My friend borrowed my car, had an accident and now it’s being written off.

TT89

My friend was going on holiday to a remote area and she was worried about charging facilities for her electric car so I let her take my petrol car while I drove her car. We took out fully comprehensive temporary insurance on both cars. Unfortunately a driver reversed into her at speed and did in the passenger doors (she suspects he’d been drinking). Both passenger doors still open and shut but they make an awful noise whilst doing so and there is significant damage. My friend got straight on the phone to her insurance who said it would be fixed, and she continued to drive it around on her holiday. When she got back from her holiday she continued to drive it whilst I had her car for about three weeks, as we were worried I’d be without a car if the garage came to collect it. On Monday she phones asking to swap the cars back as her one is due to go in the garage. I said I was worried about being without a car when the garage come to collect it but she assured me that she’d ticked the courtesy car box and that I could drive that. Then last night she phoned me to say the garage has phoned her to say the car has been written off. This is after 3 weeks of them saying they will schedule a repair. I’m pretty upset as not sure I can drive it now as insurance will be invalid? I live rurally so I need a car. Has anyone bought a car back from insurance after it’s been written off? How much out of pocket were you for the repairs? I bought this car second hand in April for 4000 but I imagine the settlement figure will be significantly less. Any advice welcome? Thanks 

Mark_d

The car being written off doesn't necessarily mean it is unsafe to drive - It just means that the insurance company think it'll be cheaper to pay the value of the car than to pay for the necessary repairs & courtesy car. Without getting a professional assessment of the damage, it is difficult to know how much it would cost to get the minimum level of repairs done.
The simplest things would be to buy a new car.  I don't know what your settlement figure would be but you might be able to negotiate this.

chrisw

Often, it can work out cheaper buying  the car back and getting the repairs done yourself. Insurance companies will often insist on replacement of parts rather than repair and use brand new parts. If it's a fairly common car, you may be able to find someone who can source and fit a couple of second hand doors in the right colour.

lisyloo

You need to know the category of the write off - more info here
What is a Cat A, B, S or N Insurance write-off? | RAC Drive
You need to know the settlement figure and the cost of repairs before making a decision.

Buying the car back can be done (depending on the damage) but whether it's worth it depends on the factors above.

It also depends on what you're willing to tolerate.
For example would you tolerate different colour doors from a scrap yard?
or do you was a dealer respray?
This is a significant factor as to blend the colour properly to get an exact match means painting a large area of the car i.e. beyond the doors.

So if you're not bothered about resale value i.e. you intend to keep it and don't mind having mis-matching colour doors and don't mind scrap yard parts then it's likely to be more feasible than if you want it returned with fully matching paintwork. The insurance will have made their decision not to repair it based on returned the car to it's former glory. Paintwork is expensive on cars as it's difficult to get a match after the rest of your car has weathered and faded in the sun, so it's a bespoke job.

You're right that you'll probably be disappointed with the settlement figure.

I would hope a friend would help you given you helped them in the first place, but I suspect you're going to find out if they are a true friend.

DullGreyGuy

TT89 said:

My friend was going on holiday to a remote area and she was worried about charging facilities for her electric car so I let her take my petrol car while I drove her car. We took out fully comprehensive temporary insurance on both cars. Unfortunately a driver reversed into her at speed and did in the passenger doors (she suspects he’d been drinking). Both passenger doors still open and shut but they make an awful noise whilst doing so and there is significant damage. My friend got straight on the phone to her insurance who said it would be fixed, and she continued to drive it around on her holiday. When she got back from her holiday she continued to drive it whilst I had her car for about three weeks, as we were worried I’d be without a car if the garage came to collect it. On Monday she phones asking to swap the cars back as her one is due to go in the garage. I said I was worried about being without a car when the garage come to collect it but she assured me that she’d ticked the courtesy car box and that I could drive that. Then last night she phoned me to say the garage has phoned her to say the car has been written off. This is after 3 weeks of them saying they will schedule a repair. I’m pretty upset as not sure I can drive it now as insurance will be invalid? I live rurally so I need a car. Has anyone bought a car back from insurance after it’s been written off? How much out of pocket were you for the repairs? I bought this car second hand in April for 4000 but I imagine the settlement figure will be significantly less. Any advice welcome? Thanks 

It being a write off will end her insurance on the vehicle once it's settled but won't impact yours. If it's a Cat N and roadworthy (eg no sharp edges) it can continue to be driven as it is. 

Some people will be massively in pocket if they decide to repair it themselves or just live with the damage. Obv if you take it to a high street garage and get a full repair job done on it then it's likely to be more than the settlement value as otherwise the insurer would have repaired it themselves. 

Goudy

There's a danger that damage has been done to the B pillar if someone has hit both doors with some force.

It could be why the doors are making a horrid noise when opened/closed.

The pillars is part of the cars structural strength.
You have the A pillars that run down the sides of the windscreen.
B pillars that run between the doors (or just behind the doors on a 3 door car)
C pillars than run down the sides of the rear window.

Any damage to any of these, even if they are hammered out straight will leave a weak point and certain points on a car are meant to take the brunt of the force and deform in the event of an accident to divert the force away from the occupants. 

Even if you get them fairly straight, you'll have trouble making any replacement doors fit.
The rear doors hinge from the B pillar and the fronts lock to it.

If you are considering buying it back off the insurance company, you need a bodyshop to look at it now.
See how bad the damage really is.

If it's just the doors, buying it back might be a good option.
If it has further structural damage, I would walk away from it.

lisyloo

Can you speak to the garage that have it and see what they say?
they may impart something re structural damage that would affect your decision

MeteredOut

Just a guess but the "I ticked the courtesy car box" could have affected the insurers decision to write off the car.

Courtesy car costs have increased considerably for insurers over the past couple of years, and the increased length of time people require them for (eg, due to delays in the garage sourcing spare parts) has just exacerbated the issue. But, once written off, its very likely that no courtesy car will be provided under the policy. ie. the courtesy car is only provided when the car is being repaired.

Okell

Mark_d said:

... I don't know what your settlement figure would be but you might be able to negotiate this.

Won't it be the OP's "friend" who has to do all this?  The OP isn't the insured - AIUI.

DullGreyGuy

MeteredOut said:

Just a guess but the "I ticked the courtesy car box" could have affected the insurers decision to write off the car. 

Traditional courtesy cars are provided by the garage themselves, hence not available if the car is written off. In principle there is no direct charge for them if the insurer provides them for all customers, we only did for some policy types and there was a £1 labour rate difference between with or without courtesy car irrespective if one was actually provided.

Nobbie1967

As long as it’s a fairly common car, it should be pretty cheap to buy a couple of secondhand doors in the right colour. I did this when my dad gouged both his doors on a bollard. Paint match was perfect suprisingly. As above, a lot depends on whether there is damage to the B pillar. Could you post photos?