Negotiating a settlement figure

[V8 90]

It’s looking like my Evoque is going to be a write off - I’ll find out for certain in the morning. Any advice on negotiating a sensible/realistic figure please ?? 
Thanks in advance 👍

[Dave-G]

Don't accept their first offer. Check for similar prices on ebay and other car selling sites for cars in comparable condition. try to think up something about it that is of extra value to you.

For example I got an initial offer of £1500 raised by £300 for a very old 217K miles X-Trail when I pointed out the wife HAS to have auto and power steering because of bad arthritis in her hands - and I wanted it to be a 4WD in a colour that doesn't stand out in the country because I shoot from the car. The nearest one that suited was over 100 miles away and had done a lot less miles.

[GingerCat]

Go online, find similar spec vehicles to yours at high prices. Shouldn't be too tricky. The colour shouldn't make any difference so dont be picky.

Note the dealer, price, spec, mileage and history, get the reg if possible. Screen shot it if they want an email or if the listing gets pulled. This is so they can go and check it (they probably wont). 

They will quote you x amount saying it's a fair price etc.  You can then say thats very interesting but heres 5 of similar (or worse) spec age and mileage for xx so it's not a fair price after all. They will umm and err and say it is.

 They will also haggle and say things like having the brakes recently done don't count.

You will haggle and say well here's 2 more or higher value still and you have more in the bank, stay polite but firm, a but more ermming and erring and you will split the difference.

You wont make a profit but shouldn't be out of pocket if you do your homework. Shouldn't take long. Cup of coffee with a notepad and auto trader at the most. 

I had to do this with my last car that was written off. Added almost a grand to what they were going to pay. Luckily I did it before they called and it was dealt with in a phone call all at once. He didn't expect me to reel off a number of cars from different dealers at higher prices but it wasn't a hard phone call. Most of them that call you will be doing it as a first job in the industry.

Don't call them back having refused, just deal with it there and then, they won't want to end the call and it will pressure them to agree.  If you call them back you will be on the back foot.

It's kinda like buying a car at that point, if your going to buy a car right there and then and make that known but put the sale on them to agree with you (mats, tank of fuel, extra 500 on your part x or whatever) chances are they will. I've even had them phone back and offer what I wanted a day later (most return within 24 hours and buy it but it's worth holding out as they really want to sell it)

If you have a number of cars in the bank then you should come out trumps. 

Importantly write down what you need from the car as a bottom line before the call, anything over and your winning.

Take your time when your speak with them. Have a coffee and a chat. 

[Davyo]

I have only ever had one payout.In the early 90's my XR2 was stolen and crashed.The car was only 14mths old and the 1st offer was 'and I told them' as bad as having some scum bag steal my car.I ended up cutting out about a half dozen like for like cars in the trader ( I'd been to view) and said just replace it then with one of these.When I paid my premium, I insured it to cover a value (or an acceptable realistic value), not their value less £2500.

They upped their offer within £50 of what I would settle for.

Good luck and as others have said, dont accept the first offer.Also if like myself you  have a 2nd vehicle's dont be pressured/rushed into accepting an offer just because they will be thinking you want to get back on the road asap.

Edited December 20, 2019 by Davyo

[V8 90]

Good info - thanks guys 

[NoBodyImportant]

Not sure how it works in the UK but a few years back I was hit in my truck here in North Carolina.   They sent me a check for 4 thousand dollars.  The truck was inoperable.  The truck was worth about $5500. I argued back and forth for a month and finally I had enough and put the check in the safe and forgot about it. Few months later they called me to see if I had got my check and I said yes.  So the lady was like oh ok, I’m glad you got it could you send me a copy of the cashed statement because it’s not showing up.   I told her I didn’t cash it as it clearly states on the check that accepting payment clears the driver of any and all future debts and liability.  I told her I was going to sue the driver 6 years from now.  (We have 7 years to sue for property damage).  She was nice and we politely hung up.  A month later she called back and said that the check had went past the 90 days and was now void so she issued me another one.  I put that one in the safe and 90 days later she called back to issue another one. 90 days later another lady called and offered me $6000 to settle the claim. I explained to her that I was paying $50 a week to a coworker for a ride back and forth to work so that $6000 would not pay my expenses that I was keeping track of for the lawsuit.  They called back and we settled the claim for a fair amount. 

[sportsbob]

On 20/12/2019 at 11:26, V8 90 said:

Good info - thanks guys 

The law states they have to pay market value as advertised from a reputable dealer.

Firstly establish via a telephone call that a 25 mile radius is a reasonable distance to travel to get a replacement you will then need two examples with screenshots and ideally the web address. They then by law they must base the value on the average of the two prices forwarded.

This I have needed to do on a few occasions and it works, the last time the value more than doubled.

If they offer you to buyback your old car as scrap it almost certainly will be a bad deal, the car will be registered as a write off and worth less as a result.

[V8 90]

Thanks for this info 👍

[Dave-G]

2 hours ago, sportsbob said:

The law states they have to pay market value as advertised from a reputable dealer.

Firstly establish via a telephone call that a 25 mile radius is a reasonable distance to travel to get a replacement you will then need two examples with screenshots and ideally the web address. They then by law they must base the value on the average of the two prices forwarded.

This I have needed to do on a few occasions and it works, the last time the value more than doubled.

If they offer you to buyback your old car as scrap it almost certainly will be a bad deal, the car will be registered as a write off and worth less as a result.

Not doubting your knowledge in any way Bob, do you have a link to anywhere that clearly states that to save for future reference?

[sportsbob]

Unfortunately not I used Google and quoted what I found to the insurer. In the  last instance the conversation with the insurer went along the lines of . As I live in a rural area do you think I should easily be able to find a replacement in similar condition etc within 25 miles and the answer was yes. I then told them that the only two for sale in the UK the same model colour mileage and year at that time were both hundreds of miles away and they were three times what they valued mine at. They settled within the hour.. 

[Vince Green]

When you insured it you and the company entered into a contract and the value was agreed and shown on the policy. That is the amount you should get back, its the agreed contract value. Any waffle about the "the book value is only ………." is waffle but they try it on and they are very good at it. 

they say things like "that's what you would have got if you had sold it"   yes but I had no intention of selling it, and anyway, that's not what I would have got on a PX so your argument is meaningless 

When my mother's car was written off recently, after a lot of stalling they paid the full agreed value.