She has been through the process with the insurance company wanting to be certain that it was actually stolen and not a scam that she was trying.
Anyway - the payout was less than she expected - how do insurance companies determine 'market value' ? Is there any way she can get a valuation of her own ?
Ta
budgel,
Oct 10, 1:21am
Look for several recent sales of similar models on here.
seadubya,
Oct 10, 1:21am
I've never made a claim so I can't be sure the insurance company would be interested, but wouldn't checking expired listings on TM for the same make and model give an accurate indication of what that car is actually selling for? Especially for common models that turn over a few numbers.
morrisman1,
Oct 10, 1:24am
Dealer valuation?
oportun,
Oct 10, 1:45am
Typically they have a dealer value it based on what they know of the car. Check what similar ones sell for on here and of you think it is undervalued, as for a second opinion.
tjholding,
Oct 10, 2:58am
Insurers will use registered vehicle valuers to determine the value - if you disagree they will usually get a second valuation and you can get your own as well, as long as it is done of the basis of the "Market Value" definition in the policy wording.
TradeMe is not considered a good source for valuation as the valuation is based on the actual KM's the vehicle has done and its condition - but if the valuation is similar to a car on trademe if can help with seeing if it is reasonable or not.
tintop,
Oct 10, 3:10am
Thanks guys.
I had a chat with the manager of a repairer I know.
The car is valued independently by a specialist valuer and the payout offer is based on that. TM tends to be asking price, not selling price - but can be a guide as tj says.
She is going to contact the insurance co and ask how they arrived at the figure. The process should have a modicum of transparency to it - after all it is 'her' money that she expects to get back after paying premiums for a number of years and being claim free, so it is not unreasonable that she is given a reasonable explanation.
lookoutas,
Oct 10, 4:18am
A "reasonable explanation" is probably all she will get.
curlcrown,
Oct 10, 6:29am
If you tell us the year, make and model, and mileage maybe someone here could place a retail value on it.
dinx,
Oct 10, 6:50am
And the remaining part of the years premiums will also be deducted from the payout, so if you took out or renewed the policy last months, 11months worth of premiums is also being deducted.
Last one I know of had two official valuations and the insurer averaged across the two when they paid out.
tintop,
Oct 10, 7:35am
It was just a general question, but the car is (was) 1998 Toyota Caldina awd manual. 225,000 km. All belts, fluids etc up to date, Alpine stereo mp3 and bluetooth, tow bar, factory alloys. No prangs, generally in good condition. Satin black /silver - pre facelift.
I am not sure of the premium payment situation, and yes - the body shop manager told me that there would have been two independent valuations.
extrayda,
Oct 10, 5:06pm
Looking at sold manual ones on here between $2,500 - $3,000 ? Complete guess, but I have never known anyone to be excited about a market value offer from an insurance company !
whqqsh,
Oct 10, 5:45pm
we just insured our new car, for $3 more per month we got agreed value rather than market value. not too much contemplation needed on that one
bumfacingdown,
Oct 10, 6:59pm
Funnily enough I asked this question years ago when insuring a car, was their market value what a dealer would pay for it or what I would pay the dealer for it. They did not know how it worked at that particular insurance office
glang,
Oct 10, 7:22pm
My son recently had a similar experience. His car was written off, no fault of his own, and his insurance company market valuation was well under the insured value. When he queried it, the insurance company said he was welcome to get an independent valuation and if it was higher they would meet him halfway. That's what he did, came out $1500 higher than the insurance companies valuation, so he got an extra $750 payout. Valuation cost him $100, I can ask him which valuer he used if you're intend doing this, wasn't anyone he knew, just found him doing a search on the net.
tintop,
Oct 10, 7:42pm
Pretty close. She has been offered $3,00 less $300 excess.
And yes - I doubt that anyone would be excited about it! lol I will discuss the re-valuation thing with her today.
curlcrown,
Oct 10, 7:52pm
The problem with market value is that a lot of people think their car is worth more than it really is. Was it a turbo one?
tintop,
Oct 10, 8:34pm
Oh yes - value is in the eyes of the beholder, thats for sure.
It was a non turbo manual.
I guess that the one saving grace is that the clutch had never been done, and at 225,000 km it could possibly be due soon(ish) Not something that I would be able to do for her, and probably a reasonably expensive job at a workshop.
kazbanz,
Oct 10, 8:57pm
Tintop-I was going to go into a whole speil about insurance companies. Reality though is a 98 225k caldina IMO is a 3k vehicle at best.
macman26,
Oct 10, 9:03pm
My policy went from agreed to market value on a car I had back many years ago. I queried what market value was. Insurance company looked in their book and tell me it's $7500. 6 weeks later a car runs a red light and writes the car off. Market value is assessed at $4500. I query it as I still owe $5000. Comeback was. Max assessed value $5500. I kept at them and ended up with a bit more. Insurance companies are there to make money.
tintop,
Oct 11, 3:28am
Cheers Kaz - Yep, I talked to the manager of the panel shop at the end of Dunlop Rd, (Steve was not in) he explained the process.
But grown up daughters - still the apple of their fathers eye! :)
She may come come and see you soon.
kazbanz,
Oct 11, 4:45am
sounds good dude
len_f,
Oct 21, 8:12am
Hi find out if you can have an agreed value policy instead of a sum assured policy if you can increase your sum assured by $250 pay the increased premium ,it will be a lot less than the hidden decrease in the car,s valuation the insurance company wont tell you about.You should come out ahead
elect70,
Oct 22, 3:06am
Insure it with a company that pays "agreed value ' that way no surprises if its totaled .
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