insurer refusing to repair beloved old car - only offering write-off money

[Deleted User]

Someone dented my off-side wing (will need a new wing) on my 206 while it was parked, and didn't leave a note. I called my insurer and they are only offering to take the car away and give me £850 market value for the car.

This is infuriating, just spent quite a bit getting it serviced - timing belt and everything, and was looking forward to at least a few more years of motoring with it.

What makes things worse is now that I've called the insurer they've registered the incident and even if I don't claim from them I have to declare this for the next 5 years when changing insurer.

They did mention something about possibly paying a small amount towards any repair I pay for myself if I send them some photos of all sides of the car, inside, under the bonnet. Is this worth pursuing?

Mercdriver

Not really surprising. You can usually take the settlement and then buy the car back as salvage. It would appear as a write off in hpi checks.

You would have been obliged to mention the accident for the next 5 years in any case or risk policy cancellation which is a whole world of other (and more expensive) pain

[Deleted User]

>You would have been obliged to mention the accident for the next 5 years

Does this apply for even minor dents and scratches, that many owners would choose to live with of fix themselves?

I guess I can see the logic from the insurers perspective, they wouldn't want someone declaring an old dent as recent to get the write-off money, right after they had a service and were told some expensive work was needed.

Mercdriver

[quote=[Deleted User];76090223]>You would have been obliged to mention the accident for the next 5 years

Does this apply for even minor dents and scratches, that many owners would choose to live with of fix themselves?

I guess I can see the logic from the insurers perspective, they wouldn't want someone declaring an old dent as recent to get the write-off money, right after they had a service and were told some expensive work was needed.[/QUOTE]

You are supposed to answer the question about accidents truthfully. Getting found out can be expensive as you generally have to declare cancelled policies for a limitless amount of time, as the question on the proposal is usually have you ever had a policy cancelled.

Very minor nicks and dents that didn't involve other people's property would be a case of "how would they know?" and most people wouldn't declare driving into their own property, I suspect.

foxy-stoat

Ask for a "cash in lieu of repair", hopefully it wont be registered as a cat N or S and just get it repaired with the money.

Bigphil1474

OP, I had an old fiesta that was smashed into. Fortunately it was just fit to drive, so I took the market value off the insurers minus a scrap value they calculated. Drove it for a few weeks, then scrapped it for an extra £20. The cost of minimal repairs wasn't worth it. Unfortunately the insurers estimate of repair costs is always higher than the real world of a decent garage. Even if you keep it and it's a cat D write off, it's not going to affect you much if you've no intention of selling it.

Aretnap

Bigphil1474 wrote: »

Unfortunately the insurers estimate of repair costs is always higher than the real world of a decent garage.

That depends on what you expect from a "decent garage". The insurer's estimate will be for a complete, professional job, normally new, original parts, a respray to ensure a good colour match etc etc. They are certainly not going to get a backstreet garage to bodge it up at mate's rates with gaffer tape and parts that fell off the back of a lorry, leaving you with a wing that is a different colour to the rest of the car. For the obvious reason that they would have a lot of very unsatisfied customers if they did that. If you ARE willing to go down the bodge it up route (which certainly makes a fair amount of sense on an old car) then it may well be worth asking to keep the car and have the scrap value deducted from the settlement From the insurers point of view this is preferable as you have no comeback against them if you're unhappy with the results of the bodge it up job you subsequently do.

Norman_Castle

Does a 206 wing bolt on? Buy it back and put a used wing on. Cheap motoring for the next few years.

motorguy

Aretnap wrote: »

That depends on what you expect from a "decent garage". The insurer's estimate will be for a complete, professional job, normally new, original parts, a respray to ensure a good colour match etc etc. They are certainly not going to get a backstreet garage to bodge it up at mate's rates with gaffer tape and parts that fell off the back of a lorry, leaving you with a wing that is a different colour to the rest of the car. For the obvious reason that they would have a lot of very unsatisfied customers if they did that. If you ARE willing to go down the bodge it up route (which certainly makes a fair amount of sense on an old car) then it may well be worth asking to keep the car and have the scrap value deducted from the settlement From the insurers point of view this is preferable as you have no comeback against them if you're unhappy with the results of the bodge it up job you subsequently do.

You do know theres an in between - right?

Decent small garage, who will maybe take the time to repair a bumper rather than replace it or are happy to fit a second hand wing or a pattern fit wing and will leave a good standard of finish?

Joe_Horner

Buy it back (or cancel claim), get a new pattern wing from eurocarparts fro £29.04 (inc current discount code) and a rattle can of paint for a tenner or so.

Paint new wing - repeat until happy with the finish.

Unbolt old wing.

Bolt new wing on.

motorguy

Any amount of used, mint wings for sale on ebay in multiple colours for around £40. Will look a lot better than a new wing sprayed with a rattle can.