Total loss, repairs less than value

angrycrow

The car has clearly taken a significant impact to the front. The deformable cross member and the crash cans have fully collapsed and the chassis leg has taken very significant damage. It is the damage to the chassis leg which writes the car off. 

Without the car going on a jig it is impossible to say if the chassis leg has moved sideways, up or down which could effect the handling of the car. I would not want it back after that sort of damage.

The insurers have an obligation to ensure any repairs are to an appropriate standard which in this case means putting it on the jig pulling the leg and confirming the alignment is correct. That all costs a lot of money. Have your garage who quoted £2400 included jig costs or are they just going to hammer it out and hope it is aligned. 

angrycrow

Copied from mot manual. (a) A main load-bearing structural member: (i) fractured or deformed such that structural rigidity is significantly reduced (ii) fractured or deformed such that steering or braking is likely to be adversely affected. It's certainly borderline with that much deformation on the drivers side chassis leg. The drivers side wing is not sitting right suggesting the whole front end is pushed over towards the drivers side.  Whilst the Volvo looks OK at first glance the rear bumper is sticking out on the drivers side by the light. Looks like you hit him nose down under heavy braking with contact below the tailgate. I would expect to see significant damage to the rear panel behind the plastic bumper.  If you don't like your insurers decision to write it off you could always withdraw the claim and repair it yourself given you know better than the qualified people who have examined the car.

chrisw

agentcain said:

I got some legal advice to demand to see the engineer's report.

You can't demand to see the engineer's report as that was commissioned by and therefore owned by the insurance company. It's up to them whether they share it.

You can of course commission your own engineers report now you have access to the vehicle. That will determine the roadworthiness of the vehicle at least. No MOT tester worth his salt will give an opinion based upon a couple of photos, he would be opening himself up to all sorts of liabilities.

I'm still not sure what you're trying to achieve at the end of the day though. Take the money and buy another one and save yourself a load of hassle.

dacouch

There are plenty of independent motor engineers who will inspect on site as that is what they generally do when they inspect a vehicle for an Insurer

Jumblebumble

agentcain said:

Jumblebumble said:

agentcain said:

That is very interesting! Thanks for this advice
I also got word from a salvage company sellthecar.com . They estimated the car in the £1000. The insurer allows me to buy the car back for 515. So there is a benefit there. What is my course of action here? Currently the insurance company values the car at 4300 pre accident, and they offer to write it off  and sell it back to me for £515. If I go back to tell them that the salvage is 1000 instead of 515, would that help me to make them reconsider either the initial value or the salvage value?

How do they determine the write off using value of car, salvage value and repairs? Is it value of car against repair+salvage? That would be £4300 vs 3700+515=£4215. Since 4300 is close to 4215, they deem it economically
totaled. But if it is 3700+1000=4700 > 4300 would that mean that it is better to repair it? How does it work, Im confused


As previously stated the insurance companies will typically have an agreement that Salvage yards take all written off cars in return for 15% or thereabouts  of their value.

 This is the figure the insurers will use and they will not be interested in what sellthecar.com think it may be  worth
 Be very careful with insuring a writeoff that you are totally upfront and I would clarify this before buying back the car
Do bear in mind that the £1000 salvage value of your car does not exist until someone actually hands over the cash

BoGoF

Press charges against them? Really?

For what exactly?

angrycrow

You yourself pointed out the right headlight is out of alignment, that in itself is enough to make it unroadworthy. 

You then have your own statement that the recovery driver commented the suspension is fouling somewhere, this makes the car unroadworthy and constitutes an mot fail.

When will you accept the car either needs scrapping or properly repairing to include going on a body jig to correct the alignment. Your insurers don't want to do this because putting it on a jig is likely to highlight further damage which will exceed the value of the car. 

Time to remove the chip from your shoulder and start looking for a replacement car. Might be an idea to pay more attention when driving and keep a safe distance as well. 

Thrugelmir

agentcain said:

Apart from that, an assessment will put my mind at ease, give me an understanding of the state of the car and help me decide my best course of action. Up to this point, I haven't spoken to any professional who has seen the car.

Obtain your own report from a reputable source. Time is expensive. A few extra hours soon mounts up. Allowance has to be made for the unforeseen. 

angrycrow

agentcain said:

This is the front. See the right light? It's off by 1cm.

Actually you said the light was out of alignment not me. 

angrycrow

I'm just commenting on what you said using the exact words you used. 

With my hat on as an experienced mechanic and restorer based on the photos you posted and your comments the insurer is correct to total loss the car as at least a cat s but it's pushing a car b with the chassis leg damage. 

With my work hat on based on your photos and comments it's a cat s write off pushing into cat B territory. There will almost certainly be further damage found. 

The impact is square into the back of the Volvo whilst your car was braking heavily (impact very low on Volvo, high on your bumper) so either the Volvo pulled into your path then slammed on or you failed to see the Volvo stopped or stopping and ploughed into the back of him.

Nothing anything anyone says on here is going to change your opinion so sorry the insurers are being gits they should immediately pay you a £1000 compo and repair your written off car with shonky second hand parts. Happy now you have heard what you want.