or so my insurance company are telling me.

It was involved in an accident which they are taking forever to follow up on when it is a clear case regarding who is liable(not me). They assessed it as uneconomical to repair and wrote it off. I have received a cheque for payment(minus my policy excess) and now they want to arrange to collect it. I am loathe to give them the car before they settle the claim and return my excess which equates to roughly a quarter of the value of the car. I also can’t get a copy of my no claims discount until this claim is settled which I would appreciate for the insurance for my new car.

So now I have the car parked in residents car park outside. Taxed. No insurance as the policy expired at the end of October. I have the V5 in my name still. The latest letter from them stipulated that if I didn’t arrange collection with their agent (0900-1700 Monday to Friday, which I can’t do due to being at work) they would notify the police that the car had been stolen as it is now their property. Is it theirs? I haven’t signed it over to them as far as I know.

Have you cashed the cheque?

I think your answer is right there?

Have you cashed the cheque?

Yes. But it is not for the full amount of the value of the vehicle. I also have the letter confirming the amount that the vehicle is valued at. So I have not received full payment.

Given that they’ve already written it off, I dare say it is theirs.

Seems a bit harsh though! Surely they don’t even need you. Just put it on a tow truck and be off with it.

edit: And I think cashing any cheque, no matter the sum, amounts to agreeing with their terms. I’m sure some legal bods could confirm.

It is theirs, they have sent you the money for it, in accordance with your policy.

If you note top of the V5 document

This document is not proof of ownership
It shows who is responsible for registering and taxing the vehicle

I have the V5 in my name still

The V5 doesn’t prove who owns the car, just who is responsible for it – the keeper, not the owner. A car with outstanding finance for instance is really owned by the finance company, but they’re not responsible for parking fines and speeding tickets.

EDIT ^ like he said but typed more slowly. (and more lovingly)

Just bleeding well ring them and arrange for the car to be picked up. Or, I suppose you could just make things needlessly difficult for all concerned, including yourself.

It must be insured even when just parked. So, are you sure you are still the owner/keeper? Think carefully before answering that question. The wrong answer is 6pts and at least a £300 fine!

The V5 doesn’t prove who owns the car, just who is responsible for it – the keeper, not the owner. A car with outstanding finance for instance is really owned by the finance company, but they’re not responsible for parking fines and speeding tickets.

EDIT ^ like he said but typed more slowly. (and more lovingly)

Ok, cheers for the information(and the loving words 🙂 ). So then I suppose the insurance company should collect their vehicle with a tow truck or such, before they get fined for having it sat on the public road uninsured then. Oh the ironing.

before they get fined for having it sat on the public road uninsured then

no – because your name is still on the v5 so its your liability until they have that in their name

no – because your name is still on the v5 so its your liability until they have that in their name

Well that doesn’t sound very good. It would seem once again that they get to have their cake and eat it. I will risk the fine then as I’m not taking a day off work to meet them with the keys, they can surely arrange a time out of hours to meet me. Stubborn pride issues again.. Baaaa 😐

Have you cashed the cheque?

Yes. But it is not for the full amount of the value of the vehicle

Big mistake on your part, by cashing the cheque you have accepted the valuation and the car is theirs by legal right, a few years ago i was rear ended on the motorway by a stupid bint applying her make up at 70mph writing off my italian import alfa 75 turbo which was in concours condition, despite myself valuing the car at £7000 on the insurance document (what i paid for it) her insurance company tried to pan me off with a cheque of £1700 rising to £3500 and in the end we went to court to get the full amount as i had 3 independant valuations stating the true value of the car at the time it was written off.

Big mistake on your part, by cashing the cheque you have accepted the valuation and the car is theirs by legal right

We mutually agreed an acceptable figure after a bit of too and fro. I accept their valuation. My issue is that they have deducted my excess from that amount before sending the cheque. The excess will be returned when liability of the claim is sorted out.

castanea – your argument about the excess is bizarre. What they have done is normal practice. I assume you are claiming a 3rd party was at fault.

