# How to claim accident depreciation from the insurance co



## Yachtie (4 Mar 2008)

I was in a minor traffic accident last week where I was clipped by a truck. Insurance company's investigator and damage assesor told me to claim accident depreciation from the truck's insurance company. 

My car is a 07 BMW and needs a new bumper. 

Thanks for your help!


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## Mr2 (4 Mar 2008)

It's 10% of the estimate of parts and labour (not car hire) but I'm not sure if you can claim it on minor damage, as far as I know you can't,  ie. your car would not depericate because it got a bumper!


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## Gunship (4 Mar 2008)

Usually Insurance companies will allow 10% of the repair costs only, not for the overall bill, exclusive of VAT, for cars up to 4 years old, do not be fobbed off, Insurers will always pay this where a solicitor is involved.


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## Yachtie (4 Mar 2008)

Thanks for your respones. I have spoken to the insurance company today and they asked me to email them a request. Once the final bill is received by them, they will forward 15% of the value of parts and labour exclusive of VAT.


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## cullenka (5 Mar 2008)

Hi all, I was involved in a car accident before christmas - my car is a 04 VW Beetle Cabriolet which I had purchased a few months before for 24k. 
Repair costs were €9k incl. of VAT which were all covered by the other parties insurance.
Rang them today about claiming my accident depreciation. Told me they could only give 5%, and at a push they said they would give me 7.5%. Told me they would only give 10% on a 06 car.
Should I accept this?????


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## LS400 (5 Mar 2008)

Cullenka
Now thats a genuine case for depreciation, as a rule of thumb, the 10% is the standard on any car regardless of age. Their acting the maggot offering 5 - 7.5 %. It would not be unusual to expect 20% in your case.


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## LS400 (5 Mar 2008)

Where depreciation is an issue, 10% is the realistic starting block. Less than this, it becomes pointless. The age of the car should not make a difference, as where would they draw the line and say the car is too old to pay dep. If that was the case, they would write the car off, and pay market value.


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## Yachtie (6 Mar 2008)

My 'research' on this matter shows that the insurance companies will pay out accident depreciation for cars up to 4 years old. The bands vary depending on the age of the car - for example my car is 07 and the insurer will pay out 15% of the parts and labour cost exclusive of VAT. An 08 car would get slightly more (percentage-wise) and the older car would get slightly less.

In my opinion, regardsless of the amount, if it wasn't your fault, it's still money better in your pocket than somebody else's.


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## rustbucket (25 Mar 2008)

Ive been doing a bit of work for Cullenka on this and just have a couple of questions.

1. Insurance have now offered 720 euro in depreciation. Cost of repairs were 7000 ex vat so this is just a tad over 10%. This seems a little low for a car that was at the time, only 3 years old, in perfect nick and with very low mileage!

2. The car before the accident was worth €24K easily. How much is it worth now? €15K? €16K?(It has been fully repaired to as new) but we have to say that it was crashed if asked.How much does that knock off the previous market price of €24K? How much would the car sell for as a 'crashed repaired'? What im trying to get at is how much has she lost on the value of the car? versus how much the insurance are compensating her.

Based on the insurance companies 'depreciation model' the car should sell for €23280 (minus the €720 offered)

Say for exapmle cullenka had a loan for €24K for the car and she only received €16K for it when sold. This would leave her with a deficit of €8K to pay back. Hardly seems fair!


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