The garage won't tell me how much my car is worth now it has been written off. Is this legal?

[Ariella20]

My car has just been written off and I need to know how much it is now worth. The garage where it has been taken refuses to tell me how much it is worth as they say they can only legally tell the insurance company rather than me. I'm worried that the insurance company will then quote me a much lower price than it is worth and I won't have any proof, other than comparing similar cars to mine as to what the true value is. Is this illegal on the garage's part?
All answers gratefully received!

[Sammy Snake]

Yes - the garage are working for the insurance company, not you.

[k8bailey]

Don't think the garage have to tell you but try this web site for a pretty good guide to car prices:
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/prices/

[chas2008]

Sammy is 100% spot on, its the engineers decision, not the repairer , who act on behalf of the ins.co. and the last thing the repairer wants is to end up in a dispute over car values. Auto trader is a fair guide to market values , many estimaters use it.

[gouldc]

Don't even bother with Parker's - it's rubbish, and your insurance company will be using Glass's Guide in any case.

However, as Chas says, check the valuation you get against Autotrader - ensure that the ads you are looking at are for the same make, model, engine size, number of doors, and ensure the mileage is not lower than yours and the cars are not newer - be warned, we check Autotrader too when making an offer, and we are aware that people submit the highest values they can find - the idea is to reimburse you the amount (less xs) that you can buy another vehicle for, not to give you an amount to buy the most expensive one you can find!