who owns car after write off?

G_M

After malicious damage overnight, the insurer's designated garage have said the car is not worth repairing so the insurers are writing it off.

The car can be repaired and my normal garage will do so fo far less than the value of the car.

1) is it worth sending the insurers a quote from the garage and disputing the write off decision?
2) if the insurance write off money is accepted can I use that to repair the car and keep it? What happens with DVLC - are they told its been written off?.......

MoreOn

1) no
2) once you've been paid out it belongs to the insurance company.. You can always offer to buy it back.. You need to inform DVLA the car has been written off, the form is on the vehicle docs. If you don't do that you will be fined.

InsideInsurance

The insurer owns the salvage but you can normally buy it back as long as it isnt a cat A or B total loss (these should mean its a safety issue rather than an economics one)

You should speak to the insurers about what is necessary to do to get it reinsured with them as some will stipulate safety tests must be done first.

mikey72

A lot of insurers won't sell the car back now.
They contract to sell the scrap onto the repair company that assess the car, or the salvage company that recover the car.

scheming_gypsy

G_M wrote: »

1) is it worth sending the insurers a quote from the garage and disputing the write off decision?
...

you may be able to ask for a cash settlement for the repair cost.
when the insurance company write a car off it's not just the cost of repairs. It's down to the cost of new parts from the main dealer, the cost of labour for the work, any admin costs and the cost of a hire car.
So although your garage may quote £500 for the repairs the overall cost to the insurance company could cost £2000 if you go through them... So it's worth asking if you can have a cash settlement for the actual repair costs...

** I'm fairly sure I've seen it happen before

agrinnall

Is it possible for you to withdraw the claim with your insurance company, get the car back and pay for the repairs yourself? Less paperwork and you'll be back on the road a lot quicker.