They won’t get prosecuted for being uninsured, because they will be insured (or have a surety lodged with HMG) that covers any vehicle they own. However the computers still think you are the keeper, and also know it is not insured so I’d get it sorted very quickly or you risk an automatically generated penalty. You could of course go to court to argue the situation and might even find an understanding bench who accept the vehicle wasn’t your responsibility any more – but that will take 3 court appearances and will be in office hours.

Have you suggested just posting them the keys and v5 by recored delivery?

Keeping the excess until liability is satisfied is normal practice.

Keeping the excess until liability is satisfied is normal practice.

So is keeping ownership of goods until they have been paid for in fulL, although in this case I’d just let them take it and move on.

….my italian import alfa 75 turbo ….

Cool car.

You have agreed and accepted a value for the car they have paid you in full. They have deducted from the payment the figure you contractually agreed would be your contribution to any claim, the excess.
You agreed they could do this when you took out the insurance.

They, as part of the claim they make against the other company to recover their loss also seek to recover your loss ( the excess ) for you.

Your point of pride is wrong.

They own the car and have paid in full for it . The offence of no insurance is commited by the registered keeper ie you keeping the vehicle on a road or other public place.

Hand over the keys and car sharpish and say sorry to the nice people.

ell that doesn’t sound very good. It would seem once again that they get to have their cake and eat it. I will risk the fine then as I’m not taking a day off work to meet them with the keys, they can surely arrange a time out of hours to meet me. Stubborn pride issues again.. Baaaa

No cake involved, you agreed to enter into a contract and having read all the policy documents, which would have detailed the whole of the claim procedure, so you agreed to play the game without reading the rulebook.

As for not releasing keys and stubborn pride issues, with all due respect you are sounding like you are being a bit of a twit about it.

Crankboy summed it up quite nicely.

They are 100% in the right on this, they are dining things by the book and as per your contract.

and all you are going to gain for being difficult about it is a fine for being uninsured.

I suggest leaving the keys with it, either hide them on the car or leave it unlocked and the keys in the glove box. If the excess is a quarter of the value before write off, unless you have huge excess it wasn’t worth at lot then, now it’s written off, who’s going to want to steal it?

It’s a written off car that you don’t own. It’s a liability not an asset! They’ve told you (in writing?) that they’ll pay you the rest.

The latest letter from them stipulated that if I didn’t arrange collection with their agent (0900-1700 Monday to Friday, which I can’t do due to being at work) they would notify the police that the car had been stolen as it is now their property. Is it theirs? I haven’t signed it over to them as far as I know.

tbh I think you are been an ar5e. Why can’t you just call their agent and tell them to collect the keys from you at work, and they can then go get the car?

If I read this correctly, your beef is that you want the excess to be paid and proof of NCD to be handed over prior to you surrendering the vehicle?

As everyone else has pointed out, it doesn’t work that way. The Ins Co will make a payment to you for an agreed value of the vehicle, then claim the excess from the 3rd party insurers if the 3rd party is found liable.

I am sure this is all stated very clearly in the agreements and policies you’ve signed up to. You didn’t read these correctly, or at all. You’re in the wrong. Suck it up and move on.

With the benefit of hindsight, your best bet would have been to go down the accident management route as it sounds like it’s a no fault claim on your part. You’d have probably got a better valuation, or could have arranged to be paid out and keep the car if it’s still roadworthy.

You’ll get your excess back once they establish liability and claim it back from the third party. Normal process and you’ve not really got a leg to stand on arguing the point.

If you really want to kick up a stink, go and get the Glass’s value (use the trade in calculator on Vauxhall’s website) and CAP value (they give these out free on their website for the public) for your car. You are almost certainly getting less than this value. Ring up the insurer, or write to them, moan a lot and threaten involving the ombudsman – you’ve not really much of a point as you’ve already agreed to the pay out, but every ombudsman referral costs the insurer £500, so they may roll over and increase your payout.

you’ve not really much of a point as you’ve already agreed to the pay out, but every ombudsman referral costs the insurer £500, so they may roll over and increase your payout.

Fantastic thought, lets help put up premiums, great advice.