Car written off/settlement

hoxtonbabe

Hello all,
Last week my son was stationary at traffic lights and a car slammed into his car ( which has now caused me pain on the left of my body but that’s another matter altogether) 

The damage looks like it’s just the bumper but I'm no expert so goodness knows, anyhoo his insurance company were just simply going to write to off even though no one had looked at it as they said due to age, mileage etc it wasn’t worth trying to fix, however the at fault driver accepted liability and his insurance company approached my son and asked my son to deal with them direct. My son said ok as they seemed a bit more willing to see if they could repair it rather than instantly write it off however I was reading a blog and it was basically saying my son should be in the same position as he was before the accident. 

So from both my sons insurers and then the other insurance company they keep saying they will pay out market value basing it on current age, mileage etc, however although I do not drive I roughly know how these things work and it’s likely what they offer he won’t be able to buy a Bike  let alone a car so im
unsure how that leaves him in the same position as he was before the accident?

So can you reject an offer amount if you do not think it reasonable/unable to get a car with what they offer, if so what would the next steps be? Would that be hashing it out in court and if so would that be small claims court? 

Despite it not being my sons fault whatsoever somehow he seems to be getting the worst end of the stick, and I’ve been living off co-codamol for the last few days :-( 

AdrianC

Your injuries are totally separate to the decision on whether to repair the car or write it off.

You say "the damage looks like it's just the bumper", yet you were injured enough to be on strong painkillers for days? That doesn't tie together.

You don't say what age/type of car we're talking about, but as a general rule insurers base their write-off decision on the pre-collision market value. If it's going to be cheaper to repair it (including factoring in the chances of hidden damage, and of the cost of a hire car whilst the car's being repaired), then they'll repair it. If it's not, they'll pay the market value and write it off. That is the position he was in... He had a car with £X, the car is not being repaired, so he gets £X in cash.

Whether the policyholder likes that amount is irrelevant - it's what the insurer perceives the car to have been worth before it was hit. Give us a clue, and we'll help you figure out what's likely.

If the damage is relatively minor, he can buy the car back in return for a portion of the pre-collision value, roughly equivalent to the salvage auction/scrap sale price. He can then either drive it as is if it's purely cosmetic, or repair it.

sweetsand

Dear OP
Sorry to hear about your car accident.
I need more info before I can help in a big wau.
The car, mileage, age, how many owners, service history full and is it main dealer and how many owners.
how would you describe the car before the small impact?
Indeed, you are in pain, have you made a claim for your injuries?
Is you son having pains as these at times take a while to kick in.
How much was the insurance premium as on a write off, most ins co's don't repay the remaining months
left on the policy so you have to equate that

To get a car like your son's car, ie same number of owners/condition etc, what is the going price?

I wish you well and hope the pain killers and possibly seeing the gP will rid you of your pains. At least you are not chasing them for injuries which you see only to often and credit to you on that as the pain often goes away and people can get caught up in the no win, no fee thing then a couple of weeks down the road they note they have recovered and don't wish to pursue the claim for injury.
Take care and enjoy the sun if it is out as that helps with pains, etc
ATB
x

Aretnap

The same position means the same financial position, which means enough money to buy a hypothetical car of the same age, make, mileage from a reputable dealer. (Note that it doesn't mean the cost of a slightly newer, slightly lower mileage car at his nearest dealer - he may not be able to find an exact replacement and may have to settle for a replacement car which costs a bit more or a bit less)

If the car is old and valued in the hundreds rather than the thousands of pounds then it would be quite normal for it to be written off for even minor damage - and I can see why the insurer would not want the expense of sending an assessor round just to confirm that it's a write-off. Better to write it off without seeing it and save the assessor's time and petrol money. Remember the insurer will be pricing the repairs based on a through job - new parts, a respray to ensure a good colour match, no bits held on with gaffer tape etc. etc.

If he doesn't like the offer he can decline it, but it doesn't follow that the insurer will offer him any more. If he is makes the claim directly through the third party's insurer the only way to force them to pay out more would be to take them to court, which would come with the risk of costs should he lose. If he claims through his own insurer then he would have the option of complaining to the Financial Ombudsman, which would be free (to him) - and also the ombudsman tends to be more biased towards consumers than a court would be.

You can see the Ombudsman's guidance on vehicle valuation here. https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs Note that they do not generally regard adverts as good evidence of value. The fact that someone advertises a car for £2000 doesn't mean it will sell for £2000 - the dealer might accept a lower offer, or it might sit on the forecourt attracting no interest until he readvertises it at a lower price. So the trade guides, which are based on actual selling prices, will carry more weight.

As above if the damage really is minor another option is to ask to keep the car, have its scrap value deducted from the write-off settlement, and get it repaired himself. If he's willing to use parts from a a scrapyard or put up with a few dents and an imperfect colour match he might be able to get it repaired for less than the settlement, keep his car and have money left over. Obviously he should check how much it will cost to get repaired before he goes down this route - he doesn't want to buy the car back from the insurer then find out it's a money pit.

Dr_Crypto

If you’re that badly injured then the damage could well be more expensive than just a bumper. 

But for an old shed of a car even a bumper may be enough to write it off. 

32Battalion

Best course of action MAY be to buy back the salvage and have it repaired by a local bodyshop in which case you may want to keep the value down.  Might be worth exploring that option (it will be a % of the pre accident value  depending in age).  I would certainly explore that option.

onlyfoolsandparking

I've heard salvage buy back is 10% of the pre accident value but I can't confirm that figure.

32Battalion

onlyfoolsandparking said:

I've heard salvage buy back is 10% of the pre accident value but I can't confirm that figure.

I bought back a banger for 9% a few years ago (CatC) but didn't want to put a figure on it as I am pretty sure it will be higher for modern cars and will also depend on the Cat rating given

hoxtonbabe

Hi, 
thanks your advice. I have told him to see what the insurance will be IF they write it off as a cat N and see what it is roughly going to cost to repair. As mentioned it will be based on new parts etc which will like cost more than the car,  but he is fine with it being secondhand so like suggested will see how much it may cost to have him fix it assuming it is nothing major. Until the assessment takes place I’m just going by what the police and recovery people said about it looking like bumper damage but we appreciate they could be totally wrong.

problem now is he is enjoying his courtesy car and is more annoyed about having to have to give that back, lol 

DoaM

Who supplied the courtesy car? The 3rd party insurer?

Sandtree

onlyfoolsandparking said:

I've heard salvage buy back is 10% of the pre accident value but I can't confirm that figure.

It should be what the salvage agent would have paid the insurer, so it will vary from insurer to insurer depending on what deals they have struck. In most cases it should be in the 8-10% range but can vary as some insurers like a simple fixed percentage for whatever happens to go through whereas others may want to pick and choose what they send to who and so have much more variable rates depending on if its a clapped out mangled Saxo or a borderline write off classic Porsche 924