Non-economical repair

gnu43

Hi there, 

I have a question relating to my car following a FAULT accident. 

The other party has made a claim, i rear ended their SUV, visibly the damage was minor, a little crack in their bumper, but I don’t really know if there was more damage. My bumper needs replacing - and the following day it was hard to get my car started… no cracked light or other damage. 


The cost for a new bumper on my car is c£1800. I was told yesterday that the car was non-economical to repair, and that I would get the cash value of the car, maybe around £2000. 

Today I have been told that they have decided they will repair it and return it to me the damage is considered a Category N. 

I will want to sell the car, but I’m worried I won’t get that much money, because there may be other faults they have not addressed and I’ll have to fix it again before selling it. All of this will be a hassle, and costly. 

I’m wondering if it is worth my while to ask the insurance company not to repair it and instead give me the cash value? And would this even be possible considering they have now said they will repair it - but .. I will take on repair costs. 

And will doing this further increase my new premium? 

Very convoluted sorry! 

I’d really appreciate the advice as I’ll have to have a conversation on Monday and think that I want the cash instead of my car - I’ll then be able to get another car. 

Many thanks 

Brie

I got cash value when I declined to have my car repaired following someone backing into me.  I told them what  I might sell it for (Autotrader) and they took that as a possible payout figure that the might have gone to other wise.  

Aretnap

gnu43 said:

Today I have been told that they have decided they will repair it and return it to me the damage is considered a Category N. 

That makes no sense. Write-off categories like Cat N are applied to, erm, cars that have been written off. If they are going to repair it they will not be writing it off - that's very much an either/or situation.

They should either
(1) Repair it and return it to you, in which case no write off marker would be applied to the car
(2) Write it off, pay you the full cash value (less your excess) and you never see the car again or
(3) If you really want to keep the car you can ask them to write it off, but give you the car back without repairing it and deduct the scrap value from the write off cheque. It's then up to you whether to repair the car, keep it as it is or sell it for scrap.That's the only situation in which you should be left in possession of a car with a wire off marker applied, and it's generally something that you have to actively ask for, not the default outcome.

daveyjp

If the damage is so light the insurance company are prepared to pay to have it repaired on a £2k car I'd tell them not to bother.

Mildly_Miffed

It will either be written off (and get a category) or it will be repaired. It won't be both.

If they're repairing it (because it's cheaper for them to repair it than write it off), you will not persuade them to spend more money by writing it off.

Arunmor

If this was me and taking your values at face value.

You say car is worth £2000.  Repair cost is £1800.

I would settle for £1800 buy back the car at scrap value hopefully.  Buy a second hand bumper put it back on the road and then run it until it dies.  You'll probably be up £1000k+.  You need to price up costs of 2nd hand bumper or repair thereof. 

jimjames

gnu43 said:

I will want to sell the car, but I’m worried I won’t get that much money, because there may be other faults they have not addressed and I’ll have to fix it again before selling it. All of this will be a hassle, and costly. 

If your car has been taken to a garage to be repaired they should sort all the faults related to the accident not just the broken bumper. That's why repairs are often so expensive because there are other issues found when the car is disassembled

DullGreyGuy

As others have said, you cannot have both a total loss category and the insurer repair it... they may have changed their mind about it being a total loss in which case the previously assigned category no longer applies. 

If it is repairable and not a total loss then they will consider giving you cash in lieu of repairs which typically will be the negotiated repair estimate less the VAT. 

jimjames said:

gnu43 said:

I will want to sell the car, but I’m worried I won’t get that much money, because there may be other faults they have not addressed and I’ll have to fix it again before selling it. All of this will be a hassle, and costly. 

If your car has been taken to a garage to be repaired they should sort all the faults related to the accident not just the broken bumper. 

Presumably they are saying the mechanical issues are not related to the accident but have simply coincidently materialised shortly after the collision.