got rear ended - other party accepted liability - but car is worth <£500

seatbeltnoob

Just wondering what is the best course of action here. I was rear ended by a car, she must have been distracted because I was stationary waiting to park on the other side - waiting for oncoming cars to clear. I waited for 4-5 oncoming cars to pass. So I was stationary for a while. Lady rear ended me. Got my rear left corner with her front right.

Anyway, a guy apprached me after the collision (I was looking for my insurance phone number to call), the guy said, dont rush into it - be patient and go home and decide what to do. For these low value cars you can get a payoff apparantly - just ask them for a lump sum to repair the car and you can just carry out the repairs yourself (just pain damage on my bumper not structural.

Is this a thing? My insurance and the other parties insurance is the same company. At first they wanted to make a claim on my own policy - but I am a gig economy driver so I said I was meaning to call you - but I was on duty and have my gig economy policy for this so I will contact them to handle the claim. As soon as I said that, they said OK we can do something else for you - we can make a claim on the other parties policy so you wont have to pay any excess.

I thought it was a bit cheeky - when insurance first call me they wanted me to pay the excess and make a claim on my own policy. After I mention my gig economy insurance they changed it all and wanted to make it cost free for me. I am guessing they would have tried to find anything to do a split liability if the top up insruance policy didn't kick in.

GrumpyDil

Actually ideally you would claim directly off the other parties' policy which is what I think they may be suggesting. Any excess would be recoverable from the other driver anyway. 

jimjames

It's true that you can buy the car back and repair yourself if they want to write it off and the damage isn't major. Likely that on an older £500 car that it could be very easily written off for minor damage. Friend bought one that had been written off, only damage was a dent to rear tailgate

AdrianC

A £500 car will be written off as uneconomical to repair for even very minor damage - that simply means it's cheaper for the insurers to pay you the value than to pay the repair bill.

That does not mean the car is dead. There's two options.
You could push for cash in lieu of a repair - the car does not get officially written off.
If they won't do that, then accept the write-off (it'll be Cat N - non-structural), and ask to retain the salvage in exchange for a portion of the payout. In effect, they're buying the car off you for the pre-collision value, and you then buy it back for the scrap value.

HansOndabush

They are under no obligation to sell you the salvage though. If it isn't their policy or they have a cosy deal with a scrappy, then don't bank on ever seeing it again if they get their hands on it.

caprikid1

Yes this is very much a thing, if you are rear ended then asking for £1000 - £1500 as a full and final settlement could work. Be ware certain companies, direct line for instance have low premiums through not paying out and bullying third parties into submission but in theory you should be able to get a claim that takes into account everything.
I would go straight out with the office though, if they think there is no chance of whiplash , hire car charges  and further admin work then a £1500 offer for a "Full and Final Settlement" could work well.

AdrianC

caprikid1 said:

Yes this is very much a thing, if you are rear ended then asking for £1000 - £1500 as a full and final settlement could work. Be ware certain companies, direct line for instance have low premiums through not paying out and bullying third parties into submission but in theory you should be able to get a claim that takes into account everything.
I would go straight out with the office though, if they think there is no chance of whiplash , hire car charges  and further admin work then a £1500 offer for a "Full and Final Settlement" could work well.

How on earth do you get to £1500 for a relatively minor nudge on a £500 car, with no suggestion of injury?
No hire car needed - the car will just be written straight off, no hire car due.
The only admin work is over negotiating the pay-out, and you might be persistent and annoying enough to nudge another hundred quid, but no hope for a grand.

Aretnap

HansOndabush said:

They are under no obligation to sell you the salvage though. If it isn't their policy or they have a cosy deal with a scrappy, then don't bank on ever seeing it again if they get their hands on it.

If he makes the claim as a third party rather than claiming on his own policy then it doesn't matter what deal the insurer has with the scrappy - they have no contractual right to take possession of his car (as he obviously has no contract with the third party's insurer). The default outcome is that they'll pay him the market value of his car, less the scrap value, and he'll keep possession of it.

If claiming through his own policy then the reverse generally applies; the insurance policy gives the insurer the right to pay full market value and retain the salvage in the event of a write-off. The customer can ask to buy back the car, but the insurer doesn't have to agree.

Obviously where both drivers are insured by the same company the terms "your insurer" and "third party insurer" get a bit wooly but it doesn't actually alter your rights or the process - you can ask to deal with one of two different departments operating under two different sets of rules.

seatbeltnoob

Claim open and closed in retalively straightforward way. I didn't like the fact that they put a category N marker on my car, despite me protesting not to have it on. They said they have to according to their own process, I suspect putting a category N on the vehicle basically settles the claim in full. They have written off the vehicle as a total loss so no further claims can be made in future for newly discovered damages.

To be honest, I got more than what I was expecting out of it. I got to keep the car for £90. I don't think I would have been able to sell this car for £500. I would have to sell it as spares & repairs, because every few months - something goes wrong with it that requires fixing. Rear window doesn't wind, the cables to hatch door has broken due to repeated open/close. I know how to fix both of these - just dont have the time to get it done. I'm usually on top of it, but the backlog is building up.

seatbeltnoob

HansOndabush said:

They are under no obligation to sell you the salvage though. If it isn't their policy or they have a cosy deal with a scrappy, then don't bank on ever seeing it again if they get their hands on it.

incorrect advice, just asked and they said OK. Deducted £90. I could scrap it myself for £150. I could take the alloys off and put the steelies on it and sell the alloys for £150. So they didn't even want the going rate for salvage.

I had 3/4 of a tank in it as well, so that fuel would have belonged to the scrapyard after it was repod by insruance.

David713

seatbeltnoob said:

HansOndabush said:

They are under no obligation to sell you the salvage though. If it isn't their policy or they have a cosy deal with a scrappy, then don't bank on ever seeing it again if they get their hands on it.

incorrect advice, just asked and they said OK. Deducted £90. I could scrap it myself for £150. I could take the alloys off and put the steelies on it and sell the alloys for £150. So they didn't even want the going rate for salvage.

I had 3/4 of a tank in it as well, so that fuel would have belonged to the scrapyard after it was repod by insruance.

What HansOndabush stated wasn't incorrect.
Just because an insurance company allow a customer to buy a vehicle from them doesn't mean that they have to do this and they are under no legal obligation to do so.