Insurance Claim - Not Our Fault

s0805 on 15/03/2017 - 12:26

Hi Guys,

Need some understanding in assessing our rights and best way to proceed from this situation. We got hit from back on our car, other party has insurance we have third party only. Other party's insurance company after some wait started processing claim and assessed value of the car is less than the repair required. so offered us to pay the market value of car. they refuse to consider amount of time I will spend changing my car and inconvenience comes with it, new tyres put on my car, rego left for few months and they tell me because I don't have comprehensive insurance they are in no obligation to consider anything else than market value of my car. so they are discounting all other considerations and looking at the market value of my car only. Extremely stressed that we are forced to make a decision here and take it whatever they have to offer.

Problem with market value of the car is, we have extremely low km' on car and comparing on car sales or any where else may not get the right $$ amount and value of our car (to us at least) is much higher given our personal situation. they are suggesting I can go through FOS but them advising they are under no obligation to look at any other things apart from market value of car is the killer and I am afraid law is not on our side…

They don't know our personal situation and even not being at fault we are asked to change car and all the inconvenience with that…

appreciate any guidance on this pls.

cheers

Automotive

Comments

  • Belgarath on 15/03/2017 - 12:32
    +10

    Have you read the 10's of pages of people with only Third Party insurance? Insurance company is correct. You are insured at market value and have no bargaining power. Sucks, but thats what Comprehensive is for.

    • Seraphin7 on 16/03/2017 - 11:48
      +1

      Yep, this can get argued up and down, left and right, but this is basically where you will land at the end, +/- a few bucks but at significant time lost.

  • plmko on 15/03/2017 - 12:35

    Take the offer or hire a lawyer specialising in insurance claim to challenge them. Pretty simple.

    • s0805 on 15/03/2017 - 12:41

      thanks for that. Do FOS provide this service at all or is it personal lawyer…

      • plmko on 15/03/2017 - 12:46
        +1

        Pay for the right consultant or service, if not take what you can get. I don't even know why FOS is even on the table.

        • s0805 on 15/03/2017 - 12:50

          ok. thanks for your reply.

    • HeWhoKnows on 16/03/2017 - 09:58

      Hiring a lawyer comes out of YOUR costs/claim. Lawyer gets everything you get nothing

  • ShannonN on 15/03/2017 - 12:37
    +2

    If you're lucky and they write off the car you may get an offer to buy the car back, so you can get your tyres off it etc and buy the same model with payout and use low mile wreck as parts no one is going to pay you for inconvenience

    • s0805 on 15/03/2017 - 12:42
      +1

      ok. that's something I'll check. I can't believe they can even force me to write off my car means I've to buy something immediately.

  • s0805 on 15/03/2017 - 12:40
    -2

    wow…. I am not even looking at bargaining power its more like they set the value and you either leave it or take it…So they can bully their way out of it cause I've third party

    • Ughhh on 15/03/2017 - 12:46
      +3

      they set the value

      You mean the market value?

      So they can bully their way out of it cause I've third party

      Because the insurance company doesnt work for you. Every ones personal situation is different and they don't need to know what yours is by law afaik. If you want compensation for other things besides the car itself, get a lawyer.

      • s0805 on 15/03/2017 - 12:49
        -1

        No worries. Unfortunately market value is quite subjective given low Km's…all these with even not being at fault. Imagine being at fault….

        • Ughhh on 15/03/2017 - 13:04
          +1

          If you were at fault, you wouldn't get anything because you didn't pay to be looked after (unless your insurance company is very nice and generous). If you want to be well looked after, get comprehensive.

        • s0805 on 15/03/2017 - 13:05

          @Ughhh: thanks for that. Lessons learned.

        • resubaehtgnolhcs on 15/03/2017 - 13:05
          -2

          Exactly what is the implication with low kilometers that you are trying to make? Or what I am trying to ask is, why is your car with lower kms worth more than the same car with average kms (as is used to estimate market value)? What is it about kms that changes the value of a car - is it just perception (if both cars have been looked after to spec)?

        • s0805 on 15/03/2017 - 13:14

          @resubaehtgnolhcs: my understanding at least when buying car is to look at how many km's its run that tells at least the how much km's left in the car i guess and upcoming major maint items….I always though km's is the important consideration when buying car…There is no way you can value someone else's car (keeping personal situation costs aside). Problem is when you average out you most likely insurance will not loose out….my views.

        • resubaehtgnolhcs on 15/03/2017 - 13:18
          +2

          @s0805: But like mentioned earlier an insurance company cannot look at every individual's variables when it comes to their car, which is why averages are used in valuing a car. By the time you engage a lawyer to try and fight for more money, you would have spent more time and money than you will probably get back.

        • s0805 on 15/03/2017 - 13:22

          @resubaehtgnolhcs: yes. It was silly of me to think not being at fault will have more say in it. that's it. But I accept how industry work and with third Party you not gona get much say. Appreciate your response. thanks

        • resubaehtgnolhcs on 15/03/2017 - 13:27

          @s0805: Good luck with it all and take it as a lesson learnt

  • Baysew on 15/03/2017 - 12:49

    What make, model and year is your car?

    How much do you think you will be out of pocket?

  • steven6 on 15/03/2017 - 13:13
    +4

    With your rego I think you can cancel it and surrender the plates and get a partial refund.

