Classic car claim advice...

simonslife

I was towing my step fathers E Type on a tripple axle flat bed when two tyres blew out on the drivers side of the trailer, it fish tailed and the Jeep I was driving was forced through the crash barrier. The Jaguar was a 1973 E Type V12 and I was transporting it down to waterford to have the carbs balanced. The car was totally destroyed as it came off the trailer.

The Range Rover was covered by Allianz and they paid out compensation that I was happy with within the space of a week but the Jaguar was covered by Axa without a preagreed value. I have a valuation of €40,000 but they are going nowhere near that. (It was bought for €32,500 in 2005 and has had €15,500 spent on it to date with upgrades).

The question is, what can I do to appeal a decision? Is there an insurance arbitration board to make such an appeal? I want to do everything possible to avoid a protracted legal battle with them but if they are not willing to offer anywhere near the replacement value I feel we will be left with no choice.

Any help would be sincerely appreciated...

no1beemerfan

Jeez.....sorry to hear of your crash. The E-Type is a beaut. All I can advise is go to as many specialised dealers, who would deal in cars such as the E-Type, as possible and get a written valuation. You are probably going to have to contact most in the North or England as off-hand I wouldn't know of any in Ireland.

Hopefully you get the result your looking for.

Henry Ford III

Hire a claims assessor pronto!

STForSale

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Hire a claims assessor pronto!

+1 and never be suprised when an insurance company low ball's you.

maidhc

Insurance companies are a shower to deal with, and I deal with them every day.

My advice is just to start proceedings against them, it saves time and effort and money in the long run. Plenty of time to talk before trial, and cases like this invariably settle.

I'm quite happy to talk to you about how to deal with it as a fellow classic car enthusiast (at the crappier Ford Capri end of the scale!) and as a solicitor with no strings attached. Send me a pm should you wish to.

As said though, get an assessor, who will provide a reasonably Pre accident value, as that would form the cornerstone of any claim. And get a good one who is well known and who would be a regular in the courts.

robtri

its going to be a tough one, problem is that type 3 e types can be got around the 20 stg mark in the uk for a reasonable condition unit... with no VRT ...

Big Nasty

Very sorry to hear that OP - tragic story.

I really hope you can contest this and get a bigger figure from them however most classics have dropped in value here by 35-40% in the last three years and whatever work has been done to it doesn't really count for much TBH.

darragh o meara

maidhc wrote: »

Insurance companies are a shower to deal with, and I deal with them every day.

My advice is just to start proceedings against them, it saves time and effort and money in the long run. Plenty of time to talk before trial, and cases like this invariably settle.

I'm quite happy to talk to you about how to deal with it as a fellow classic car enthusiast (at the crappier Ford Capri end of the scale!) and as a solicitor with no strings attached. Send me a pm should you wish to.

As said though, get an assessor, who will provide a reasonably Pre accident value, as that would form the cornerstone of any claim. And get a good one who is well known and who would be a regular in the courts.

+1

Most insurance companies don't want to pay out anymore and will lowball you in the hope that you mightgo away. My advice is to keep onto them and take it as far as possible. A loss adjuster might be worth bringing in on the matter or a decent assessor.

Sorry to hear of your bad luck. Hopefully nobody was hurt.

Reloc8

maidhc speaks truth

Means Of Escape

You could be goosed
they insist on a an agreed evaluation with high value cars and send out their assessor to value your car
unfortunately they will tell you that they are not obliged to pay the value YOU put on the car
they will wriggle out of it and state that the vehicle can be purchased in the UK for a lot less than you are claiming for.
They have not seen the car before it was mangled.
Next problem us the whole issue with the trailer . If you both had agreed a high value on the car you can bet they would have insisted in a licences company to take your car for repairs rather than by private trailer.
The whole issue of bald tyres, speeding incorrect balancing of the trailer will be brought into the mess if you pursue them for a greater figure
have a go and recoup what you can . You won't be able to sell what's left of the Jag coz technically it's theirs and they will sell it off fir parts
good luck w it

Fishtits

Insurance Co's are an anomaly in that it seems they are allowed to write their own rules... They really need a good shaking over IMHO. Trouble is, they've been around since God was in short pants and the law has developed around them.

The other problem is that they are deeply entwined in the financial system.

It would be interesting if someone took a parallel claim on a settled case...

simonslife

Dear all,

Many thanks for the advice. An assessor was appointed by the insurance company and I went through all of the cars history by phone and email. The outcome was an increase from the offer of €15,000 to €40,000.

It just goes to show that perseverence pays off!!

Big Nasty

Excellent news - very happy to hear that for you!

I'm a little shocked they went back up to €40k, but well done!:)

Means Of Escape

Good for you
insurance companies are too quick to take your money as premiums but slow to pay out

Zubeneschamali

me bolly wrote: »

insurance companies are too quick to take your money as premiums but slow to pay out

This is hardly the right thread to post that in, the insurance stumped up a very fair price, pretty quickly!

Fair dues to Axa.

Vertakill

simonslife wrote: »

Dear all,

Many thanks for the advice. An assessor was appointed by the insurance company and I went through all of the cars history by phone and email. The outcome was an increase from the offer of €15,000 to €40,000.

It just goes to show that perseverence pays off!!

That's excellent news.

Just read this thread for the first time there from start to finish and had a bad feeling about this from the first few posts! Great result!

simonslife

I would say, yes and no to that. It took several weeks of battling and a joke of an initial offer. The final offer was made only after I insisted on an independent assessor who came up with a fair replacement value. I don't think they would have had a defense if they went against him. That said, I am satisfied with the outcome and would not put anyone off Axa...

Means Of Escape

They did because he wasn't going to go away nor would I

did you get a gratuity from Axa for your post!?!

Fey!

Congrats