50/50 rta vehicle total loss

Mrsspence345

Hello,

I was involved in a RTA which was the other drivers fault but he is now denying fault and the claim may end up being a 50/50 liability claim! My car has been classed as a total loss so how would the pay out work? Would I receive the total value of my vehicle or would it just be 50% of the value? Also how do the insurance companies calculate the buy back price of my vehicle? As I'd ideally like to keep the car as its mainly cosmetic damage.

Any help would be appreciated 

AdrianC

Your losses will be covered in full. So will the other driver's.

You will be held to be liable, and have to declare an at-fault claim. So will the other driver.

The excess you have to pay may or may not be pro-rata'd.

How the insurers actually work the payout internally between themselves is irrelevant to you.

They do not HAVE to offer you buy-back, even if it is a CatN non-structural write-off. If they do, the price they offer is at their discretion. It will normally be around what they'd expect to get for it at a salvage auction like Copart.

Mrsspence345

Hi Adrian thank you for your swift reply as this is a stressful situation for myself! So just to clarify if I paid 13k for my car only 1 month ago I should be looking at getting around 13k back even if the accident is settled as a 50/50 liability? 

AdrianC

Yes, your claim will be met in full, and you will be paid the vehicle's value less the excess.

Will that be £13k? No guarantees.

What you paid for the car is irrelevant - you may have totally overpaid. You are insured for its market value immediately before the collision, or for the value you told the insurer, whichever is lower.

I'd be VERY surprised if they were writing a £13k car off for "mainly cosmetic damage", though. Pics...?

Mrsspence345

Thank you Adrian much appreciated! My car is an x5 and the insurance have said due to the cost of the parts and the sun roof now playing up it would be a total loss.. I was quite surprised myself that they have classed it as a total loss if I'm honest 

ratrace

is the car paid for or do you have some sort of finance, if its finance then the insurance will them directly and if any extra sums or losses you will be responsible for that

do you have gap insurance ie: return to invoice etc... as that may make up any shortfall if there is more information is needed

i was involved in a rtc a few weeks other partys fault, he tried denying it at first untill i told my insurance i have dashcam footage, now they have admitted liability i have been paid out for my car plus £500 excess which i would have lost if it 50/50. the dashcam came to my rescue the best £100 i have ever spent. I dont drive without my mobile,cash, and the dashcam

go to halfords today and buy one you wont regret it

Mrsspence345

Hi rat race, thanks for your info I will most definitely be purchasing a dashcam! I was meaning to when I purchased this car but obviously didn't in time! The car was brought for cash luckily as I don't deal with finance etc (abit old fashioned but my view is if I can't afford it I can't have it lol)

Flight3287462

Mrsspence345 said:

Thank you Adrian much appreciated! My car is an x5 and the insurance have said due to the cost of the parts and the sun roof now playing up it would be a total loss.. I was quite surprised myself that they have classed it as a total loss if I'm honest 

Don't be surprised.

In fact this paragraph is a perfect example of why they will write it off.  Let's say they go to all the trouble of repairing it (no mention of sunroof at this stage), you get the car back only to say the sunroof is not working or you are not happy with the repairs.  Then the whole cycle will start again with hire cars etc etc and possibly you would reject again for further issues.

The insurer will always opt to write it off if they are at all unsure to the extent of the damage.

As for buying it back where is the car?  Do you still have it?  If you do you will be in a much better position to buy it back if it is in a compound miles away you will need to pay collection fees etc and it can all become a ball ache.