Should I put a right-off through the insurance?

btirvine

Hi guys,

Encountered a bit of an issue with car insurance at the moment and seeking the advice of you guys on here would be a good bet.

Here's the full scenario; my girlfriend's car (2007 Citroen C3) was damaged in a hit and run. It looked superficial to begin with some damage to the wheel arch and a dent in the driver's side column plus a smashed windscreen. Our reckoning is it was hit by flatbed truck and either corner or something hanging of the back like a scaffold pole has ridden up and caused the damage to the windscreen (it was like a large bullet hole in the very corner) plus the rest on the wheel arch. The car was parked in the street and has been reported to the police but so far we've heard nothing back and probably never will.

Fair enough, we got the windscreen fixed and the car drove fine but couldn't pay for the damage as it was close to Christmas and didn't want to go through the insurance putting the premium up etc. She's just completed one years no claims and doesn't want it going up.

Fast forward to last Friday and the backbox of the exhaust fell off. The car was driving fine the whole way home until a few days later when trying to take it to the exhaust guys there was a lot of grinding and scrapping. There was nothing hanging down to cause this that I could see. The car had to be driven at about 10mph to the exhaust place were they got it up on the lift and said the exhaust was the least of the worries.

The impact of the hit and run has pulled the cv joint out of whack on the drivers side and a spring from the brake cable as fallen down on the passenger side and it rubbing against the inside of the tyre. The guys there who weren't planning on fixing it as they were exhausts specialists reckon it will be hundreds and hundreds to fix, the car is dangerous and would be a right-off if it went through the insurance.

So that's just the start, we got a old car off my dad (2003 Hyundai Getz) rang up the insurance company (Tesco) and said the old car was now issued with a SORN and they've just the monthly price up from £80 per month to £110. So that's where were at at the moment.

Some people are suggesting that we should put it through the insurance as that's why you pay insurance, plus the fact they're asking for an extra 30 quid for an older beat-up car. The policy as only been opened shortly before the accident. I personally don't see the point as it's going to drive the premium up, she'll still have to pay the extra money per month and will also lose one years no claims which as just been earned.

The car was insured for like £2000 but the insurance company won't pay that out as far as I know just in cash to get a new car. Am I right here in just paying the monthly extra and cutting the losses or am I going about this the totally wrong way?

Cheers

Brian

Quentin

Find out the true settlement value, work out how much net of any excesses you will get.


Then do dummy quotes online with and without the claim in your history as a fault claim (adjust the NCD as well) to see what difference it makes to the premiums then make your decision

csgohan4

Read the T+c's, she may have to report all accidents, whether fault or not and regardless of claiming or not.

Quentin

csgohan4 wrote: »

Read the T+c's, she may have to report all accidents, whether fault or not and regardless of claiming or not.

You normally do, however if you don't intend claiming why would you want to volunteer info like this that will have to be disclosed for years and will impact on your premium?

btirvine

Thanks. So to find out the settlement value should I ring and ask then? The real problem is that she's still left with no car. Claiming to get it fixed will be it being possibly assessed as a right-off therefore no-one will buy it in the future. I'm sorry if this is incredibly naive, but I've never been in this position before, if the car is a right-off, how do the insurance company get you a new car? Do you find one and then charge it to them or what's the story?

Quentin

If the car is a write off then that means it's not economic to do repairs (the total cost would be more than the car was worth just before the incident) The insurer will take the car. (Unless you want to keep it, when most insurers will let you buy it off them for its salvage value)


The settlement will be based on the market value of the car immediately before the hit and run.


Once agreed they send you a cheque (less your excesses).


What you do with the money is up to you.


One company I know of (direct line) do get you a replacement vehicle if you want them to - are you insured with them?

btirvine

Thanks Quentin. Alright I understand. So the impact on the monthly payments then; would increase by a percentage following that then or would that not kick in until after the renewal? The car is insured with Tesco.

Quentin

Assuming the incident happened after renewal, then any impact on your premium due to the claim will be at renewal


(If the incident happened prior to renewal and Tesco don't know about it then you may want to think again!)

btirvine

Yeah it was after the renewal, I'm pretty sure of that. I'm also a bit concerned should we try to put it through the insurance will they then not say why was it not reported to them before when it happened? We'd though the damage was just superficial at the time.

Nasqueron

While not identical to yours, I had an incident with my old car which resulted it in being beyond economical repair (it was drivable but needed work on various bits to make it legal and safe) so I reported it to my insurer and advised I was not making a claim to cover my back (don't want a cancellation on my record) and arranged a replacement and moved the insurance over. I don't imagine they would have ever found out if I had just changed my car as the incident didn't involve anyone else and there were no injuries but reporting it hasn't made any real difference to my premiums

btirvine

Thanks Nasqueron. We're in a situation now were a friend has offered £400 to take the car and try and repair it. Should they make a profit, they then split the difference. My partner is happy with this scenario as it give her a chance to get a runaround for the time being. The problem now is what to do with the insurance; we have already called insurance company and said the original car is SORN but didn't say it was involved in an accident. They know nothing about it. We have in the mean time got another car (a friend's old one) on the insurance to insure it for the MOT which it as now failed. Needs a track rod end and brake pipes the entire way round. Now I'd be happy to get that fixed with a friend but due to the time it will take and the time to book a retest I'll be near the end of the month, plus now we have a decent offer for the original car.

The issue now is what to do about in insurance; the car insured now isn't on the road having failed the mot and also therefore has no tax. Should we totally cancel the policy or hold fire until another new car is found and bought (with valid mot and tax) and then change over. Nasquerson's post was the first I've heard about a cancellation affecting premiums or being recorded.