Recent Car Crash - Trying to save my car...

Fluxsource

Last week (Wednesday) I was involved in a RTA with a lorry - his trailer hit the side of my car, his fault - on the day I was moving house. As if there wasn't enough stress already... The left hand side bodywork is buckled, and various pieces of suspension have been damaged at the front. The car is undrivable. RAC and Admiral insurance were contacted, and both were excellent on the day.

A local garage collected the vehicle the next day (Thursday), and they sent a valuation to the insurer on Friday morning, totalling £4500 inc vat. This morning the garage called me to let me know that a salvage company had tried to take the car away, and they'd sent them packing.

Contacting the insurer, they've valued the car at between £4000 and £5200, so have deemed the repairs uneconomical. My questions are threefold.

1) In that range of £4000 - £5200, how do they chose a value? Especially as the cost of repairs lies within that range.

2) I feel that their valuation is significantly lower than it's actual value. I am unable to find anyone selling the same model, year, mileage and condition for anything less than £5500, and sometimes up to £7000. Do I have any route to try and change their valuation?

3) I really love my car, and it's worth more to me than simply the monetary value. Will insurers accept a PART repair, with the rest being paid for by myself, or even being carried out myself?

I don't know if I've made it clear, but I'm desperate to keep this car. Any advice on how to coerce Admiral to my way of thinking would be appreciated.

mcjordi

you may be able to buy it back from the insurer dependant on the catergory its placed in..

the insurer normally used glass' guide or CAP which are trade only publications

save the adverts for similar spec'd cars to yours if they dont give you a good enough settlement

vaio

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.u...luation.html#9

is worth a read and pretty much covers everything you need to know about valuations

Other things to think about

Are you sure the other party are going to accept liability, side swipes by HGVs are notoriously difficult.

You can usually buy the salvage (generally 10 or 20% of the value) but if there is suspension damage I’d think long and hard lest there be as yet undiscovered chassis distortion

Fluxsource

Thanks for the response.

Adverts duly saved.

Regarding the blame, the conversation I had with the driver just after the incident suggests that there won't be much of a dispute there. While I'm aware that it's his word against mine, he put his foot in it a bit. I won't go into details, but I'm not worried on that score. Also, if it doesn't go my way it's not the end of the world, as long as I still have the car...

As for the possible chassis distortion, the repair estimate took an extra day due to some tests on the chassis the guy wanted to carry out, so hopefully that one is covered.

Thanks for the link - I've read through it carefully, and there are several useful points in there, especially regarding retail value vs trade value.

My only hope is if I can get them to agree a value of the car high enough, it will become "economical" again to repair it.

PNPSUKNET

People say things at the scenes of crashes and then change their minds. Inregards to the value save local papers

noseyp_2

When my car was written off - we question the "value" and were advised to look at Autotrader web site.

Mojisola

My son had a similar accident and the insurance company were going to write off the car. We talked to them about it as he really wanted to keep it. The assessor said that the company would offer a lump sum in order for us to get the repairs done ourselves as long as they were done properly. My son accepted and the bodywork was repaired by a local firm within the budget the insurance company had given him.

His experience was similar to yours in that, at the time, it was accepted that the lorry had been at fault. Later, all sorts of problems were thrown up - offers to go 50/50, not replying to any of the insurance company's letters, any delaying tactics possible. Only when threatened with court did the other side settle. It was a long drawn out business!

Fluxsource

Thanks again for all your responses. Some of this information can be tricky to come by sometimes...

A brief update. After some "intense" conversations with the insurance company, they've provided me with the actual figure they've based the decision on - £5755. Which is pretty reasonable, but not what I was told before. From that, they deduct the value of the salvage of the vehicle (in this case, 30%) leaving a value of £4028.50. As the cost of repairs is £4528.33, and more than the £4028.50 value, they've decided it's uneconomical. So far so simple.

Admiral agreed that if I managed to get a quote for the repairs that was below the £4028.50 they would agree to repair it. Amongst the repairs are two wheels, each £225.50, which together comes to £529.93 when you add on VAT. This would bring the cost of repairs down to £3998.41. Which is good. What's even better is I've been able to find a couple of wheels MUCH cheaper than the standard £225.50, so I will be buying them as soon as Admiral (hopefully) accepts the new lower quote.

So, as it stands there are two potential stumbling blocks. Firstly, Admiral change their mind and won't repair the car even with the lower quote. If that happens then I will kick up a storm for them lying to me. Secondly, that there is additional damage that pushes the repair costs over the £4028.50 again. There is a slight concern that the steering rack has been damaged, which at about £500 for the part alone would put the nail in the coffin. The garage was checking this out of Friday, but said it may slip till Monday.

All I can do now is keep my fingers crossed until Admiral accept the lower quote AND I'm given the all clear from the garage. Here's hoping...

Thanks again for your comments.

Fluxsource

Oh and with regards to the third party, their insurer has not responded in any way after a week and a half. Sounds like this part could drag on...

As for what the driver said: At the time he said he saw me, but had no where else to go. When I asked him to confirm that he'd seen me yet elected to continue on his path, he ummed, ahhed then shut up. If there is a dispute, the scenario is one of two things. 1) He saw me, but continued so as to deliberately endanger another road user, or 2) He didn't see me, and therefore wasn't using his mirrors correctly and not paying due attention to the road. His call really...

Happychappy

Just a thought, but worth checking. Will the insurance company classify the car as a Cat C or D write off ? if so, you will have great difficulty moving the car on when you come to part ex or sale

1. You really need to check they haven't recorded the car in this category before deciding to carry out repairs ? some times it is worth accepting what seems to be a reasonable offer and move on, rather than face possible problems later

2. How long will you be without a car whilst repairs are carried out and is that an issue for you, also, and who pays for a hire car for this period, I think you will find the insurance company once they reach an agreement will cut any further expenditure?

Bets of luck