My car has been declared as a Total Loss - NEED HELP/ ADVICE??!!

MichelleTurner19

Hi, this is my first ever thread! Would love to hear anyone's thoughts/ experiences or advice. Been searching Google like a maniac and just can't find information that I need. Sorry for my droning on!

Basically my named driver was in my car, when an elderly man drove into the back of my car at traffic lights. He admitted it was his fault at the scene. However on immediate inspection my car seemed to both drivers as was in OK condition except for scratch on the bumper, on a more detailed look at home it was noticed that on opening my boot the inside had slightly caved in and so it took two people to actually shut my boot securely.

So, all has gone through the 3rd party's insurance (my insurer Admiral). And then Albany Assistance has got involved which I dont quite understand but thats not important.

My car was taken away on Friday to be looked at by the garage and I have a similar sized hire car. Yesterday I received an email from Albany to say my car has been classed as category D and is a Total Loss. They put me through to the engineers/ mechanic and they have quoted me £2100 (the approx car value) for the salvage of my car, they have calculated the current value of my car as £400 (ish) and so to 'buy back' my car and fund the repairs myself I will be compensated £1600 (ish).

A bit of general background, I am currently 26, and have had my car(a clio) from brand new since I passed my test at 17. I have never crashed or needed repairs, and feel even though it is old in car years it is still in very good condition. I am not currently in a position to buy a car in full or HP and to be honest I dont feel I can justify the cost when I rarely use the car (perhaps only once/ twice a week).

So back to the original point of this forum,
1, Can the compensation quote be negotiated?
2, Is there a site with legal guidance?
3, My car is currently in the mechanic garage, am I allowed to let my mechanic take a look at the car so I can make an informed decision on the repairs? Obviously if the repairs exceed the £1600 I will recieve as compensation it may not be worthwhile.
4, I have seen negative threads on this forum with regards to Albany assistance and hire cars, does anyone recommend if this will effect me? I am wondering if I should cancel the hire car, as although it is handy it is not necessary.

Any help would be much appreciated!!

inmypocketnottheirs

First of all, welcome to MSE.
To answer some of your points, the compensation can certainly be negotiated.

Do you have any legal assistance with your motor or household policy? If so you can get some free advice there.

There is no reason why you can't take your own mechanic to assess the damage. However if it is deemed a total loss then you will need an engineer's inspection and certificate to prove it has been repaired to roadworthy standards. I don't know how you would do that or how much it costs.

MrRedundant

MichelleTurner19 wrote: »

Hi, this is my first ever thread! Would love to hear anyone's thoughts/ experiences or advice. Been searching Google like a maniac and just can't find information that I need. Sorry for my droning on!

Basically my named driver was in my car, when an elderly man drove into the back of my car at traffic lights. He admitted it was his fault at the scene. However on immediate inspection my car seemed to both drivers as was in OK condition except for scratch on the bumper, on a more detailed look at home it was noticed that on opening my boot the inside had slightly caved in and so it took two people to actually shut my boot securely.

So, all has gone through the 3rd party's insurance (my insurer Admiral). And then Albany Assistance has got involved which I dont quite understand but thats not important.

My car was taken away on Friday to be looked at by the garage and I have a similar sized hire car. Yesterday I received an email from Albany to say my car has been classed as category D and is a Total Loss. They put me through to the engineers/ mechanic and they have quoted me £2100 (the approx car value) for the salvage of my car, they have calculated the current value of my car as £400 (ish) and so to 'buy back' my car and fund the repairs myself I will be compensated £1600 (ish).

A bit of general background, I am currently 26, and have had my car(a clio) from brand new since I passed my test at 17. I have never crashed or needed repairs, and feel even though it is old in car years it is still in very good condition. I am not currently in a position to buy a car in full or HP and to be honest I dont feel I can justify the cost when I rarely use the car (perhaps only once/ twice a week).

So back to the original point of this forum,
1, Can the compensation quote be negotiated?
2, Is there a site with legal guidance?
3, My car is currently in the mechanic garage, am I allowed to let my mechanic take a look at the car so I can make an informed decision on the repairs? Obviously if the repairs exceed the £1600 I will recieve as compensation it may not be worthwhile.
4, I have seen negative threads on this forum with regards to Albany assistance and hire cars, does anyone recommend if this will effect me? I am wondering if I should cancel the hire car, as although it is handy it is not necessary.

Any help would be much appreciated!!

1) It can however to add it is a 9 year old clio by my calculations. I wouldn't be convinced that £2100 is an unreasonable settlement.
2)No
3)I would imagine you can yes. Ask them. Of course if you withdraw it and then send it back they may expect you to pay any charges for doing this.
4) Yes you should.Albany etc make their money by hiring you a car at ridicolous rates that they take from the TP insurer. If they cant get it back they will then chase you. If you dont need the car you shouldnt have it.

What age is the clio? Model, Mileage etc.

I would suggest though £1600 worth of repairs at an insurers preferred repairer will probably cost about a third of that at a small market bodyshop.

ben2909

You need to have a look on autotrader and local free ads papers to get an ideal of how much a replacement like for like car would cost from a dealer.This will give you evidence to go back to the Albany if you think they have offered you less than what the car was worth.
Do this quickly and they will offer you more as it is costing then for every day you have the hire car.


The car remains yours until you accept an offer so you can get your mechanic to look over it and give you an estimate for repairs.
You can also just make your car road worthy and maybe just pull the dents out which would saves hundreds in labour cost alone.
If you decide you can make do with just a cheap repair then you could save a 1000 at least.

I had a car a few years ago that was hit in the back.The insurance offer £800 for my car less £50 scrap valve.I took the offer £750 and kept the car.
Couple of hours it took to get the back panel pulled out looking good and i drove the car for another 18 months.


HTH

vaio

Cat D can just be used as long as tax, MOT and insurance are still in force, no VIC needed. If the only thing wrong with it is the difficulty shutting the boot I suspect a few well aimed hammer blows will cure it.

PNPSUKNET

The car will also remain on the w/o database, you need to declare this to insurers and if not they can and do void policys

MichelleTurner19

Thank you all soo much! Really helpful and given me some confidence to dispute!

Mr Redundant- Car is a Renault Clio Authentique was first registered July 2001 so it's almost 10 years old, it's only a 1.2L I think the mileage is approximate 45,000.

I do have legal advice included in my insurance I think this goes through Albany. Apart from the worry of the hire car I have found Albany to be helpful so perhaps will give them another call.

These situations are always so hard because you just can't seem to get totally independent advice always seems one sided!

Thanks everyone for help do far

vaio

PNPSUKNET wrote: »

The car will also remain on the w/o database, you need to declare this to insurers and if not they can and do void policys

You only need to declare it if they ask, exactly as you have to answer all the questions fully and to the best of your ability.

As a matter of practicality, it is entirely possible to buy a cat d without knowing it, in which case any company trying to void a policy would struggle to get it past the FOS rules and in any event I don't ever remember being asked about the write off status on any proposal I've ever filled in.