I was wondering when you renew your car insurance what valuation of the car do you use?

Possibilities:

• Original purchase price of car.
  
• Purchase price of equivalent car at the present time.
  
• The trade in value of your car at the present time (much less than the above).
  

I was wondering when you renew your car insurance what valuation of the car do you use?

Possibilities:

• Original purchase price of car.
  
• Purchase price of equivalent car at the present time.
  
• The trade in value of your car at the present time (much less than the above).

I am with direct line and it states on my policy that the value is "market value" I didnt tell thewm anything about how much it was worth. This will be worked out by age and mileage on the car and how much it would cost for me to replace with a like for like.

I've always assumed that when they ask what the car is worth it is the amount of money you would need to go out and buy a like-for-like replacement. Increasing the value of the car will increase your premium, but should guarantee that's what they pay out in the event of a write off? :confused:

Chris

Good question... ive got to renew my insurance soon, and i got a bit of a bargain on my car, and had to do/have do quite a bit of work before it was in the condition its in now... so is it the value it would cost to go and buy one the same?

I've always assumed that when they ask what the car is worth it is the amount of money you would need to go out and buy a like-for-like replacement. Increasing the value of the car will increase your premium' date=' but should guarantee that's what they pay out in the event of a write off? :confused:

Chris[/quote']

You're 90% correct. They do mean what it would cost to replace like-for-like. Increasing the value of the car (by a grand or two) does increase your premium, but not by any significant amount. However, this does not guarantee the payout if you have over-estimated the original value, and it's adjusted for additional age, mileage etc.

I think you will find, if you did write off your car, that the money they pay out has no relation to the figure you tell them.

I know a number of people who have been 'short changed' by insurance companies and have been unable to buy a similar car to the one they had.:thumbdwn:

I have always thought this was a bit C**P to keep it polite!

The only time you get a specific value is under a classic car policy where the underwriter agrees to the valuation at inception of the policy.

Under a normal policy, you will receive 'market value', i.e. the cost of replacing the vehicle with the same product currently on the market. What you need to bear in mind is that the offer they make will be predominantly from Glasses Guide. Many people are unhappy with this, stating that they cannot find a replacement vehicle for the same money. The point is though that by way of negotiation, you should be able to reduce the asking price accordingly.

Most insurers will not increase the premium to reflect your valuation of the vehicle. In fact, the question was not asked until a few years ago but when obtaining a quote, it doesn't hurt to ask if your valuation is affecting the premium.

If you do have an accident and are not happy with the insurers' offer, don't accept it. They are usually quite happy to negotiate although in today's environment of customer service, you may find that their first offer is fairly reasonable.

Cheers,

Jon.

most insurance companies will give you a very very low offer/payout in the hopes you accept.

Market Value does mean replacement for like...........if you get offered a low figure arm yourself with auto trader or alike show the insurance company what a replacement will cost! Worked for my aunt when her old nova was written off by TWCOers.

If you have purchase the car new it might be worth getting GAP insurance to cover any short fall.

Put it this way , if you under value your car when you take out the policy you can bet they won't offer you more than that in the event of a claim even if you realise it will cost you more to replace it..

If you over value it they won't automatically offer you that much but it's not going to harm your case and the difference in premium will only be fairly small anyway.

I think you will find' date=' if you did write off your car, that the money they pay out has no relation to the figure you tell them.

I know a number of people who have been 'short changed' by insurance companies and have been unable to buy a similar car to the one they had.:thumbdwn:

I have always thought this was a bit C**P to keep it polite![/quote']

I honestly don't think putting in a car value will change the way insurers pay out. the only way it works is if you put in a less amount they will give you that amount. It can only go against you and not for you I think.

Insurers are Robbers!

Just say market value. You'll never be able to buy a replacement car for the money they pay out. I couldn't in my Smart accident.

Just say market value. You'll never be able to buy a replacement car for the money they pay out. I couldn't in my Smart accident.

Then you should have demanded more and got a solicitor involved if necesary and asked them to show you where a replacement could be had for the same as they were offering.

I had a bike written off and it was pretty easy to get what I needed from them

If you ever are in need of a payout they will always offer bottom book price. Negotiations will almost always get this up but if you accept the first offer you will lose out unless your car was knackered already.

The good news is that if you stick to your guns and involve a solicitor you WILL get the true market value of your car - why else would you pay for insurance? It does take a long time though and most people can't afford to wait that long and as such get short changed.

Then you should have demanded more and got a solicitor involved if necesary and asked them to show you where a replacement could be had for the same as they were offering.

I had a bike written off and it was pretty easy to get what I needed from them

The Smart was one of the first RHD one's in the country, so no-one was selling a second hand one. That was my problem. I suspect the same problem would have been faced if say someone had written off their Octy2 just after they came out, there would've been nothing to compare it to.