my car is a write off :(

mianjakesmummy

apologies in advance if i get a bit ranty, im absolutely gutted

back in june i had some fab advice on here and finally chose my first car (well not my 'first' car but the first one i have chosen and bought myself)

4 month of happy motoring and then it happens..... my first accident
going through / around a mini round about and just as im about to exit BAM! the lady on the left who should have gave way to me carried on driving right into my rear passenger wheel sending me spinning and head on into a metal barrier / fence thing.
i managed to get the driver behind's details as he saw everything and confirmed this to my insurance co.

the repair centre picked up my car 9am ish yesterday and when i get home from work i had a message left at 3pm asking me to give them a call...... i knew it didn't look good phoned them first thing this morning and it is ''beyond economical repair''

my question is, what happens now? the repair centre said that i have to wait for insurance to give me a call as they will give us an offer - i only paid 2300 4 months ago, i have been looking at auto trader for similar cars and all the ones the same age have about 10000 more miles than mine did, my car also had colour coded bumpers and everything was the same colour - the cheaper higher mileage cars have black bumpers, my car was also a silvery purple whereas all the ones i can find are plain silver - if the ins co offer alot less are these issues i can use to get them to offer a little higher?

Sorry if it sounds like i am money grabbing but i have only had this car 4 months it was purchased on credit card (and then swiftly moved to a 0% balance transfer deal) so it isn't even paid off yet,

at the moment i have a curtesy / hire car and start a new job on monday which involves me using my car quite a lot - i am scared to death of even looking at this car wrong in case i get an imaginary scratch / dent the decided to charge me the earth for! does anyone have any idea how long the process of offers normally take?

p.s sorry again for ranting....

newfoundglory

You will probably need to negotiate with the insurance company over what you are prepared to accept for your car. Most will come in low, but you should find you can increase this offer by 10 to 20%.

It may be helpful if you find some cars for sale (like on Autotrader) with similar specs and mileage. But remember these are just asking prices, and not really the market values. But you should be able to demonstrate to the insurer what you will need to spend to replace the car.

McKneff

Your hire car will obviously be insured but obviously there would be excess to pay if you had an 'incident'

You can (with the hire car company) take out excess insurance for about a couple of quid a day.

Worth thinking about if you want peace of mind, then if theres a scratch or anything on the car you pay nothing.

Pigget

I got an offer for my car the day after I started the claim process. This may have been quick as I was claiming from a driver who used the same insurance company as me.

I also found that the offer they made for my car was at market value. I had done lots of auto trader research and the offer they made was higher than any comparable cars on auto trader.

Strider590

McKneff wrote: »

Your hire car will obviously be insured but obviously there would be excess to pay if you had an 'incident'

You can (with the hire car company) take out excess insurance for about a couple of quid a day.

Worth thinking about if you want peace of mind, then if theres a scratch or anything on the car you pay nothing.

Yep, lots of threads on here to show how they like to make false claims about you damaging the hire cars, definitely take out the cover if you have one.

mianjakesmummy

thanks everyone, i have been looking at similar cars today to get a rough idea and they are still around the price i paid 4 months ago so i am hoping they will come in with a reasonable offer.

also hoping the claim process will be quick as the other driver has fully admitted liability and i have a witness who states that it was her fault, however looking through the paperwork it states a standard claim where they admit liability takes 10-12 weeks!! eek!!

i did pay a little extra to the hire co as insurance for scratches / dents but there are lots of stories on here saying how they find these extra charges but it doesn't cover glass / tyres apparantly

i called the people dealing with my claim - they said that there is nothing on my file at present to say car is written off but the total loss dept should pick it up next week and let me know

thefishdude

sorry to hear about yor accident, it really is awfull when something liek that happens when you have done something wrong. i sat at red lights in july and avan ploughed into back of me my car was written off. the amount they offered was a fair price infact was slightly more than i paid for the car so i accepted. the only thing i will worn you off is the fact that next year your insurance will go up slightly becaise of the accident even though its not your fault but statistically you are more ikely to make another claim if you have made one all ready so i was told. my insurance has gone up about 25%. or about £20 a month.

daveyjp

Just remember too if it is a credit hire vehicle through an accident management company you may be liable for charges if they can't be claimed off the third party. Check the small print as charges could be excessive.

scheming_gypsy

I've never had a claim take 10 - 12 weeks. Usually a week or so after it's been confirmed as a write off; the third party's insurance company will be picking up the tab for the hire car, so the longer it takes the more they pay. As the other driver / insurance has admitted liability and it's been confirmed as a write off, i'd say you'll be getting an offer by the end of the week.

mianjakesmummy

thefishdude - you say they offered you more than what you paid was this more than the value you put on the car when you bought it? when we did our insurance we put the value of the car as 2300, would this be the most they offered? i thought the premiums would go up would this make a difference if we paid the year in full? it was renewed last month. the lady who hit me phoned her hubby at the scene and passed him onto me, he then asked if he could pay me off, i told him i had no idea of what mechanical damage had been done and that it would have to go through insurance - he was not best pleased oh well! lol

daveyjp wrote: »

Just remember too if it is a credit hire vehicle through an accident management company you may be liable for charges if they can't be claimed off the third party. Check the small print as charges could be excessive.

thanks daveyjp - apparantly the claim company have provided me with free cover incase they don't pay out for repairs / towing of my car and just reading through the paperwork i received today it also says they can provide free cover incase they won't pay out for the hire car, i shall give them a ring first thing tomorrow to see if i can get this added!



scheming_gypsy oh i do hope i get an offer by the end of the week, i have already seen a replacement car that i want (same make and model just a different colour and less mileage) but i don't want to go rushing in until i know what they will give me. iirc you were one of the fab people who gave me advice on purchasing my car (but i think that was under the username i can't get into)

thefishdude

i had it insured for 2000 and they offered me 2000 but i only paid 1850 for it casue i got it a bit cheaper on ebay. but i was expecting it to be alot lower also from other peoples experience.

another thing i dint realise was than untill costs are reclaimed from the other side they decduct your excess soo i got 1700 and got the 300 excess back about a month later. wich had an impact on getting my next car.

on the plus side you say you have just renwed yearly yoru insurance that is good, the policy you have at the moment will be surrendered and when you get a new car they will issue you witha new one. depending on what you get that could make your insurance go up or down as basically you changing your car. BUT the effects of the claim wont effect your insurance untill the next renewal date.