Dear Diary

After anticipating long drawn out discussions with my insurers over the payout for my car, the actual conversation took about 3 minutes thanks to my research the night before and the internet. A browse on car websites showed me how much I would have to pay to get exactly the same car, same age, same mileage as I had. I knew what I wanted and I knew what I expected them to offer, and I didn't expect the two figures to be very close.

Basically, the conversation went as follows:

Him: Have you done any research on your car to see what you are expecting?

Me: Yes, I had a look last night.

Him: Do you know what mileage your car had done as I don't have a note of it on the form?

Me: Yes, about 44,000

Him: Right, I'm looking at the Autotrader website and can see your car would now be valued between x and y

Me: Okay.

Him: So we would be offering you mid-way.

Me: Ok, I'll let you know.

Phone call ends and they have just offered me exactly the amount I had I discussed with Neil that I would be happy to settle for.

Before the internet, when it was so much more difficult to get comparitive prices and it was all done on Glass' Guide within the motor trade, getting an agreement was a long drawn out process, or it was when I had a car stolen way back in the early 1990's, (we effectively had to find a comparitive car on a garage forecourt to prove its value).

So, within a couple of days I had the cheque in my bank account and I am now looking forward to collecting my new car on Friday.

Not too bad really!