Low cost body repair for a car declarerd as a total loss?

Stanley_St

I scrunched my car last week, and the insurance company has moved quickly to declare it a total loss and have issued a cheque for several thousand pounds. The sum given is only a few hundred pounds less than the quote they received for repairing with brand new panels.

It crosses my mind that I could arrange the car to be taken to a bodyshop that is able to repair with salvaged panels, and get it repaired for less than the money received from the insurance company. Any advice on this course appreciated.

Quentin

Once the repair cost gets to around 60% of the value they write off (saves on all the other costs associated with a claim)

If they will sell you the salvage you can get it repaired yourself.

Stanley_St

Quentin wrote: »

Once the repair cost gets to around 60% of the value they write off (saves on all the other costs associated with a claim)

If they will sell you the salvage you can get it repaired yourself.

Thanks. The car is at present with a body repair garage (linked with the car manufacturer) that will only work with new panels.

I expect that I should be able to get the car away from there and to another garage that is less restricted in the parts it uses. The cheque on its way to me doesnt include the salvage fee, so I suppose the car is still mine to do with what I want.

ilikewatch

Stanley_St wrote: »

I scrunched my car last week, and the insurance company has moved quickly to declare it a total loss and have issued a cheque for several thousand pounds. The sum given is only a few hundred pounds less than the quote they received for repairing with brand new panels.

It crosses my mind that I could arrange the car to be taken to a bodyshop that is able to repair with salvaged panels, and get it repaired for less than the money received from the insurance company. Any advice on this course appreciated.

Which panels are damaged? If they're bolt-on panels and there's no damage to the rest of the cars structure then you might be able to get panels the same paint code from a breakers and get the job done for peanuts.

I managed to replace 2 doors and the front wing on my car with perfectly matched replacements for £80 and 3 hours labour :-)

colino

The insurance companies make back a lot of money nowadays from salvage auctions, have you been given a figure to buy-back yours? Unless you are doing the work yourself, labour soon knocks off the saving in repairing salvage and you will still potentially have it listed as a write-off.

Quentin

Stanley_St wrote: »

The cheque on its way to me doesnt include the salvage fee, so I suppose the car is still mine to do with what I want.

If you can keep the car they usually would deduct the salvage valuation from the write off figure agreed.

Is this cheque from your insurer or the third party insurer?

Your own insurer will usually have it that the car becomes theirs after a write off.

Stanley_St

ilikewatch wrote: »

Which panels are damaged? If they're bolt-on panels and there's no damage to the rest of the cars structure then you might be able to get panels the same paint code from a breakers and get the job done for peanuts.

I managed to replace 2 doors and the front wing on my car with perfectly matched replacements for £80 and 3 hours labour :-)

I am a bit out of the loop on things as the discussion has been between the engineer and the insurance company so far. The front bumper and radiator grill were smashed in, the radiator is leaking and may need replacing and the bonnet is dented in at the front. I think that the repair bill also includes replacing both front wings (though one is not too badly affected). I suppose it is a case of finding someone willing to take this on.

Stanley_St

colino wrote: »

The insurance companies make back a lot of money nowadays from salvage auctions, have you been given a figure to buy-back yours? Unless you are doing the work yourself, labour soon knocks off the saving in repairing salvage and you will still potentially have it listed as a write-off.

A few hundred pound for salvage value, but that has not been sent to me yet.

Yes, it is a concern, that I end up paying a lot for labour and the re-sale value is reduced by the car being listed as a write-off.

Stanley_St

Quentin wrote: »

If you can keep the car they usually would deduct the salvage valuation from the write off figure agreed.

Is this cheque from your insurer or the third party insurer?

Your own insurer will usually have it that the car becomes theirs after a write off.

Things are being handled by an accident management company who have simply told me that the insurance company has raised the cheque for the write off fee, less the salvage value. I thought I would have the chance to agree to it being a total loss, but suddenly everything is happening fast without input from me.

As a no-fault claim, I would expect that it is the third party insurer that has raised the cheque.

Mankysteve

Depends if you plan on keeping the car till you kill it. And how much damage there is underneath my guess if you need two new wings its going to need a new crash bar as well. Plus maybe some damage to the chassis.

Stanley_St

Mankysteve wrote: »

Depends if you plan on keeping the car till you kill it. And how much damage there is underneath my guess if you need two new wings its going to need a new crash bar as well. Plus maybe some damage to the chassis.

Useful to know about crash bars - though my googling keeps bringing up parts of motorcycles rather than cars.

I have just phoned a local car body repairer who tells me he could arrange to pick it up from the garage where it is at the monent and assess it. He says if I dont go ahead with the repairs he could buy it off me and give more than the insurers will for salvage.

All a new world this for me.