[dustdees]

Hi Guys,

I hope you are all well.

I have had a disaster this week, so plonker fell asleep at the wheel of a WHSmith van at 3.30am Wednesday and wrote my car and next doors!!!

I have a hire and waiting for some fiqures from the insurance company!!!
Trouble is I still had a years finance left on it!! - So we have been told that the payout with go directly to the finance company!!!!- SO i have to start again.

I have been advised that I can put a list of losses, expenses etc together and give WHSmith a rit to pay up.

Has anyone every done this, and if so what was the outcome?

Many thanks for your advice

Kind Regards

Denise

[steve doyle]

On a positive note,

If it happened a couple of years ago there would be a good chance you owed the finance company more than you would get from the car insurance, so would of had to find some cash aswell!!!!!!

not sure what you can do ref claiming lost revenue etc but i do think its reasonable to do so, but make sure your higher car is going to be paid for because i have heard of people getting stuck with a big bill cos insurance only pay first 7 days etc so worth checking.

When/if you go down the finance route again make sure you take GAP insurance (should be under £300) pay cash if you can or it costs about £500 when added to the finance. Gap will settle any outstanding finance should the car be written off whilst your still paying it off, It can save you thousands! (GAP only usefull if you have no or small deposit)

For people who buy but pay cash you can get VAP, if the car was 10,000 new, 2 years later its written off and insurance co' give you 5,000 you will get another 5,000 from VAP which lets you go and replace it with another 10,000 vehicle. again this should cost about or less than £300

[glenda hollis]

Denise

You should ask your accountant for help with this as it is very tricky. I have been in this same situation myself, granted that it was not as servere as a write-off. The chances are that anything you ask from WHSmith will be handled by their insurance company and not WHSmith themselves. They will almost certainly demand to see tax returns and details of your business as any losses will be based against your profit. When I tried to make a claim under similar circumstances to yours I was told by the insurer that it was they who would tell me what I would and would not get. In the end I gave up because it would have cost me far more to pay the accountant to prepare the paperwork than I stood to get in the form of losses. I am not saying you should not bother but do be prepared to have to put a lot of effort in and do ask your accountant for their advise. Most will have experiance of this sort of thing.

[dustdees]

Thankfully the losses and the rit will be served by a friend who is a barrister, so that will be out of my hands.

I have spoken to accountant and he's happy to put this together for me. Besides WHSmith ain't going to be happy putting thid through court!!!!!

I have been advised to expect an out of court settlement.