205 Set On Fire

[gwyn_mi16 7]

Well so much for 'this one's a keeper' I was woken by frantic neighbours at 1am Monday morning to this.....

 

 

My pride and joy in a ball of flames on the drive. Fire Service and Police were on scene in 5 minutes to extinguish the flames but it was too late. The 205 was completely gutted.

 

Thankfully no damage to my 182 and miraculously only a slightly melted side repeater on the Mrs Shogun.

 

A neighbours van had been broken into. It is clear someone had smashed the rear drivers side window and I believe tried pushing it off the drive before maybe the steering lock engaged. I think they then decided to torch it.

 

The remains.... devastated.

 

 

 

 

 

Car was recovered last night. Fire has wrecked my driveway. Police dog arrived on scene and tracked a scent to a nearby village 3 miles away where they arrested a suspect. Cant believe its happened, I live in such a quiet area.

 

Its in the hands of the insurance now. Im worried how much they will offer me for the car.

 

How she was before the arson:

 

 

 

 

I paid £4350 for her in April 2015 which I considered a bargain as I thought she was worth closer to £5k. I only have her insured at market value not agreed value. I think 205 values have risen even since last April. Do you think I'll get back anywhere near what Ive paid? Id be interested in people's though's/ advice.

[Anthony 1,003]

Absolutely gutting, that looked like a lovely example prior to last night... and for it to be lost for such a mindless reason as well

 

I can't offer any help from the insurance side of things, other than to get as much evidence to support what you think it's worth as possible.

[jord294 92]

Gutted for you mate. Looked a lovely car.

 

There really is some tossers about!

[dcc 855]

Go find 3 examples of similar condition cars. Suggest youmake sure they have all the items in your vehicle replaced too. My dad had a window smashed on his car and the stereo pinched. Only 3/4 days later he couldnt find his laptop and realised it went missing too.

 

They didn't want to know.

[Bobbafett 49 2 Cars]

It f***s me off so much knowing the only reason they did that is because they know someone loved it. Absolute scum of the Earth. Gutted for you.

[Goliath 94]

So gutted for you. You should be able to get a decent pay out as values have risen so much lately. Give this website a read and contact the chap if you need any help/advice regarding arguing a higher offer. He has been a massive help to me over email (with no charge).

http://www.motorclaimguru.co.uk/

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Absolutely gutted for you buddy.

 

As far as the insurance goes I think you are in quite a good position, you bought the car for good money only 9 months ago, I'm assuming you will have some sort of receipt to support that. So the market value at that time can be argued to be give or take what you paid. Any work or improvements you carried out in the time you had it then give copies of the receipts. Its not like you bought a s*itter for a grand, did it up a bit, and are now telling the insurance you value it at £5k.

 

As is always said, just stand your ground politely until you reach an agreeable settlement.

Good luck

[jassi 1 1 Cars]

Just horrible whats happened. Looked like it was mint and the values have been creeping up.

[sp_en_ny 17 1 Cars]

What scum bags, fingers crossed you get a fair deal from the insurance company and its plain sailing.

[barneys66 122 1 Cars]

Scum. I really feel for you.

 

Hope all goes well with insurance, keep us posted.

[AlexRS2782 136 1 Cars]

There are so many expletives I could use right now after seeing that but I imagine that you've probably used them, and more, already.

 

As others have said - absolute scum, just no point whatsoever

 

Somewhat good news that they've arrested someone, although even if they're found guilty I suspect their punishment wouldn't fit their crime

 

With regards to insurance, as mentioned previously at least you've purchased yours for strong money under a year ago, so I would hope that you wont have too many problems with that scenario, especially with some of the current examples available and going via auction you should be able to prove what state the market is in at the moment.

Edited January 26, 2016 by AlexRS2782

[j_turnell 137 3 Cars]

There really are some arseholes in this country, such a shame, really feel for you. Hope your not put off buying another. But as above you are in a pretty good position as prices are increasing everyday and you paid decent money for it.

[gwyn_mi16 7]

Thanks for the kind comments/ advice. Have had a look at the link you posted Goliath... it may come in handy if insurance decide to play hard ball (hope not) -thanks mate.

