Insurance Claim - i feel fleeced....

[Darkangelv2]

So, a couple of weeks ago a lady reversed into my X3 damaging the bumper and headlight.

I contacted my own insurance company to let them know and they asked for images etc. I refused a hire car as i don't need one.

Fast forward and i receive a text message(!)

"Your vehicle has been assessed as uneconomical to repair and as such will be written off. Please click on the link to see your valuation"

How very personal of them to text me they are writing my car off! The link provided gives me the figure and says click here to hand over your car. No options on salvage etc so i can make the repair myself (which is my intention).

So, i call them up and they seem surprised but confirm i can keep the vehicle but it will be without 35% salvage retention fee?! I thought little of this at first (i'd paid 10% last time i wrote off my beetle in 2007). The more i thought about it though...... why is MY insurance company profiting from an accident being paid for ENTIRELY by a 3rd party?! Why am I paying for them to have a 35% profit on my accident?!

Does anyone know if there is legal recourse to challenge the 35% or can i restart the claim with the 3rd party's insurance and find out if their fee is less? My policy doesn't reference the 35% figure anywhere. I've only found this out during the claim.

Damage below:

IMG_4452.jpg (278.75 KiB) Viewed 880 times

[mmm-five]

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding, but...

You want them to pay 90% of the write off valuation - PLUS let you keep the car?

From their point of view, they'd be paying you 100% of the write-off costs, and once the car belongs to them they would possibly get 35% of that back from their salvage buyer.

Have they inspected the vehicle, or are they doing all this on the basis of photos only? Mine went from £3k estimate to a £9k initial bill - and wasn't written off because they found other stuff too late in the process to stop the repairs (which I think was a ploy for work by the bodyshop, as I specifically told them some big parts that broken that they left out of the initial estimate).

If it's all the 3rd party's fault, and they've admitted fault, then you could have gone directly to them...but they'd have probably offered you the same 2, and possibly a 3rd option...none of which would have been any better.

1. Write off: you get 100%
2. Write-off & keep vehicle: you get 65% + vehicle
3. Keep vehicle + get £xxxx in lieu of repair: you get xx% + vehicle

Maybe their salvage value is simply based on what they know they can get for the vehicle form their salvage buyer, and some vehicles will be priced higher than others.

Plus it probably worth more in parts than as a whole car - as a lot of our cars our
Doesn't help it when the car was in perfect health, and totally usable though

[Darkangelv2]

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding, but...

You want them to pay 90% of the write off valuation - PLUS let you keep the car?

From their point of view, they'd be paying you 100% of the write-off costs, and once the car belongs to them they would possibly get 35% of that back from their salvage buyer.

Yes!

I know i sound greedy (although this is exactly what i got from a previous claim) - it just felt very strange that suddenly my insurance company are making a profit from the accident. 100% costs of the claim are coming from the 3rd party and then gets split by MY insurance company - they keep some, i get the rest. But, and this is the crux for me, the insurance company haven't lost anything. So, why should they receive a settlement?

Why isn't the other insurance company getting dibs on my car - it's them that are paying for it after all?

[mmm-five]

I know i sound greedy (although this is exactly what i got from a previous claim) - it just felt very strange that suddenly my insurance company are making a profit from the accident. 100% costs of the claim are coming from the 3rd party and then gets split by MY insurance company - they keep some, i get the rest. But, and this is the crux for me, the insurance company haven't lost anything. So, why should they receive a settlement?

They're not "making a profit", they're just "mitigating their losses"

Of course, understanding the reasoning, doesn't make it less difficult to swallow

Why isn't the other insurance company getting dibs on my car - it's them that are paying for it after all?

Because you decided to put the claim through your own insurer, so they get the rights to the salvage

Depending on how far the line you are with your own insurer, you could see if you an unwind it and make it a 'notification only', so that it's on your record, but no claim made against your own insurance. The downside comes if the 3rd party starts playing silly buggers.

They've probably priced up a new bumper & headlight at £3-4k and thought it's only worth £3k.

But, if you can get a 'pre-loved' bumper & headlight much cheaper, then take the cash & hit and fix it up - and make sure they don't put a write-off marker on it, as you'll lose more value as a Cat N if/when you sell on.

[Darkangelv2]

They're not "making a profit", they're just "mitigating their losses"

Of course, understanding the reasoning, doesn't make it less difficult to swallow

Why isn't the other insurance company getting dibs on my car - it's them that are paying for it after all?

Because you decided to put the claim through your own insurer, so they get the rights to the salvage

Depending on how far the line you are with your own insurer, you could see if you an unwind it and make it a 'notification only', so that it's on your record, but no claim made against your own insurance. The downside comes if the 3rd party starts playing silly buggers.

