Insurance companies writing off classic car

[Deleted User]

All sorted now. My insurance company have agreed to pay for the repairs costing £2000 and have agreed the car is worth £3600.

No excess to pay and no fault because it was clearly not my fault. Must admit I didnt realise that this is how it worked. My insurance sorted it out and paid and then got the money back off the 3rd party insurance.

They did say it was borderline write-off though because repairs over 60% of car value are not normally done. How does this work?

How can paying me £3600 in a write-off be better than paying £2000 to repair?

rev_henry

[quote=[Deleted User];33694903]All sorted now. My insurance company have agreed to pay for the repairs costing £2000 and have agreed the car is worth £3600.

No excess to pay and no fault because it was clearly not my fault. Must admit I didnt realise that this is how it worked. My insurance sorted it out and paid and then got the money back off the 3rd party insurance.

They did say it was borderline write-off though because repairs over 60% of car value are not normally done. How does this work?

How can paying me £3600 in a write-off be better than paying £2000 to repair?[/QUOTE]
Good to see we can still have some faith in insurance companies (well, one insurance company) doing the right thing. I have no idea as to the answer to your question though!

Norman_Castle

Repairs can cost more than quoted and if the car is written off their is value in the salvage.

vaio

[quote=[Deleted User];33694903].......They did say it was borderline write-off though because repairs over 60% of car value are not normally done. How does this work?

How can paying me £3600 in a write-off be better than paying £2000 to repair?[/QUOTE]

Couple of reasons, mostly to do with risk/uncertainty….

If they write it off they get the car to sell as salvage which reduces their effective outlay

On the risk side, there might be other damage that only becomes apparent once the repairs have started

Car hire, if they write it off the car hire ends almost immediately, if they get it repaired they have to pay for the car hire until the repairs are compleate. Credit hire accident management companies can charge quite a lot for car hire (£50/100 per day) so if the repair is delayed due to a part not arriving for a week that’s maybe an extra £700 onto the bill.

vaio

[quote=[Deleted User];33681473]......The Jap minis are quite popular because they're the only ones with air con.[/QUOTE]

The only mini I’ve ever owned (’66, old C reg) didn’t even have a heater

Just out of interest where do they find the space to put all the air con gubbins? In a box on the roof?

skiddlydiddly

Not many companies offer agreed values.I have an unusual car/spec and the only one I found that would do it was Richard Egger insurance.They came out more expensive than other companies but it was also a better policy including trackday cover and the agreed value so I was expecting that.

mikey72

Classic car policy with Footman James.
Our mini has an agreed value, and it's cost half the price or less than mainstream insurance.

[Deleted User]

vaio wrote: »

The only mini I’ve ever owned (’66, old C reg) didn’t even have a heater

Just out of interest where do they find the space to put all the air con gubbins? In a box on the roof?

Lets just say the space for your feet in the passenger footwell is 'restricted'. LOL

[Deleted User]

mikey72 wrote: »

Classic car policy with Footman James.
Our mini has an agreed value, and it's cost half the price or less than mainstream insurance.

Might be worth me cancelling my current policy and going for something like this.

I can imagine the argument if I have an accident thats my fault. Arguing about market value etc.

Gloomendoom

[quote=[Deleted User];33763205]Might be worth me cancelling my current policy and going for something like this.

I can imagine the argument if I have an accident thats my fault. Arguing about market value etc.[/QUOTE]

I have several classic cars. There are some possible downsides with classic policies. Many will require you to garage the car overnight, on most you don't earn any no claims bonus, others may impose an annual milage limit. As ever, it's best to read the small print before you commit.

Quite often, owners' clubs are good places to start looking for good insurance.

I'm glad you got it all sorted.