Brendan

All the Insurers will do is check glasses guide for a simlair model to yours and offer you what they think represents the current market value.

Yes you can negotiate the settlement amount. Sometimes Insurers try with a low offer in the hope that the policyholder does not understand that they can make a challenge. My advice is to check glasses guide online for the nearest model to the UK spec you can find. It will cost you £3.50 to get the valaution online.

My only slight question is whether the Insurers could consider that a left hand drive, will have a lower market value in the UK. They shouldn't but I can see them saying it, if you argue about the settlement amount.

Huckster

Yes, you can negotiate.

Have a look at www.autotrader.co.uk for Passat estates with a similar engine, age and mileage. I doubt that you'll find many LHD ones but there will still be very similar cars otherwise. If they come up with a figure that is vastly different to your expectations, you should question how they arrived at the figure. Such negotiations often revolve around who can come up with the most sensible way to value the car.

Hi there

I have recently written my car off and AXA are about to offer me a figure for the car. They phoned yesterday asking me what I thought would be acceptable for the car. I mentioned that the insurance certificate had the car valued at 8250 pounds. The car is a VW Passat Estate.

Problem with the car is that it was previously German registered, is lhd ( I spend a lot of time in Europe) and is not a model available in the UK so they can't easily value it, (their words).

So I am expecting a call on Monday with an offer. How will they calculate this and can I negotiate?

I look forward to your replies and advice.

Regards

Brendan