Non fault claim retention fee

OnanTheBarbarian

Phone a local salvage yard and ask them for a ball park figure on what they will offer you. if it is say £150, get the name of the person you spoke with and then pass this info onto the insurers you are claiming against as it will demonstrate that their salvage valuation is not realistic, but at the end of the day, if the insurers have a salvage offer of £243.00 they have such a salvage offer and the bottom line is that it assists them in minimising their financial exposure from a third party claim, so they will stick to their guns more than likely

OnanTheBarbarian

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Well insist they repair it then. Your insurance company can write it off because you have agreed to that in a contract. You don't have a contract with a TP insurer.

You can't insist a third party insurer repairs a car that is not economic to repair mate.

The other options here (subject to what the cost of repairs is relative to the pre-accident value) are:

1- A cash in-lieu settlement - basically the estimated cost of repairs, less VAT. - You trouser the money and keep the car, it is not declared a total loss and you either repair it or keep driving it with the damage etc.

2- A contract repair, this is where you find a garage to do the work for a guaranteed price, no matter what horrors arise when they strip the car and find more damage etc, they will stick to the one price. This only works if the contract repair price is less than the vehicle pre-accident value. It pay work to your advantage on getting a contract repair figure if second hand panels can be used etc to keep the parts prices down, better still same colour panels like doors etc may even save the need for as much paintwork

Just some ideas really

InsideInsurance

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Well insist they repair it then. Your insurance company can write it off because you have agreed to that in a contract. You don't have a contract with a TP insurer.

Unfortunately you cant insist anything.

The third party insurers must indemnify you, ie put you back in the same financial position as you were immediately prior to the accident. By giving to the value of the vehicle prior to the accident and taking the salvage away (aka t/lossing the vehicle) then the will have indemnified you and met their legal requirements.

You cannot insist on the vehicle being repaired when this costs more than the vehicle is worth.

battyboimatt

Could I get a couple of quotes from other places and if lower than what they have offered me ask if they will accept and pay them and repair the car ?

OnanTheBarbarian

battyboimatt wrote: »

Could I get a couple of quotes from other places and if lower than what they have offered me ask if they will accept and pay them and repair the car ?

Certainly can't do any harm, although the insurers may also still want to constructive total loss it in the event that repairs suddenly become economically viable, but you'll need a hire car for a week whilst your car is repaired.

InsideInsurance

battyboimatt wrote: »

Could I get a couple of quotes from other places and if lower than what they have offered me ask if they will accept and pay them and repair the car ?

Yes but its not as simple as if the repairs are below £1,232 then they will repair it because of the risk of them finding additional damage as they strip it back

And yes it is £1,232 because that is what their net outlay will be once they get the salvage value back.

Nodding_Donkey

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Unfortunately you cant insist anything.

The third party insurers must indemnify you, ie put you back in the same financial position as you were immediately prior to the accident. By giving to the value of the vehicle prior to the accident and taking the salvage away (aka t/lossing the vehicle) then the will have indemnified you and met their legal requirements.

You cannot insist on the vehicle being repaired when this costs more than the vehicle is worth.

Strange that because I've seen vehicles re-shelled, at a cost much greater than the Parkers value, because the owner insisted they wanted it back. There may be a contribution for betterment but that is negotiable.

vaio

battyboimatt wrote: »

Thanks Vaio, well they say it's unecenmoical to repair hence the offer, i.e the labour and parts will be more than what they are going to offer me/ Bascially its two side doors and trims then the time and labout to install swap insides out and paint. So they have decalred it a cat c write off. So I can give them the car and they will give me 1475 or if I wish I can keep it but pay them the retention fee to keep my own car which is still drivable just so annoying especially as it wasnt my fault, how come all the inconvinaince to the non fault driver.

if it truly is only door damage then a scrap yard door probably wouldn't cost more than £100 each and maybe £200 (or DIY) to fit the pair.

Look around and you'll find some the right colour so no paint costs, with the £1200 from the insurer gives you £800 profit.

Don't forget (as long as it is still roadworthy) you can carry on using it until you find the right doors or even just bash out the worse of the damage and use it till it dies.

vaio

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

Strange that because I've seen vehicles re-shelled, at a cost much greater than the Parkers value, because the owner insisted they wanted it back. There may be a contribution for betterment but that is negotiable.

Nah, as Onan says there is no way an insurer/judge is going to order a £10k re-shell on a run of the mill £8k car where a replacement is easily available.

It might be a different story on a on a very rare/unique car where replacements aren't available but this is never going to apply to a Renault Megane