Car accident - not at fault but car being written off

Clarag

Looking for some advice on what I can do please. Last week I had a car accident that was not my fault - they drove into the back of me and admitted liability. My car is 10 years old and although it was in good condition before the crash was probably only worth around £800. It was £4000 when I bought it 6 years ago and there is no way I can afford that for another car now. So I am massively out of pocket for something that wasn't my fault. Can I insist that the other person's insurance company fix my car? It was driveable after the accident and I got it assessed - all they did was spend 5 mins taking pictures, but now they are saying it isn't roadworthy. The bumper has a big dent in it and the bodywork is also dented and scratched, but it seems more cosmetic than anything. If they do refuse to fix it, can I buy it back from them and then get the repairs done myself? Also, my 2 car seats were n the car at the time (not the kids though fortunately!) so do these need replacing as well? Hopefully someone will have some good advice for me as not sure where to go with this really! 😕

tberry6686

Looking for some advice on what I can do please. Last week I had a car accident that was not my fault - they drove into the back of me and admitted liability. My car is 10 years old and although it was in good condition before the crash was probably only worth around £800. It was £4000 when I bought it 6 years ago and there is no way I can afford that for another car now. So I am massively out of pocket for something that wasn't my fault. Can I insist that the other person's insurance company fix my car? No It was driveable after the accident and I got it assessed - all they did was spend 5 mins taking pictures, but now they are saying it isn't roadworthy. The bumper has a big dent in it and the bodywork is also dented and scratched, but it seems more cosmetic than anything. If they do refuse to fix it, can I buy it back from them and then get the repairs done myself? possibly, depends on the category of write off Also, my 2 car seats were n the car at the time (not the kids though fortunately!) so do these need replacing as well? Dunno

SandraX

They will give you market value but if you ask, giv you the car and some money depending on the category it was written off. The child seats are not covered unless you told your insurance co.
ATB

forgotmyname

If its worth £800 then they will payout £800 and you can buy another similar made/model car with that money. You don't need to spend £4000 on a car if you cannot afford £4000.

Spend what you can afford.

Carrot007

You should have removed any contents from the car before it was taken away or informed the comompanies involved of your wish to do so right away. It will now all come down to proof.


Yes a £800 car will be written off for practically any accident. You should get back the market value minus excess (if you went though your own company, which was a mistake if they admitted fault). This should be able to buy you a second hand car of the same age. That is all insurance is for. They don't replace your car to the value when you bought it. You would not like the premiums if they did!

oscarward

They will give you the market value of the car at the time of the accident.


If it is driveable then you can ask for the car back and they will give you market value less scrap value.


It is possible to haggle with the insurers by asking them to make the car legal by repairing things such as lights but ignoring cosmetic stuff.


A relative had a car that was going in the scrappage scheme and was in an accident with a broken lens and dented bumper. Write off value, £1200, he asked to just have the lens replaced and not write the car off which they did and he swapped the car a month later for £2000 trade in.

mattyprice4004

My car was 80 grand new, does that mean if I crash it I can get £80k instead of the £3k it’s acryally worth?
No, no it doesn’t.

Regardless of value a few years ago, it’s worth £800 now. You’ve had several years use, lots of wear and tear etc added. It’s not a £4000 car anymore.
You’re not out of pocket at all, it’s over double the age you bought it at now. Expecting exactly what you paid over half a decade ago is insane.

csgohan4

nothing wrong with a cheap 1k old banger, no shame at all, gets you from A to B at the same speed limit whether it costs 1k or 100k.


I don't understand why people spend so much money on expensive cars while it depreciates every year. I would rather throw that money on a mortgage. Much more money saving.

rogerramjet

Car is probably being written off as uneconomical to repair. This means they have checked price of parts required and also labour costs to repair and this is more than the value of the car.

The car will probably be recorded as as *(Auto Trader Quote) Category N — Cat N, for short — is a description used by insurance companies to describe the level of damage to a vehicle they have written off. A Cat N vehicle has suffered some damage, probably in an accident, but not to its structural frame or chassis.

The above usually means damage to bumpers, panels, vandalism to paint work where the mechanical structure of the car is fine but cosmetically it has dents, scratches, etc.

Check to see if they will sell it back to you as part of the settlement deal, I know someone who recently had their Peugeot 206 written off due to to a dent in they boot. the bought it back from the insurance company for £50 and kept driving it.

If buying back, as a cat N it would be up to you if you want to undertake repairs or leave as it is as it will not require a new MOT. The only issue maybe is your insurance company may not wish to insure it as some do not insure vehicles which have been previously paid out on.

Child seats, cannot comment on but I would assume if no children in them and impact was low there should be nothing wrong with them

PDC

We had an old car that was damaged when someone tried to steal it, slightly different situation as it was our own insurers but they wanted to write it off as it was an uneconomical repair even though the damage was quite minor. With some badgering we did get them to repair it in the end - I don't know what communication you've had with the insurers. If you still have the car you could get some quotes for repairs and present those, if you can find one less/equal to the payout then I guess they may be amenable to that.

uk1

Clarag wrote: »

Looking for some advice on what I can do please. Last week I had a car accident that was not my fault - they drove into the back of me and admitted liability. My car is 10 years old and although it was in good condition before the crash was probably only worth around £800. It was £4000 when I bought it 6 years ago and there is no way I can afford that for another car now. So I am massively out of pocket for something that wasn't my fault. Can I insist that the other person's insurance company fix my car? It was driveable after the accident and I got it assessed - all they did was spend 5 mins taking pictures, but now they are saying it isn't roadworthy. The bumper has a big dent in it and the bodywork is also dented and scratched, but it seems more cosmetic than anything. If they do refuse to fix it, can I buy it back from them and then get the repairs done myself? Also, my 2 car seats were n the car at the time (not the kids though fortunately!) so do these need replacing as well? Hopefully someone will have some good advice for me as not sure where to go with this really! ��

You say it seems like mostly cosmetic, so can it be repaired for close to say £800 or less?

If so, ask them if they would consider agreeing a mutually agreeable market value for the car in it’s damaged condition and let you retain it. If at first they refuse ask if you can retain it for market value less it’s scrap value. Use the setled value to repair the car.

Hope you get it sorted.