how much can i expect from wrecked car

ritch1

hi

i can see this is a real busy forum but id appreciate some help on how much i should expect to get from someone who crashed into me from behind and wrecked my car.

my car is not worth much, probably around £500, my garage gave me an estimate of £2000 to repair it and said it will probably be written off. im now waiting for my insurance company’s garage to assess the damage.

im real annoyed at the idea that i will only get paid what the car is worth, although old my car was reliable and i probably wont get another like it at that price.

my insurance company doesnt cover legal fees but is there a way i can push the other guys company to pay more for the damage they caused? i dont know a lot about it and would appreciate some advice

thanks
ritch

Astaroth

No, the other party is legally required to put you back in the same financial position that you were in prior to the accident therefore has to do the lower of repairing the vehicle or giving you enough money to buy a replacement of equal value.

In addition you can claim for other things however such as EITHER loss of use of the vehicle or a hire car if yours is undrivable

MarkyMarkD

... but hire car charges (or alternative transport costs) will only apply up till the point when compensation is paid.

marcellep

MarkyMarkD wrote:

... but hire car charges (or alternative transport costs) will only apply up till the point when compensation is paid.

This only applies until the car is written off

J_P_S

my brother was once offered less than he thought his car was worth due to its low mileage so he found some examples in the auto trader and sent them off and they increased the offer.

it may work if youre case is similar

ritch1

well it dont look good then. i think it stinks to be honest, im going to be out of a car for a while because of someone else’s negligent driving. the guy has certainly cost me more than what my car is worth, whether i can claim it is another matter, probably not as i dont pay for solicitor fees on my insurance.

i think that it is very unfair that the persons liable dont pay enough for the victim to buy a new car, the damages amount to £2000 so why shouldn’t they have to pay it when? they drove dangerously so why should they get away with paying a minimal amount.

ritch1

im definaly going to look at what auto trader sell my car for as its got pretty low mileage. i guess ill have to wait and see what they offer, i got a feeling they will mickey

brazilianwax

ritch1 wrote:

whether i can claim it is another matter, probably not as i dont pay for solicitor fees on my insurance.

Never worth not taking the legal cover on an insurance policy.

ritch1 wrote:

i think that it is very unfair that the persons liable dont pay enough for the victim to buy a new car, the damages amount to £2000 so why shouldn’t they have to pay it when? they drove dangerously so why should they get away with paying a minimal amount.

Your car is worth £500. That's what it would cost to buy another one (you said it yourself. So if they give you £500 then you can get a similar car.

Who would pay £2000 for something they could pay £500 for???



What kind of car was it??

ritch1

its a Astra LS 1.7 Turbo Diesel P reg.

i know what your saying but the point is my car was well maintained and running well, it was real reliable, so even though its old and not worth much it would be hard to get another as reliable for £500 or maybe less if im unlucky.

what ill have to do is get a bank loan to buy a decent car for more money, which in my opinion is something they should do seeing as i was put in this position by them?

i just think the system is unfair, you should get at least a couple of hundred more compensation when some idiot rams you up the backside while your going about your daily business. i guess thats in a perfect world

brazilianwax

ritch1 wrote:

what ill have to do is get a bank loan to buy a decent car for more money, which in my opinion is something they should do seeing as i was put in this position by them?

i just think the system is unfair, you should get at least a couple of hundred more compensation when some idiot rams you up the backside while your going about your daily business. i guess thats in a perfect world

If they gave you more than cars were worth we'd all be driving Ferraris!!!

While I can see your point, if there were gains to be had, what would stop people stopping with their handbrake to cause someone to go into the back of them, then claiming "a couple of hundred extra" every time??

You get back the market value of your car - that is what it can be shown to be worth on the open market. If you hire a car in the meantime you can claim that too. You cannot profit from the incident, otherwise the whole system would be corrupted.

mattymoo

ritch1 - sounds like you're on a tight budget. Am I right in thinking hire cars at £150 a week are out of the option unless you use one of the Helphire type companies?

If so, you could do the following.
Stick your claim in for the vehicle.
-Use public transport - keep all receipts.
-Claim for the transport costs from the other driver.
-Claim for "Loss of use and inconvenience" of your own vehicle. When I left claims in 1994, this figure was £60 a week. Should be a fair bit higher now. Speak to your own insurers and ask them what the going rate is.

You cannot have a hire car / courtesy car and claim loss of use. However, it will give you some additional cash. Lets say they take 4 weeks to settle the claim and the rate is £100 a week, you'll have an extra £400 in your pocket plus reimbursement of the public transport costs.

Note - loss of use claims are an area for negotiation so take the guidance your insurers give you and add 10%. You will get a low counter offer - say £70 a week and you then negotiate to get near the figure you want.