the insurance company to tell them I didn't agree, didn't accept the offer and also wanted to consider my options including possibly buying the car back.

This can't be right, surely?

took the insurance out online and there didn't seem to be a place to add this, so I assumed it was covered? Sorry, I made it sound very grand but it's only a professionally fitted tow bar, not a solid gold lavatory mounted on the roof rack.

There is a question about "does the car have any modifications", this is where you add this information if the tow bar was added after production. If you've answered "no" to the modifications questions you're on shaky ground as you've not been honest when taking out the insurance policy

I think my insurers pay me out and then they claim it back from the guilty party's insurers, SolasAnla?

In an ideal world, I'd find a new car. I think driving the old one will bring back memories for us all, but once I've spoken to my local garage about potential repairs, I'm planning to ask just about the possibility of buying it back. They've taken it a good distance away to a big garage they use so it will need to be transported back if I do that - does anybody know for a fact who pays for transportation? I've told the garage they mustn't let it go to salvage until they hear definitely from me.

It seems to be the assessors my insurance company, or the repairers they arranged to take my car to, appointed who are rushing. They keep mentioning they are working to a two-day timescale between them notifying me of the figure, me accepting it, and them asking my insurers to release the funds to them so that they can pay me. I'm not even sure the guilty party's insurance company are involved/that involved at this stage. My insurance company say they'll contact them after I've been paid to recoup the money. I can only hope they do recoup it easily, as we were stationary, rather than having a drawn out legal process.

I haven't an assessor or solicitor of my own, although I'm pretty sure I've got Driver's Legal Protection cover.

No obvious personal injuries thankfully, just very shocked and this process really isn't helping us get over it.

I didn't know it went there at all, satelliteheart. It makes sense now you say it, of course. It was fitted before I bought the car, so I just saw it as part of the car, albeit a useful one that would need to be replaced. Perhaps the insurance won't cover that bit after all. We'll see. The assessor figure is still well below their own valuation and the cost of a comparable replacement car, even forgetting the tow bar.

Cripes, you've got me worried now. I've been told by them that I can keep it till 5 working days/7 days after I receive the settlement cheque.

That doesn't mean they won't charge you for it - please double check or you could be liable for a huge bill.

This is what the email says, mountainsunsets:

'You are entitled to up to 24 hours hire from when your vehicle has been repaired, and up to 5 working days from when you, or your representative, receive your payment if your vehicle is written off.
Please contact us when you receive your own vehicle back, or receive your payment, and we will arrange return of the hire vehicle with you. If you do not return the Enterprise vehicle within the above expectation, there may be additional charges.'

Have you, or has anyone else, still be charged when told this?

been charged

That sounds okay, but I would still double check when you contact them that there will be no charges. I would also make sure you're not liable for things like cleaning costs of the vehicle.

What assessors are they?
Your car is probably at a storage yard belonging to the salvage agents.

I work at an insurers but not the total loss department. They'll recover the costs from the at fault Insurers so if you push back they can go up to the top value of glasses guide.

Threaten with a complaint if you can justify a higher offer.

If the accident has been agreed as 100% fault to the truck and 0% fault to you, then you should be looking to the trucks insurance to make you whole (same financial position you were before the accident)
You need to check (with your insurance company) if the other drivers insurance has admited liability or if they are disputing the claim.

Are you claiming on your comprehensive insurance (which binds you to what conditions and payment you agreed)?

Long shot to get a estimate for the market value, you could try phoning the dealer you originally bought the car from and some of the brand dealers to see if they would provide an estimates for the full claim.

The flat bed back to your local garage would be at your cost as you would not qualify to claim that off your insurance.
But again this could squeek by as re-claimable cost against the other driver.

The other thing I would think about salvaging is if you had a spare tyer and if you liked the jack, some of the new ones are not designed for easy windup.

I've managed to find another couple of cars for sale very comparable to mine, both the higher value figure. I haven't found anything cheaper. I've forwarded them on.

I made the mistake of using the cheapest of the car insurance quotes that I had been given once. The ‘company’ were such a breathtaking shambles I ended up with taking it to the motor insurers bureau. Highly recommended. They gave the insurance compass kick up the backside and got the result I wanted.

before you go to the MIB you need to make a complaint to the insurers, give them 8 weeks to resolve and if they haven’t done do to your satisfaction you can then go to the MIB. All insurers selling insurance in the UK are members. Would recommend.

It's not the MIB it's the FCA
The MIB are there as a last resort for untraced or uninsured driver claims

Its the FOS that would have handled the complaint. But you can't go directly there, your insurance company have to have the chance to deal with your complaint first.

The quickest way to get listened to is to make a complaint. Id email the office of the ceo, their email address should be online and tell them nobody's listening to you about this undervaluing.