Which companies insure previous write off's?

edmund_blackadder

Hi,

I am currently fully comp with Esure. I have had to make a claim as someone had crashed into my parked car (and admitted full liability etc).

Esure passed this claim onto another insurance company called Help Hire (I think they only do this when it is clear that no fault lays with the policy holder) who arranged for a local garage to collect the car and assess the damage. It turns out that they have decided that it is a CAT D total loss and have offered me £3725 or £969 salvage.

I asked my usual local garage to have a look at it to see if it was worth buying back for £969 and then getting the repairs done. They have assured me that it is certainly worth getting the car back for that money and the repairs will cost no where near the remaining £2756.

Therefore I have instructed Help Hire to deduct the £969 and send me the remaining money.

However, on speaking with Esure (who my insurance is actually with) they have said they are no longer willing to insure the car it has been declared a total loss and they are only a low risk insurer.

I assume there must be other insurance companies out there that would be willing to insure a repaired write off (otherwise what would be the point in being able to buy it for salvage and repair it?)?

If so, can anyone recommend some?

EB

ETA: I know there are companies who must specialise in this, but are there any of the 'standard' insurance companies that would insure it? Do all insurance companies ask whether the car has been previously written off?

edmund_blackadder

anyone?

Do all insurance companies ask whether the car has been previously written off? It is a Cat D write off - Does that get recorded somewhere?

vaio

From memory I don’t ever remember being asked, the easy way to confirm is to run through some web based quotes.

I do remember reading about one company who don’t do write offs and this fact is tucked away in the “assumptions” bit of their web site so read all the T & C with more than average care.

vusys1

I think there have been a few discussions before about wether you should tell an insurer that a car was a previous total loss. I know this is not a question that is normally asked by sales.

but if you dont tell them and then a claim happens further down the line this could start to lead to delays as they will want to know the everything about the car,claim,prev repairs etc

if you do tell them and all dependant on which company you talk to, they may ask for a Vehicle Identity Certificate (check VOSA for local depots) and and engineers report to confirm that the car has been repaired back to it original condition etc.

newbie007_2

VIC are only require for cat C (B, A) write offs.

vusys1

newbie007 wrote: »

VIC are only require for cat C (B, A) write offs.

thats why i said may ask for......you never know who you get through to

Il ask a q aswell, ive seen some stolen/recovered (no damage) vehicles advertised as cat X??? I would have thought they would have been prime example for a VIC??

edmund_blackadder

Thanks for the replies so far.

Any solid recommendations as to which insurance companies actually insure confirmed CAT D cars (i.e. I tell them up front)? I've used some of the standard online comparison sites but they don't ask about the status of the car, so I can't guage whether they would insure it or not.

Just wondered if there were any big name insurance companies that are renowned for happily insuring Cat D cars?

vaio

The insurance regulator has rules on “material facts” and said that companies need to ask “clear & unambiguous” questions about anything they consider to be a material fact.

So, if they don’t ask they don’t care.

Cat D is tricky as you could well own one without knowing (nothing on the log book and lots of people don’t do HPI).

It will be on the database so any insurance company that cares can look it up and decline to quote if they want to. Stick with the standard online systems as that's generally where the best prices are.

sarahg1969

I look at claims every day, and I would say that around 30% of the vehicles I look at have been previous total losses. And it's not something that the insurers are aware of when they accept the risk. They never seem to raise it as an issue, though.

Also, from a personal point of view, I've never been asked to declare if my vehicle has been a previous write-off.

Caerdragon

The Admiral group definitely insure previous total losses, pretty sure that LV and direct line do as well IIRC from dealing with them.

sarahg1969

Caerdragon wrote: »

The Admiral group definitely insure previous total losses, pretty sure that LV and direct line do as well IIRC from dealing with them.

My experience is that all the major insurers do, and that they don't even seem to ask whether or not a vehicle has been a ptl.