Can a Car Insurance firm offer nothing for a write off?

Bariwhites

I have a K reg Vauxhall Cavalier SRI which I bought off Ebay two years ago for £300. Spent another £300 getting it through its MOT and since then its been a brilliant A to B car. Sailed through the last MOT for £150.

Last Friday I was run into the back off by a Driving Instructor. Guy was very apologetic and admitted it was his fault, gave me all his insurance details.

Rang his insurance firm up and it turned out to be the broker, they said I needed to ring up the firm he bought the policy from and gave me the number. However during the call the broker indicated they would class this as a write off but wouldn't pay anything out due the age of the car. Can they do this?

The car is still ok to drive with most of the damage being done to the rear bumper (the tow bar on it took some of the brunt).

Just wondering if its actually worth trying to claim anything or get the damage fixed myself and not bother?

Thanks

s_b

i had one of them
wicked it were till it spun me out:D

how can they smash your motor up then tell you to do one?
are they actually registered or is it someones kitchen they are dealing from?
not bradford is it?
get some legal advice,i always recommend legal protection at start of new policy for things like these jokers
have you got it on your househoold policy if not on the car
ring them first thing in the morning if you have
and make sure you go for evertyrthing including full hire charges whilst its sortedf

dacouch

Ignore the broker and speak to the Insurers.

They should offer you the market value of the car pre accident

mikey72

If they're difficult, advise them you'll pass it to an accident management company.
If they still don't pay a fair price, (look at similar ones on ebay, parkers etc) refer it to one of them.

colino

First of all the car is, when you syphon the petrol out, cash the tax in and sell the stereo to your local junkie, is worth nothing. However, with the great addendum of having a "professional driver" in control, no doubt your car can become one of those sparkly, rare, perfect models worth at least £1500 to a lax adjuster.

photome

colino wrote: »

First of all the car is, when you syphon the petrol out, cash the tax in and sell the stereo to your local junkie, is worth nothing. However, with the great addendum of having a "professional driver" in control, no doubt your car can become one of those sparkly, rare, perfect models worth at least £1500 to a lax adjuster.

Is there no value in weighing a car in for scrap? I know there used to be but not sure these days

Joe_Horner

It's not awfully helpful to just say "it's not worth anything" is it?

The OP is entitled to be put back in the same position that he was before the accident - that's going to cost him between about £400 and £1k. May not be big money, but why should he be paying it when the other guy's responsible?

So no, they can't write it off and pay nothing - and Mikey's suggestion of mentioning claims management companies if they don't play fair isn't a bad one

raskazz

If (and that is an if) the vehicle was only worth scrap before, and you have kept the salvage, then there's nothing for the other party to pay in terms of the damage. If the vehicle was worth, say £150 on the open market and is worth £150 scrap then you have not suffered a loss in terms of the pure damage claim.

Remember that often people have unrealistic expectations of a vehicle's value when they have recently sunk money into it (i.e. the £450 you mention in terms of MOTs). This will not be reflected in the value of the car - the car is only worth what other people are willing to pay.

I don't have a Glass's guide to hand but can check it next week to see what it says on the value.

raskazz

Joe_Horner wrote: »

The OP is entitled to be put back in the same position that he was before the accident - that's going to cost him between about £400 and £1k.

Not if a running vehicle of the same make and model/mileage/condition can be found for anything less than £400 it won't!

Joe_Horner wrote: »

So no, they can't write it off and pay nothing

They can - see above!

give_them_FA

I had this problem once. The simple answer is to take it back to the guy who caused the accident. You are not obligated to deal with the insurance broker/company at all; their purpose is to indemnify their driver. If they are not doing that, write to the guy telling him you hold him responsible for the damage to your car, and that you require him to pay you £600 as being its value. And in default of payment you will issue a claim against him in the Small Claims Court for the losses due to his negligence.

He will then do the job of getting his insurers to pay. If nothing happens, go ahead and issue the claim. I did that and the insurance company paid it in full inside 7 days.

mikey72

raskazz wrote: »

If (and that is an if) the vehicle was only worth scrap before, and you have kept the salvage, then there's nothing for the other party to pay in terms of the damage. If the vehicle was worth, say £150 on the open market and is worth £150 scrap then you have not suffered a loss in terms of the pure damage claim.

Remember that often people have unrealistic expectations of a vehicle's value when they have recently sunk money into it (i.e. the £450 you mention in terms of MOTs). This will not be reflected in the value of the car - the car is only worth what other people are willing to pay.

I don't have a Glass's guide to hand but can check it next week to see what it says on the value.

In that case, the third party should offer the scrap value.
If they then decide to sell it back to the op for that price, and the op accepts, fair enough.
If the op doesn't, the third party has to dispose of it.

In reality, any car with a valid mot is worth more than the scrap value though.