Hi guys,

I am new to this forum and came to seek help and advice with a claim for my Skoda fabia.

Last week on the M1 I was sideswept by a HGV. My car was a total wreck, as I had spun out of control and collided onto the hard shoulder barrier. The insurance company declared it a write off and has given me a value of £1325.

The Fabia is a 2002 Classic Hatchback and has done 88000 miles. For me to even buy a Skoda Fabia Hatchback, the lowest price is £2000 for anything in a similar condition.

I just need help on deciding if I should fight with the insurance company to get a better offer ?

In addition, they plan to deduct £300 for my excess and deduce my remaining premium as the 3rd party hasn't accepted liability yet. Which would in return, leave me with nothing if I were to take out their offer. They had also said, if I was paid out before the other party accepted liability, I will not be able to reclaim my premiums.

Any advice on what I should do ?

Thanks

Hi guys,

I am new to this forum and came to seek help and advice with a claim for my Skoda fabia.

Last week on the M1 I was sideswept by a HGV. My car was a total wreck, as I had spun out of control and collided onto the hard shoulder barrier. The insurance company declared it a write off and has given me a value of £1325.

The Fabia is a 2002 Classic Hatchback and has done 88000 miles. For me to even buy a Skoda Fabia Hatchback, the lowest price is £2000 for anything in a similar condition.

I just need help on deciding if I should fight with the insurance company to get a better offer ?

In addition, they plan to deduct £300 for my excess and deduce my remaining premium as the 3rd party hasn't accepted liability yet. Which would in return, leave me with nothing if I were to take out their offer. They had also said, if I was paid out before the other party accepted liability, I will not be able to reclaim my premiums.

Any advice on what I should do ?

Thanks

When in dispute this it what normally happens as the Hgv will most likely dispute the fault the insurers will fight it amongst themselves to see who's at fault most likely it will go into a 50/50 fault as don't think you have any way of proving if he came into your lane or you went Into his

It was a 3 vehicle accident...I was at the front, lorry in the middle and a rear driver.

The police were called to the accident too, but it was well I feel, a clear view that it was lorry drivers fault.

He had signalled to turn right into the middle lane, as the left lane was going to be closed due to road works, but he had like 200m left to change lane.

He was a romanian driver, in a romanian truck, so had his blindspots, and didn't speak english so couldn't get a word from him at the scene of the accident.

Dashcams. You can get them from £20 on ebay and they will be good enough to show who pulled into who. Its stuff like this why I got one, as there are a lot of dangerous HGV drivers about.

Dashcams. You can get them from £20 on ebay and they will be good enough to show who pulled into who. Its stuff like this why I got one, as there are a lot of dangerous HGV drivers about.

Weirdly enough I was looking for one a few days ago is there anyone you recommend ??

I have a BlackVue 380. It was a lot more than £20 though. There is a sponsor on here that sells them and various others.

It depends what you are wanting out of it. If you just want something that shows someone suddenly pulled infront of you and slammed on then you can play the ebay lottery and just pick one you like the look of. If you want something that you can read the reg from, check out the sponsor (whose name I still can't remember).

I know a bit about this as we had a pug 106 written off last year.

a complete PITA!

The insurance co have offered you a lot less than the cars apparent value.

What did you tell them it was worth when you took out the policy?

If it was reasonable market value then I would hold out to get that, or as close to it as you can.

Do a search on auto trader etc for similar cars to use as supporting evidence.

If you just guessed and your guess was too low, then unfortunately the maximum they will pay is that valuation.

I actually ended up paying them money after all the sums were done!

They will deduct your excess from the settlement but if you have legal protection you can use that to get it back. It might take a while though. We had to wait 7 months and have only just got our cheque after badgering them constantly.

The car is a write off so you will have to pay the full annual premium and the policy will be cancelled from the date of the write off.

Do you have fiully comp or third party cover?

If fully comp, the ins co should settle with you promptly and then claim back from the 3rd party.

Yes you will probably have to pay higher premiums until the claim is settled completely but if found to be 100% 3rd parties fault then you won't in future.

Good luck with it all.

Do you have legal protection?