FCA issue edict to Insurers on motor vehicle valuations following total losses

[Dustydog]

This is very interesting and hopefully demonstrates the Ombudsman and FCA are batting for us. You can assume the same principle must apply to motor homes and caravans.
Post Covid we have all seen used vehicle values increase although I suspect they are levelling off lately.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-r...s-or-other-insured-items-when-settling-claims

 

[Buckman]

Interesting. When I purchased the 2018 Jeep last year in August and used comparison sites, the value was nearly £5000 lower although the cost of the same Jeep on a dealer's forecourt was actually higher than what we paid.

I physically altered it to the exact amount I had paid for the Jeep and the quote amount increase by a few pounds and not hundreds of pounds. A check today shows that a Jeep of the same model and year with my current mileage is actually more than what we paid for the Jeep last year.

 

[otherclive]

Motor Insurers will often try to settle at a low amount. When our Saab 9000 was written off in a bad no fault collision our insurer offered a silly settlement figure. So I rejected it straight away. Then spent a lot of time on my 128 k connection looking at motor sale sites for similar cars. The asking prices were well above what the insurer had offered. I passed the details over to them and they came back saying I wouldn’t necessarily pay the asking price. After much discussion we agreed what I felt was a fair settlement. After receipt of the money we changed insurer to one with a better reputation……LV+

 

[audiorob]

After a no fault write off it didn’t work for me and I am left substantially out of pocket as both the insurer and the ombudsman rely on a span of trade guide prices to agree what was described as a ‘fair’ settlement rather than actual current market prices as they are volatile and subject to variation and advertised prices may not reflect actual prices paid.
Also changed provider for both cars since but of course you only know the quality if you need to make a claim.

 

[Raywood]

The idea of offering under the market value is not new. When I started in the industry almost 50 years ago working for one of the cheaper companies this was standard procedure there and I doubt it has changed a lot at that level. Basically if you buy cheap you should expect the company to try and save somewhere and that offer is likely to be part of it.
When a car is written off the engineer has to value the vehicle and may quote a small range of values so be prepared for them to look at least at the lower one. If you think your car is a write off do look at values immediately so you are ready to challenge them if the offer is low. At the same time do remember that dealers prices do allow wriggle room, so a quoted price of £10,000 may go for quite a bit less if you ask nicely.

 

[audiorob]

Good luck with that as I researched similar cars throughout the Uk on the night of the accident and sent to the insurer and subsequently the ombudsman to no avail as was stated in their response that trade values are employed.

 

[Buckman]

Good luck with that as I researched similar cars throughout the Uk on the night of the accident and sent to the insurer and subsequently the ombudsman to no avail as was stated in the response that trade values are employed.

What I found out about Ombudsman services is that you seem to go through different tiers. At the first tier they try to get a quick resolution and tend to agree with the company against whom you are complaining. This is what we came across and our complaint was rejected in favour of the company.

We then requested that the complaint be escalated as we were not happy. After a bit of humming and hawing it was escalated to someone with far more indepth knowledge of the legislation

On escalation the issue was resolved more than adequately to our satisfaction. Someone else also had a similar problem to us and also got the fob off from the Ombudsman at the first stage, but at second stage complaint resolved satisfactory.

I am not saying that it happens in every case, but there is a possibility that this sort of practice exists.

 

[audiorob]

I rejected the first response from FO and sent further possible replacement details but was told that because the insurance company offer was within the range of trade values they thought it was fair and that the value was calculated in that way to be fair and transparent across the board. I was disappointed as I had also read reports of Insurance companies being called to task, but I don't think I could have done more!

 

[Dustydog]

I rejected the first response from FO and sent further possible replacement details but was told that because the insurance company offer was within the range of trade values they thought it was fair and that the value was calculated in that way to be fair and transparent across the board. I was disappointed as I had also read reports of Insurance companies being called to task, but I don't think I could have done more!

How long ago was this?
The FCA are responsible for the FOS but do not engage in their day to day activities. I don’t understand why you were only offered trade value🤔🤔. Clearly you provided evidence of similar like for like vehicles market values. The Insurer and FOS should have taken that into account. Have I missed something?

 

[audiorob]

Only concluded since New Year so my comments are my recent experience, Hope others may have better outcomes if placed in the same situation than I feel I have had.

 

[Notmyvan]

This is very interesting and hopefully demonstrates the Ombudsman and FCA are batting for us. You can assume the same principle must apply to motor homes and caravans.
Post Covid we have all seen used vehicle values increase although I suspect they are levelling off lately.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-r...s-or-other-insured-items-when-settling-claims

The We Buy any Car site dosent help values. Apart from being a manager of 2 Car Auctions and probably buying and selling over 2000 cars when I had a Car Showroom, I still like to think I am still good at valuations.
When a relatives 2013 Diesel Car came up for sale recently I bought it for £2700 and it had faults.
Went on the We Buy any Car and they only offered £3000 and it had to be perfect.
Put it on the Autotrader website at £4500 and listed the faults, and was inundated with enquiries,
Sold it for £4250.

 

[Raywood]

Webuyanycar is a safe way of selling without any hassle but you do pay a bit for the convenience.