My friend wrote his new 6 month old car off just after Christmas. He hit standing water clipped the curb and rolled.

As he is the first owner/keeper he should get a new car but every time he calls his insurance they keep putting him off and saying they will call him back but never do.

so how long should the process take ?

First off, he won't get a new car. He'll get the value of the old car [as it was] three seconds prior to him turning it over.

They use well-known tomes such as Parker's to determine the average market value. It shouldn't normally take more than about four to six weeks, but it depends on the insurance cover he had, who it was with etc, and of course, any modifications found on the wreckage that he hadn't told the insurance about. They'll do whatever they can to reduce the amount of the payout.

the car was standard and he has been told he will get a new car this is normal with most insurance policies

That is not standard at all, if I recall from when I bought a VW you could pay extra and if it was wrote off within a certain period you would get the value from the time you bought it but not a new car. I have seen the advert where they will find another car but will be of similar spec/value.

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A lot of policies do replace with a new car of the same spec if you buy yours new and something happens to it in the first 12 months.

A lot of policies offer GAP protection as standard on brand new cars, but not necessarily all. This means that when you write your car off, your vehicles value is calculated, and you are paid that sum of money. The rest of money is made up by the difference of your car from brand new, and the cost that they paid out for yours. Therefore you get a new car :)

As said, 6 weeks is about average, for a questionable cause, it could extend to 10 weeks, perhaps 12, but if its a rather cut and shut case with one driver, no concerning circumstances (alcohol etc) then this should be done within 6 weeks.

I think he needs to call and demand to speak to a manager at his insurance firm. He should have heard within 3 - 4 weeks if they will replace the car like for like, where they want the car, what car they are offering and what spec. Given the time of year it happened, there will be a back log of cases I expect from winter hazards and accidents, so it might take them a week or two to actually evaluate his accident and get the claim underway.