Conference terri::cars_uk

    
    If your Mini was in better condition than 'book' price, then for an
    insurance company to accept liability for that amount, the car would
    have had to have been insured for an 'agreed value'. eg my Riley Elf,
    because it was 20 years old, could only be insured for it's re-sale
    value after it had been seen by an assessor.
    
    I would guess that you might be able to argue a bit with the insurance
    company, but I would doubt if you would get them to give you what you
    think it was worth.                   

    
    What will the damage cost YOU (not the insurer) to get repaired?
    
    If it's less than the 550 - 15% take the money and smile!
    
    Mark

First, you should be claiming from the other bloke's insurance, not your own.

Second, unless you have explicitly insured your car for more than the "average"
price that age/type of car costs, the insurers won't pay any more.
Third, if you want to get the car repaired, you should be able to get it done
quite a bit less than the "official" estimate of �500.  I suggest agreeing to
their settlement (~�470), keep the "salvage" and use the money to get it fixed.

Scott

    ref 1204.2
    
    	Mark,
    	
    	According to Ralph's Motors it will cost about �550 to repair
    this means if I take the money its going to cost me approx �80 to
    get the car back to the same condition as it was at the time of
    the accident. For an accident that wasn't my fault this seems to
    rough justice!!
    
    Cheers....Norm Pettet
    

    Ref: 1204.3
    
    	Apparently any claim is settled by my own insurance company
    then,as the accident wasn't my fault,they claim the money back from
    the other insurance company.
        My Mini is "above average" condition so I suspect they use some
    sort of book which determines "average" condition value and use
    that figure.
    	I might try and hold out for a little more money but it certainly
    looks like I'll have to take the money and repair it myself. :-(
    
    Cheers....Norm Pettet
    

I wouldn't pay �900 for a 1977 mini.


Ian

                                                  
    When my Mini Special, the 25th or 30th Anniversary Model, was written
    off, my insurance company gave me the same hassle. They just wouldn't
    pay me 'the going rate' so I eventually asked them to find me a 'like
    replacement'.
    
    Of course this wasn't possible ( limited edition, very few for sale,
    mine had low mileage, excellent condition etc...) so they coughed up
    what I originally wanted ;-) 

    Worth trying, Norm ?    

    

    Why not give the Insurance Department a ring? Doug Arnold is the
    manager, and if he can't give you five minutes advice on how to deal
    with insurance companies, nobody can.

    Norm,
    
    I don't think tha Ralph's would give you the best quote.  when I
    scraped my Cavalier ( a six inch by 1 inch deep scrape on the rear
    wing)  Ralph's quoted me a price of about �450  (new wing etc...)
    
    But a garage local to my Dad, knocked out the scrape, filled it and
    then resprayed the wing.   cost was �80.
    To be fair to Ralph's both PHH and Hertz require repairs to as new
    standard, and so for lease cars you can't beat Ralph's.
    So shop around.
    
    Huw.                                         

    Huw,
    
    	Its worth thinking about. I'll let you know the outcome in due
    course. Many thanks for your replies.
    
    Cheers....Norm Pettet
    

	Given that you appear to have claimed on your own insurance for
	damage caused entirely by someone else there's little hope.

	If in doubt in cases like this call in someone who specialises
	in the area (insurance assessors) to make sure you get your just
	deserves.

	What about the provision of a car during repair, the waste of your
	time, loss of amenity etc. etc., there are masses of things that
	the man in the street doesn't know about - but if you claim off
	your own insurance that's tantamount to admission of at least some 
	blame.

	I think you've made the fatal mistake but why?

	-John

    ref:-1
    
    
    	John,
    
    	I asked my insurance company why the claim went through them
       and they said that they handled my claim and then reclaimed the
    moneys back from the guilty parties insurance. My No-Claims-Bonus
    is safe and intact.
    
    Cheers....Norm Pettet
    

    
    This sounds like normal procedure. You basically let the insurers fight
    over the money, part of what you pay for is this service.
    
    Mark

re: .12
    Your NCB is safe and intact as long as a settlement has been reached
    between the companies by the time you come to renew your policy. If not,
    your NCB suffers. This has happened to me, and it took two years to get it
    sorted out !!! Be warned ...

	Ahh but -

	Disregarding this particular case for the moment.

	If you claim on your own insurance for someone elses accident
	then the terms are strictly governed by the terms of the 
	agreement ie. all that small print that you never bothered to 
	read. These vary widely but are inevitably going to be restrictive
	in comparison with taking the issue up with the other party under
	common law.

	The Insurance Cos aren't terribly interested in deciding whose
	fault it was and if in any doubt will clobber both parties under
	their 'Knock for Knock' agreements. These arrangements are made
	to cut beaurocracy and save costs, and where there's doubt over
	blame not an unreasonable idea.

	But if your case is 100% you'll do better to avoid all the small
	print and go direct, after all the other person caused the all
	the hassle and should pay for it.
	
	-John

Except that if you ignore your insurers and go for the other person's 
insurance company on what *appears* to be a straightforward case, you won't 
necessarily get the settlement (100%) that you're after. The other party's 
insurers will play all sorts of stunts to try to get out of paying the full 
amount as they know that you (probably) don't have the legal experts backing 
you and willing to go to court for what is probably a relatively small sum. 
(I was hit by a truck which pulled out dangerously and illegally in front of 
me in stopped traffic, then scarpered; I got no witnesses but got his reg. 
no., etc; I ended up with a 50% settlement on a new bumper and touch-up which 
was still better than losing my no-claims).

John

    
    I was once hit by a motorbike (while I was stationary) so, on the
    surface, a straighforward case of 100% his fault. I only had tpft
    insurance, so took up the case myself, and eventually got a soliciter
    in. _But_ after 3 years, and the case coming to the small claims court 
    3 times, (only to be told that they had more important things to
    decide) the other insurance company offered me �375 + costs, as against
    the �500 I was claiming. I took the money because I was totaly fed up
    with the whole thing, and I couldn't afford to risk ending up with
    costs!

    Outcome:-
    
    	I accepted the �470 offered by the insurance company and I retained
    the salvage. Ralph's Motors repaired the car and resprayed the rear
    section for �462. Overall the car is now back to its original condition
    except I'll have to "T Cut" the rest of the car to match the new
    paintwork. Obviously insurance companys are only interested in newish
    cars but I wonder what would have been the outcome if the car was
    a "classic" car such as a Cooper-S or perhaps a Stag?
    
    Many thanks for all the replies, 
    
    Cheers....Norm Pettet
    
    

    
    Basically, if you own a 'classic' car you ought to arrange an
    'Agreed Value' policy. In this way your car is covered for a 
    guaranteed amount.
    
    You need to show some evidence of the value you've asked for
    , but providing you are not unreasonable it is not a problem.
    
    Do NOT attempt to insure a classic car on a 'normal' policy.
    
    Mark

    I'd say that wass essential!
    I was watching a programme on a Hispano Suiza rally in Spain and the
    commentator mentioned that the cars cost 2500 pounds for the chassis,
    plus roughly 1500 for the body in 1920 pounds!!!
    On the basis that a 100,000 pound house of today could be bought for 
    1000 pounds at that time he "guesstimated" that some of the cars on
    display could be worth 400,000 pounds today!!!