Car insurance claim

wanoennogs

I am getting conflicting advice from friends about this issue. I hoping somebody can end my confusion.

A couple of weeks ago I took my Mum out for her birthday. Another driver scratched the front passenger side near the bumper of my car as it was parked up. There are no dents just quite severe paint work damage. He scraped his car against mine. The other driver drove off.

Luckily there was 2 witnesses who got the other drivers reg number. Cut a log story short the other driver said he didn’t realise he damaged the paintwork on my car. He has however admitted liability. His insurance is paying out.

Last Thursday my car was taken away to have the paintwork done.

Today I been told my car has been put down as a total loss (not a write off).  As it is only paintwork damage and not body work or mechanical damage, I don't understand why it has been put down as a total loss.

I have been told by the insurers I can either write the car off and receive payment to the value of the car or I can take a lower payment and get the car repaired myself.  

I am getting conflicting advice from friends. Some are saying if I keep my car and get the repairs done myself the car will then be classed as a category S or category M and I will no longer be able get insurance on the car as it will be classed as written off. As it is only paintwork damage and not body work or mechanical damage, I don't understand that.

My questions are 

If I take the payment to get the paintwork repair done myself will I still be able to insure my car when the insurance is up for renewal?

If I take the payment to get the paintwork repair done myself will my current insurance policy be voided?

If my car does get classed as category M or S will the stop me from selling it on the future?

Thanks

Aretnap

You don't mention the age of the car but if it's an old low value car then pretty much any damage will result in it being written off. The insurer will be pricing for a full respray to ensure a good colour match - not a quick touch up with some paint from Halfords - and will be aware of the risk that they might find more damage once they do a full inspection. For a very low value car it might be cheaper to write it off than do the full inspection.

If your happy that it's just paintwork damage that you can touch up yourself to your satisfaction then accepting the write off cheque less the scrap value is almost certainly your best option. You can do a reasonable-ish job with the Halfords paint for a few pounds, and have whatever money is left over in your back pocket.

The fact that the car has a write off marker against it will have approximately zero impact on your insurance in future - it is perfectly possible to insure a cat N or S car and lost insurers don't even ask about such things. It might make the car slight harder to sell but if you were planning to keep it until it falls apart anyway then that's not a major consideration.

DullGreyGuy

wanoennogs said:

1) If I take the payment to get the paintwork repair done myself will I still be able to insure my car when the insurance is up for renewal?

2) If I take the payment to get the paintwork repair done myself will my current insurance policy be voided?

3) If my car does get classed as category M or S will the stop me from selling it on the future?

1) Yes, no issues with insuring Cat N or S cars (no such thing as Cat M)

2) Speak to your insurers, generally not

3) Cat N (Non-Structural) aren't even marked on the V5c and so sellable but at a slightly reduced price and some may even "forget" to mention it unless someone does a HPI Check. Cat S (Structural) does get marked on the V5c so is obvious to anyone buying it and as such has a bigger impact on price but still very sellable. If its just paint then it will be a Cat N

Total Loss, Beyond Economical Repair, Write Off are synonyms and used interchangeably. The only possible exception is things like a Cat A where legally the salvage must be crushed by someone with an appropriate licence and so to describe that as BER would be odd.

wanoennogs

Thank you all for the replies.