Peugeot 106 - Cash in Lieu - settlement value?

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Sun 3 Jul 2011 22:12
Peugeot 106 - Cash in Lieu - settlement value? - mikeymikeyb

Hey there -

First time poster (sent here by MoneySavingExpert), so please be nice if I get anything wrong!

I had an accident a couple of weeks ago where I crashed into the back of my girlfriend's car - I was at fault (although it's more towards the 'one of those things that just happens' end of the spectrum) and I'm trying to get my car sorted under my fully comprehensive policy with Admiral. The car itself runs fine but there is damage to to bodywork - the sort that doesn't look much but costs quite a lot to fix. The approved repairer gave an estimate of £1600, making it an economic write off - but I've got personal reasons for wanting to keep the car (it needs to go to my brother in a couple of years time), plus I know it to be good and reliable, and I had new parts fitted about a month ago.

It's insured for £900 with a £150 excess. I asked the insurers to request an estimate using repaired parts / no cosmetic repairs etc, but unsurprisingly no luck. I'm happy to pay a little bit extra over the top to get the car repaired myself, and I've found a local garage that seems to understand that I don't really mind if I end up with a different coloured bonnet etc, and is getting back to me with what I expect to be a reasonable price. The reality is that the car only needs to get through about 3 more years of MOTs. I'm also investigating the possibility of doing some of the repairs myself.

Anyway, after a lot of bad customer service I've been offered a cash in lieu settlement of £840 minus the excess. I've done an autotrader valuation which puts the value for private sale at just over £1000, and research on buying similar cars in my area seems to suggest that that's the correct figure. My question really is what does the cash in lieu settlement cover? More specifically, does it take into account the fact that I'm retaining the salvage value of the car? If it does, then obviously £840 is acceptable, but if I'm meant to be paid out to the value of a new car, then I'm not keen to settle for anything less than £900, especially after the abysmal way my claim has been managed!

Another related question is about the continuation of my insurance. I've got four more months to go which I've already paid for, and I'm still fairly young so a new policy will destroy me. My understanding is that they can't cancel my policy unilaterally unless my car is deemed a write off, but please correct me on this. Would accepting cash in lieu give them the right to cancel?

I'm going to speak to them tomorrow, but would quite like to know what my rights are before I do. Unsurprisingly I'm not really going to take muc notice of anything they tell me given the rubbish they've told me so far!

Thanks in advance! Sorry if it all seems a bit petty, but I'm a student so every penny counts!

Mike

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Mon 4 Jul 2011 08:55
Peugeot 106 - Cash in Lieu - settlement value? - RT

If you've insured it for £900 value, then that's the maximum you'd get - if it would cost more to buy an equivalent car then it was under-insured which becomes your problem not the insurers.

The £840 offer of settlement only relates to you retaining salvage if it states that.

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Mon 4 Jul 2011 10:10
Peugeot 106 - Cash in Lieu - settlement value? - martint123

If they pay out on a total loss, which this would be, then that is the end of your policy.

Even if you pay monthly then you will still have to keep paying as the monthly payments are installments rather than monthly insurance.

Sorry.

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Mon 4 Jul 2011 10:18
Peugeot 106 - Cash in Lieu - settlement value? - RT

If they pay out on a total loss, which this would be, then that is the end of your policy.

Not always - I wrote my car off last year - after I'd accepted their settlement offer and ordered a new car, the insurer simply suspended the policy for the time I was waiting for the car to be built.

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Mon 4 Jul 2011 23:20
Peugeot 106 - Cash in Lieu - settlement value? - dacouch

"If you've insured it for £900 value, then that's the maximum you'd get - if it would cost more to buy an equivalent car then it was under-insured which becomes your problem not the insurers."

This is not really accurate, it is perfectly feasible to claim from your insurers for an amount more than you have insured your vehicle for. For instance you may have inadverntently under estimated the value of your car or it could have appreciated in value since you insured it.

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Mon 4 Jul 2011 23:26
Peugeot 106 - Cash in Lieu - settlement value? - RT

"If you've insured it for £900 value, then that's the maximum you'd get - if it would cost more to buy an equivalent car then it was under-insured which becomes your problem not the insurers."

This is not really accurate, it is perfectly feasible to claim from your insurers for an amount more than you have insured your vehicle for. For instance you may have inadverntently under estimated the value of your car or it could have appreciated in value since you insured it.


Whether you've under-estimated it's value or it's appreciated in value they'll still claim under-insured and adjust the payout back to the amount you declared.

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Tue 5 Jul 2011 09:20
Peugeot 106 - Cash in Lieu - settlement value? - dacouch

Plenty of Insurers may try to apply your approach, however refering them to the Ombudsmans guideance (Rules) on this matter will normally make them see sense. If they don't it's just a case of maing an official complaint and if this does not work taking it to the Ombudsman who is quite clear on the matter.

"We are likely to award the policyholder the full retail value, even if he/she inadvertently under-estimated the value of the vehicle when filling in the proposal form or luckily bought the vehicle for less than it was worth. And we have seen exceptional cases where a vehicle’s value genuinely rose between the date it was bought and the date of the damage/theft."

tinyurl.com/5vcw6ed

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