Has anyone successfully challenged their insurance company when their car has been declared a write off?
My insurance company has written my vehicle off and given me their assessed market value and I disagree with it. I have been looking extensively for three weeks and know there is no way I could replace my car for what they are offering.
The next step is to go to a dispute team. Has anyone been through this process and if so what was the outcome?
Thank you!
9 Replies
Have you looked at your policy pds, it will tell you either the amount they decided for the year or how they calculate their market value.
Look at your policy and red book.
You can have an “agreed value” however that usually costs a higher premium.
Unfortunately the “market value” is pretty standard and never enough to replace the car you have unfortunately
Does your insurance paperwork have the $$ amount you're insured for or just "market value".
I opted for market value as it is higher than agree value right now. They have offered me more than agreed value would be however it is definitely short of what the car is selling for in this market.
I don't get it?
Market value is what they deem you could sell your car for at x time. Not replace it, sell it.
Agreed value can be higher or lower. It's where you both agree on a value and they work out your premium based on that.
For instance, MV on my 3 year old SUV was about $25k on my last insurance quote. That 3 year old car only had 20,000km on it at the time so I called and amended it to an agreed value of $33k because it would be worth more than a 3 year old car with the average 90,000km on the odometer.
The only reason your agreed value would be lower than market value is because you did it that way for a cheaper premium. You can't pay a cheaper premium and then when your car gets written off argue it was worth more - otherwise we'd all be paying less and arguing the point when we needed it.
Sorry if my question is confusing you. I am simply asking has anyone disputed the valuation by their insurance company. How did they go about providing evidence and what was the outcome?
I actually didn't pay a lower premium to insure for market value, the two quotes were nearly exact but I opted for market value because I knew it was worth more than their maximum agreed amount. Thankfully I did because their first offer was already higher than the agreed value but I still feel it is short of current market status.
Also, the insurance company uses Glass's Guide which collects data from Department of Transport but I don't think that accurately reflects the current used car market.
I hope that clears up any confusion.
Sorry, I read it wrong I think. That makes a lot more sense.
Did they give you a dollar value for your policy paperwork or just "market value"?
If they have you a figure and you agreed to insure for that you'd be stuck. If it just says "market value" and you're going to push for more you need to source what the same car is selling for recently - not what people are asking for. If you saw any car yards in the area with the same and you know it sold, sold posts on marketplace or BSS sites. You'd have to make contact and they'd have to agree to disclose proof (receipts, contracts etc).
I don't think time will be in your side though.
I am the original poster, with an update.
I always insure my cars for the maximum agreed value until recently as the market has been crazy.
Last renewal I realised that the maximum agreed value for my car was less than the market price indication, so I switched to market value.
My car was written off and the insurance company initially offered the Glass's Guide value which is data collected from reported sales to Department of Transport.
I had researched prior and argued that their offer was unreasonable. I delayed accepting the offer and provided evidence that cars similar to mine were selling for more in this current market.
The insurance assessor phoned this morning and offered what I originally suggested my car was worth.
Not a process I ever want to go through again but I'm glad I didn't go with their original valuation and was able to agree on a reasonable outcome.