Car Repairs resulting from an accident that other driver has accepted liability for

Madcelt

Hi All

I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of some comprehensive guidance on where I legally stand on this issue, I wanted to do the reading rather then pay a solicitor to do it for me. Basically, my wife was in a car accident, not overly major thankfully, and my car sustained a decent bit of damage primarily to the body work and to a chassis leg. the other driver has admitted full liability for the accident and I am dealing with his insurance company directly. They are telling me that the repairs will cost around £2000+ but this make the car uneconomical to repair and is therefore a right off!
This doesn't sound right to me, surely if the other driver has admitted liability then his insurance company should pay to 'make good' the situation in what ever way prefer. They offered £2000 to me and say the repairs are £2158.
I've had an independent garage check over the damage and his quote for fixing it is £2160 (£1800 + VAT) so its about the same. The insurance company is insisting that they will only pay a flat £1800 out and if this isn't taken then they will right of the car etc.
Can anyone with some experience of this advise me of where I stand legally, can they do that. Essentially, we are talking about a difference here of around £158 between my car being repaired and it being written off!
Any insight or guidance would be gratefully received.
Thank you
Madcelt

BeenThroughItAll

And the car in question is?

kmb500

Sounds like you have unfortunately just reached the point where they value the car as a write off. If the write off point is £2000 for your car but the work needed is £2158 then I guess it's just bad luck. Someone hit my mum a few years ago, if I recall correctly the write-off point was about £3000 and it would have cost £3400 in repairs so they wrote it off and paid my mum the value of the car.


It sounds like the choice is yours. Unfortunately write offs do happen


Don't know where to point you just giving my 2 pence.

facade

What is the £2000 and £1800 you mention?

Are they offering £2000 for the car, and £1800 plus you keep it?

If you are not doing the work yourself with a hammer, I'd kiss it goodbye and take the £2000. No point in having £1800 towards a £2160 repair which will only give you a CAT C car, that will be worth less than £1800 when it is fixed.

TBagpuss

Your options are that either
-you take the cash, based on the value of your car before the accident, the car is written off and you use the money to replace it
OR
-you keep the car, arrange your own repairs and the insurers pay you a lower sum, calculated as value of the car before the accident less value of the car post accident as scrap, and you can then chose to use the money to repair the car.

You can't insist that they carry out repairs which are not economically viable.

If you feel that the £2,000 they are offering doesn't reflect the value of your car immediately before the accident then you can challenge that figure, if you can back up what you say.

When my car was written off I spoke to the garage which had been servicing it for 12 years and which specialise in that make of vehicle, on the basis that they were familiar with my car and with resale prices, on on the basis of their advice and some time spent checking autotrader and parker's used car guide, i accepted the offer. So do your research , but don't assume they are automatically undervaluing the vehicle.

be aware that once they write off the car they won't continue to pay for a hire car.

angrycrow

Given the mention of chassis leg damage this is more than just cosmetic damage. Bear in mind the quote is the starting price based on what they can see without stripping the car. Once they strip it to repair the chassis leg the cost could increase further.

Whilst you have a connection to the car that makes you want to keep it, even if it was repaired it is likely it will never feel quite the same. You may well be better off letting it go and taking a reasonable settlement on the car. If the offer is from the other drivers insurers you can negotiate and they may increase the total loss offer but they will not agree to repair even if the increased figure is slightly above the repair costs. This is for two reasons, first as already mentioned repair cost are likely to increase on stripping the car and secondly they are paying for hire during any repairs.

The insurer should not really consider a cash in lieu payment on a car with chassis damage as this could lead to corners being cut and a dangerous car being returned to the road with sub standard repairs.

AdrianC

I strongly suspect this damage to the "chassis leg" isn't - because the estimate would be a LOT higher, and you'd be looking at a CatB, so no option to keep it for salvage.

Pics?

Cars are very often written off for damage way below the value, because of the risk of finding extra damage once work starts.

They are offering you a reduced payment in lieu of write-off, on the basis that on a car of that value, you may be perfectly happy with used parts - reducing the bill. If the estimate for the insurance really is £1,800+vat, then you will almost certainly be quids in by taking the £1,800 cash.