car might be written off with hardly any damage!!??

freebie-fan-jen

hi everyone, im not sure if this is in the right section but ill try anyway!!

i went to a car wash a few weeks ago and while in it i heard a big bang and scrape, when i came out and checked it i noticed it had big deep scratches and dents all down the driver side front to back. i went into petrol station and they gave me the address etc to claim. manager also said it was only just serviced that morning. i wrote a letter and they asked me to get quotes. i went to two reputable bodywork specialists and got quotes. they both told me that the car wash company would probably write my car off as the damage is so severe, the cost of putting it right is more than the car is worth. now personally i cannot understand this as it is a well looked after 2005 nissan micra! there is nothing else wrong with it apart from the wing mirror on the opposite side where it was hit while parked. can they force me to write the car off? i love it and it has always been extremely reliable. the bodywork people said that i would receive a cheque for the market value of car and there was a possibility i could buy it back before they scrapped it. but this would mean i would need to fix the scratches myself which would put me out of pocket! im so confused, surely they cant write off a perfectly good car??

thanks in advance!

jen x

terryya

AFAIK insurers just work on maths. If it costs more to fix than it would to replace then they write it off.

Silk

It's all down to costs, to use off the cuff figures ....
Car valued £2000 cost to repair £2000 = easier just pay you £2000

If the car is driveable and just scratched they might sell you the car for £500 say so you end up with £1500 plus the car back as it is now

Whether you then repair the car yourself or just use it as is etc is up to you .
Bear in mind if you re-insure the value will be a lot less though

dacouch

There is a good chance that the car wash's Insurers will not want the salvage of the vehicle and will offer you the chance to retain the vehicle subject to a deduction from the amount they offer you for the car.

If you speak to some local garages and ask them to provide a quotation to repair the damage, make it clear you are paying for the repairs yourself eg "Cash". Their quotes will often be much less then the quotes the Insurers will get. This is because the Insurers will normally get quotes including using the proper manufacturers parts and not reusing the damaged parts. A local garage can often keep the costs down by advising you they can reuse the existing panels or getting copy parts or even sourcing a panel from a salvage yard.

If your happy with their quote and what they propose to do it often means you can keep your car, get the work done and you quite often end up with extra money you can pocket.

Bear in mind that if they write the car off they are quite likely to advise the DVLA that it is a Cat C or Cat D write off. This can reduce the resale value of the car by circa 15% (assuming the work is done well) and you may need to re mot the car or get other checks done on it.

If you are going down this route you should inform your Insurers as they normally want to know if they are covering a car that is a cat c or cat d write off

Volcano

freebie-fan-jen wrote: »

i love it and it has always been extremely reliable.

It's a car, not a boyfriend!

But seriously, it can seem dramatic when a perfectly good car gets written off, but you have to be pragmatic. dacouch's post is good advice if you want to try and keep hold of the car.

freebie-fan-jen

thank you all for the advice, its making things easier to think though!

dacouch: thanks so much for the advice, but just one question, even though it only has scratches on it can be written off and insurers may refuse to insure it??

volcano: sorry i meant to say i love her! i named her betty boop haha, im not so sure i want to keep her now!

thanks again! jen x

maninthestreet

Volcano wrote: »

It's a car, not a boyfriend!

But seriously, it can seem dramatic when a perfectly good car gets written off, but you have to be pragmatic. dacouch's post is good advice if you want to try and keep hold of the car.

Some women seem to form an emotional attachment to cars - it's why they give them names.

dacouch

Your case is slightly different from a normal persons write off as the chances are the Insurers of the car wash are probably a specialist Insurer who do not have an arm that covers cars. This may affect the way they settle your claim as they do not have a network of approved repairers and the like. Don't worry as this often works in your favour.

In addition depending on the value of your car the car wash company may be paying for it themselves, as they are likely to have a fairly big excess for when their machine damages cars it is washing. Again this may work in your favour.

I'll explain how a normal car insurance write off will work.

What happens normally is if the repairs to your car exceed around 60% to 75% of the market value of the car the Insurers generally write the car off. They will then either offer you the chance to retain the salvage of the car, subject to them deducting the value of the salvage from your settlement. The salvage value is typically around 35% of the market value, which is one of the reasons they will write the car off. If the vehicle is severley damaged it may be classed as to damaged to be put back on the road in which case they will inform the DVLA of this and the car will be crushed or broken up for parts.If this happens they will obviously not offer you the salvage.

I assume if its been damaged in a car wash it has cosmetic and wing damage which generally means the salvage can be offered to you. As I explained above it would be worth you findingh out from local bodyshops how much they would charge you to repair the car if you were paying cash and what options they have for saving money eg reusing panels etc etc. If the car is written off like this it is generally easy enough to get the car insured, you may need to get the dvla to do a fairly basic test on it or it might need just an MOT. Most Insurers do not have a problem covering them, hence why I recommend you check with your current Insurers.

If you go down the route of keeping the salvage the Insurers will tell you the market value is X lets say £3000 and the salvage value is £1000. If you accept this they will send you a cheque for £2000 and you can either sell the salvage of or repair the car yourself. Most people in your position will keep the car and repair it themself. My dad had a similar situation and ended up £500 in profit.

Bear in mind that your car if it is classed as a Category C or D write off is generally worth around 20% less when you sell it.

With regard to the benefit of their Insurers not being a normal car insurer or the car wash paying for it themself is that there is a chance they will not inform the DVLA that the car has been a Category C or D write off.