Motor Ridiculous car insurance valuation for stolen car.

Hi Guys,
I guess like a lot of people, I only come here when I have a problem.
Hope you guys can lend me some advice on what I should do.

2yrs ago I bought a jeep which I paid €10,500 for and have had it insured with the same company since then. 1st year I insured it for the full €10,500 and this year for €7,500 considering that a decent enough figure.

A month ago I was parked outside a wooded forest not far from my house where I go for a walk, when I came back the jeep was gone.
I called the gardai in a panic, as ya do, and they came straight out, they were brilliant I have to say, in the next few weeks they did all the usual searching, whatever that is, but it never turned up.

Today the insurance company have given me a value of €3750 for it, I asked them how on earth I was supposed to replace the vehicle for that money and what the point of insuring it for €7,500 was when they were going to come back with a ludicrous valuation anyhow.

Ive had a look online and from what I can see the average price for a vehicle which is the closest match to mine is now €5400, I say closest match because mine had an original bodykit fitted by the manufacturer when it was sold, I know it was fitted by them as this company only sell the bodykit with new vehicles, they dont sell it aftermarket at all. I think the kit should add some value but Im not expecting miracles.

Id be happy if the insurance company gave me enough money to replace the vehicle for one of similar year, mileage and condition but that looks highly unlikely.

Speaking the guy on the phone he said that he will go back to them but they are not likely to increase the value by much, so what can I do when he comes back with an equally ludicrous value this time? Has anyone any experience of the insurance company ombudsman, or is it worth the hassle?

Thanks for reading this long winded post and thanks in advance for any advice.

Was it a commercial vehicle? Are you registered for VAT?

Whatever notional value you have placed on the body-kit, depreciate it to zero, unless you had it declared separately on your insurance.

What was the year make & mileage of the vehicle?

Mathepac, Thanks for ur speedy reply.
I did have the bodykit declared on the insurance, it wasnt a commercial vehicle and I'm not registered for vat as I fall under the vat threshold.
Its an 01 Landrover Freelander with 82,000 miles on clock. New NCT. New Tyres etc...

The very first one I found via a quick search 100,000 miles 1.8 petrol has a €3,500 asking price. http://www.gumtree.ie/dublin/66/40551566.html

Granted there will always be vehicles that are below the price everyone else is selling at, A quick search on CBG.ie gives 5vehicles, ranging in price from €3650 to €5950, only one of these vehicles has an nct. None have a bodykit, although I accept it doesnt add much value. The VRT website, which the government uses to calculate vrt based on current market value of vehicles, values it at €5300.

Should I just accept the ludicrous fee from the insurance company, rush out and immediately buy the cheapest freelander there is, just because I can afford it with the pittance they have decided my jeep was worth?

AlanZ said:

... The VRT website, which the government uses to calculate vrt based on current market value of vehicles, values it at €5300 ...

Click to expand...

Make that point to the insurers (in writing) and make sure they are not deducting VAT from their proposed settlement figure. IME with commercial-type vehicles they do this automatically.

I think Ill do that, I hadnt thought about the vrt, the vehicle wasnt classed as commercial, but still I wouldnt be surprised if that is what happened.
Thanks for suggestion.

Your valuation was very high and jeeps have deprecated more than any other vehicle. I don’t think the insurance is that far of market value. You can put your case to them show them examples of the similar cars for sale to yours and you should negotiate something from them, this worked for me before

Is this similar to your car and there is always a deal to be done at the moment.
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Land-Rover/Freelander/GS/200933194870795/advert?channel=CARS
I just bought a 2004 Land Rover Discovery, 7 seater for the your valuation

As the previously proud owner, Im always likely to inflate my valuation, our cars are never worth what we like to believe.
I still believe that the insurance company should pay an average of the current car prices and not just try to match the lowest price available. In every make and model of car available there will be a huge variation in prices, sometimes justified because of variation in spec and quality of vehicle but sometimes it will simply be people off-loading pieces of junk that are on their last legs and gauranteed to die within weeks of purchase.
I never expected to get €7,500 for mine, once it was stolen I checked the value on vrt.ie and considered that if I got close to 5k for it I would be happy and could replace it with a vehicle of similar quality. Petrol Freelander's are known for headgasket issues, which mine had remedied with a new head and engine modification, so I dont want to fall into the trap of being offered pittance by the insurance company and buying some cheap heap of junk where the head gasket is going to fail in 2 weeks time.

I'm going to take the advice and write to the insurance company with estimates of similar vehicles and the valuation print out from vrt.ie and see what they come back to me with.