Mate had his LWB T5 driven into by some muppet being chased by the rozzers a few weeks back, shunted it onto the pavement a few feet, destroyed front alloy and bashed up the wheelarch. Fortunately after hitting a few more cars the driver was stopped and miraculously had insurance. Mate has been given a Peugeot minivan type thing by the insurers to get about (his van had a back seat conversion and he needs room for his tools). Van just sat there for weeks until an assessor came round while he was out and did an assessment on the roadside (no key so couldn’t get into it or owt) and has written it off as a type S structural. The insurers have offered him 5K which he thinks isn’t enough, he has provided them adverts of similar vehicles selling for significantly more but they have told him they are going to pay him 5k regardless and at that point he has to give the hire Peugeot back.

So, are they allowed to do that? I thought the general rule was they low ball you, you say no and provide the evidence or higher priced similar vehicles and then you work out a compromise from there? I have told him to be mindful of hanging onto the Peugeot if they say their hire has ended as have heard tales of people being lumbered with hefty hire costs from insurance courtesy vehicles but I have a company car so don’t know the details. Anyone work for a car insurance co. or got personal experience of this etc?

The van itself is getting on a bit (06 plate I think, 140k or something) but he has put a lot of work into it and knows it inside out. They have offered it back to him for 1k, I have suggested that he gets someone from a local specialist out to have a look and advise if worth putting back on the road and check insurance premium uplift, thinking he might be able to trouser a few grand if he’s lucky with a view to just running it into the ground. That said he has the idea in his head to get something a bit more refined with an auto box which is a fair point, a road trip in that van leaves your ears ringing.

Any advice appreciated, he does peruse the forum occasionally so will point him at this thread. He should really have posted this for himself but I’m being nice to him as he’s semi-literate (from Wigan y’see so not really his fault) and also not as fast on a bike as he thinks he is.

The van itself is getting on a bit (06 plate I think, 140k or something) but he has put a lot of work into it

the work he put into it doesn’t really realised any value though. Repairing and maintaining, not matter how fastidiously or expensively, doesn’t increase the value.

You sure it’s the insurance company itself and not a third party claims handling company!

Sounds like Auxillis to me. They cancel your hire car, usually on a Friday, then say accept the sum and **** off?

Are you obligated to talk to the insurance company?

Many years ago I was in a similar situation and was getting hard-balled by the insurance company.

I told them to eff off and that I would sue the other party direct for the costs etc. After my solicitor wrote him a letter with a detailed list of what we were claiming, the insurance company came back with an acceptable offer.

It was a bit of bluff, but I figured if I got the other party stirred up enough he’d go screaming at his insurance company. No way was I going to go to court. 🙂

(This was in Oz, but it operates similarly to English law)

You are right he did say it was a 3rd party claims company and I think could well be Auxillis, will confirm when he looks at his phone. Will Google them now but any first hand experience?

Is he dealing with his own insurer or directly with the 3rd party’s? If it’s the later it could be time for him to get his own insurer to do what he pays them for

Yeah, just told him that

Ditch the 3rd party claims handler and the hire van immediately. Get on to his own insurance company and tell them you will not deal with the 3rd party. they are merely there to make a profit on the van hire.

Y’see, I was saying to him that it was odd that they’ve given him a wagon that must cost a fair whack to hire (£500pw?) and then not assessed the van for weeks as surely it would be coming off their bottom line. So how are these 3rd party claims companies allowed to get involved by the insurers? Guess there’s a number of reasons everyone’s premiums are sky high

Thanks Dave for your extremely literate and detailed post.
The van has about 116k on the clock so pretty low miles and is the 2.5ltr 6 spd which go for a bit more.
So still not clear why I need to off hire this Peugeot nugget? I need a vehicle to get to work in and assured that the third party insurance will pick up the bill.
Sorry in advance for being dim but as Dave has explained I am from Wigan…

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/28/car-insurance-and-credit-hire-agencies

Bugger!

Hmm

My **** insurance company essentially told me that I had to use AX. Grrr

You’ll find that if there’s any dispute at all on the charge being un reasonable -such as the third party delaying the settling of claim.for weeks…..

You’ll be paying the hire bill

Yeah they advised me that I have 7 days to return the vehicle after they receive a check for the 5k that they have offered me. That’s fine but do I need to be worrying now that’s the question

It scares me to think how devious these buggers are.

The shysters must have friends in high places! I don’t know how this part of the industry has escaped proper scrutiny and heavy-handed regulation, that is so desperately needed.

The fact insurance companies are dictating to customers who handles their interests, allowing unscrupulous third parties to impose onerousness unilateral contracts is more than a bit suspect IMO

Bet there are a lot of generous political benefactors amongst the Directors of these companies….