what happens when your car is a write-off?

saintjanet

MORPH3US wrote:

Joey, don't just say "i'll go TPFT next time"...

Read what MarkyMarkD said above...

Comprehensive is usually not much more than TPFT... In my case it was £5 difference which is a no brainer....

M

Fair eough in your case but not in others as stated in my other post,much depends on age, ncb,type of car and the company you are dealing with.

One of my points was that my sis-in-l paid £300 FULLY COMP then realised this was crazy and got TPFT with another co. for £120,This was a much better saving than your fiver would have been ,cant think why they would have given you a quote like that,the extra benefits of Fc. are worth so much more.

On a newish car i would not consider anything other than fully comp.I pay £250 on a group 14 car worth 12k.I am of course getting on a bit!!

joey_2

Hi again, another question for you all!

My insurance is due to be renewed in April, can I switch to another insurance company whilst this claim is going on (through third-party). ?

no_debts_no_more

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

saintjanet and no_debts might find it interesting that TPFT insurance is barely any cheaper, for good risk drivers, than comprehensive. So it can be worthwhile having comprehensive insurance even on a car worth very little.

It depends upon individual circumstances. FC was £120 more than TPFT, and I figured that wasn't worth it on a £500 car. For my additional £120, I might get £250 back. I paid less for TPFT than I did for a years tax.

My wife insured her almost equally rubbish car FC for the reasons above.

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

Comprehensive cover also gives you windscreen cover which can be worth a lot.

True, and could save you a few quid, when windscreen excess for a replacement is normallt £50 and doesn't affect NCD. All insurance is a gamble between yourself and the insco.

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

I'm not sure why no_debts brings the excess into the debate - if the car's worth £600, with a £250 excess (say), and the insurers offer £600 less the excess = £350 but let the customer buy it back for £50, THEN the customer ends up with £300 plus the car. That's worth having, if its driveable, irrespective of the fact that £300 plus the excess is nearly the original £600 value.

It all depends upon the values in the figures. Worst case scenario is you could end up with no money in your hand and a damaged car. You assume the damaged car only has current scrap value of ~£50, which is what the insco would let you buy it back for. If you involve the ins.co. then you stand to lose NCD which could prove more expensive in the long run.

The excess was introduced to discourage low-value claims being made. When the total loss of the vehicle is a low-value claim, then it makes little sense to insure something where the maximum you might get back is little more than any additional premium.

veloo

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

You can't really get rid of the car until the claim's sorted, or at least until the third party's engineers have inspected it.

Thanks! Is there any reasonable time limits to which I should be holding on to a dead car. Also, it is depreciating sitting there, and probably losing its value sitting idle in the rain/sun, and not being used/driven. When they finally (possibly in a few years?) get around to visiting for an inspection, the car might look like a rubbish heap. It is already starting to look like it. What am I expected to do? Or how/what should I be doing to this car?

ioscorpio

Why has it taken so long for the engineer to inspect it? The market valuation will be as at the time of the incident. The ins co will pay out the market value unless they are paying out their own policy holder and the sum issued is less. Depending on the total loss category, the ins co will give you the option of paying you out for the veh or letting you keep the veh and deducting the value they would get from the salvage co, you will only have your excess deducted if it is a fault claim, if it's non fault then you won't.

stars_bright

Could I jus point out that jeoy won't have to pay the excess on his policy if it was the other drivers fault. That only has to be paid if it is your fault.

StockportGerbil

Hi!
My Mrs's car was written off last year.

Her insurance company and the third partys insurance company both insisted on sending engineers to look at it - that took six or seven weeks, during which she was driving round in a hire car, provided as part of the legal cover I think (my Mrs had third party, fire and theft cover with the additional legal cover.)

The car was worth £900 at most if I'm honest, we had the hire car for something over 2 months and eventually a cheque for £800 turned up. The third party insurance co valued the scrap value of the car at £50, so they left us with the car and knocked off the value from the settlement.

You may be lucky and it works out the same for you.

I hope that helps

Kevin