 

Reason I insured it market value was because (wrongly maybe) I believed agreed value policies were more suited to cars who's values FAR exceed the market value. I.e those that have had total nut/bolt resto's or the likes of a 10k mile prime example.

 

Mine was a really nice, honest rust/ mod free example that had been cared for since new (took months to find and more difficult to get hold of than I'd anticipated) Certainly no concourse £10k plus car but Id like to think its worth at least what I paid for it? I.e market value. Ive got dozens of photo's of the car along with the ebay add when I bought it in April (including the purchase price)

 

Im not trying to make money from this, just want to re-coup my losses. What upsets me the most is the fact it's been on the road and cared for 26 years and some asshole wrecked it in a moment of mindless damage.

[tdr_1976 41 1 Cars]

Complete & Utter Areseholes.......

 

I really really feel for you, what a stomach churning sight to see.

 

I hope they string the F*ckers Up By the Balls.

 

Where did this happen? I'm on Anglesey too.

 

It's the biggest reason I keep mine in the garage.

 

All the Best with the Insurance claim, I hope you get your hard earned cash back at the very least.

[Craig01 9 1 Cars]

I never understand mindless vandals like this, many four letter words regarding the individuals involved come to mind.

 

Regarding insurance, a relative wrote off their Octavia and a friend in the insurance industry said most insurers always make 3 offers. The first offer the insurers made was ridiculous and around £2k below replacement value. Evidence including classified ads of similar spec cars and the CAP valuation of the car was then presented to them and the insurers subsequently upped their offer by another £1500. After a bit more back and forth they finally coughed up the full value.

 

Good luck and hope you manage to sort out a suitable replacement, still think they're a great place to put money into at the moment.

[nomis 12]

Sorry to hear that Gwyn. That's shocking. Was a really nice looking car.

Hopefully you should be OK with the insurance.

If it helps and you have difficulties, I reckon mine is similar condition etc to how yours was and it is on agreed value of £5k with Footman James.

I'd be happy to send you a copy of the certificate they sent me that you could use as proof.

[willis 18 1 Cars]

Bastards.

 

I would have thought that you should get more than £5k as long as it's not a cat d that's gone around the clock.

 

As previously said find other examples, if you can, close in condition and mileage to yours. I don't know the mileage or history of yours, but looking at the pics I'd say closer to £7k... What you actually paid for the car is irrelevant.

[Pugleyrich 37 1 Cars]

I'm so sorry for your loss. That looked like a beautiful car. A real shame

[nveeate 78]

Really bad luck - sorry to hear/see that - it looked like a lovely car. With some polite but firm discussion I think you should get at least what you paid - hopefully more. Hopefully they'll at least recognise that they're appreciating!

[chrisj21 2]

Gutted for you mate, looked an absolute gem as well.

 

Hope all goes well with the insurance.

[mrfirepro 127 1 Cars]

really feel for you, I can't remember hearing of a more mindless act of vandalism.

 

Car looked fantastic.

 

As for insurance, I'm sure if you present your case well with good documentation and examples £5K should be a breeze.

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Absolute f***wits, f***wits the lot of them.

 

"If I can't have it no one can".....

[DBG 16]

So sorry to hear mate, that really sux. Looked to be a really good example too.

 

Best of luck with the insurance claim, fingers crossed for you.

 

Ben

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

Just to echo the other replies, sorry to see this topic & gutted for your loss of another 205 GTI, your pictures show it as a very good example.

 

Personally, I never insure any of my 205's on anything other than an agreed value policy but this can work against you I expect market values have risen since your policy started so your car has gone up in value.

 

Good luck with the insurance given you what it's worth & with any luck the person they've arrested will get what they deserve, although I suspect it'll be put down to a simple case of arson.

 

g

[gizzmo 3 1 Cars]

Totally sorry I know what it's like to have to go and see the harm these f--ck--s cause as for the insurance Don, t worry to much, I had a bike stolen a few years back market value and all that, same as you had pictures and the insurance company had no problems in agreeing top money which did vary between 3k for a dog to 6k for a clean low miler

Edited January 27, 2016 by gizzmo