    • s0805 on 15/03/2017 - 13:15

      oh really….that's some good news. at least get some $$ back…

    • Geewhizz on 16/03/2017 - 16:47
      +1

      The insurance company will do that, and keep any refund themselves.

  • JimB on 15/03/2017 - 13:38
    +2

    One thing to bear in mind, even if you have comprehensive insurance they will only pay you market value of the car.

    • apple2016 on 15/03/2017 - 13:57
      +1

      it actually depends weather the car is insured at market value or agreed value. You can always go on a agreed value if you value your car more and also prepared to pay a higher premium.

      • JimB on 15/03/2017 - 14:37

        Good point, I forgot about that.

        I always go Market Value as the chances of getting your car written off or stolen is very slim.

  • apple2016 on 15/03/2017 - 14:02

    Problem with market value of the car is, we have extremely low km' on car and comparing on car sales or any where else may not get the right $$ amount and value of our car (to us at least) is much higher

    whats you car's make and model? How old is your car? how many kms has it got? How much did you spend on the "new tyres"? How much rego is remaining? what is the market value estimation of the insurance company?

  • oscargamer on 15/03/2017 - 14:36
    +1

    you can always disagree with their 'market value'

    do research on carsales etc… and see what your car is being sold for

  • Efendy on 15/03/2017 - 14:39

    Same thing happened to me several years ago. The other party's insurance company offered to pay the market value and take the car off our hands or they would pay ~$400 less and give the car to us. The car was a repairable write off so I accepted their offer to get $400 less and fixed the car's bumper and was able to drive it without getting any sort of certificate as the car was older than n number of years. So, for old cars there is a scheme that you can continue driving it provided it meets the criteria. This was probably 5 years ago. I don't know if the rules have changed since then. key words here are "repairable write off" and "older than n number of years". With a bit of research you should be able to find the legislation.
    Good luck

  • furys12 on 16/03/2017 - 09:10

    they are under no obligation because you don't have anyone on your side fighting the battle for you, if you had comprehensive insurance then your insurance company could go to battle for you (and then raise your premium for the privilege) otherwise your only options is a getting lawyers and courts involved which will cost way more then its worth in money and time.

    this should be a warning to others if you have a car you value at more then market value for whatever reason, its in good condition, you are keeping it well maintained or you just love it and think its worth more because you know some secret about the particular model, then you need comprehensive insurance with an agreed value, otherwise you are just gambling with a possession you prize

  • McEels on 16/03/2017 - 09:15

    Maybe you can sell the tyres if they are new and put on some old ones. Apparently there's a mechanic in Melbourne running a scam https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/291586 so maybe they have some cheap tyres?

  • jhmtaylor on 16/03/2017 - 09:47
    +1

    I used to work as an insurance broker years ago and we sometimes had to negotiate claim settlements on customer's behalf. This is what used to happen.

    The assessor would classify the vehicle as fair, average or good example of the vehicle model for it's age. He would consider pre-accident damage, paintwork, upholstery, tyres and kms. Unused rego is usually negotiable. Accessories generally do not add much if any value to a vehicle, they just make it easier to sell. He would deduct the cost of bringing the vehicle up to a saleable condition. He will then use a dealers guide to determine the trade-in price and the price a dealer will sell if for. The notional market value is the average of the two prices. Why they don't pay retail price is because it includes warranty, detailing etc. The price determined by this formula is usually around what you could readily sell it for privately.

    There is a problem with using advertisements to determine value and the courts know that. Advertisements are the starting price for negotiations, not the selling price.

    Regarding the out of pocket expenses, you are unlikely to have much luck there, even if you were comprehensively insured. I hope this helps.

  • HeWhoKnows on 16/03/2017 - 10:00

    Insurance companies are not charities. They will do everything to minimize their costs. Take what you can get and run. Feel free to challenge the market value.

    FYI market value DOES include amount of rego left on car, new tyres etc as these would normally get you a better price when selling your car.

  • snook on 16/03/2017 - 11:14

    This happened to me and i went to all the car sales sites and collected examples and asking prices for these cars.

    My car was particularly low k'ms so I made a graph using this info. I even rang some people to find out how much their cars sold for.

    The insurance company accepted my challenge and paid me more.

  • WT on 16/03/2017 - 13:19

    take the wheels off, install space savers

    lol at them!

    not much you can do about the rest of the stuff

  • Noblejoker on 16/03/2017 - 17:51
    +2

    Please don't take the advice of well meaning people here

    This process is very much a NEGOTIATION
    They give you a low ball offer, you counter with another offer
    If you can justify your offer with evidence they will listen

    The insurance company rep on the phone is encouraged to talk you value down
    But you can definitely negotiate
    I work in the industry and we regularly have Market Value questioned and increased
    It is also common to ask for out of pocket expenses

    Example My insurance company paid for your damage under a policy as well as providing you a hire car (under an optional policy benefit) because you (hypothetically) had comprehensive cover with us
    We would seek reimbursement of ALL those costs from the At Fault party or their insurer
    You are entitled to do the same

    Remember to take into account the deal
    e.g. you can probably keep the car, it's still yours and registered in your name
    That means the balance of the rego can be cashed in, the tyres are yours, etc
    Depending on damage you may also be able to have it fixed cheaply and keep driving
    However if that is your plan be sure they aren't applying a WOVR meaning it is a statutory write off and can't be re-registered.
    This is standard in NSW but other states are more flexible

    Negotiate hard - if that fails Google firms who work for you to do it on your behalf
    Good luck

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