Replacing My Yaris

[stymied]

Until this week I was the happy, even gloating, owner of a Yaris. Early on Tuesday, someone went into it and they say it's not going to be economical to repair. I don't think I can run to a new Yaris and I need to replace mine with another Yaris quite soon.

I'm not very experienced or gifted at negotiating, so I'm worried how that will affect my reaction to the insurance company making its offer early next week.

I've checked sites like Parker's and Autotrader and Autobytel that I've seen recommended on this forum, so I know what my car might have fetched second hand and also what they suggest as its value for part exchange. (What will they base its value on, does anyone know?)

But it had low mileage (36000) for its age (5 years) a full service history, extended warranty and fresh from the car wash you'd have thought it was new. (It really was perfect and I was passionate about it, long before those adverts!) And, not to mention my being plunged into motor mourning in the festive season! Apparently, as soon as they make an offer, I lose the hired car which doesn't seem to allow much time for finding a replacement.

Any tips on negotiating or pointers for things I ought to bring up? And do I have any options in the face of an offer that might seem ludicrous?

[Chuck04]

hey , sorry to hear about this, the insurance will no doubt offer u a lower value for ur car - which is why u will need to point out what u have mentioned - low millage, if ur not happy reject their first offer, and do untill they start giving u something sensible

[Bee]

Until this week I was the happy, even gloating, owner of a Yaris. Early on Tuesday, someone went into it....

Any tips on negotiating or pointers for things I ought to bring up [to the insurance company]?  And do I have any options in the face of an offer that might seem ludicrous?

←

Excellent post. You have explained the situation and pinpointed the difficulty very well. In fact, this need not be Yaris but can apply to any car; anyone of us may be faced with the same problem at anytime.

I have no experience in this matter though, as explained, I can imagine I might face with the same issue myself in the future! You have my sympathy. So, here is my suggestion: First, someone may have the wisdom and provide you with exactly the right answer from here. Chuck04 has given you some pointer. If there is no futher advice, post your quiry, exactly as you have explained, to one or both of the following newsgroups:

(1) uk.legal;

(2) uk.legal.moderated.

There are some very knowledgable and helpful 'residents' in these forums.

Good luck.

--

Bee.

[Robie]

I think you are able to pocket the first offer and ask for more... so you can get whatthey offer you in the bank and looking for a new car whilst you ask for more money....

Our curtosey car was for 2 weeks and not just until the offer so I would check your policy.

Best of luck and sorry I can't be more concrete

[daktari]

It would help your case if you can find similar cars with similar mileage, condition etc for sale in the likes of Autotrader etc. Then when they offer you a derisory sum for yours, you can show them that its actually worth more than they`re offering. At the end of the day you should have something thats at least comparable to your old car.

The other approach is to tell them that the car was insured at its market value so you want paying out at its market value.

You have to be firm with them, because as sure as eggs is eggs they will try to chip you on the price. They usually come round in the end though.

Good luck. :D

[admanirv]

Until this week I was the happy, even gloating, owner of a Yaris. Early on Tuesday, someone went into it and they say it's not going to be economical to repair.  I don't think I can run to a new Yaris and I need to replace mine with another Yaris quite soon.

I'm not very experienced or gifted at negotiating, so I'm worried how that will affect my reaction to the insurance company making its offer early next week.

I've checked sites like Parker's and Autotrader and Autobytel that I've seen recommended on this forum, so I know what my car might have fetched second hand and also what they suggest as its value for part exchange.  (What will they base its value on, does anyone know?)

But it had low mileage (36000) for its age (5 years) a full service history, extended warranty and fresh from the car wash you'd have thought it was new.  (It really was perfect and I was passionate about it, long before those adverts!)  And, not to mention my being plunged into motor mourning in the festive season!  Apparently, as soon as they make an offer, I lose the hired car which doesn't seem to allow much time for finding a replacement.

Any tips on negotiating or pointers for things I ought to bring up?  And do I have any options in the face of an offer that might seem ludicrous?

←

hi mate, i was kinda in this situation about a year had my yaris 2 week 2nd hand and wrote it off :( .

negoiating depends who you are with, i was with elephant, they gave a good quote i only lost £100, but it depends who your with. a genearl rule dont except fist offer, say itw ay too logn to repalce mine like for like.

best bet i found out was go on autotrader and check how much the exact car is going for from garages and private sales, but go on garage one.

you will only get the market value for your car so remember that, jsut becuase you seen a car that seems expensive and is exactly the same as yours you will still only get market value, you can pay £1.50 from parkers input your details and they will give ou the exact marekt value.

hope this helps, and good luck

[Tahiti200]

I had a similar experience last year. Not on a Yaris, but that makes no odds.

You need to research the situation yourself - check the Auto Trader and any other magazines (and dealers for that matter), and choose the most expensive ones you can find that are similar to yours (pick some with higher miles too if they are overpriced). Also point out constructively why yours is better than the norm.

Then if they come back with a crap offer, present your proof (cut out newspaper cuttings and provide downloads from the Trader website etc) to the insurance company and wait to see what they say.

If you're not happy with the second offer, tell them and wait for their reply. Eventually, you'll either get fed up and will have more money in your pocket than if you hadn't argued, or they'll pay out a decent amount of money. Hopefully the latter.

My advice is quite simple - keep on their case and speak to a manager if the second offer is not suitable. If you continually chase them they'll pay just to get you off their backs (probably not quite as much as you'd like, but significantly better than the first offer). It's not really a case of negotiating, more a case of being a pain in their side until they come up with a full and final offer.

You can pocket the first payment as long as you make it clear that it is not being accepted as full and final settlement. Drop them a line to confirm as such and keep a copy for your records (and make sure you get a reply from them confirming that they understand your acceptance terms). Either that or use your legal cover and ask them to do this for you. The other thing (and probably most important thing) is to keep on to them about your no claims bonus/excess!

Hope that helps.

Rob

[flashman]

Any tips on negotiating or pointers for things I ought to bring up?  And do I have any options in the face of an offer that might seem ludicrous?

←

Negotiating for yourself is difficult.

My advice would be, separate the people from the problem.

You are looking mutually to establish a range of value. You deserve to be

compensated for your damages at the high end of the range.

The actual wording of the coverage is important. Insurers do vary

on what is recoverable based on the language you accepted. Most

insureds never actually read the wordings, instead, relying on reputation

of that insurer for generosity of payout and ease of negotiating and

settling a claim.

I hope you have a 'good' insurer.

[stymied]

Thanks to everybody for this excellent advice!

I really appreciate your advice.

I think I'm more prepared to handle this now.

Cheers.

[Blue84]

The other approach is to tell them that the car was insured at its market value so you want paying out at its market value.

←

The value you state when you take out the Policy is really to base the premium on and give an idea of what the vehicle is worth. When a vehicle is declared a write off it is the market value that you will be offered for it. This is what the vehicle would sell for on the market on the date of the "Loss". As mentioned if you disagree with what is offered then if you can find proof that other vehicles the same spec and mileage (or at least similar) are worth more send this into the Insurer for them to reconsider the offer. Our Engineers use Parkers/Glasses guide to obtain rough figures and then they go from there.

good luck with it.