My car has been written off after an accident. do i need to accept the insurance companies first offer?

Question

I am unsure what offer they will give me but i have searched similar cars and know roughly the market value! i am certain they will offer well short of that but i am not sure if i have to accept it or reject it if it falls short of what i thinks the market value?

Answer 1

No. It is an offer,  not set in stone.  If your car is in particularly good condition for the year (well, pre accident) and low mileage for the year you can point this out and ask for a more realistic offer.  The bottom line is, though, if they refuse to improve on their first offer just where do you go from there - particularly  if you need the payout to get a replacement car.

Despite what people may think, no REPUTABLE insurance company tries to rip you off on a claim payout! The trouble is, many people have an unrealistic view of the true value of their car - many people are adding into the equation the costs of various extra's they may have added. In truth, most extra's add little or nothing to the value and many dealers will actually remove them anyway.

Answer 2

You don't have to accept the first offer, but a lot times it is a fair offer.  Keep in mind that insurance companies use market value on what a car(s) sold for, not what was asked.

I would ask to see the evaluation they used to make sure that they have all the features your car has listed, it might make a difference.  The biggest deflator on value is the mileage, if you have high miles the offer will be lower.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

You can reject it but they dont' have to do anything :(

Good luck getting your money - we have settled on a price for my car over 4 weeks ago & I have yet to hear from this company - I'm awaiting paperwork STILL -

I just wanna sue them.   I am so sick of the bull.

Answer 4

No you dont have to accept the first offer, you can ask for more.

You need to back up any claim for more with examples of prices of vehicles similar to yours. e.g. copies of adverts for similar cars. Preferably trade adverts. Get a print out of prices from Glasses guide or parkers car price guide.

Answer 5

Reject it!! and find a similar car to yours for sale...make , year , mileage, etc. Then prove to them that the market value for your car exceeds what they are offering. Collect ads in your local paper or search on auto trader.

Answer 6

Try to use google to find some related links or you could try to use answer engines like yahoo answer or answer.com to find some relevant questions.If you like some direct resource,here is a good one from my own experience.http://carinsurance.expertsupport.info/a...

Answer 7

right i work in insurance, if you are not happy with the offer, you will need to prove to your insurers that your car was worth more than what they offered you. that means sending them proof of cars the same as yours ie model, mileage condition and year. try to get ads from garages rather than private sales as these tend to be dearer;

Answer 8

You don't have to, but think VERY carefully & be realistic - check honest, private sale prices for your car & work on that - NOT main dealer forecourt prices.

I'm sure there are people on here who've turned down the first offer & been subsequently offered less.

If you do refuse, have the ammunition to back up your valuation - any photos, service history, extras fitted, adverts for similar cars etc.

Answer 9

no you do not have to accept the first offer.

But prepared to haggle and wait.

just in case do a liitle work right now and find out about thier

complaints/reconcilliation process

get the names and contacts of the people that deal with this process.

Answer 10

I was offered a price and was told there were cars out there at that price.

I told the ins co to keep the money and get me a car of the same make and model in the same condition and same milage as mine was. Result? They offered me a higher price.

Answer 11

They owe you fair market value, adjusted for condition.  You don't have to accept any offer of course, but if you are unreasonable about it the insurance company can withdraw all offers and put it back into your court to negotiate for payment.  Some companies have arbitration that kicks in if you can't agree.

Your best source of information as to the fairness of the offer will be your own agent, so ask him what he thinks is fair.