Should I claim insurance?

Swampy3k

Today while I was in work, the wife took my car which she had my permission to do and is on the insurance so all legal. Drove to another town to her sisters house. Sister in law was a bit late getting back from an errand so the wife waited in the car, parked partially on the kerb, engine off, hand brake on and proceeded to wait in the car for 10 mins etc

Sister in laws neighbour across the street reversed out his drive way and hit my driver's door whilst reversing which has rendered it inoperable from the outside. Wife traded details with the guy. And another neighbor witnessed it (and provided witness details) also stated it's not his first time reversing into someone as he doesn't check his mirrors.

But my question is it worth actually claiming the insurance? My car is a 20 year old Audi A4, however to me it's a bulletproof, never let me down tank of a car that still had plenty of life in it (91k mileage) the problem is with it being so old, even the insurance company value or at like 400. 

I have the fear of  will I make a claim, do I need to pay excess? Will my car most likely be scrapped? Will I get buttons for it? Am I better paying to fix it myself and being out of pocket? 

Just annoyed someone pays no due care and attention and I'm left holding the can. 

For other info. His car was a company car, so he is willing to let insurance do the sorting.

TIA

[Deleted User]

If you claim in your insurance you will need to pay the excess. If you claim in the other guy's then you won't, but in either case they will likely write off the car and offer you a small cash settlement.

This is a common problem. You have a known reliable car that you trust and are sure of the history of. They are only obligated to give you the value of a random 20 year old Audi A4, in average condition, no need for a full service history etc.

Clearly they are not going to put you back in the position you were in. Basically you are screwed. Maybe you can get it fixed cheap, and a few hundred quid from insurance.

angrycrow

If only the door is damaged, i.e. no damage to sill or A or B post I would look on eBay and local scrap yards for a colour matching door. If you don't feel up to changing it yourself an independent garage should be able to do it relatively cheaply. 

Take photos before and keep the receipts. Send them to his insurers, if they quibble point out you have saved them the cost of a couple of weeks car hire which would be more than your repair costs.

That way you get to keep your car without it being written off. 

Drivers door not opening is an MOT failure and technically renders the vehicle unroadworthy.

daveyjp

I'd be looking for a new door from a breakers yard.

DullGreyGuy

Swampy3k said:

But my question is it worth actually claiming the insurance? My car is a 20 year old Audi A4, however to me it's a bulletproof, never let me down tank of a car that still had plenty of life in it (91k mileage) the problem is with it being so old, even the insurance company value or at like 400. 

I have the fear of  will I make a claim, do I need to pay excess? Will my car most likely be scrapped? Will I get buttons for it? Am I better paying to fix it myself and being out of pocket? 

Just annoyed someone pays no due care and attention and I'm left holding the can. 

For other info. His car was a company car, so he is willing to let insurance do the sorting.

The difference between declaring a non-fault accident and a non-fault claim is typically very small... as he is letting his insurers deal with the matter it would be high risk to "forget" to mention it at all. 

Technically you should pay your excess on all first party claims against your policy (you dont pay one for third party claims) however in some circumstances some insurers will waive the excess if they are confident of a full recovery but its a gesture of goodwill not a right. 

You'd need to check in the Glass Guide to see what they value your vehicle at given the exact variant, age, mileage etc but it feels likely a 20 year old car needing a replacement door and possibly more would be a total loss. With most insurers you are however entitled to buy back the salvage (in practice they just net off the salvage from the settlement) so you get some cash and get to keep the car. 

You do have the option of claiming from the third party insurer (note you have no Ombudsman rights if you do this) and could get a quote from a more back street place/breakers yard etc and ask for Cash In Lieu of Repairs which with the lower costs than the bodyshops and new parts an insurer would use may avoid the vehicle being a total loss. 

Flight3287462

My plan would be to claim off the guys insurance and get £500-£1,500, pay to keep the salvage and then just buy a door from a breakers yard as mentioned above.

(This assumes just the door is damaged)

Nobbie1967

A quick look on Autotrader shows 20 years old A4’s at around £1500, so the insurers are not going to repair it, they will offer cash in lieu of a repair for the current value minus it’s salvage value if you keep the car.

I had similar recently with my car and contacted my own insurer (LV) to notify them of the accident and ask them what they would pay out based on my description of the damage. They said they would waive the excess due to it obviously being the third parties fault (they were sure of recovering the cost) and assessed the car would be a write off and offered me the full £3600 valuation, but I could keep the car if they withheld the £800 salvage value.

With these figures to hand I phoned the third parties insurers and they said their insured had accepted liability and offered me much the same as my own insurers. After sending them some pictures of the damage, they transferred the money to my account and the claim was settled and the car has been marked as a Cat S on the insurers database. I still have the V5, but will need to inform any buyer of the Car S marker if I sell.

I went direct to the 3rd party insurer as it avoided any issues with my current policy being terminated due to the total loss claim which I believe is fairly standard practise. I also thought it would be quicker.

Keep an eye on eBay for a suitable door, should cost about £70 if you can go and collect it and a couple of hours at a garage to fit.

good luck.

caprikid1

Flight3287462 said:

My plan would be to claim off the guys insurance and get £500-£1,500, pay to keep the salvage and then just buy a door from a breakers yard as mentioned above.

(This assumes just the door is damaged)

If you claim directly off their insurance company you should be able to prevent them putting a CATEGORY MARKER on the car. Stick to your guns but it can be hard work, an accident with a DIRECT LINE DRIVER left me thousands out of pocket.