help! Write off at 17! Ouch

Fiverqueen

Hi Merciless.

You have my sympathies for the accident - I used to work in LIv Vic's motor claims dept before I escaped (!), and I must say they are usually very fair with their valuations. If you don't agree with what they give you, give them a ring and see what they can do.The engineers sometimes (not always) give a between value, ie £3400-£3500, and they will obviously offer you the lower figure first to see if you'll accept it. It's always worth asking if they can increase, even if it seems a fair offer! It's worth checking Parkers guide too, just so you know all the figures - and you can check how much cars like yours are going for in the local papers too as they'll accept this as evidence to increase a value in a dispute.

Re your insurance, to be honest, it would have gone up anyway when you declare you're now the main user, irrespective of the accident. They know about the acc, and if you get quotes from anyone else you'll have to declare it, so you're a bit stuck either way. The only thing is, if you do keep the policy in your parents name but tell Liv Vic the changes, you will benefit from your parents no claims discount - although I wouldn't be surprised if they stick a pile of premium loadings on you. Sorry the outlook isn't any brighter on that one.

Hope this helps a bit.

scheming_gypsy

i'm no expert myself but looking at picture 5 there doesn't look like a lot of damage. the front bumper looks intact so you hit it straight on so probably very little chance of damaging the chassis.

If it's not a right off try and find out what work needs doing from them and get a price from an independant garage but tell them it's NOT an insurance job. If you've got a high excess and you're expecting your insurance to rocket because of it then it might be a better idea to fix it privately.
You'll still probably need to declare it when applying for insurance but 1 accident with no claim shouldn't have too much affect. Personally though i can't see why we have to tell the insurance company if we haven't made a claim but they still want to know.

MercilessKiller

zzzLazyDaisy wrote:

They may be able to fix that. Provided there isn't any serious chassis damage, it might be just a case of a new bonnet, lights, and sorting out electrical connections. Then at least you would still have your car.

The insurance is another matter....

BTW after my accident I had trouble sleeping. I found Valerina from Boots helped to break the cycle (herbal remedy - valerian, chamomile and hops, I think).

Daisy

I will have a look in boots for some tomorrow... Thank you for the tip.

As for the fixing, some comments on here have made things look a little brighter. I would be a lot happier if i had a fixed car but higher insurancer rather than no car, and then higher insurace for any further worse car if you get what I mean.

I think i'm mostly worried about all these costs, as I am soon to become a University student and we all know how bad it gets.

I also now have this label as a bad 17 year old driver for smashing up my first car kind of thing, which is alittle unfair as, even the land rover driver admitted responsibility!

The law does suck sometimes!

I will make sure we try to argue the price if it is written off just to get a little higher. Thank you for that tip as well Fiverqueen. As for the premiums, I suppose I should have a look to see if any other companies offer cheaper premiums for a situation of my kind!

If I wasn't going to uni then i'd have that no claims protection, how frustrating that it seems to favour people who don't go to university.

MercilessKiller

scheming_gypsy wrote:

i'm no expert myself but looking at picture 5 there doesn't look like a lot of damage. the front bumper looks intact so you hit it straight on so probably very little chance of damaging the chassis.

If it's not a right off try and find out what work needs doing from them and get a price from an independant garage but tell them it's NOT an insurance job. If you've got a high excess and you're expecting your insurance to rocket because of it then it might be a better idea to fix it privately.
You'll still probably need to declare it when applying for insurance but 1 accident with no claim shouldn't have too much affect. Personally though i can't see why we have to tell the insurance company if we haven't made a claim but they still want to know.

"You'll still probably need to declare it when applying for insurance but 1 accident with no claim shouldn't have too much affect."

I suppose it really depends on the cost of the damage. it could still be a very expensive bodywork job thus it would only be necessary to claim if the cost will be more than what the new premiums will be. If the new premiums are higher than the price to fix the car, then going private would prob be the cheapest option even if still rather expensive.

I will decide the plan of action when I find out the exact damage and if repairable.

There was obvious damage to the inside of the bonnet but only at the front. I am not an expert so have no idea how serious it was, but there was cracks here and there so I know its not just the body work!

Thanks

scheming_gypsy

if you do decide to fix it privately look round scrap yards for 206's with a backend shunt. Even if you get a new bonnet it'll need to be resprayed so might has well get a second hand bonnet to save the cash.
The bonnet will need replacing as it is crumpled pretty badly.

MercilessKiller

I will post tomorrow on what the situation is and ask for guidance on further steps.

This forum is a God send... needed some sort of help. Very hard coping on my own atm with all of this!

Thank you for everyones help.

Fiverqueen

Btw, it's the policyholder who builds up the ncd, not the named drivers or the car, so if you take out a policy in your own name you will start at 0% anyway. On a plus point, the sooner you get your own policy the sooner you get to full no claims so you can protect it!

All the best for tomorrow.

Bennifred

So sorry that you're having to go through all of this stress at a time when you should just be looking forward to going to Uni (well done on getting a place) and enjoying your 18th. But it WILL get sorted and you are far from being the only 17 yr old to have been involved in a car accident! Try not to worry too much - the main thing is no-one was seriously hurt.

Out of interest, do you really need to have a car whilst you are at Uni? It is just that it is another (high!) cost to be borne at what is a very expensive time anyway. Not many students run cars, with good reason!

MercilessKiller

Well, I realise that I was lucky to have a car anyway.

The car was my 18th birthday present tho i did put a lot of money towards it. I would have been happy with no car, but to have one and lose it, especially so close to Uni, is the worst feeling!

Also, I have problems as it is with friends, so the people I do know I want to stay close to and see a lot, so the car is really the only option this can be suceeded. The same with going home. Its a 3 change 4 hour train journey when only a couple of down the M6 in the car.

I understand it will get sorted and I'm not the only one to experience this kind of situation, But I think everything going on at once is started to do my head in. A few months ago we moved to a village down south, where I don't know anyone so my car was my only sense of freedom. With that gone its quite upsetting... so lots of downers at the moment.

Will have to live it out though.

Thanks again

Bennifred

Merciless, things will get better you know, and you can be sure that you will meet, get to know and like lots of new friends when you get to Uni! That is not to say that you can't treasure the friends you already have, of course! But they do say that when you go away for the first time, you shouldn't go home for the first month, to give yourself a proper chance to settle in and get involved with all the things which will be on offer. If you are returning to old friends all the time, you won't be giving yourself the best chance of making new friends. There will be loads to choose from, I'm sure!

Hope you have a great time on your birthday, despite the current problems! :beer:

Which Uni will you be going to - there may be others on here in the same position who may be able to reassure you?