Non-fault insurance payout too low to replace written-off vehicle - advice please

[D2019]

Hi,
I am currently going through an insurance claim and I do not feel my insurer is guiding me well which is leading to frustration and stress. I feel like I am having to understand the insurance process, myself, to make sure I received what is fair to me. As it is ongoing and not complete yet, a part of this post is seeking formal/legal guidance to ensure we received what I am entitled too. Your help will greatly help and reduce the stress I am suffering this through this.

Last Friday (21/01/22), a council rubbish collection truck reverse into my car that was parked stationary on the road, no one was inside my car at the time. I saw the incident and rushed outside. The council driver of the truck apologised and accepted 100% liability. His provided his details and said to ring the council on the number he provided.
Not sure of the correct process for this, whether to bypass my insurer and go direct to the council, I decided to ring my insurance company and inform them of the incident. I informed them I was witness to the incident and provided them with the details the council driver gave me. They asked if I wanted to claim I said yes as I wanted my car repaired. I provided details of what happened and they asked what visible damage there was. I advised the front bumper and front left headlight casement was damaged and needed replacing. I also advised the car was shunted back two (2) yards by the council truck.
My insurance company agent said they would arrange for the car to be collected to have the damaged assessed. I thought this is normal/standard insurance claim practice. She then proceeded with a speech (sphill as I call it informally) - I cannot remember what she said word for word but nothing alarmed me other than if I cancel the claim any temporary courtesy car will be invoiced to me. It all sounded standard practice and went with her guidance. A courtesy car was arranged and delivered later that day. The agent arrange for the car to be collected, by the company Copart, for the car to be assessed. I am not an insurance expert but the process sounded like normal practice.

On Tuesday (18/01/22), the collection driver came and informally advised, due to its age, the car will be written off and I should not to see it again. Panic came across me as I thought it was simply being collected to be assessed. The driver said the car has to be assessed so was he okay to take it away for that reason - I thought well if this is what the insurance has arranged then I guess it is a hoop I have to jump through. Copart took it away.

At this point I was stressing thinking 'any damaged should be paid for by the council as there driver has accepted 100% liability so why is there a chance it will be written off?'.
I phoned my insurer and said the car had been taken to be assessed. I made it clear to them I do not want my car destroyed and that I wanted it repaired. The agent said to phone Copart and explain this. I then rang Copart and explained this in which Copart's agent said that only collect the car for assessment, and that will be the company assessing it.
I then rang the assessor and explained my predicament. I spoke to and assessor, not sure if would be THE assessor, but he explained if the repair is more than the car's worth then it will be written-off. I said I don't want to written-off and that I want it repaired at the cost of the council. I said replacements were around £3k so if it's not fixed then I would need a £3k payout. He said, informally as it hasn't been assessed yet, that it was worth around £1k. I'm freaking out at this point as I'm thinking I'm going to be £2k out of pocked to replace my car with a like-for-like (Make, Model, Engine, Mileage, Cond, etc..) car that is within 50 miles of me. The assessor didn't seem concerned about my feelings.

Still on the Tuesday (18/01/22), I phone my insurer again and spoke to another (different) agent and got different information. Frustration was high and I informed my insurance agent that I do not understand the vehicle insurance industry and that I need my insurance company to advise me correctly. I said I do not think they are informing me correctly. It seem each agent didn't understand the process/rules. She then went and spoke to her manager and reported back that the assessor will most probably write if off and give it a category ID and then will go to the council insurance company. I didn't know what to believe. I had had enough for that day as I was too stressed.

On Wednesday (19/01/22), I rang my insurance company again and was put through to a manager of the Post-Claim department. The manager seemed to know what she was talking about and said, in short, we need to the assessors report before the next step can happen - whether that would be a payout, buy-back, etc..

I'm totally stressed. At this moment I have a very strong suspicion, from all I've heard, that my car will be written-off and I will be awarded only £1k as that's what the Parkers guide quotes at. Having looked further I would need £2.6 to replace my car with an equivalent.

My feeling is that I would either like my car repaired to the condition as it was before council truck driver reversed into it, or be awarded £2.6k which is the amount it would, I've now seen, cost to buy an equivalent car as per online prices show.
I feel my insurance company have not been transparent with me, neither guided me, which I feel they should and understand their customer (me) will not understand the full process.
I do not see why I should be at a financial loss if the assessor deems my car to be valued at £1k (due to a little book) when it is clear that online prices are around £2.6k. I can even prove this evidence. Bear in mind, the accident is due to the third-party in which they have accepted full liability.

Please guide me and help my understand my rights as the assessor or my insurance company haven't been helpful.
1) Am I in my rights to refuse any payout offer unless it is the £2.6k so that I can purchase an equivalent car?
2) Can I request (enforce) my car to be repaired, regardless of the cost, the at the council's expense?
3) Do anyone know of the next step should I decline the payout offer?
4) I have 'Motor Legal Protection' on my policy, but was told by the insurance agent I couldn't use it to seek the car to be repaired or use it to received a proper payout, is this MLP something that can be used as legal aid?
5) Can I advise the assessor/insurance company to find me an equivalent car and I'll accept that as a replacement rather than a payout, maybe actually assign them a car to buy for me as the replacement?
6) I'm pretty sure my next premium will be increased due to this non-fault claim, I have read this online. Is there anyway I can seek compensation to cover the next year, or two, rises in insurance premium?
7) Is there anything else I should be aware of, or an action to take, for my advantage?

