Car insurance question

gerrard8

gerrard8

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My wife has just been involved in a shunt from behind and as it is rear damage there is more than a possibility of the car being written off. The car is on finance so I expect there will be a shortfall in the payout leaving the balance to be paid by us.

My question is: As the accident was not her fault can any shortfall be pursued for against the other driver as they were fully at fault?
 
Presumably they would be liable for the replacement value of the vehicle if written off but some of the finance shortfall would be attributable to interest accrued so I doubt that element would be covered by the other driver's insurance.
 
boliston said:
o I doubt that element would be covered by the other driver's insurance.
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And that's when the leeches Lawyers move in, to recover the voluntary excess, so I guess the same would apply,
along with whiplash compensation ;)

Cynicism aside, if you have legal protection of some type with the insurance,
that would be the time to evoke it, to recover "un-insured" loss.

I doubt that the (your) insurance company would bother on your behalf though
 
So hypothetically speaking, if there was a shortfall of say 2k, despite not being at fault it would be left with us?
 
Yes we have legal protection
 
Did you take out gap insurance? That's what protects you if you have finance and it bridges the gap between what the cars worth and the cost of your finance.
 
Spoony said:
Did you take out gap insurance? That's what protects you if you have finance and it bridges the gap between what the cars worth and the cost of your finance.
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No we didn't, don't even know what it is and surprisingly we were never offered it either
 
gerrard8 said:
So hypothetically speaking, if there was a shortfall of say 2k, despite not being at fault it would be left with us?
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Going on personal past experience, I would suggest that would be the case, but don't take the first offer that the insurance company makes, should it be a write off.


gerrard8 said:
Yes we have legal protection
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It will certainly be worth having a word with the help line number that you may well have been supplied with in that case.

Spoony said:
Did you take out gap insurance?
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I never knew that existed either.
 
From personal experience, gap insurance has been offered only on brand new cars.
As I say...just personal experience.
 
You might be correct @viv1969 i only know of it because a relative was talking about it when they purchased a new car.
 
viv1969 said:
From personal experience, gap insurance has been offered only on brand new cars.
As I say...just personal experience.
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No they do offer it on 2nd hand cars too. I've been offered it on 2nd hand cars in the past but as I pay cash, it would be like taking out PPI when of no use at all.
 
I've always been sceptical about gap insurance when buying cars and salesmen HATE it when you decline it (together with all the other money making options like fancy paint options, scotchguard etc etc)! This makes me think it must be a huge earner for car dealers in the premiums massively outstrip claims.
 
nilagin said:
No they do offer it on 2nd hand cars too. I've been offered it on 2nd hand cars in the past but as I pay cash, it would be like taking out PPI when of no use at all.
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There ya go.
Live n learn.
I've only been offered it on new.
Dealer dependant!
 
boliston said:
I've always been sceptical about gap insurance when buying cars and salesmen HATE it when you decline it (together with all the other money making options like fancy paint options, scotchguard etc etc)! This makes me think it must be a huge earner for car dealers in the premiums massively outstrip claims.
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You don't have to accept the Dealers Gap insurance, there are plenty of companies that offer it after you've bought the car that will work out cheaper, but like any insurance, if you don't need to claim on it, it's not exactly money well invested.
 
Shouldn't the insurance cover the cost of replacing the car with one of similar condition, so there shouldn't really be an issue. Thats the theory anyway....
 
PaulF said:
Shouldn't the insurance cover the cost of replacing the car with one of similar condition, so there shouldn't really be an issue. Thats the theory anyway....
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Agreed that's the theory, but we had a brand new car, just a few months old, written off by someone driving on the wrong side of the road
(they cut a corner) obviously it was insured fully comp.
The insurance company tried to short change us by a couple of grand too!

Got there in the end though, but I did have to contact VW's head office in the UK and they kicked arse, basically for trying to devalue one of their cars :D
It was a wild shot, but it paid off. :D
 
gerrard8 said:
My wife has just been involved in a shunt from behind and as it is rear damage there is more than a possibility of the car being written off. The car is on finance so I expect there will be a shortfall in the payout leaving the balance to be paid by us.

My question is: As the accident was not her fault can any shortfall be pursued for against the other driver as they were fully at fault?
Click to expand...

You don't say how old the car is, but some policies will replace a car with a new one if it is less than a year old when written off as long as you are the first owner. It is an area where you can lose out if you buy a pre-reg or demo car as you are not the first owner. Gap insurance is apparently the next target area after PPI, but I guess it might have been useful for you in these circumstances.
 
Peter B said:
You don't say how old the car is, but some policies will replace a car with a new one if it is less than a year old when written off as long as you are the first owner. It is an area where you can lose out if you buy a pre-reg or demo car as you are not the first owner. Gap insurance is apparently the next target area after PPI, but I guess it might have been useful for you in these circumstances.
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It's just 3 years old
 
nilagin said:
You don't have to accept the Dealers Gap insurance, there are plenty of companies that offer it after you've bought the car that will work out cheaper, but like any insurance, if you don't need to claim on it, it's not exactly money well invested.
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Like with any insurance if you don't need it isn't good. I lease my Golf R, GAP insurance was £95 to get it back to invoice value for a two year period, and covers the remaining lease payment liability. I thought that for such little money it was well worth paying off the risk. As an aside, the VW Dealer offered a similar plan for £450 ;)

As cobra suggestion, try and use your legal cover to pursue uninsured losses. Straight up it isn't the other parties problem that you have a gap between the market value and the finance, however even if the lawyers can negotiate the gap to become smaller than £2K that is well worth it.
 
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gerrard8 said:
My wife has just been involved in a shunt from behind and as it is rear damage there is more than a possibility of the car being written off. The car is on finance so I expect there will be a shortfall in the payout leaving the balance to be paid by us.

My question is: As the accident was not her fault can any shortfall be pursued for against the other driver as they were fully at fault?
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yes.
 
Well despite my car disappearing of the face of the earth for a week everything looks like it will be resolved shortly with a couple of perks thrown in by the insurers for messing us around.

A strange world it is when ambulance chasing solicitors informed me of the accident before my wife could get the chance to do so.

Thanks for the input TP people :-)
 
Glad its reaching a happy conclusion :thumbs:

gerrard8 said:
A strange world it is when ambulance chasing solicitors informed me of the accident before my wife could get the chance to do so.
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Now there is a surprise ;)
 
UPDATE!!!

The underwriters of our RAC policy (Aviva) made arrangements for our injured and unlockable car to be picked up by recovery who misplaced the car for a week till it surfaced again 120 miles away in N.E.Lincolnshire. Because the other party hit ours at an angle as opposed to straight on, the damage though looking not great turned out to be more severe...apparently.
The car was not written off but repaired with the following breakdown of costs

Parts £1800 + VAT

Labour £2700 + VAT

Courtesy car £1200 + Vat

Total £7100 - Car valued at £6000 tops


The strange world of insurance hey?
 
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