Hello, and the prospect of an insurance write-off

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Gringomoses

New Member
Posts
6
Location
East Sussex
Morning friendly Landy folk!

I've been a bit of a lurker since buying my Disco six years ago, but now it seems a sensible time to jump in with both feet.

I'm currently the happy-ish owner of a 1998 300tdi Premium, and I love it (for all it's foibles), and my kids prefer it to my wife's shiny Qashqai, which is just excellent.

Anyway...having collected both sprogs from their childminder last week, I ended up plonking the Disco into a ditch while doing the honourable thing and getting off the narrow country road to let a Fiesta go by without stopping. Sadly in the process I damaged the front nearside; light cluster, bumper, bonnet, wing, and grill.

After a bit of umming and ahhing I bit the bullet and called the insurers. As expected they've decided to write it off.

Problem is they can't find a valuation for the vehicle, so are picking 'similar' models rather than this particular model which I'm sure sells for a few hundred quid more. Last one I saw was on ebay about nine months ago.

If anyone knows someone who's sold one or has seen one advertised, I'd be really grateful.

The plan is to hold on to the thing, get it fixed and back on the road as soon as possible. And this really is the first step to doing that. My daughter (5 yrs old) will be distraught if we have to let it go.

Cheers and all,

J
 
Welcome to the forum, are there any similar models to the premium you could compare it to? What sort of spec does it have? Mine is a 50th anniversary model if that helps.

I think he is looking for a price that would be higher than what the insurance is offering, You being a jammy so and so tend to find your Disco's on the cheaper side of cheap. .........:p:p

Welcome to the looneyzone Gringo. Hope you find the info you want. Have you looked at the parkers guide for a comparison?

Cheers
 
Welcome to the forum, are there any similar models to the premium you could compare it to? What sort of spec does it have? Mine is a 50th anniversary model if that helps.
Thanks for the reply! I have looked at the 50th, and it's basically the same model. The only one I can find online is manual.

Mine's a 300tdi, auto, with all the bells and whistles of the 50th. Oh, and I've sealed the sunroof(s)
 
I think he is looking for a price that would be higher than what the insurance is offering, You being a jammy so and so tend to find your Disco's on the cheaper side of cheap. .........:p:p

Welcome to the looneyzone Gringo. Hope you find the info you want. Have you looked at the parkers guide for a comparison?

Cheers
I have just bought a 300 tdi auto with 11 months mot for 206 quid :p
 
I think he is looking for a price that would be higher than what the insurance is offering, You being a jammy so and so tend to find your Disco's on the cheaper side of cheap. .........:p:p

Welcome to the looneyzone Gringo. Hope you find the info you want. Have you looked at the parkers guide for a comparison?

Cheers

Parkers is a funny one. The model isn't even listed, and the 50th only comes in at a shade over £1k.
 
Thanks for the reply! I have looked at the 50th, and it's basically the same model. The only one I can find online is manual.

Mine's a 300tdi, auto, with all the bells and whistles of the 50th. Oh, and I've sealed the sunroof(s)
Give them the price of that then, if you look on eBay you can click on one of the boxes that lets you see sold items and that will give you an idea of prices. How much are they offering you?
 
Give them the price of that then, if you look on eBay you can click on one of the boxes that lets you see sold items and that will give you an idea of prices. How much are they offering you?

I'll have another dig about. Right now they're offering £1250. Minus excess leaves £1100.
 
Can't seem to find the historical listing I was after. Thanks for the tips though, gang. I'll keep plugging away, but I get the feeling I'm not going to make much headway with the offer.
 
Thanks again for all the advice. After doing some numbers, and with a worst case scenario in mind, I've decided to fix the thing up myself. Parts sourced locally are pounds, and the only eBay item is an indicator. Total works out to be less than my insurance excess, and I can't imagine their vehicle assessor would offer me as much as I'd like once they've nosed about.
 
Thanks again for all the advice. After doing some numbers, and with a worst case scenario in mind, I've decided to fix the thing up myself. Parts sourced locally are pounds, and the only eBay item is an indicator. Total works out to be less than my insurance excess, and I can't imagine their vehicle assessor would offer me as much as I'd like once they've nosed about.
Take care with the insurance, I hope you have not claimed yet I heard that even if you walk away and they pay out nothing they can class it as a claim if you have passed a certain point in the procedure, may pay you just to call them and be sure.
 
Take care with the insurance, I hope you have not claimed yet I heard that even if you walk away and they pay out nothing they can class it as a claim if you have passed a certain point in the procedure, may pay you just to call them and be sure.
In which case, you be able to buy it back off them for a few hundred quid and fix it
 
I had a big rant at an insurance company a few years ago after my mondeo was a cat D write off (superficial damage to both drivers doors and wing). They made the mistake of phoning me at about 9am when I’d got to bed about 7am after a long night shift.....

I ranted along the lines of “It’s not a write-off, you lot just can’t be bothered to pay out to have it fixed” and the “If I hadn’t paid my insurance all these years then I’d have been driving a much better car and could have paid for it to be fixed and still saved money”.

They accepted my point of view and as the car ‘wasn’t worth anything to them’ and they would just be scrapping it they would allow me to keep the car and the write-off money! Result!!

Also managed to argue it as a ‘no fault’ claim as it had been parked overnight under a street light then how could I possibly be at fault for the damage!!! So therefore didn’t have a hike in cost the following years(s).

Always worth arguing the point! Especially when it sounds like it may result in a complaint! Good luck!
 
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