Cat C write off

Windofchange

Hi all,

First time I am going through this. I was recently knocked off my motorbike, and the liability is still ongoing. I am pretty confident that it will come back in my favour, but we don't know yet - all caught on helmet camera, and my insurers are pretty confident that he will be 100% to blame.

Anyway.

I heard from my insurers today that my bike is a Cat C loss as the cost of repairing it is too high. They have offered me a settlement figure that I am pretty happy with actually, but a few things that I am not sure of:

1) They have said that I am to get a cheque for xxx amount, but that I will also have my bike returned to me as salvage and they are deducting 300 or so pounds from my payout to account for this. I have no intention of repairing it and getting it back on the road as I have no idea what the damage is likely to cost. Is there a way that I can say no I don't want to have the salvage I want the full amount, or am I forced to have the bike back and then have the hassle of selling it for scrap myself?

2) By accepting the cheque, am I then closing the case as full settlement? I sustained some pretty bad injuries that are being pursued in a separate personal injury case and don't want to sign and seal anything.

3) Assuming that it is proven to be 100% the third parties fault, what happens to my no claims bonus? I have a few years on the motorbike, but more worryingly, I have built up 20 or so years on the car. I have read some horror stories of people losing their no claims bonus when they have been completely faultless - i.e. rear ended at a set of lights etc. Even if my motorbike no claims was now scuppered, can they also touch my car insurance when it comes to renewal? I don't use the car for commuting at all, just the bike, so it's not as if it is the same risk etc.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks.

Rolandtheroadie

1. I had a Hayabusa that ended up a cat c. I knocked them back for salvage (think it was around £600) and it was on ebay a couple of weeks later at £1800, make an offer. Disappeared from ebay within days. So check first whether cat C on ebay are doing more than the salvage costs.
2. The cheques from your own insurer for your bike and I cant see how it can affect your injuries claim.
3. If it's 100% the other partys fault, it wont affect your NCB. Your insurance costs may go up though, as you're now more likely to be involved in a fault claim.

Aretnap

(1) check what your policy says about how a total loss is handled. With car policies the default position is usually that you are paid the full value of the car and the salvage becomes the property of the insurer - if you want to keep the salvage you normally have to ask. So I'm a little surprised that your insurer is deducting the scrap value by default, though motorbike insurance may work differently.

(2) Your own insurer is just paying for the damage to your bike under the terms of your policy. Your claim for personal injury is against the other guy's insurer and is completely separate.

(3) normally your NCB will be reduced temporarily as a result of the claim, but will be restored if/when your insurer recovers it's costs from the other guy's insurer. This can cause complications if the claim is still unresolved at renewal time - if you decide to change insurer first check that the new insurer will refund any resulting difference in premium once the claim is resolves.

The NCB on your car insurance is separate and will not be affected. You will have to declare the accident when applying for both car and motorbike insurance ("have you had any accidents or claims in the last X years?") and it may have a smal impact on the premium, but not on the NCB.