First car crash / write off and insurance advice please

_Jimlad_

_Jimlad_

_Jimlad_

Soldato
Joined
5 Jun 2005
Posts
20,890
Location
Southampton
Jees it happened first crash in 11 years and my beloved Honda CRV looks like a write off, edging out of a quiet private road onto what is a 30mph road with cars parked left and right all the way down, i get T-bombed my a young lad in a Nissan Skyline, he was motoring it big time, neighbours came out and pointed the finger at his speed, i saw him coming but the dude was looking at the bunch of student girls dressed as bumble bees that i had just had the pressure of seeing reserving out of my garage. He anchored on the breaks but locked up and must have hit me at 30...

i called the cops thinking the black marks would indicate his speed and what not, but they were simply not interested as no death had occurred. Called my insurance and they said will be hard for me to contest the blame even with pictures and witnesses as he had right or way. Looks like im gonna have to bite the bullet, car was worth about 1500 on paper but to me having just put it through and MOT and spent £300 it was worth a lot more.

So does anyone know what they % they set the repair rate at? And how one goes about buying it back? My insurance company are sending someone around to assess it but look bad, at least a new bonnet, wing and bumper with labour and any undercover damage its gonna be knocking on the market value. feel gutted as i was creeping out not pulling out and saw the danger but he was switched off and showing off and that's that i guess!

Advise welcome
 
If you saw him coming why didn't you stop? :confused:

As per your question, chances are if it's only worth £1500 then it'll be a write-off.
Even if your insurance company let you buy it back, is it really worth buying it back if it's so badly damaged?
 
Well if the car is worth £1500 then I would have thought anything up to the £1k mark would possibly be repaired.
Unfortunately things like "Just had a service" and "Just passed its MOT" doesn't really help.

When it comes to being written-off you will receive an offer that you don't have to accept.
If you feel the car is worth more then go back to the insurance company with evidence (Autotrader Adverts, etc) and show them what it will cost you to be back in the same position you are in now - same make, model, same age, similar mileage etc.

I don't believe an insurance firm has to sell you the wreckage - it is of course their's once they have settled with you.
You would need to contact them and ask on that subject.
 
OK cheers guys, is it based on market value not the value you state?

as for seeing him coming i did stop, and he just ploughed into me, i remember seeing his face and seeing him looking at the girls before turning and the "oh **** expression" it was very slow motion for me until my head whacked the window

D-Ranged said:
Im on the Skyline forums so will see if anyone makes a post about it.
Click to expand...

cheers mate, his car was totalled, mine is not that bad compared
 
Just as a bit of information, taken from the Direct Line page:

"What is a total loss?
If the cost of repairs exceed the market value of your car then it is likely we will consider it to be beyond economic repair. This is often referred to as a total loss.

If my vehicle is a total loss what will I receive in settlement?
A Direct Line Engineer, or one appointed by us, will inspect your car and place a value on it. We obtain our valuation by researching market trends and car value guides.

We take into account the condition of the car before the incident took place including the bodywork, mileage and interior.

The engineer will contact you to discuss the valuation and, once settlement has been agreed, they will arrange for your Personal Claims Adviser to carry out a series of industry database checks designed to safeguard our policyholders against fraud. Once these have been successfully completed, payment will be sent to you, subject to the deduction of any excess."

From my accident back in Novemeber, I had to haggle on the phone with my insurance to get them to increase their offer, after I'd had cambelt change, new headlights fitted, service etc.... prior to the accident.

For a current rough price estimate try Autotrader or http://www.whatcar.com/valuation/
 
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[TW]Fox;16489717 said:
I wonder whether the Skyline really was going fast or whether given it had a huge spoiler and a really loud exhuast people simply perceived it was going fast...
Click to expand...

I'd say you are right on the money there.
 
[TW]Fox;16489717 said:
I wonder whether the Skyline really was going fast or whether given it had a huge spoiler and a really loud exhuast people simply perceived it was going fast...
Click to expand...

One that always sticks in my mind is when I snapped the clutch cable on my 205 a few years ago. I had to repair it outside the house and it was facing the wrong way for me to be able to work with the door open.
So I started it up in gear (1st), drove it a few yards down the road to the wide turning point, and then the few yards back to my house. All in first gear, which, given the revs and the OMP Group N exhaust system, made a decent racket.

I'd only just got out of the car when I saw one of my neighbours actually running down the street to confront me for "going like a bat out of hell" down the road and telling me I want to watch my speed what with kids playing in the street and so on. All I could do was tell him it's stuck in first gear and can't go any quicker than about 27mph :/

Because the car was relatively loud and lairy, the bloke just assumed I was driving like a lunatic.
 
[TW]Fox;16489337 said:
Unfortunately you pulled out in front of him.
Click to expand...

This.

[TW]Fox;16489717 said:
I wonder whether the Skyline really was going fast or whether given it had a huge spoiler and a really loud exhuast people simply perceived it was going fast...
Click to expand...

And this.

It sounds like the OP is 100% at fault here.

How did the Skyline driver react?
 
Get pictures and witness statements, my brother was involved in a similar accident but in the place if the skyline driver. The claim went against him as it was deemed that he was travelling too fast.
 
Morba said:
Get pictures and witness statements, my brother was involved in a similar accident but in the place if the skyline driver. The claim went against him as it was deemed that he was travelling too fast.
Click to expand...

So if I happen to be making progress down a road slightly above the speed limit and somebody pulls out in front of me and I hit him, it is my fault because I was speeding?

That's a bit stupid!
 
Joshy said:
So if I happen to be making progress down a road slightly above the speed limit and somebody pulls out in front of me and I hit him, it is my fault because I was speeding?

That's a bit stupid!
Click to expand...

I'd disagree. If you're commiting an offence, you are at fault. Think, drink driving, no insurance/mot/tax, etc. Difference is, its harder to prove speeding than the others. The OP was not where he should have been, but was not doing anything against the law/against the highway code as far as I can tell.

That being said, if the police have not bothered with the skid marks as per the op's comments then chances are it will be the OP's fault as there is no proof the skyline was speeding. As others have said, noise<>speeding.
 
Right of way violation. Insurance company won't humour it I'm afraid. There's no proof of speed and at the end of the day, even if he was doing 50 you still pulled out into the path of another car. Could have been an emergency vehicle for all you knew.
 
Itchytrigg said:
I'd disagree. If you're commiting an offence, you are at fault. Think, drink driving, no insurance/mot/tax, etc. .
Click to expand...


Hows that? So that gives others the right to do whatever they feel like in front of you once you speed? For instance i was a passenger in a crash where someone pulled out of a side road right into the path of my mate who was speeding, about 46mph indicated in a 40 on the A10, the guy paid no attention to the road and just decided it was gods will he pull out in front of an incoming car, a SAAB 95 at that, not exactly a light motor. The police reckoned at the distance my mate was at, even 25mph would have been too quick to stop. The guys cavalier was a complete wreck, entire back end squashed in and his kids are the luckiest things alive, not a scratch. My mates 95 looked surprsingly well for a high speed crash.

To this day i have back and neck issues that crop out now and then, though i never sued or anything. Dude got charged for no insurance :rolleyes:, dangerous and careless driving etc.. my mate did not get charged with anything as we obviously did not mention his speed and that would be hard to prove anyhow i suppose plus would not have mattered to his stopping distance as it was a clear cut case. Whether or not someones speeding does not excuse muppetry on the other persons part.
 
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