claiming on a 3rd party car insurance

Whitebird

Hi, I need to claim on a 3rd party car insurance who admitted his fault.
The problem is I don't know what's the best way to do it. My car is over 10 years, over 90000 miles, was hit from behind, so the rear door is bent. I went to the garage that estimated the price of the repairs to be twice the value of the car.

I understand, that I can either claim trough my insurance company, which I understood is not a good idea; or I can give my car to the 3rd party insurance company and they will do the repairs or I get an estimate of the repairs to be approved by them.

What is the best way to do? Give the the car or ask for an estimate approval?

What happens if they don't approve and an engineer comes to check the car and says it has to be written off, because the repairs are too expensive?

I don't want to write off the car. What's the best way to deal with this claim? Maybe I should claim through my company and let them have all the hassle.
Thank you for your help.

Quentin

The car will be written off by whichever insurer you go to (assuming the estimate you have is correct).

Go to the third party insurer and see if they have an innocent third party claims dept and if so see if they will deal with the claim.

If not, consider using a claims handler.

The third party insurer will let you keep your car (a small deduction from the write off value) if you still want to repair it yourself.

Whitebird

Thank you for your reply, but where do I get the claims handler from? Do I have to pay them? How much they might cost?

And in case the car will be written off, what happens to Task Disk, MOT and Insurance I just renewed a couple of months ago? Can I get some money back at least on some of them?

Sorry, I have never done this before.

Quentin

You can google to find them, or speak to your local bodyshop for a recommendation. They shouldn't charge you!

As long as you go via the third party insurer, then they will let you keep your car (if you don't want it, you can then sell it for scrap/ebay it for spares/repair etc).

You keep your tax disc and apply for a refund.

The MOT is non refundable.

As long as you don't claim off your own insurer (and assuming no claim will come from any third party), then you can cancel your insurance (if you don't want to put a replacement car on it). Check your policy wording for how they deal with any refund for cancelling.

Whitebird

Thank you for your reply.
But is it actually a good idea to get your car written off? May be I can get a cheaper estimate by, let's say telling the garage to calculate the cost of just the most necessary things, without changing the rear door? Is there any advantage in that?
And in case the car is written off and I keep it, will the insurance premium increase because it's a written off car?

Quentin

The final verdict will lie with the insurer, but from the estimate you have been given it looks more than likely repairs will be uneconomic, so maybe start now looking for a replacement in anticipation you will be needing one!

If the damage is cosmetic and you do decide to repair it yourself, then the insurance premium shouldn't be affected by the car being ex-write off.

(You will need to inform your insurers (and future insurers) about the incident (for information only, assuming you are not making any claim off your own policy), and having this on your record may well result in a premium loading at renewal.

Whitebird

Thank you,
may I just also ask the following:

All this claiming and writing off seems a lot of hassle. Can I withdraw my claim, do the minimum repairs to the car myself, out of my pocket (its rear door will be left dented in this case) and continue to drive it without having to go trough all this? Or I will have to do a MOT after this? Or my MOT will be affected in some other way?
I have spent already a round sum just calling them, getting the estimates done in my work time, etc and it seems that I will have to spend even more until it's all settled.

Quentin

Yes you can cancel your claim.

You will still have to report the incident to your own insurer though.

Won't impact your mot.

McKneff

Whitebird wrote: »

Thank you,
may I just also ask the following:

All this claiming and writing off seems a lot of hassle. Can I withdraw my claim, do the minimum repairs to the car myself, out of my pocket (its rear door will be left dented in this case) and continue to drive it without having to go trough all this? Or I will have to do a MOT after this? Or my MOT will be affected in some other way?
I have spent already a round sum just calling them, getting the estimates done in my work time, etc and it seems that I will have to spend even more until it's all settled.

Why is it such a hassle.

This is the way it should be.

Third party insurnce instructs you to take your car for an estimate.

Same company tells you to either take it for repair or they will offer you a settlement figure. Ask for any costs that you have made to be added. Ask to buy the car back.

Consider the offer, wait for the cheque.
Simple as that.

Whitebird

McKneff wrote: »

Why is it such a hassle.

This is the way it should be.

Third party insurnce instructs you to take your car for an estimate.

Same company tells you to either take it for repair or they will offer you a settlement figure. Ask for any costs that you have made to be added. Ask to buy the car back.

Consider the offer, wait for the cheque.
Simple as that.

Thanks for your answer.

Well, they haven't told me to get an estimate, this is the way I thought would be the best, as I feel uneasy about giving them my car - when will I see it back, if at all?

And it is hassle - I will be without the car for a week if they approve the estimate and longer if they don't - who compensates for that trouble? Not to mention other things.

Anyway, even if I buy my car back when it's written off, repair it myself, I understand that I have to pay an independent engineer to inspect it and get a new MOT in order to get it insured again. Or am I wrong? Will it be worth it?

Quentin

Yes, if your car is written off then depending on the category of write off it may need an inspection (VIC). (Cat c or above).

The current MOT remains valid.

Though you wouldn't have to do this if you decide to cancel prior to the insurer declaring it a write off.

Assuming it is declared a write off, and you decide to repair it yourself, then you won't be able to claim any compensation/costs for car hire whilst getting the car repaired.

However if the third party insurer approves the quote for repairs, then they will pay all your extra costs too (eg car hire). (Though this is another reason it is likely to be written off)

If you have now put in the estimate, they may send an engineer to inspect it, and could then write it off after inspecting it.