They've probably priced up a new bumper & headlight at £3-4k and thought it's only worth £3k.

But, if you can get a 'pre-loved' bumper & headlight much cheaper, then take the cash & hit and fix it up - and make sure they don't put a write-off marker on it, as you'll lose more value as a Cat N if/when you sell on.

My insurance company have suffered no losses.....

I wonder if my insurance co have to pay a % to the other side?

I guess it's just the way it is. I think it will be a question i ask prospective insurers going forwards (the % applied to salvage) as it is a 'slice' of the settlement they can dice up in favour of themselves as they wish. I saw Footman James advertise specifically that their's is 10%.

Thanks for your input guys

[Crazy Harry]

How much is your excess. Not economical for them to repair but might be for your (your body shop) with used parts. I repaired my lads car last year - he just informed the insurance and told them he didn't want to claim so kept his premiums down and his car (classic) did not get a write of against it.

[buzyg]

How much is your excess. Not economical for them to repair but might be for your (your body shop) with used parts. I repaired my lads car last year - he just informed the insurance and told them he didn't want to claim so kept his premiums down and his car (classic) did not get a write of against it.

Fine when it's your fault. But when it's some one else responsible for the damage. This is unlikely to be the cheaper option.

My lad bent his first MX5, just his car and his pride involved. Not much damage but it was only worth peanuts in the first place. He sold it for parts and bought a better one.

[Crazy Harry]

How much is your excess. Not economical for them to repair but might be for your (your body shop) with used parts. I repaired my lads car last year - he just informed the insurance and told them he didn't want to claim so kept his premiums down and his car (classic) did not get a write of against it.

Fine when it's your fault. But when it's some one else responsible for the damage. This is unlikely to be the cheaper option.

My lad bent his first MX5, just his car and his pride involved. Not much damage but it was only worth peanuts in the first place. He sold it for parts and bought a better one.

It's all to do with the maths and where you want to take the hit and how you (and others) value the car. When I did my lads the insurance wanted to know how much we wanted for the parts to repair! - not economical for them doesn't mean its not economical for you. A lot of its due to using approved repairers who give so many years rust protection - which they won't do on used parts.

[Argyll Andy]

Similar sort of damage and situation as me.

3rd party immediately admitted liability. Their insurance company contacted me directly and asked me if I would mind if they dealt with me directly. I said no problem but asked why, their response “your insurance company will charge us between 25-40% Admin fee” for handling your claim. I spoke to my insurance company and they recorded it as a notification only claim iirc.

Just wondering if you go through your own insurance and it’s a write off they’ve an industry agreement that your insurance company retains ownership of the vehicle instead of receiving payment of the fee??

I really won out of mine. Claim for repair was £1600 (headlight clips and fog light clips burst so both needed replaced) the car technically couldn’t be driven because the headlight being broken blinded other drivers. I had another carI also so I didn’t need a courtesy car I turned it down and instead they gave me a “loss of use” payment of circa £60 a DAY for an equivalent vehicle to the 3 series. It happened just before Xmas and everyone was shutting down for the holidays so I didn’t get the car back until mid January. End of January a cheque dropped through my door for £1874 saying loss of use without me asking for it

[Mr Tidy]

Back in the 1980s I was working for an insurer handling motor claims, and one of my mates left to become a salvage dealer.

In those days we had an in-house Salvage Unit that would invite their panel of salvage buyers to submit bids on potential write-offs and my mate made a good living from being the highest bidder.

But in the late 90s insurers started entering into exclusive deals with one salvage buyer who would basically take all their write-offs nationwide for a fixed percentage of the claim settlement, and I suspect that is what they mean by "salvage retention fee". Which is how we ended up with companies like Copart.

As my mate only had one site it pretty much killed his business.

I'm still amazed how insurers these days decide a car is a total loss based purely on photos from a phone. The same happened to my nephew a couple of years ago when all his E46 3 Series needed was a front wing and a bonnet, yet they decided it was a Cat S based on a few photos - how they decided that any structural parts were damaged suggests they had ESP. Or just took the easiest option - it really should have been a Cat N.

Anyway back when I was in that business any potential write off would always be inspected by an in-house engineer with a good background in body repairs, or an independent engineer from an approved panel of firms if the in-house ones were too busy.

It's a shame you reported it to your insurer OP. After my last non-fault claim in 2009 that happened when someone rear-ended me at a roundabout in the snow I wouldn't even tell my insurer, I'd be claiming direct from the insurer of the person responsible.

I just hope you get a good outcome.

[Pooltee]

You may find that although the two insurers are different companies, the underwriters are the same, and they may be trying to make profit behind the scenes this way.

Insurance companies always win, there odds are better in their favour than the biggest casinos.