[Adrian E]

Originally Posted by notorious

It looks like I'm about to claim against policy of the other guilty driver. His 3rd party policy should cover up to 'millions' of £££ of damage, but it looks like the claim will be capped by market value of the car (or was it 70% of market value). Is that correct?

Here is the hypothetic scenario:

I'm driving a worthless car with market value of £1,000
Someone smashed my car.
Since this is an old car the proper repair cost to original pre-accident condition will cost £20,000
Can I claim £20,000 from guilty car insurance driver?
From what I read here all I can have is £700 (70% of market value) minus excess?

Thank you friends!!

That might be what they state in their terms and conditions for their insured driver, but you are not their insured driver so it doesn't apply. They can state what they like, but taking it to its extreme, a court may have to decide what is right and proper in the circumstances.

You do need proper legal advice to establish your options.

I'm aware of cars (admittedly proper 40+ year old 'classics') that've been badly damaged and entirely rebuilt at massive expense after accidents, purely because there isn't a pool of available cars to replace it. Most will have been on cherished policies, which I'm assuming yours is not?

Even if your car cost £20k to repair, if someone smashes up a year old modern Audi it'll cost £20k+ to replace that, and they won't quibble that in the same situation. It's all in the art of building an argument for why your car is unique.