Dealer Crashed my car into a wall head on

harveybobbles

I'd ask for thier insurance details scare them a little.

I wouldnt be paying any money for another car, unless I actually wanted a new car.

Options I'd be looking at are:

You could ask them to give you a cash settlement for the value of your car pre accident (ignoring the gearbox fault for now). Have a look on AutoTrader at what similar cars are going for. Let them do what they want with the car. makinhg sure you value any VEd thats left on it and any fuel in the tank.

Get them to write down on headed paper what the car is worth in CAP/Glasses and what they would vbalue it at if they were buying it/taking it in PX.

Get them to repair the car back to how it was pre accident, on the basis that you will have a full AA/RAC inspection done on the car and be reimbursted for this. You will then decide if you want the car back or not.

McKneff

When you inform your own insurance, ask them if it will impact on your insurance premiums. Some do and some don't

Ive had 2 non fault claims n the past couple of years and it didn't make any difference to mine. I had an extra £34 to pay when changing ins. mid settlement but I was refunded this as soon as it was settled.

TradePro

harveybobbles wrote: »

makinhg sure you value any VEd thats left on it and any fuel in the tank

Yeah, that's it, be totally rational to ensure they look after you well

lil.smartie

Your insurance co aren't involved! You were not driving nor was anyone driving it on your policy! It was insured on the garage policy as it was in their care and so was the driver.

I'd expect to pay the difference between your car as delivered to the garage (ie retail - £1200 the bill you expected) and the price of the replacement - some (plenty!) goodwill.

You will probably find you have legal cover that although it's paid for with your insurance (home or motor) it's actually a different co as can be used against the insurance co!!

Kate

dacouch

Paperbird wrote: »

They might go for it depending on how much they paid for the one they have for sale at £5000, probably £3000 to £3500.
While it might not be economical for an insurance company to repair your car the dealer won't be involving their insurance and will foot the bill themselves.
If you insist on them repairing your car it could cost them more than the £2500 to £3000 if they let you have the car for £500.

You cannot insist the garage repair the car if it's cheaper to pay out for an equivalent car taking into account the reduced value to to the repair work needed prior to the accident

Lum

I'm going to go against the advice here, do not inform your insurance company unless you intend to have them handle the claim for you. The garage is actually doing you (and themselves) a favour by asking you to keep quiet. Also you have not had an accident or a claim. Any claim will be on the garage's insurance.

If, and only if, you are happy to deal direct with the garage wrt repairing or replacing your vehicle, all that informing your insurance will do is cause you to have to declare the accident for the next five years, giving them an excuse to increase your premiums for those five years. The insurance computer systems aren't clever enough to work out that it was a dealer that did this, all they will see is "This idiot drove their car headfirst into a wall = big risk!"

It would be useful to know what car this is and what they are proposing to replace it with. It is a myth that bigger engine size = higher insurance and sometimes the bigger engine size is actually more fuel efficient depending on the type of use.

You should actually run some comparison-site quotes for the two cars (don't use your actual details, use those of Jane Doe who lives next door) and make your decision based on that.

Hodi

Thank you to everyone who have responded this has given me real food for thought i will feedback on tuesday when i would have more information.

Thanks again
Hodi

KTF

Lum wrote: »

I'm going to go against the advice here, do not inform your insurance company unless you intend to have them handle the claim for you. The garage is actually doing you (and themselves) a favour by asking you to keep quiet. Also you have not had an accident or a claim. Any claim will be on the garage's insurance.

If, and only if, you are happy to deal direct with the garage wrt repairing or replacing your vehicle, all that informing your insurance will do is cause you to have to declare the accident for the next five years, giving them an excuse to increase your premiums for those five years. The insurance computer systems aren't clever enough to work out that it was a dealer that did this, all they will see is "This idiot drove their car headfirst into a wall = big risk!"

I would also second this. If this was me I would not say a thing to my insurance company as it is nothing to do with the policy I have with them.

The garage (or their insurance) will cover it so you need to decide:

a) If you want your car fixed then pay them a bill for the £1200 repair it would have needed anyway (debatable if this is worth it given the cost of the car).
b) Pay the difference between what it would have been worth prior to the accident and the car you want to replace it with (supplied by the dealer who crashed yours).
c) Ask for the market price of yours prior to the accident, walk away with a cheque and source a replacement car yourself.

dacouch

KTF wrote: »

I would also second this. If this was me I would not say a thing to my insurance company as it is nothing to do with the policy I have with them.

The garage (or their insurance) will cover it so you need to decide:

a) If you want your car fixed then pay them a bill for the £1200 repair it would have needed anyway (debatable if this is worth it given the cost of the car).
b) Pay the difference between what it would have been worth prior to the accident and the car you want to replace it with (supplied by the dealer who crashed yours).
c) Ask for the market price of yours prior to the accident, walk away with a cheque and source a replacement car yourself.

The Insurer is entitled to know if they ask if you've had any losses.

It's feasible the claim would be recorded on the claims database if the garage pass the claim onto their Insurers or even if the garage self Insure

Paperbird

dacouch wrote: »

You cannot insist the garage repair the car if it's cheaper to pay out for an equivalent car taking into account the reduced value to to the repair work needed prior to the accident

What the OP put
"Straight swap with a like for like automatic care OR theyfix the car and I have a curtsey car while I wait."