25-07-2026 – Irish Independent – Your Questions Answered -I’m unhappy with insurer offer after car was written off what are my options?
Q: I was in a car accident earlier this summer. While my injuries were thankfully minor, my car was a write-off. I wasn’t liable for the accident.
I am unhappy with the settlement that is being offered to me, particularly in relation to the replacement value that I am being offered for my car. Do I have to accept the insurer’s offer?
A: You can accept or negotiate an insurance settlement. If you believe the market value of your car before the accident was higher than the insurer’s estimate, communicate this to the insurer and also provide it with evidence to support the higher value, said Michael Kavanagh, chief executive of the representative body for compliance professionals, the Compliance Institute.
Under the Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code (CPC), your insurer must take this evidence into consideration. The CPC states that an insurer “shall ensure that any claim settlement offer made to a claimant represents its best estimate of the claimant’s reasonable entitlement”.
The CPC stipulates a number of factors which insurance companies must consider when calculating their best estimate of a claimant’s reasonable entitlement, including any evidence submitted to support the value of the claim, any evidence made known to the insurance undertaking by a third party, or evidence that should be reasonably available to the insurance undertaking.
As long as you have not formally accepted an insurance claim settlement, you can appeal it, Mr Kavanagh said.