Car Insurance Claim

Things.Past

My son has been involved in a car accident, Police and Ambulance called. Police report says it was not my sons fault and that he done everything he could to avoid the accident. Although it does have a lot of panel damage, his vehicle looks like it could well be repaired . I am told that insurance company's have a percentage of repair of the value of the vehicle before they will fix or write off.


If the vehicle is suggested it can be fixed by the person whom accesses it, but the insurance decide to write off the vehicle, would he be bound to follow this procedure or could he insist that he wishes to have the vehicle repaired.


I know many years I was put in the same situation, at that time I insisted that the vehicle was repaired by the insurance company and it was.

Quentin

You cannot "force" your insurer to carry out uneconomic repairs.

The assessor usually works on behalf of the insurer so there should be no conflict.

PPPro

Things.Past wrote: »

My son has been involved in a car accident, Police and Ambulance called. Police report says it was not my sons fault and that he done everything he could to avoid the accident. Although it does have a lot of panel damage, his vehicle looks like it could well be repaired . I am told that insurance company's have a percentage of repair of the value of the vehicle before they will fix or write off.


If the vehicle is suggested it can be fixed by the person whom accesses it, but the insurance decide to write off the vehicle, would he be bound to follow this procedure or could he insist that he wishes to have the vehicle repaired.


I know many years I was put in the same situation, at that time I insisted that the vehicle was repaired by the insurance company and it was.

What report was this for?

Did the police officer who wrote the report actually witness the collision?

Aretnap

The police report will have been looking at things from the point of view of criminal responsibility. The fact that he bears no criminal responsibility doesn't automatically mean that he won't end up with any civil (ie insurance) liability - for a start the standards of proof required are different (beyond reasonable doubt vs balance of probabilities).

He cannot insist that an insurer repair his car - it's up to them whether they repair it or pay him the market value. (That said if it's a marginal case and he kicks up enough fuss they might agree to repair it for the sake of a quiet life - but they don't have to) However if they want to write it off but he thinks it's repairable most insurers will let him keep the car and deduct the salvage (ie scrap) value from the write off settlement. He can then carry out the repairs himself rather than apscrapping it if he likes - and if he's willing to use second hand parts, go to a back street garage and/or put up with a few dents he might be able to repair it for less than the value of the cheque he receives. Obviously he should get an idea of the likely repair costs before he decides to go down this route.