First car accident advice pls

wilroda

I had my first car accident the other week after 30 yrs driving and need some advice please.

I was in a queue of traffic and was hit from behind, the damage to my old car is not severe but needs fixing. The other drivers insurance company has admitted liability and an assesor is coming to examine the car on Thursday.

I am concerned that they may say that the car is a write off as it may be uneconomical to repair because of the age of the car - 16yrs.

What is the procedure here and what happens next?

Can i dispute the assesment and keep the vehicle somehow ?

I am confused by all this!

Quentin

Yes you can keep your car - usually when dealing with the third party insurer they are happy to let you keep the car if you want to, and make a small deduction from the write off value for the salvaage value.

But you cannot "force" them to repair the car if it is uneconomic to do so.

BertTheRaccoon

Usual rule of thumb is that if the repair costs exceed 60% of the pre-accident value of the car, they will want to write it off for fear of discovering further damage if they authorised the repairs and the repairs start, only to find more damage.

If the damage is relatively minor, it will probably be a cat C or D write off, meaning the car can still be used on the road, subject to a vehicle identity check if it is a cat C and more than likely a new MOT being done to satisfy your own insurer the car is not dangerous.

The insurer of the other party will have no interest in your vehicle and will more than likely let you retain the salvage, but will offset the salvage value from the payment they send you.

Example, the car is deemed worth £1000 pre-accident. It is now valued at £100 salvage. So you'd keep the car and get £900 from them.

Again, rule of thumb on stuff worth less than £3k is salvage value is usually 10% of pre-accident value.

wilroda

Thanks so much for the advice, i feel alot happier now.

One more ( probably daft) question

Will my insurance premiums etc be affected in any way by the accident?

Quentin

Probably.

Any claim/incident on your history normally attracts a premium loading.

Shop around at renewal time.

maninthestreet

wilroda wrote: »

Thanks so much for the advice, i feel alot happier now.

One more ( probably daft) question

Will my insurance premiums etc be affected in any way by the accident?

Who is your insurer?