car write off?

xdezirx

I recently reversed into someone causing more damage to my car.I rang Insurance Company and decided to go thru them to have it repaired.My worry is will it be deemed a write off? I took my car in for assessment today and will get a phone call in the next couple of days to see if they are going to repair it.Now what I don't get is I've heard Insurance companies can keep your car if they think it will cost too much to repair it rather then offer you a price to buy it back,but how can they snatch your car in the first place? Coz if the body repair place phone and say it's irreparable, then I will not take my car in.How's does it work with write offs? Any advice appreciated

jackr5

My wife had a minor accident a few years back but the insurance company said it was a write off. The damage wasn't very extensive but the car was fairly old and they said it wasn't worth it.

I asked about our options and they said we could try and get quotes from independent garages for the repairs and submit a itemised quotes to them. If they decided the quotes were reasonable and below a certain cost then they would approve them and pay for the work. We managed to find a local garage who could do the work and the insurance company said they would pay.

I'm not sure on the rules, and others will know be able to advise, but I can't see how they can keep your car without paying you or offer for you to buy it back. Until they give you money, you still own the car.

dlm

It depends what you damaged. Just a bumper, then it would be a cat d at worst and could be repaired by yourself. They will leave these with you normally if you ask. It could be a C if you have damaged the quarter, in which case it won't be as simple to retain.

sheramber

If the insurance company decide to write the car off they will offer you price in recompense for it which should be based on the market value of the car.

if you claim on your insurance and want to keep the car they will deduct what they would have got for scrap value from the pay out.

You can request to keep it. When our car was deemed a write off there was a question on the assessment form asking if we wanted to keep it.

Bigphil1474

I had my car written off as a Cat D three years ago - it was only worth £700 before the accident, but the damage wasn't enough to make it unusable (just looked a mess). I kept the car, and they paid me the difference - they knocked off £23 for the value of the car. I ran it for a couple of weeks until I got a replacement, and sold it for scrap for £50. If the damage is cosmetic and you aren't bothered how it looks, then it may be cheaper to do that. In my case it was a non-fault so I don't know if that makes a difference.

xdezirx

Thanks for all your replies the damage is just to the back bumper and a scraping across the door.My partner paid £2,000 for it a couple of years ago it's an 07 plate. Bloke at the garage reckons it will cost over a grand to fix.Surely they can't just deem it a write off on minimal damage?

AdrianC

xdezirx wrote: »

Surely they can't just deem it a write off on minimal damage?

Yep, if the cost to repair is similar or past the value of it, they can and will.

That's exactly what a write-off is.

Doesn't mean the car's dead, though.

There are four basic categories of write-off.
Cat D is where the damage is less than the value, but they've chosen to write it off anyway - perhaps the cost of the hire car while it's being fixed will make it cheaper to just give you a cheque now.
Cat C is where the damage is more than the value.

They can both be bought back from the insurer, and repaired privately - no problem at all. If you don't buy it back, it'll go to auction. Whoever buys it may repair it, or may break it for bits.

Cat B and Cat A are both very, very damaged - and can't be bought back. They'll be crushed, but Cat B can be broken for bits first.

For a 9yo car, worth a grand and a bit, the cost of buying and spraying a bumper, repairing the metal on the door and them spraying it, probably spraying the wing and the other door to get the paint to match - that's borderline C/D. If it needs a door, or there's damage behind the bumper, definitely C.

jackr5

Bloke at which garage? Remember the insurers will go down the 'official repair' route, hence why the repair costs stated by them are high. I'm sure you could get a new rear bumper from a breakers yard and sort out the door for less than a grand.

You'd be surprised at what they'd consider a 'write off'. Many people assume a write off means the car is mangled beyond all recognition, but this is not the case at all.