Insurance Scam ?

Banjo013

I have an old car, it's a 1992, only worth about €1,000 at this stage. Is in great nick though and I love it.

I had it parked, perfectly legally on the street recently. Some old biddy came too quick around the corner and smacked into it. But fair play to her, she left her contact details on the wiper.

Went to get a quote from the garage, €2,000 to repair. She said she'd have to put that throught the insurance. So I filled out the forms etc. ... her insurance company sent out an assessor and everything. Then her insurance company sent me a letter which basically said "your car is only worth €1,000, so we're not shelling out €2,000 to fix it. We're offering a cheque for €1,000, take it or leave it and fcuk off please".

I couldn't believe it ... here's me observing the law, minding my own business. Along comes this old bag, does this damage, and her insurance won't pay to fix it ! Basically it means I'll now loose my car because €1,000 will not put it back in an NCT passable condition, and it's due in april.

How can this be right, or even legal ? I didn't do anything wrong and because of this it looks like I'm about to be left carless.

Anyone got any knowledge in this area ? Have I no case to make against the insurer ?

Seth Brundle

can you prove your car is worth more than €1K? Insurance Co.s only pay out what the car is worth, not what it is insured for - its in your policy.
Compare against buy & sell etc. for a 2nd opinion.

just out of curiosity - how far from the apex of the corner were you if she managed to smack into you?

Banjo013

I was well within the markings on the road for parking ... it's a pay and display area.

I know for a fact that my car is worth no more than €1,000. But that's not the point. It's not my policy I'm claiming on - it's hers. And I thought the minimum level of cover -Third Party Only - covers damage you do to other peoples property. But obviously it doesn't, since the damage is €2,000 and they will only pay €1,000.

I mean the bottom line here, is why should I loose my car for doing nothing wrong ??! It's her fault, she should be liable. She is legally entitled (or so I understand) to transfer her liability onto the insurance company, but they won't put right the damage done.

Don't I have any rights here ?

Seth Brundle

AFAIR you are at the mercy of the insurance Co.
Your car will be repaired unless the cost is more than the market value of the car.
This is the way they all operate (irrespective of which policy is being claimed on) and they won't change the system for you or anyone else.

Nuttzz

this happened to 2 friends of mine, the insurance company have you by the shorts either way, sorry

unkel

It's terrible, because you probably won't find a car as good as yours for a grand

seamus

Yeah, unless you can prove that it's worth more you won't get more. The law obliges them only to pay your damages, i.e. the amount it would cost to repair or replace the car, whichever is lower.
Essentially, if the estimated repairs are more than the actual value of the car it's considered a write-off (regardless of whether it can be driven), and as such, all they have to pay is the value of the car.

As someone said, you probably won't get a car as solid for the €1000, which sucks really, but such is life.

Walter Ego

Originally posted by Banjo013
It's not my policy I'm claiming on - it's hers./B]

I'm afraid your labouring under the delusion that the various insurance companies are somehow in competition with each other. Basically they are all buddies and will never screw each other. That's what you and me, the punters are there for. Take the money and run. Sorry.

aodh_rua

Banjo that's rough and I think that seamus has hit the nail on the head regarding your rights.

Your only option is get onto Joe Duffy and his like and grumble over the airwaves.

BrianD3

As has already been said, this is perfectly normal and legal. Yes it does suck when it's not your fault. But think of it this way. If insurance companies always paid out the repair costs of a car rather than the market value of the car what would happen? Insurance premiums would go through the roof!

The only way you'll get the full repair costs for your car in this case is if the woman who hit you makes a contribution out of her own pocket to supplement the money that the insurance company pays out. This is highly unlikely as she would want to be extremely kind-hearted and saintly (some would say foolish and naive) to do this However, I do know of a case where something similar to this happened. A friend of mine had an accident in his car which was worth about 800 quid. The other driver was 100% in the wrong adn agreed to pay for the damage out of his own pocket rather than involve insurance. Anyway the repair costs came to about 1800 quid (and that was using secondhand parts and trying to keep the cost down as low as possible)

BrianD3

ford fiesta

Try and get a cheaper quote somewhere ...Were you quoted with all new parts having to be used? Maybe 2nd hand parts would do to get it sorted for the NCT and to keep you on the road for another while?

What sort of damage are you talking about?

Its a shame to let go of a car you love, even though its old and the others are right buying a similar model of this age wouldn't be the same as your own.

Armadillo

What kind of damage was caused to yours?
Did you go to a main dealer for the qoute?
If you have the time, get a couple of more quotes.
There's a lot of garages out there charging over the top for repairs\parts. These cowboys creaming off the auld "shur the insurance company are paying for it" deal.
This is where the real scam is.

Banjo013

All the damage is on the passenger side front - bumper, wing, headlamp cluster, indicator, bonnet, plus repairs to the mountings for all the above ... they need straightening out.

I guess I've got to sit back and take this one. It's wrong though, especially when you consider that I pay through the nose for insurance myself and have never had any claims ... just seems like throwing money away and never seeing anything for it.

Thanks.

Noodamo

Obviously depending on how bad the damage is you could probably do some of the repairs yourself, that is if you really want to keep the car. I haven't seen how bad it is, but if its get awayable, get the panels sorted out by a panel beater, shouldn't cost that much, re-spray them yourself. Mounting you might want to get checked out by a pro. electrics and stuff aren't that difficult. Get down the library and get a Fix your car yourself for dummies book out or something.

Short of that, I have a 91 Mitsubishi Colt (white, 1.3, 111k) sitting in my driveway with no tax or nct on it (out since feb). Great car, needs a service and a new exhaust. Never given us any trouble at all. Alternator went on it about 2 years ago and we replaced it. Don't know how much work needs to be done to it for it to pass nct. You can collect it tomorrow if you want it man. It's yours.

PM me if interested

Victor

Can you actually get a replacement car of the equivalent standard for the €1,000? If so take it. Make sure you get paid for the temporary loss of the vehicle, inconvenience, time getting new car, etc.