What to do about car written off

Fen1

Hi. I have never been in this situation before and seeking impartial advice.

My parked car was shunted by another parked car which had been crashed into. Therefore my car was not directly involved in the crash.

I contacted my insurance as there was minor cosmetic damage to my car, and visible damage to the shunting car from where it has gone into mine. The police also advised me to report it as it was indirectly involved in a serious RTI.

I have heard from the garage which was meant to asses my car that they have been informed by my insurance that my car is a write-off. I have yet to hear directly from my insurance.

I suspect that they are writing off my car without even looking at it as it is over 10 years old. I do not want to purchase another car - my current car is in very good condition as I have been very particular about caring for it. It is a very big car ( I carry very large items for my hobbies, too big for a normal sized car). Replacing my current car with something of equal size and quality will cost me a great deal of money - the insurance will only pay out a fraction of the true replacement cost ( re-sale value of an old car is obviously a pittance.)

What can I do? My regular mechanic visually  checked over the car and said it was fine - very minor cosmetic damage and nothing visibly structural. This was not a full assessment, but I wanted to make sure the car was roadworthy after the bump.

Please advise in words of one syllable. 

QrizB

Take write off cash.

Buy car back from insurer*.

Run car until dead (you or it).

* Sorry, can't immediately think of a single-syllable synonym for "insurer".

daveyjp

You don't have to claim so live with the damage.

Alternatively if you want it fixed get a quote from your mechanic and if it is reasonable ask the third party insurer if they will pay the bill.

Myci85

If cosmetic it will be written off category N. Ask your insurer if you can buy it back, they usually just deduct cost of scrapping from the payout and you keep the car. 

I did this and it didn't affect insurance premium which was my worry. Had my garage check it over for peace of mind. This was over 4 years ago and the car is still with us. We don't intend selling it ever so the cat N makes no difference. 

sheenas

I had a similar incident, In my case the guy shunned two other parked cars into mine and my car into another. Lots of damage.

You are directly involved even though you were not in the car, by the sounds of things it will be graded as cat n right off, this will be recorded on your v5. It sounds bad but it’s not really as in the  insurance world, simple repairs are super expensive.  I would strike a deal to buy the car back, so negotiating is required. You can then either leave the damage as is or fix it. 

MyRealNameToo

sheenas said:

I had a similar incident, In my case the guy shunned two other parked cars into mine and my car into another. Lots of damage.

You are directly involved even though you were not in the car, by the sounds of things it will be graded as cat n right off, this will be recorded on your v5. It sounds bad but it’s not really as in the  insurance world, simple repairs are super expensive.  I would strike a deal to buy the car back, so negotiating is required. You can then either leave the damage as is or fix it. 

It will be recorded on the MIAFTR but it won't appear on the V5c, only Cat S appears on it. 

Fen1 said:

Hi. I have never been in this situation before and seeking impartial advice.

My parked car was shunted by another parked car which had been crashed into. Therefore my car was not directly involved in the crash.

I contacted my insurance as there was minor cosmetic damage to my car, and visible damage to the shunting car from where it has gone into mine. The police also advised me to report it as it was indirectly involved in a serious RTI.

I have heard from the garage which was meant to asses my car that they have been informed by my insurance that my car is a write-off. I have yet to hear directly from my insurance.

I suspect that they are writing off my car without even looking at it as it is over 10 years old. I do not want to purchase another car - my current car is in very good condition as I have been very particular about caring for it. It is a very big car ( I carry very large items for my hobbies, too big for a normal sized car). Replacing my current car with something of equal size and quality will cost me a great deal of money - the insurance will only pay out a fraction of the true replacement cost ( re-sale value of an old car is obviously a pittance.)

What can I do? My regular mechanic visually  checked over the car and said it was fine - very minor cosmetic damage and nothing visibly structural. This was not a full assessment, but I wanted to make sure the car was roadworthy after the bump.

Please advise in words of one syllable. 

I they write off your car you can often buy it back from them at the price they would have got had they kept the car. You get slightly less money but get to keep the car and it is up to you if you pay to fix it or live with it. 

Fen1

Thank you for all the advice. I will probably be back with more questions,.