Insurance claim - write off and buy back or fix ourselves - pros and cons?

yogiiiiii

Does anyone have any experience of dealing with a vehicle that is 'damaged beyond repair' according to the insurance company, but could be repaired privately at your own cost?

I'm looking for pros/cons to going down the write-off route and buying back vs. just not going through insurance?

We have tried to put forward a solution with our own garage that will keep the cost down but they won't authorise it. The next option is to put it into their system at the (pretty high( risk) they will write it off. We could then buy it back but don't want to wait another 2 months while the insurance company dither. And have no idea how much they would pay out and then what we would have to pay to buy it back, or even if we could.

We have a caddy maxi van which is worth around £6k to me.

Repairs would be £1k privately.

Any thoughts / personal experiences welcomed - and recognise that we will only really know if / when we go ahead. 

EdGasketTheSecond

You have no guarantee or right that you can buy back your car. Once written off the salvage belongs to the insurer to do as they please with so if you definitely want to keep it don't get it written-off.

The_Rainmaker

EdGasketTheSecond said:

You have no guarantee or right that you can buy back your car. Once written off the salvage belongs to the insurer to do as they please with so if you definitely want to keep it don't get it written-off.

Alternatively make sure it doesn't leave your possession.  I get them towed home, they tend to want to cut the hassle factor.
Where is the car OP?

AdrianC

yogiiiiii said:

We have tried to put forward a solution with our own garage that will keep the cost down but they won't authorise it.

Used bits?

And have no idea how much they would pay out and then what we would have to pay to buy it back, or even if we could.

They will pay market value. If they offer it (and they don't have to), then salvage value will be roughly what similar vehicles are going through Copart for. Here's a few currently being auctioned with similar PAV https://www.copart.co.uk/lot/31127840 https://www.copart.co.uk/lot/29760840 https://www.copart.co.uk/lot/60451169 https://www.copart.co.uk/lot/30794090

We have a caddy maxi van which is worth around £6k to me.

Repairs would be £1k privately.

Then it's unlikely they'll write it off, unless your guesstimate for private repair is very, VERY low. What kind of damage are we talking about?

yogiiiiii

Thanks for your comments!
At the moment the car is with a garage of our choice, not part of the insurer's network. Originally we wanted to fix it without insurance but it looked like it would cost too much. We can bring the price down by using a used part but the insurance won't accept that.
Unfortunately the damage is extensive - I went up a kerrb and sheared the corner off the sump. A new part from VW would definitely write the vehicle off, but the garage has found a 2nd hand part.
The options we have currently are:
1. Give it to the insurer for them to assess, but likelihood is they will write it off - buy it back from them maybe? But not sure what the real cost to us of that would be...
2. Give it to the insurer for them to assess, they write it off and we're not happy, could we then refuse the write off and get it back? If so what are the implications of that... 
3. Get it fixed ourselves and hope there is no other damage that we can't see. We are fortunate in that my partner's dad is a retired VW specialist mechanic.

it's all very grey and hypothetically and the insurance company are no help at all.

This has been going on since January too!

AdrianC

By "second hand part", you mean "engine"...? I'm surprised they're paying, tbh, for self-inflicted mechanical damage.

I'd definitely be checking it's just mechanical damage, and not bent the subframe, before making any decisions.