Help! my car got driven into whilst parked, what do i do?

tonyo124

Hi guys,
My car got driven into by another driver whilst parked outside my house, she claimed full responsability and assured me that my car would be fixed.
The problem is that i took it to a garage and he said that it would almost certainly be written off (it's a 2002 Peugeot 307). She had damaged the rear left side of the bumper and scratched some paint off the side. Other than that it is driving fine! I find this very frustrating because i have only recently passed my test and have put a lot of money into my car, they will almost certainly give me less than what i put into it and it annoys me because i haven't got a lot of money.. can i refuse to have it written off if it is road legal? could i ask the person who drove into me to pay for the repairs instead?
I'm just worried if it becomes a category D or C then my insurance will go up!
Thanks in advance,
TOny

DUTR

What do you mean what you put into, like go faster stripes, big exhaust, led lights and tinted windows?

da_rule

If the other driver has offered to pay without contacting the insurance then get a quote for the works to repair it (might also be worth putting it through an MOT after). It is then up to her to decide whether to pay it or tell you to claim through her insurance.

From my understanding a car being 'written off' doesn't necessarily mean the damage makes the seriously unsafe, but that it isn't financially viable to repair it (would cost more than the vehicle is worth). See the table below for the categories of write off.

A - Can’t be repaired - Entire vehicle has to be crushed
B - Can’t be repaired - Body shell has to be crushed, but you can salvage other parts from it
C - Can be repaired, but it would cost more than the vehicle’s worth - You can use the vehicle again if it’s repaired to a roadworthy condition
D - Can be repaired and would cost less than the vehicle’s worth, but other costs (eg transporting your vehicle) take it over the vehicle’s value - You can use the vehicle again if it’s repaired to a roadworthy condition

As you say, yours would probably be a C or D. If a car is written off and you try to insure it then the insurance company will probably charge you more.

force_ten

when you say you have put a lot of money into the car wat have you done to it ?

also if this goes through the insurance company even though you were not in the car your insurance could increase when you declare a not at fault accident to your insurer

tripled

I had someone hit an old car of mine recently when it was parked. It dented the bumper, broke a rear light, scraped the paint and slightly bent a panel in one corner.

I claimed directly off their insurers. They paid out the full (and generous) valuation of the car less a small amount for scrap and it was recorded as a cat D. I replaced the light myself for about 15 quid and carried on driving it.

The difference to my premium at renewal was negligible.

tonyo124

No, just a new windscreen, new filters and mot etc..

force_ten

tonyo124 wrote: »

No, just a new windscreen, new filters and mot etc..

i would try and work with the third party insurance company rather than involve my insurance, contact the person that hit your car and ask them what they are looking to do

if they are putting through their insurance then get the details and contact them direct

you may be able to do what was suggested above if they are writing it off and buy back the salvage do the bare minimum repairs and keep the car on the road

DUTR

force_ten wrote: »

i would try and work with the third party insurance company rather than involve my insurance, contact the person that hit your car and ask them what they are looking to do

if they are putting through their insurance then get the details and contact them direct

you may be able to do what was suggested above if they are writing it off and buy back the salvage do the bare minimum repairs and keep the car on the road

I wouldn't many underwriters are the same put the 3rd party back in a position prior to the incident, and at the most cost effective way.
A car of that age and type don't go for much and depending on the damage, could easily be financially written off.

Aretnap

Inevitably a 15 year old Peugot is not going to have a high value, and even minor damage will be enough to make it uneconomical to repair.

You cannot force the third party, or her insurers, to spend more on repairs than it would cost to buy an equivalent car. You can, however, ask them to deduct the scrap value of the car from the settlement and keep the car and a cheque. If you can get the repairs done cheaply, perhaps using second hand parts, or if you don't mind putting up with a few dents then you might have money left over afterwards. Get an idea of how much needs doing and how much it would cost before you agree to this though.

A previously written off car will not generally be a problem to insure - most insurers don't even ask if it has been written off before. The main effects would be (1) if you decide to sell it in future, the write-off marker might make it more difficult and (2) if it got written off again the payout would be reduced somewhat to reflect its lower value.

The value you get for your car should be enough to buy another one of the same age, mileage and mechanical condition. However you won't get much, if any, extra money for routine maintenance you've done on the car. Any 15 year old car will have had a fair amount of money spent on maintaining it over the years and will have some new or nearly new parts - so that's already assumed in the standard valuation. Rather if the car had no MOT, a cracked windscreen, blocked filters etc at the time of the accident, that would mean a reduction in its value.

Of course if the woman wants to deal with you outside of insurance then you and she can decide anything you like, so long as you both agree. But you still can't force her to pay you more than the car is worth if she doesn't want to.