# Write off Payout offer VERY low!!



## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

GRRRR!!!!

Damn insurance company! Initially when i insured my car i insured it for 12k (not agreed value as they wouldnt do that unless it was garaged :lamer

Just had a phone call and they are offering me 6.5k for the car, saying the book price for 33's is 6.5k, i dont think so, and definatley not for mine!

If it was a standard but clean 32 i would say so but not a 33 with a good spec and very clean.

Told them where to go, is there anything that i can do?? (Going to provide evidence of similar 33's to mine to see what happens)

Shouldnt the payout be to replace the vehicle in the same spec as it was insured for??

uke:

Cheers

Ben


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## GTaaaaaarrrrrr! (May 4, 2006)

I guess that would depend upon whether you declared the modifications and what the terms of the policy stated; i.e. new for old etc.

Either way, they are all thieving scumbags uke:


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

All mods were stated bud, will have to check the new for old thing out.

Hopefully they will come back with a better offer. Cheeky *******!!


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## moleman (Jun 3, 2002)

It's their raison d'etre to mess you about and pay out as little as possible. Push for more. You might have to spend some time searching for similar cars for sale to show them.

Insured with?


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

Yeah i've just being doing some research for cars of similar spec and its closer to 10k.

Insured with *insert company name that i cant remember of at the mo* through A-Plan.


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## moleman (Jun 3, 2002)

It was the broker I was interested in mate.

A-Plan. Others have complained about shit payouts. There seems to be a reason that they are cheap.

Hope you have luck with them.


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## GTaaaaaarrrrrr! (May 4, 2006)

moleman said:


> It was the broker I was interested in mate.
> 
> A-Plan. Others have complained about shit payouts. There seems to be a reason that they are cheap.
> 
> Hope you have luck with them.


As Moleman says, never accept the first payout  There was a case recently (I think it was on the MLR) of a guy with a T350C which was written off and he was offered £16k. After doing what Moleman suggested (an extensive market report of similar vehicles) he managed to get £21k!

Like I said before, thieving bar stewards. Dig your heels in mate and get trawling the Internet :thumbsup:


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## Snowfiend (Jul 11, 2006)

That sucks Ben, hope you get it sorted mate 

This is the reason I only have an agreed value policy...worth the extra money it costs !


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

Cheers gents, i cant see it being a problem finding cars of similar spec to mine for over 10k, just nearly fell off my chair when he said "i've done my research and it about 6.5k" 

LMAO, obviously dosen't know who he's talking to  lol


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

*Apologies - dipstick here got it wrong!! Its Flux not A-Plan!!!!!*

Cheers to Dan for contacting me, sorry mate, the years/policies are just blending together now!! 

lol


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## matt j (Oct 19, 2001)

*A-Plan*

A-Plan aren't great at paying out either.

I have an agreed value policy with Flux so shall be watching this with interest...


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## plkettle (Feb 2, 2004)

theiving ******* - i had this with my 33GTR 4 years ago - i lost stupid amounts of money as their offer was really poor back then and after 4 months of arguing over the value i had to settle for just a few grand more  

thats why i WONT get another insurance policy without an agreed value.


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

Hmmm, seems i should have gone agreed value. Learning the hard way i suppose.


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## agent-x (Jul 26, 2008)

yep as moleman has stated the best way to get the pay out up is showing them similar cars tht are for sale with similar spec


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## Bucky (Mar 21, 2003)

Flux again. Top insurance company arn't they.
They mis-sold you the policy as they always do.


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## gavoh (Apr 3, 2008)

Ben 

Over the years my girlfriend (well, as good as wife) has managed to write off more cars than I can remember!! Everytime they would come back with these stuip low first offers, everytime after months of aruging and getting examples, ringing up the loss adjuster (more toss adjuster) the payout ended up being at least 50% more.

This happened with a different insurance company each time, but same result!
Should be no different with a Skyline, you could always try and buy it back off them cheap and then break it??

Stick with it, wear them down, don't give up.


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

Cheers bud, thats exactly what i'm planning to do. No chance i'm taking that price for my car.


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## RSVFOUR (May 1, 2006)

A few things that may help

You need to find "a higher authority" . The assessors knowledge of a a car like the GTR will probably be minimal. Its unlikely he knows what a v spec is etc. If you have been taking the car to a specialist for servicing etc get them to write a report on the condition of the car at the last service with a proper valuation. A valuation from an independant specialist will help an awful lot.

The assessor is given work by the insurance company . By keeping their payout levels down he justifies his existence. They are seen as an authority by the ins. co (mainly because hes on their side) untill you prove otherwise.
I would ask him how he has arrived at his figure. If he has valued your car as a standad example an independant report will increase the value.

As has been said before Dont throw in the towel. Be a damn nuisance and pester them to death. Its quite possible to get the assessor to up the offfer just by making a nuisance of yourself. Or to put it a different way - he wont if you dont.

Another option is to ask for a settlement figure as you intend to keep the car. This can help as they cannott value a written off car for very much if their original value is very low. This may mean you get more for the car as a decent GTR will be worth quite a bit for spares..
It is also a way for the assessor to come to an agreement without losing face. (also very important to him)


Most important - DONT GIVE UP. The more often you ring or write the quicker he will act.


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

Many thanks mate, valuable information there. I'll speak to my tuner and get him to write a report on the car.

Thanks again.


