Car insurance settlement

flaneurs_lobster

Brie said:

Then mom takes the cash, gets the local shop to bang it back into shape for a £500 or whatever and she can drive off with the car she likes and money in the bank.  

Don't think that's how insurance write-offs work, doesn't the car belong to the insurance company? They won't be re-insuring it anyways. 

DullGreyGuy

flaneurs_lobster said:

paul2louise said:

Mum was reversed into on Sunday and has now received a written off settlement from IMS.

It's been a while since I've made a motor claim, but isn't two days extraordinarily quick for a settlement offer?

Not particularly, especially for an old car. 

Brie said:

So this is all based on pictures, not a mechanic looking at it?  How do they know it's an actual write off??  More likely they are calling it that because it's not economical to repair a car that old.  

Most 12 year old cars will be written off by photos as not economical to repair. Cat N and S are perfectly repairable just not worth the money to do so when you have to pay the rates insurers do with a full fat respray etc. So why pay an engineer £150 to visit the car when photos will show the condition, mileage and everything you need for a valuation. 

Brie said:

So look at Autotrader to see if you can price match.  Tell them to up the price.  Get a real person to look at the car and see if it's moderately repairable.  A car that old might be written off for relatively superficial damage so you/mom might want to accept an offer on the proviso you get to keep the car.  Then mom takes the cash, gets the local shop to bang it back into shape for a £500 or whatever and she can drive off with the car she likes and money in the bank.  

Keeping the salvage is normally an option but your settlement would be reduced by what their salvage merchant would have paid them, normally circa 20% of the valuation but it can vary notably depending on their exact arrangements. 

flaneurs_lobster said:

Brie said:

Then mom takes the cash, gets the local shop to bang it back into shape for a £500 or whatever and she can drive off with the car she likes and money in the bank.  

Don't think that's how insurance write-offs work, doesn't the car belong to the insurance company? They won't be re-insuring it anyways. 

It does normally but most will allow you to retain the salvage for the value their salvage merchant would have paid. 

If it's a cat N then the insurance just continues. If its an S, meaning it has structural damage, then there are a few more hoops to jump through before it can be returned to the road.

paul2louise

Brie said:

So this is all based on pictures, not a mechanic looking at it?  How do they know it's an actual write off??  More likely they are calling it that because it's not economical to repair a car that old.  

So look at Autotrader to see if you can price match.  Tell them to up the price.  Get a real person to look at the car and see if it's moderately repairable.  A car that old might be written off for relatively superficial damage so you/mom might want to accept an offer on the proviso you get to keep the car.  Then mom takes the cash, gets the local shop to bang it back into shape for a £500 or whatever and she can drive off with the car she likes and money in the bank.  

Yes I had to use an app and upload lots of photos. The damage is to the left passenger back door, wheel arch and split tyre. I think it's quite bad