Thank you in advance.

[des8]

It sounds as if you have made a claim against your insurer and they will offer you £xx amount.
Because they calculate it will cost more to repair (by a main dealer probably) than it is worth, they will write it off (and sell it in the trade!).
What you need to do is see if they will sell it back to you as salvage.
You should then get a pay out and then have enough to have it repaired in a local body shop.
Be careful you don't get charged for that car, especially if it is a higher spec than the one damaged.(you might find it is not a courtesy car supplied by your insurers but a hire car for which you are responsible. The council insurers should be paying for it, but they might decline if it is top of the range Audi if your vehicle was Ford Fiesta!)


What you really should have done was notify your insurers but not make a claim against your policy.
You then write to the council/driver formally notifying them of the accident and hold them responsible for all your costs.
In that way you have a certain control over the process.
Their insurers would have assessed the damage and you could then, within reason, negotiate a settlement.

[D2019]

Thanks for your reply.
I do not understand the insurance industry. I was on the understanding that you claim for an accident which, as in this instance, goes as a 'fault' claim initially and once it's settled it then becomes a 'non-fault' claim.
This whole process is confusing. I'm worried that buying the car back and repairing it myself will just add to the confusion. I'm not getting clarity from my insurer. In fact, I'm getting misinformation.

I was informed the courtesy car will be 'free of charge', I questioned this more than once, providing I do not cancel the claim. The courtesy car company, informed me the car was free to me too, again I questioned this more than once. He said he gave me a free (larger car) upgrade as he was short on mid-sized cars. Either reason, I was told it was free to me. No costs or charges for this car was raised at all.

Why wasn't I informed of my options. Clearly, my insurer agent I spoke to wasn't too helpful. I've lost trust in my insurer at present.

With all said and done, why can't my insurer, or the assessor, ensure my car is repaired or payment is received, the right amount, for me to replace the car? Why can't they make the council insurance pay for this? It's feels like they're scratching each others backs. Shouldn't it be the case of 'the non-fault claimant should not be out of pocket for an accident not their own fault?'.

Thanks.

[des8]

Regarding courtesy car I was only warning you that they are not always as they seem (google ,courtesy car scam>).
That doesn't mean you will be caught out as most are completely all right, just be careful!.

When your vehicle is damaged by a third party you have options.
1) make a claim against your own policy insurers.
You then subrogate all your rights to the insurer who will deal with the matter as they see fit.
They will make a commercial decision on whether to repair the vehicle or to offer you its cash value (less any policy excess)
Some insurers will class it as nonfault and not affect any no claims discount. Others will take the stance that as a claim has been made the discount is affected .It is a no claim, not a no blame discount
Whether or not your insurers recover their pay out from the third party insurers, is their decision.
You are at liberty to recover your uninsured losses (eg excess, additional fares etc from the third party.

2). Make a claim against the third party, who usually passes it on to their insurers.


In the first case your insurers can decide either to declare your vehicle uneconomic to repair (and will then offer you its value on the basis stated in the policy wording) or to have the vehicle repaired.
Generally the insured is disappointed and has to argue for an uplift if it is written off.
You do this by showing the trade price as per Glasses guide is not the market price.
You will need to search car adverts for a similar vehicles to show your insurers they are under valuing it.

Third party insurers would act in a similar manner, but as the injured party you are in a stronger negotiating position.
If you claim against the third party you could have your car repaired and claim the cost as damages.
You might need to show the cost of repair was less than the value of the car, and it is possible that you would have to make a contribution to offset "betterment"

Motor Legal Protection policy probably covers your legal expenses up to a certain limit for certain incidents
Without reading the actual policy it is not possible to say what use it is, some are better than others!

[Ukmicky]

You will only get what your vehicle is worth not what it will cost you to purchase another car.

The general rule is if the repair cost is in excess of 2 thirds of its value it will be written off . If your car is only worth a thousand you will only get a thousand. Your insurance company will claim that from the third parties company. You never accept first offer , second offer will be reasonable in most cases.

The car remains yours until you agree to the pay out . If you refuse then sooner or later it’s court but a court will still only give you what the value of your car was prior to the damage and you could even end up paying court costs.

You can normally gain a curtesy car but only up to the point that the car is either repaired or your insurance company write it off. If you don’t agree to the value they put on your car and keep the curtesy car beyond that point you could end up paying the extra cost of hire if their valuations turns out to be good.

As you’ve been told there are many scams so be careful. It may be worth getting the car back but it depends on how much they value its scrap value to be . If the scrap value is £ 600 and it was only worth a thousand prior to the accident you will only get 400 .

If the third parties insurers accept full responsibility it wont affect your No claims bonus or the cost of next years policy. If they don’t accept full responsibility that’s when you use your legal protection.

if

[D2019]

Thank you for your messages.