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## JapFreak786 (Aug 29, 2003)

maybe also see if Middlehurst can help you out?

i contacted Middlehurst when my R33 was in a small accident (not my fault),and her insurance gave me a cheque for the cost of the parts in the end,i could have gotten more out of it and included labour + paint etc but in the end,i used that money and brought 2nd hand bits costs a damn sight cheaper and modified the car more


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## murano3 (Mar 23, 2005)

Yep you need to push on the offers - I have a friend (name not posted to protect the ugly) - his car was written off - a S14A - first offer was £2500 - at my advice I told him to push back and provide a full listing of the mods and their costs new - in the end he got £8000 ... and enough for his first GTR .. .


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

Thanks guys, more avenues to have a look down there, many thanks, giving me a bit of confidence to get a decent price now!


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## scoobster (Aug 8, 2003)

Ben!!!!! what have you done to my car??????? what happened? is everyone OK? gutted mate gutted :bawling:


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

PM en route


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## NotoriousREV (Jun 11, 2003)

Ben, if it'll help I'll put the Rust Bucket up for sale at £14,000 and you can use it as an example


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## SmigzyGTR (Mar 20, 2006)

moleman said:


> It was the broker I was interested in mate.


Equity Red Star :sadwavey:


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## teabelly (Feb 1, 2004)

Market value should be ok. You just need to find examples like yours or ask them to find you one that is in the same condition as yours. Admiral are notorious for crap payouts and the approved repairers seem to be in league with insurance companies to over quote for repairs, under value and then write off and take the profit between them when they sell the car on. Think Adrian Flux is now part owned by Admiral which explain their behaviour. Another forum member has had a 15k car written off 4k of repairs and they value it at 6.5k!! Even thought is a limited edition and there weren't any listed at that price forsale where the assessor suggested they'd looked so insurance assessors are happy to lie.

Do not accept the low pay out. If they start putting pressure on mention the FSA as they oversee the insurance industry now.

How did the car get written off? If it was a third party then claim from them the full replacement costs and take no crap. If you wrote the car off yourself then you may be on a stickier wicket.


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## ScottyB (Jun 9, 2009)

Ben,

Similar experience myself last year when my brand new M3 was stolen only 4 months old.

Car cost 59k with all the toys on, insurance offered wait for it.........37k i nearly burst a rib laughing.

Went through the exercise of finding cars with the same spec and mileage and emailed them the details, this never worked they still messed me about saying all they were prepared to pay was what Glass's guide quoted (Obviously not with extras dip sticks)

Anyway long story short.

Best way to get their attention is nice and simple and i wish i had done this from day 1.

Tell them you would like to refer the matter to their in house compliance department for a review and watch them squirm.

You will get a nice phone call within days with a greatly increased offer, if you don't tell them you want them to issue you with a "Final response" letter (Use that exact terminology) they won't want to do this because next step is Ombudsman.

Small bit of advice for you as well.

If the claim takes longer to settle because they are taking time trying to haggle the numbers you are entitled to interest paid on your payout from the date that "a responable settlement could have been reached" i.e. the day of the first "silly" offer give or take a week or so.

I managed to get 780 extra payout due to delays in settlement with them trying to haggle, quote the Office of fair trading interest payment on unsettled insurance claims and that should hurry them up somewhat.

I got 57k in the end plus my 780 so i only lost just over a grand on my car...........absolute result!

Keep the pressure on and provide as much evidenceas possible on other cars, similar spec and as others have said get a report from last time it was serviced.

Keep your chin up!


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## sin (Dec 3, 2007)

ScottyB said:


> Ben,
> 
> Similar experience myself last year when my brand new M3 was stolen only 4 months old.
> 
> ...


Thats the way to do it (in a punch and judy style voice).

What a result, thanks for that post very informative.


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## ITSt (Apr 28, 2006)

To all those that posted above stating that they have "an agreed value" insurance, care to publicise who you are with please ?

In 3 years I have only found one company that would do a true agreed value insurance with a legally binding contractual write-off certificate. The cost was 5 times the "normal" premium, and there was also a one off assessors fee, and last year that company stopped doing them.

Everytime I ask the above question it seems to be a big secret, so just who are the insurance companies that do these "agreed value policies" ?


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## ITSt (Apr 28, 2006)

matt j said:


> ..... I have an agreed value policy with Flux so shall be watching this with interest...


From bitter experience Flux do NOT do *true* agreed value policies. They may agree a value for your car at policy renewal time, but that is NOT the write-off value. Flux do as almost everyone else does and that is calculate the write-off value based on market prices at the time of the claim.

I would phone Flux and ask them a very specific question on what your write-off value is, not your agreed value. When asked by an insurance company what the value of my car is I respond by specifically asking is that "estimated value" or "write-off value". Two very different things. The "estimated value" is used to calculate your premium, it is not the write-off value.


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## matty32 (Dec 18, 2005)

ITSt said:


> From bitter experience Flux do NOT do *true* agreed value policies. They may agree a value for your car at policy renewal time, but that is NOT the write-off value. Flux do as almost everyone else does and that is calculate the write-off value based on market prices at the time of the claim.
> 
> I would phone Flux and ask them a very specific question on what your write-off value is, not your agreed value. When asked by an insurance company what the value of my car is I respond by specifically asking is that "estimated value" or "write-off value". Two very different things. The "estimated value" is used to calculate your premium, it is not the write-off value.


totally spot on

they do not use that for the write off value


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## pupsi (Aug 29, 2006)

I don't have an agreed value policy, mine is a;; like for like replacement policy, in the case of a claim, I have to produce receipts to confirm what I've listed as the mods to my car, which I delared to the insurance company when I took out the policy.


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