OMG - just had an accident on the motorway.

patchwork_cat

Hi
We were just coming of on a sliproad and the traffic was queuing. The car behind us didn't stop! We were shunted and hit a galncing blow to the car in front who drove off!

I tried flagging drivers down who had witnessed and no one would stop for at least 5 cars. We were now in the right hand lane with a car that wouldn't go and again had to flag down a car to help push to the hard shoulder. No one voluntarily stopped to help or check that we were OK.

The AA wanted £104 to take us home despite the fact that we have cover that cost over £100. The insurance cover would collect the car, but wouldn't take us anywhere.

The driver of the flatbed said our car is a write off and did his best by taking us to a shopping centre 5 mins away. We then had to get a taxi home.

Does anyone know how they work out scrap value on cars as I can see this costing us a fortune, just when we were starting to pull ourselves out of the mire having remortgaged at the beginning of the month.

Conor_3

AA cover doesn't include accident recovery. What is the damage to your car? How much is it worth?

Currently, scrap value is around £50-£75 a car.

mrtg0525

Sorry to hear about that...

Regarding the "scrap value" of the car, I wouldn't be too concerned initially about what the recovery driver said. At the end of the day, it's between you and your insurance if the car is being written off or not. Also, you shouldn't really consider yourself with the scrap value of the car unless you plan to buy it back and fix it yourself. I think - and I may be wrong - that the insurance basically pays out after the usual delays and keeps the car. 'Scrap value' only enters the picture if/when you want to buy back the damaged car.

Do you have fully comp insurance or TPFT?

No matter which insurance you have, one thing you should do as soon as you can is to document how much a replacement car (same model, equipment, miles etc) is going to cost you. Chances are that the insurance will offer a low amount of money first - you're in a better position to negotiate if you can prove how much the car you have is normally advertised for. This is especially important if your car is anything a bit out of the ordinary and/or special. Another thing you probably have to keep an eye out for is that if the car is modified, the insurance settlement should take those into account - assuming that they are declared, of course...

Also, if you haven't done so, try to remove all personal belongings from the car as soon as you can - I remember another post on this board where items went missing after a while.

patchwork_cat

Hi
I obviously used the wrong word for scrap value our car is worth about £5000. None of the doors will either open or shut, In the old days I would have said the chassis is gone, but these days the tow guy said it is the frame and in his opinion the repairs will cost more than 60 % of the value, hence a write off.
What I am wanting to know is basically how much out of pocket am I going to be as cynical me thinks I won't be able to buy exactly the same car for what the insurance will give us.

It just seems ridiculous that we have the best AA cover and fully comp with extras on ins and we were still stuck on the motorway freezing our kna*kers off for an hour and then had to rely on the nature of the tow driver to get off the motorway. Something isn't right.

patchwork_cat

mrtg0525, our posts crossed that is what I wanted to know. I trust that if the other party admit liability which she has already done, but I didn't pass that on as I believe you aren't supposed to admit liabilty, then our insurance will act on our behalf to get the most out of the other insurance. Does anyone know if Direct Line ever replace cars - I have something niggling in the back of my mind someone advertising that they would replace the car in the event of a write off ( I am probably wrong)

mrtg0525

patchwork_cat wrote: »

It just seems ridiculous that we have the best AA cover and fully comp with extras on ins and we were still stuck on the motorway freezing our kna*kers off for an hour and then had to rely on the nature of the tow driver to get off the motorway. Something isn't right.

I've also read about recovery companies like the RAC or AA not recovering cars that are undriveable because they had been involved in an accident. I do however remember that back when I read about this, the advice was to get the car recovered and add the recovery charge to your total claim - at least that's what my somewhat hazy recollection of the spokesbod's statement seems to suggest.

If you have fully comp insurance I'd certainly talk to Direct Line ASAP about their suggested way of dealing with a claim like this. You'd hope that it would be fairly clear cut if you car's been hit in the back under those circumstances.

Regarding the replacement car - personally, I would go shopping for a replacement myself (OK, but then I'm a compulsive vehicle buyer and seller). You may not enjoy it but if you are willing to spend the time, you're likely to end up with a better car IMHO.

vaio

patchwork_cat wrote: »

…... Does anyone know if Direct Line ever replace cars - I have something niggling in the back of my mind someone advertising that they would replace the car in the event of a write off ( I am probably wrong)

I think the standard is they will replace a car less than a year old that would cost more than 50% of the new cost to repair

Conor_3

patchwork_cat wrote: »

It just seems ridiculous that we have the best AA cover and fully comp with extras on ins and we were still stuck on the motorway freezing our kna*kers off for an hour and then had to rely on the nature of the tow driver to get off the motorway. Something isn't right.

What isn't right about it? You paid the AA for breakdown assistance, not accident recovery. The AA don't do accident recovery as part of any of their packages.

What people do is pay the recovery charge then send the bill to their insurers to be reimbursed.

If non of the doors shut, there's a chance it could be banana shaped and TBH, you're probably looking at a financial write off. Get together any bills and service history you have as well as adverts in the press for similar vehicles to help prove its value.

Wig

I see the car behind has admitted liability, AFAIK you should pass that on to your insurers, your insurers will use that for your benefit.

ariba10

If as you say you

"Came off a slip road into queueing traffic and a car already on the motorway hit you"

I do not see that it is anyones fault but yours.

Twopints

I took the OP to mean that they were leaving the motorway via a slip-road where the queueing traffic was stationery and that the car following them off had not noticed that it was stopped so hit the back of them.