Sons no fault accident - old car, so his insurers want to write his car off

simon30301

Son, living miles away from us, was hit on a roundabout last Thursday - his car is 15 years old...the other driver went to his insurers, and by the evening, son had an email offer from their claims management co.
I told him, before accepting the offer, to ring his insurers to advise them (Churchill) who told him they would take care of everything, and not to use any third party company. This was Friday.
Yesterday, the repair shop made contact, then told him that Churchill wanted to write off his car, and that he would get a call from them this Thursday.
He wants to keep his car really - the damage is just a rear bumper and one rear light. He is currently walking to a couple of local body shops, and his usual garage to get prices based on his photos. He has established that the spares are available via eBay, for probably around £200.
One so far is £2,500, way more than the car is worth. Mercedes C class, 15 years old, worth maybe £1200-1500.
My suggestion to him was to get sensible quotes then talk to his insurers, to see if they will unwrite off his car, and allow him to get it repaired - his issue, if they agree, a big if I guess - is then how does he get the money back from the other driver easily? Would Churchill do this for him, or is that very unlikely?
I'm not sure where he stands with all this - he is also not at his best in these situations, he's a little unsure of himself.
Any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.

Arunmor

How this works is he will be offered the insurance valuation, at which point he can then request a figure for buying back the salvage (hopefully he will have some ideas of cost to repair by then).  I hope he is still in possession of the car that makes it much more straightforward and saves the insurers storage and transport fees.

He needs to be careful though ona 15 year old car if it is anything more than just bent panels then it might be better to let the car go.

He also needs to careful about hidden damage if in doubt factor that possibility into his sums. 

simon30301

Arunmor said:

How this works is he will be offered the insurance valuation, at which point he can then request a figure for buying back the salvage (hopefully he will have some ideas of cost to repair by then).  I hope he is still in possession of the car that makes it much more straightforward and saves the insurers storage and transport fees.

He needs to be careful though ona 15 year old car if it is anything more than just bent panels then it might be better to let the car go.

He also needs to careful about hidden damage if in doubt factor that possibility into his sums. 

Thanks - yes, he still has the car, its driveable - the damage seems to be just the rear bumper and a tail light - it was a low speed collision.
He's in the process of getting quotes, he's already established the availability of the relevant parts on eBay; once he has quotes, I've suggested he speak to Churchills to negotiate; his other issue is how he gets costs back from the other driver.
Appreciate your help.

Arunmor

Even better try and get a bumper the same colour that will save a fair bit.  Or alternatively on a 15 year old car I might be tempted not to bother getting it painted.How are his MOTs going?  Any mention of rust?

victor2

If he can buy it at scrap value from the insurers and repair it for less than the insurers will pay him for the write-off, then he keeps his car and pockets a little bit of cash.

However, it will show as an insurance write-off if he tries to sell it in the future, which will reduce its value. So if he plans to keep it until it has no further value to him or anyone else (except as scrap) then that can be a good outcome.

Brie

They say it's a write off as, to them, it's uneconomical to repair.  i.e. repairs cost more than the car.

So as others say - see what they offer, compare that to what buying that same car would be  (same make, model, year, mileage)  and negotiate based on that with the right to retain the car.  

Biggest thing to ensure is that the tap on the bumper didn't actually put the frame out of alignment.  OH had that happen but it wasn't noticed until months later.

cw8825

simon30301 said:

Arunmor said:

How this works is he will be offered the insurance valuation, at which point he can then request a figure for buying back the salvage (hopefully he will have some ideas of cost to repair by then).  I hope he is still in possession of the car that makes it much more straightforward and saves the insurers storage and transport fees.

He needs to be careful though ona 15 year old car if it is anything more than just bent panels then it might be better to let the car go.

He also needs to careful about hidden damage if in doubt factor that possibility into his sums. 

Thanks - yes, he still has the car, its driveable - the damage seems to be just the rear bumper and a tail light - it was a low speed collision.
He's in the process of getting quotes, he's already established the availability of the relevant parts on eBay; once he has quotes, I've suggested he speak to Churchills to negotiate; his other issue is how he gets costs back from the other driver.
Appreciate your help.

If the insurer pays him
what costs is he needing to recover from the other driver directly?

Mildly_Miffed

Buying some used parts off eBay for £200 is fine if you're DIYing.

But insurers don't - can't - just do that.
Those bits need collecting. Somebody has to be paid to do that.

They need fitting. Somebody has to be paid to do that.

If you DIY it, and the paint match is off or the bumper's scratched, you'll shrug. Would you accept it from an insurance job?

What if there's more damage behind the bumper? What if the bumper doesn't just fit straight on? What if the light has electrical issues?

Then there's the cost of the hire car while it's being done.

THAT's why insurers only use manufacturer new parts, and why they make an allowance for other damage when they make the write-off decision. A grand-and-a-bit of car is going to be written off.

But that's not necessarily the end of it.
He has a choice, usually.
£1200 payout, car's gone.
£300 withheld from the payout, keep the car.
He then has the car and £900 cash, and can replace the bumper and light with £200 eBay ones himself. He's got a fixed car and £700 cash. OK, so the car's now a CatN write-off. That's meaningless on a car of that age and value.

Aretnap

simon30301 said:
his other issue is how he gets costs back from the other driver.

It's not clear what you mean by this part. Most of his costs (the value of the car, or the cost of repairs if he can persuade them to repair it) will be paid by his insurer, who will then claim them back themselves from the third party insurer.

His insurer may waive his excess if it's a clear no fault claim, but if they don't then he can claim that directly from the third party insurer - it is usually just a matter of writing to them with a copy of the receipt for the excess after liability had been settled. 

What other costs do you think he can reclaim?

(If you mean the cost of repairing the car after he's bought it back he can't claim those costs. The write off payment IS the compensation for the damage to his car - it's his choice whether he wants to spend that money on a different car, on buying back the old car and doing the repairs himself, or not replace the car at all and spending it on a holiday or whatever instead).

DullGreyGuy

cw8825 said:

simon30301 said:

Arunmor said:

How this works is he will be offered the insurance valuation, at which point he can then request a figure for buying back the salvage (hopefully he will have some ideas of cost to repair by then).  I hope he is still in possession of the car that makes it much more straightforward and saves the insurers storage and transport fees.

He needs to be careful though ona 15 year old car if it is anything more than just bent panels then it might be better to let the car go.

He also needs to careful about hidden damage if in doubt factor that possibility into his sums. 

Thanks - yes, he still has the car, its driveable - the damage seems to be just the rear bumper and a tail light - it was a low speed collision.
He's in the process of getting quotes, he's already established the availability of the relevant parts on eBay; once he has quotes, I've suggested he speak to Churchills to negotiate; his other issue is how he gets costs back from the other driver.
Appreciate your help.

If the insurer pays him
what costs is he needing to recover from the other driver directly?

It sounds like the OP was suggesting withdrawing the claim and getting the repairs done privately hence then having the repair costs as an out of pocket expense. 

It's unlikely to be the best approach and depending on the repair costs more likely better to buy back the salvage and pay for repairs from the TL settlement. 

caprikid1

"Churchill is part of the Direct Line Group; policies are underwritten by the parent United Kingdom Insurance Limited."

I will get slammed here but they are shocking to deal with.

Personally I would not deal with Churchill .

Speak to the third parties insurer tell them exactly what you want as a settlement for the accident. Very simple.

If you can avoid hire cars etc, this will help.

A third party CANNOT put a category marker against your car.

Ask the 3rd party for X amount in FULL AND FINAL SETTLEMENT - £3000 sounds in the right ball park.

Then get the car repaired.