Mrs Mondo loves her Swift. The gormless bird coming down the bank on Wednesday morning, however, was clearly jealous...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She didn't even attempt to brake for the junction and hit Fran on the passenger side, forcing her across the next lane and into a lamppost! No broken bones or bleeding, thank god... but a healthy dose of bruising and soft tissue / muscle damage. She was taken to hospital on a spinal board with a neck brace and restraining blocks, but the X-rays came back clear.

 

The Swift's a gonner, obviously... and now we find that the insurance payout isn't likely to cover the remaining finance on it! :(

 

It's been a bit of a crap few days here....

Ouch :( at least she's ok Si, sounds like its a small dent compared to the one in the wallet :(

Wow that's bad news I was going to make a funny remark, I thought someone had hit it while it was stationary... Glad the mrs isn't too badly hurt, and the insurance situation is a piss take!! Feel for you there bud :thumbdown:

holly shit ,what a mess tell her to take it easy ,glad she wasnt badly hurt could have been a lot worse .

Sorry to hear that Si, glad your wife is ok, surely the cost of the car is covered by the other persons insurance, regardless of finance?

groover is right if it wasnt her fault the other party should cover your cost as well as personal injury stick with it and fight your corner

Thats a nasty accident Si but at least your wife is ok but she will feel a lot of pain tomorrow.

Thanks guys. This happened on Wednesday morning so when I got the call about it, I hurtled back down the A1 (in the Zed. In the wet!) to get to the hospital.

 

She's been feeling the after effects since then but, as has been said, it could've been a lot worse. Ironically, the lamppost prevented it from being horrific cos it stopped her from potentially rolling down a bank!

 

As for the insurance... it seems they'll only cover the market value of the Swift, which is less than the remaining balance on the finance so it looks very much as if we'll be out of pocket and with nothing left to actually replace the car!!

Glad your wife's ok mate, sucks about the finance though. Looks like a nasty accident that.

Argue. You shouldn't be left out of pocket. And put a hefty injury claim in while you are at it. Worse comes to it, that should cover your finance

I have seen people come off a lot worse with less damage. Glad your wife is ok and on the mend, although she will be stiff and sore for a few weeks after that. Agree with Roobarb though, argue the fact that the car is on finance and that you will require it to be settled by the other party as it was them to blame. Good luck with it Si.

Glad to hear she's ok Si. looks like a hard shunt.

 

As for insurance. I'm afraid you're right, you'll only get market value. They'll tell you that you should have taken out GAP insurance with the finance.

All I can recommend is that you reject their first offer. they'll likely up in by a couple of hundred after that. Every little helps.

Sorry to see and hear this and glad your wife is ok

 

As Lexx says above you will only get market value on the car and it is always advisable for financed cars to get Gap insurance, this is a separate policy that pays the difference between the current value and your finance value

 

Soz!

Could you take the other driver to small claims court and sue for the difference? See it on judge Judy often enough but don't know if its the same over here.

I don't think so, the other driver is insured and the insurance company are the ones that settle the claim and the policies always clearly state that only current market value will be paid out.

 

Think about it logically, I know it's a real shame for someone that has finance but if everyone had new cars on finance and 3 years later the car was a write off if the insurance co had to pay out for a brand new car each time our premiums would be sky high to cover this!

 

There is a policy called Gap insurance and it is down the the purchaser to decide if he wants to take this out or not to protect the difference in value

At least hopefully, with depreciation, you will be able to buy a similar car for less money which will offset some of your losses.

Thanks, everyone. It looks like we'll have to take the hit on the difference between the payout and the remaining finance - just one of life's little curveballs, sadly :(

 

The main thing, as far as I'm concerned, is that Fran got to walk away as a double impact like that (car on one side, lamppost on the other) could've potentially had horrendous consequences! So i'm grateful for the little things here :)

Yeah, that's the main thing. Luckily she was in a good modern car that protected her from the worst of it

I always advise people to take out GAP insurance on finance agreements, sadly 9 out of 10 people don't go for it! We have had many instances where this extra piece of cover would have been worth its weight in gold! Recently an old lady of 75 had her car written off by an arctic and she is in the exact same situation and I think she is about £3500 the wrong way - and didn't take GAP out.

Nasty - sorry to hear that Si; but I am pleased that Fran was not more seriously injured, as it could have been a whole lot worse!!

 

I wish Fran a speedy recovery and hope that you get the insurance matter sorted as best you can mate. Good luck buddy,

 

Richard:flowers:

Hope she fully recovers shortly mate. The car is just a piece of metal at the end of the day

Just seen this, glad the car protected her, well done Suzuki. Must have been awful to be inside. Wishing her a speedy recovery.

Ouchy!!! Glad your mrs is ok :)

If the other party admits liability can't you claim for uninsured losses ?

 

I've done that on my last two accidents when I was blameless and the other party admitted liability

If the other party admits liability can't you claim for uninsured losses ?

 

I've done that on my last two accidents when I was blameless and the other party admitted liability

 

I was thinking as well. Gap insurance does make sense but surely if the accident is your own fault? Otherwise you pay extra premiums to cover the difference if it's someone else's mistake if they cause the accident? Surely the legal cover most policies offer are there for you to reclaim loses, i.e. in this case the finance difference ? After all it covert hire cars, taxis etc

I think it's potentially more around principles of insurance. One of them being indemnity which is in short, putting you back in the financial position you were in before the accident.

 

As an example. If the accident never happened, mondo/mrs mondo would have a Suzuki swift which is currently valued at X amount. For purpose of illustration ill say its worth £3k. So he has a swift worth £3k and the finance outstanding is £6k (again just an example amount).

 

So the insurer needs to put mondo/mrs mondo back in that same position of having a swift valued at £3k or there about's or would possibly cash settle so mondo/mrs mondo can buy another car. The finance would then stay as it is as they are still in the financial position they were in before the accident/loss occurred.

 

I hope that makes sense anyway.