Car insurance total loss help!

Missally

Re: Honda Civic S type 2011 reg

Hi all,

I crashed my car up a kerb last Wednesday (03.05.2017) and severely damaged the F/L wheel. Although the actual tyre wasn't popped, the whole wheel itself was bent inwards rendering it impossible to drive. There were no other cars involved (just my own stupid fault) but since my breakdown said it was a road traffic accident I had to call my insurance company (esure).

I have been told today that they are classing it as a total loss. I have spoken to the garage and had their quote breakdown emailed to me. The quote is for £3800 and the insurers are valuing the car at £4000. The garage also said that there is a chance that when they open the car up and start to do the repairs, they may find that there is more damage (the steering rack) which I understand is quite a pricey job.

There are a few things I wanted to ask:

1. I am querying some of the things on the quote, namely they are saying I need a new front wing plus paintwork, plus a number of other 'bits' that I don't feel are necessary. I did not see any aesthetic damage to the body of the car (at least none that wasn't already there) and no part of the body of the car hit anything so I don't know where they've got that from. The man I spoke to was incredibly patronising; I was clearly very upset on the phone as it was not what I was expecting to hear and I am not the most mechanically savvy of people so I had to ask for clarification on what others I'm sure would see as basic car components. He immediately said that even if they just replaced it, it wouldn't make a difference and then proceeded to tell me that from the pictures they had been sent he could see it clearly was damaged, although he repeatedly avoided giving me an answer when I asked him to send me said pictures. Unfortunately I only took one, and it was while it was on the tow truck and dark so probably not very helpful. Although I'm not convinced it would make a huge difference to the outcome as a lot of the issues are with the internal structure but is it possible that they could be trying it on with me a bit here? What would esure gain out of writing it off?
2. I have asked about what the process is with me getting a different garage to fix it. I was repeatedly told that I wouldn't find one who will fix it for cheaper than they have. I'm sure that's not true given the fact that I could get replacement parts second hand. Plus if I'm right about the above and they are trying to fix things that were there already and aren't integral to the drivability of the car, that would significantly reduce the price. However, he said that esure wouldn't be willing to pay for second hand parts. Are they allowed to do this?
3. Re getting it fixed elsewhere. He said they wouldn't do any repairs over the cost of £4000. I queried why they aren't willing to complete the repairs at the current garage if they're willing to pay up to £4000 and I eventually, after much debate over the wording he was using, got him to agree that they are basing the total loss decision on the fact that there MIGHT be further damage to the car and IF there is, it would push the total cost over the £4000 they'll pay. Are they allowed to do this?

I'm not sure if it's worth pointing out that there have been quite a few mistakes that they have made with how they've processed this claim and the customer service has been shocking. They initially lost my car for nearly two days; the RAC took it to a different garage to the one that had been instructed to fix it and it was only because i called the garage to chase it up two days later that I then flagged up with esure that the garage didn't have it, which prompted them to look for it!

The other thing is the garage who finally did look at it have sent the report through to me and on the top of it, where it says 'mileage' they've put 0! When I asked esure for my mileage so I could get an estimate on the value of the car, I was told they don't have those details. So how can they do a valuation on my car if they don't know the mileage?!

Any helpful tips/advice for me would be greatly appreciated. I have agreed that I will ring them on Monday once my partner and I have discussed possible outcomes. I really have very little idea in regards to what's going on though, or what my rights are in this situation, nor does my partner really. Plus, the whole terrible customer service thing has really made me quite sceptical of the whole company now.

Thanks in advance friends! X

DigForVictory

You need to get mechanic you trust to have a dekko at it.

An insurance write-off *can* still be fixed, MOTed & back on the road in hours but things like an accurate value of the car before the prang (for which yes, mileage is helpful, but your insurers may use an approximation of value you declared plus age from reg plate) will help you negotiate what happens.
Right now,the car is yours - soon as you accept the insurance price it's theirs but every night spent at that garage is racking up storage charges (can be as much as £40 a night depending on who & where the garage is) which plus the excess is likely to come off the value offered.

If you can do the owner ID but have a knowledgeable party listening in & "steering" you, and ask them to email you the details/their calculations - it may well help you negotiate a better value.

Just get it vetted by a mechanic you trust (after all, they'll be sourcing & fitting the parts & making it safe for you to drive again) pronto.

(I'm only this well informed as my mechanic is steering me like a rusty pram myself!)

forgotmyname

What do they gain by writing it off. The hassle of putting your car through the salvage auction where they may break even or it may even cost them to dispose of it.

You could get the car collected and taken elsewhere for another quote, but check your policy terms and conditions to see if there a higher excess is payable by yourself.
And getting the 2nd quote will be your own expense.

Are you willing to put yourself at risk that there is no further damage and that when they start to repair it and find the shell twisted that youur going to be paying for it yourself?

Give the £4000 to the garage to fix it and then they find more work which you stump up even if its going to costs 3x more than tha cars worth to repair. And if you dont pay up its worth £200 scrap and you have no car and just £200 to buy another one.

How can they estimimate the value because on a 6 year old car the difference between 40,000 miles and 150,000 miles is only a few hundred £.

csgohan4

was esure the cheapest at the time?? Cheapest doesn't mean good service either.


As above if you feel strongly about, get an independent Mechanic to verify, otherwise write it off and take it as an experience, life is too short

Aretnap

Your insurance contract will almost certainly give the insurer the right to choose whether to repair your car or write it off. It's standard practice to write the car off when the repair estimate is close to but slightly less than the market value, because of the risk that the final cost of repair will be higher than the quote (eg because they find more damage after they start work). Provided the insurer pays a fair price for your car they're allowed to make that call.

Re the idea of leaving damage unfixed and using second hand parts: an insurer will fix your car professionally or not at all. They are (obviously) not going to get a cowboy mechanic to bodge your car up with gaffer tape and parts that fell off the back of a lorry - even if you ask them to. Just think of the trouble they'd get into with the regulators and the consumer columns in the newspaper if the final result is more of a mess than you were expecting, or if you just change your mind about being willing to put up with a car covered in dents and gaffer tape.

If you DO want to go down the bodge job route then the usual advice would be to let them write it off, then offer to buy back the car from them for scrap value. Once you've bought the wreck you can do what you lime with it, including getting it fixed on the cheap, potentially leaving you with money left over. But the insurer has no further responsibility so you can't complain to them if the repairs fall apart after a couple of months, or if you end up spending a load of money and the car still isn't roadworthy. However not all insurers will agree to sell you back the salvage... and from memory I think ESure might be one of the ones who won't.