Advice for Insurance Claim!

sammibo

Hello ladies and gents, I've been reading a lot on here about insurance claims for cars but would like to ask for some tailor made advice.

My partner and I were driving home for a lovely weekend with the family, both having booked the last of our holiday off and going to meet our nephew for the first time. Anyway, just an hour from home we are at a roundabout and get shunted. We have a little hatchback and a lady went into the back of us with an SUV. Our poor car stood no chance. We both mount the curb and swap details, plenty of photos etc etc and head home. Her car isn't even scratched.

Calling the insurance and arranging for it to be picked up for assessment and dropping off the replacement hire car, we realised that my whiplash (an old injury from when I was younger) has been triggered again. I'm going to the GP to get it checked as soon as I can (wednesday) and dose up on ibruprofen till then.

The car is totally drivable, but the boot will not open, the bumper is crumpled, and the reversing light is smashed. Its an 11 year old car with 56,000 miles on the clock, it had work recently done to it to the tune of £500. I'm searching for similar cars to present as evidence to the company for its replacement value.

We think it will be economically written off (CAT C or D). Now...has anyone had any success of arguing for having their car fixed with a stubborn insurance company? This was my boyfriend's very first car, no accidents in 11 years, and he is distraught that his vehicle will be written off when a grand (which is roughly what the car is worth at market value) will fix it. They're paying a fortune for a hire car (roughly £80 a day).

We'd be fine with second hand parts to fix it, from a breaker or whatever. We just want the car back on the road and not out of pocket. We'd just gotten into a position where we could save for a holiday (we haven't been away for nearly 5 years....) but now that's going to be down the toilet.

What solid sources can be quoted to the company's so we don't end up out of pocket? We're really worried that if they write it off they'll underpay us.

Anyone able to offer insight/advice/experience?

Thanks so much.

Iceweasel

You need to do your sums very carefully.

I doubt if anything you say will influence the insurance company's decision.

If the car is written off you can buy it back and then repair it yourself.

phill99

I had the same issue a couple of years ago. They may well offer you to keep the car for its scrap value. This is what I did and had my car fixed with second hand parts. I managed to make a profit on it so was quite happy.

No matter what you think, they will not repair it if the cost of repairs exceeds the cars value. To them it is a basic mathematical sum. To you its an emotional attachment. They will win.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Get a couple of quotes to fix it then ask the third party insurers for a cash in lieu of repair settlement at 75% of the average repair cost, less the vat.

You may end up without a cat C or D marker on your car.

Good luck

tberry6686

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AdrianC

If the boot won't open, then a grand won't fix it. It might just be the bootlid needs replacing, but in the worst case, the rear panel and possibly boot floor will need straightening or replacing, always assuming the inner wings haven't taken some of the energy.

If they write it off as C or D, then you can ask for a reduced payout and keep the car, paying to fix it yourselves, but there's no way the insurers'll be fixing it. Sorry.

Sentimental value in the car is not something that insurance covers.

sammibo

So, a recent development is that the boot will open by the internal mechanism.

I've also heard that a third party can't write off the car, is this true?

Foxy-Stoat_3

sammibo wrote: »

I've also heard that a third party can't write off the car, is this true?

Where did you here that?....actually you are correct...the Third Party (person who hit you) cannot write a car off....the Third Party insurance company's engineer can write your car off.

Have you been and got some quotes for repair?

AdrianC

sammibo wrote: »

So, a recent development is that the boot will open by the internal mechanism.

OK, so you know the metalwork is all roughly in the right place, and the damage is to the external release.

I've also heard that a third party can't write off the car, is this true?

No.
If it was, then you could "insist" that something like this was repaired...

Clearly, that's just unrealistic.

You don't have a contractual relationship with the insurer who's paying out (assuming you claim directly off the third-party, rather than through your own insurer), so there's greater scope for negotiation, but even so - there's still bounds of reasonableness.

Aretnap

sammibo wrote: »

I've also heard that a third party can't write off the car, is this true?

No, it's an urban myth which annoyingly refuses to die. The third party's obligation is to put you back in the same financial position as you were in before the accident. They can do that either by paying for your repairs (along with reasonable out of pocket expenses, like a hire car while yours is undriveable), or by paying you enough money to buy a car of the same type, age and mechanical condition. Obviously they'll do whichever is cheaper for them. You can't force them to spend (say) £2000 repairing a car which is only worth £1000.

For some help on how the market value should be assessed see the Financial Ombudsman's view here, though note that it's only actually binding if you make the claim through your own insurance policy - you can't complain to the ombudsman about a third party's insurer as you're not a customer of theirs.