Car is being written off but we dont want that

CakeAddict

Hi Everyone. I'm hoping someone can assist with this stressful dilemma (I did search and couldn't find the exact same thing on here).

A few weeks ago we were hit from behind by a van. 100% their fault. Dash cam front and rear shows this so there is no issue here. Their vehicle was dented (ford transit) but ours came off pretty unscathed. Closer inspection shows slight dent when the light catches it, and on the painted bumper you can see some stress marks if you look closely.

We informed our insurance company which we are fully comp with and they said to take the car to a repair center to assess. We did this and a young lad took some photos with his camera phone. He did not open boot (i'd already done this and there were no issues) or look underneath.

After this we didn't hear anything until this week when I received a text message saying "following an assessment, the damage to your vehicle is uneconomical to repair and it is considered a 'write-off'. The market value of your vehicle is £xxxx.xx. We will deduct your policy excess of 0. Please contact...."

After reading online i'm extremely worried now. The car (12yo VW estate) is absolutely fine, we have been the only drivers from new. We do not want to get rid of it. We do not want the market value to buy a similar car which could have untold problems (again we've recently spent £600 on new timing belt etc only a month and half ago). Are they going to force us to do this? Is our insurance null and void (I pay yearly in advance). Surely if it is the other parties fault they should pay not us.

I've not contacted them as I dont want to be led the wrong way. I'm very worried that with no fault of our own we are going to loose out massively. Any advice would be appreciated :

wongataa

It is a 12 year old car so any work on it is likely to put it in write off territory as it won't be worth much.

 

Ask the insurance company if you can buy back the car.  That way you keep it.

400ixl

Buy back option would be the logical choice if you plan to keep it until it is uneconomical to repair. I would check what category they have classed it. Then run it to a local MOT place and have them give it a quick check to make sure any damage wouldn't mean a failure. If not then buy it back and take the additional money to repair it if you want to or keep.

daveyjp

If after being checked out the car is OK call the insurance and tell them to close the claim for vehicle damage.  

pseudodox

Similar thing happened to my car when it was 9 years old.  Structurally it was fine, but cosmetically the back end was a mess.  I bought it back for £200, got it repaired at my own expense initially & pursued the insurance of the person who hit me until they paid up.  I had owned the car from new so did not want to lose it.  It is now 22 years old & still motoring so the £200 was well worth it.  Had I scrapped it & bought a replacement with my own minimal insurance pay out I doubt that replacement would still be on the road.

Your own insurance funded repair will insist on new parts & guarantees.  My repairs used parts reclaimed from a front shunted car.  When fitted & painted to match the car looked like new.  Use a reputable body shop & you will hopefully likewise get a lot more years from your car.  If it gets "scrapped" it will be sold at auction to someone who will do it up & put it back on the road.  Imagine how you will feel if you see it around, whilst you are driving a replacement that came as second hand.

DullGreyGuy

pseudodox said:

Similar thing happened to my car when it was 9 years old.  Structurally it was fine, but cosmetically the back end was a mess.  I bought it back for £200, got it repaired at my own expense initially & pursued the insurance of the person who hit me until they paid up. 

This doesn't work legally and if it happened in practice either they made a mistake or the sums involved were too small to continue fighting over. 

You can only have one claim for vehicle damage against the third party either that is the total loss which your insurers paid you and they recovered it from the third party or its your private repairs. If you had done this to us and got to me before your insurers had we'd have paid your costs, assuming less than the total loss value but then denied your insurers claim against us which would mean your insurers count it as a Fault claim on your record as they cannot get their outlay back.

Technically this would be undue enrichment and you could face significant restitutions if the insurer ever spotted it. 

pseudodox

My insurer was perfectly aware of the full details of the incident & said if I paid the repairs myself then claimed direct damages from the third party whilst the incident would be on my record it would not affect my premium at renewal.  Which it didn't.  The accident management company who my insurers referred me to provided a courtesy car & claimed that cost also from the third party.

powerspowers

Buy it back and pay for the repairs yourself. I had a similar issue. Car written off, insurance offered me ~£4K. I bought it back and they paid out ~£3900, repairs cost ~£300 and I eventually sold the car 5 years later. Hope it works out as well for you!