I love my 2004 Honda Accord, finding an insurer that won't write it off after a minor knock

Sportacus

I know this car is not worth much, but it's done me very well and I want to keep it. I'd be furious if someone dents the door and my insurer will only offer £800 and take it away. I'm happy to pay extra for insurance that would cover say £5000 of body work repairs, but I can't find any such insurers. There are classic car insurers, but my car isn't that old yet. Anyone know any insurers that do provide bodywork repairs over the value of the car?

DullGreyGuy

The only ones offering guaranteed valuations are classic car insurance and then they have to agree that the value is appropriate. 

By over-insuring it and being able to claim the guaranteed value rather than the actual value creates a significant moral risk. If money is a bit tight you could "accidentally" damage the car, receive the £5k and use £800 to buy a replacement vehicle and use the £4,200 to repay the arrears on your mortgage/rent or whatever. 

I did once do a project on creating a mass market guaranteed value car insurance but that was intended to cover the difference between what someone thinks their car is worth and what it really is, again not for someone intentionally overinsuring it by a factor of over 5x. Unfortunately the required uplift in premium for those wanting to insurer at book price on day 1 was too much and went against the general drive to reduce premiums. 

Sea_Shell

Back in the day, you could have made a saving by insuring for Third party fire and theft only, and then effectively "self insure" for any other damage.

With the risk of a genuine total loss accident not being covered under your insurance.   

These days I understand the savings aren't as big for TPFT (if any) over Comprehensive.

CliveOfIndia

I understand completely where you're coming from.  I always run older cars that are worth peanuts but are (touch wood!) always reliable workhorses.

As others have mentioned, if it doesn't qualify for a classic policy you are, unfortunately, a bit snookered.  The approach I've always taken is to just ignore small dents and scratches (unless they need covering to prevent rust), do minor repairs myself (of course it's not to a professional standard, but it's good enough).  If things like a door or a bolt-on wing or bumper needs replacing, off to the scrapyard and pick up a replacement, then pick up a couple of rattle-cans of paint if needed, job's a good-un.

Of course, there's a limit to how much the average DIY-er can do themselves, but for most minor/medium bodywork damage you can actually do quite a reasonable repair yourself as long as you take your time.

Or, if push comes to shove, most professional bodyshops will take on "private" work for a fair bit less than they charge insurance companies.  It's always worth asking for a quote if needs be.

Herzlos

You'll always have the option of self-insuring the car yourself and repairing any damage you cause to it, and can usually buy it back from the other parties insurance at scrap value and repair it yourself.

maxmycardagain

you can buy it back off the insurers or fix it yourself (avoiding increased premiums and lost no claims)

maxmycardagain

Herzlos said:

You'll always have the option of self-insuring the car yourself and repairing any damage you cause to it, and can usually buy it back from the other parties insurance at scrap value and repair it yourself.

Not sure the general public would do that, it used to mean depositing a few million pounds with Lloyds of London, when you consider personal injury claims for long term care can exceed £2,000.000 you can see why pukka car insurance is really quite cheap

GenieBoy

maxmycardagain said:

Herzlos said:

You'll always have the option of self-insuring the car yourself and repairing any damage you cause to it, and can usually buy it back from the other parties insurance at scrap value and repair it yourself.

Not sure the general public would do that, it used to mean depositing a few million pounds with Lloyds of London, when you consider personal injury claims for long term care can exceed £2,000.000 you can see why pukka car insurance is really quite cheap

I think they meant the car is insured legally for the road with old school third party insurance and then keeping the money saved in your pocket in case of future body repairs. 

facade

The pragmatic approach is to simply not claim for minor body damage that leaves the car driveable, only claim if it really is a write-off. (Either put up with a dent in the door, or source a better one at a scrap yard)

If you are going to do that, you might as well go for the largest excess that reduces the policy price (there will be a "sweet spot" where increasing the excess no longer reduces the premium)

Alternatively, you have to claim and ensure that you can buy back the salvage, some insurers won't let you as they have a "deal" with a salvager to sell them everything so the salvager will pay good money for the wrecks without losing out to "cherry picking".

.

Grey_Critic

Sea_Shell said:

Back in the day, you could have made a saving by insuring for Third party fire and theft only, and then effectively "self insure" for any other damage.

It was £15.000 actually but in those days you could buy a car for a few hundrerds

DullGreyGuy

maxmycardagain said:

Herzlos said:

You'll always have the option of self-insuring the car yourself and repairing any damage you cause to it, and can usually buy it back from the other parties insurance at scrap value and repair it yourself.

Not sure the general public would do that, it used to mean depositing a few million pounds with Lloyds of London, when you consider personal injury claims for long term care can exceed £2,000.000 you can see why pukka car insurance is really quite cheap

There used to be the option of a £0.5m deposit with Accountant General of the Supreme Court, rather than Lloyds of London, but that was removed from the Road Traffic Act in 2019.

Lloyds of London is a market place and it itself doesnt offer insurance

GenieBoy said:

maxmycardagain said:

Herzlos said:

You'll always have the option of self-insuring the car yourself and repairing any damage you cause to it, and can usually buy it back from the other parties insurance at scrap value and repair it yourself.

Not sure the general public would do that, it used to mean depositing a few million pounds with Lloyds of London, when you consider personal injury claims for long term care can exceed £2,000.000 you can see why pukka car insurance is really quite cheap

I think they meant the car is insured legally for the road with old school third party insurance and then keeping the money saved in your pocket in case of future body repairs. 

Comprehensive insurance is typically the cheapest option for most people. Due to negative selection and lack of competition TPFT, TPO and RTA Only are more expensive in personal lines terms.