Confused about difference Cat S or damage repaired

FlorayG

Asking for a friend, so I don't have all the details and she may well have misunderstood.

She had a side impact damage on her 30 year old classic Audi. Totally not her fault. She persuaded her insurance not to write it off but they agreed to pay for repair ( she has transcript of phone conversation). Now the repair cost - still not completed - is more than twice the value of the car and the insurance say they will only give her the value of the car and class it Cat C.

Isnt this writing it off? She says they haven't said so and now she's in a fight with them over repairs as she says they put no limit when they agreed to this. They've valued the car at £2,000 but never sent anyone out to asses it - surely they should have for a classic, as value very much depends on condition?

Curious to have people's thoughts, thanks. As I said, there may be details she has misunderstood or conveyed to me incorrectly

paul_c123

They won't class it Cat C as its the old, retired system of recording insurance write offs.

They are under an obligation to add a Cat marker if it is damaged, so they certainly will add a Cat S marker to the car. You cannot negotiate that they don't.

An insurance company would never commit to a "no limit" repair, they are a business. If it is a classic car (which 30 year old Audi is it? An actual nice one or a plebian one?) with more sentimental value than its monetary value, it sounds like it ought to have been insured as an "agreed value" and sounds like she's underinsured it.

jimjames

They've valued the car at £2,000 but never sent anyone out to asses it - surely they should have for a classic, as value very much depends on condition?

Unless it's an agreed valuation policy then there's no reason why they'd need to see it because of the age. In fact maybe less so due to the value and the cost of sending someone out. If she wants to dispute the valuation then condition could be one factor to use.

born_again

If she thinks it's a classic, did she have a classic policy with a agreed fixed value of the car?

FlorayG

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034358#Comment_82034358

Oh I understand now. No, she didn't and I'm sure she wouldn't have understood she needed that because 'obviously' it was in excellent condition

FlorayG

I understand that an insurance company won't pay for unlimited repairs. Her argument is that they didn't SAY that and how was she to know what they didn't say?

QrizB

> Her argument is that they didn't SAY that and how was she to know what they didn't say?

Had she read her policy document?

As an example, mine says:

> We may choose to replace them, to repair them or pay an amount equal to the loss or damage.

> We will not pay more than the market value of your car at the time of the loss less any excesses.

GDB2222

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034372#Comment_82034372

That’s a rather poor argument. The policyholder should understand what they are insured for. There’s no need for the insurance company to point out that they don’t cover above the value of the vehicle. It’s obvious.

However, I’d dispute the valuation, based on mileage and condition of the vehicle, together with service records. Have you looked at comparable vehicles on autotrader?

FlorayG

Thanks all. I thought that she has no chance with that argument and you agree with me. Similar vehicles for sale are £1,500-3,000 so she can't really argue the valuation.

Shes going to be stuck with paying most of the huge repair bill herself and I'm sure she also hasn't a clue of how much her insurance on a Cat Vehicle is going to go up by...

paul_c123

Why not just take the settlement then buy another similar car then?

Insurers write off cars because they are uneconomic to repair, after all. Sometimes an owner can do things differently and make it economically viable but often not.

GDB2222

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034436#Comment_82034436

She’s already incurred repair costs of £4000 apparently. So she really needs to understand what the final cost will be before deciding what to do.