Another Accident Thread

GeForce

GeForce

GeForce

Soldato
Joined
14 Feb 2006
Posts
4,644
Location
Surrey, UK
Hi all,

Apologies for yet another thread but people's advice on here has been very helpful in the past.

Someone reversed into me in a car park yesterday. The back of her Land Rover Discovery 3 was totally unmarked except a missing reflector, whilst the front of my Peugeot 406 is a bit of a mess. Bonnet and slam panel are bent, n/s headlamp pushed back into the engine bay, grille has been shattered.

Now she has admitted fault and the insurance company have asked me to take the car to one of their bodyshops to have the damage assessed, and due to the age of the car and scarcity of parts (at least from a warrantable source) I am almost certain it'll be a writeoff, since the car's value is probably around the £500-750 mark.

My options will either be to buy the car back, get replacement parts sourced, painted and fitted myself, or to buy another car. In either case, this is looking like it's going to end up costing me money, which really shouldn't be the case in a non-fault accident. I don't believe I will be able to get the car back to the state it was in before the accident with the payout that I'm likely to get. I've put a lot of work into this car with a new cambelt, clutch etc recently and I'd have to do that again on a new car, which again I won't be able to do with the payout available.

So my question is - what are my rights with the insurance company, firstly concerning the value to which it is written off, and secondly to the payout?
 
They'll write it off, you buy it back for peanuts and get the balance in a cheque, repair it and drive it pocket a few quid, you don't need to do anything you don't need to take it to their bodyshop it was not your fault they should be arranging everything, have they sorted out a hire car?

If they don't play ball tell them you'll go to Help Hire.
 
I think you will have to wait and see how much it will cost to buy back before deciding.
 
maccapacca said:
They'll write it off, you buy it back for peanuts and get the balance in a cheque, repair it and drive it pocket a few quid, you don't need to do anything you don't need to take it to their bodyshop it was not your fault they should be arranging everything, have they sorted out a hire car?
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For now, I am only taking it to their bodyshop to have the damage report done.

They haven't sorted out a hire car yet, but they did say that may change after the valuation. Do insurance companies usually provide hire cars for write-off incidents? I thought they gave you a cheque and that's it.

Hadn't heard of HelpHire, thanks :)
 
You are due a hire car, get one sorted straight away it'll help your case when they try and settle, if it's a write off they will want to settle as quick as possible if you have a hire car costing them £40-50 a day you'll be in a better position to squeeze a little more out of them.
 
From previous threads I am under the belief that if you're going straight through her insurance, i.e. it's her fault, then they have to put you back to the position you were, and writing off doesn't really fit in with that.
 
Griffo said:
From previous threads I am under the belief that if you're going straight through her insurance, i.e. it's her fault, then they have to put you back to the position you were, and writing off doesn't really fit in with that.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that the things that make the car valuable to me, like FSH, new parts recently fitted, etc, will be of any consequence to the insurance company. Have I got any right to state this to the insurance company and ask them to increase the writeoff value (which may result in a non-writeoff)?

Incidentally, we're both insured with the same insurance company, which is making things a bit easier.

Edit: I've requested a hire car and am waiting for a call back.
 
GeForce said:
Incidentally, we're both insured with the same insurance company, which is making things a bit easier.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression this is almost always a bad thing, as it means they are more likely to push for split liability so they can shaft you both for having 0 no claims? :(
 
As a non fault accident you shouldnt lose out on your no claims. If the other driver has admitted liability then you should be ok. They will want to write it off. Get onto Autotrader and find the best example of your car you can and use that as your target for your payment. Sometimes the damage may be far more expensive to repair than the value of your payout so think carefully before buying it back.
 
This is pretty much my nightmare scenario too - anything more than a bump in traffic would now almost certainly write my car off and it would cost thousands of pounds more than its book value to obtain another in the same condition.
 
Haggisman said:
I was under the impression this is almost always a bad thing, as it means they are more likely to push for split liability so they can shaft you both for having 0 no claims? :(
Click to expand...

Hopefully this is not the case, since she admitted liability and the insurance company have confirmed that this is non-fault on my part.

Damage assessors are coming round tomorrow, who will probably tell the insurers its a write-off. However, I will ask them for a quote to paint and fit the parts if I can supply spares. If that is reasonable, I will consider buying it back.

MissChief: Do you mean I should argue with the insurers on the value of the car if I don't agree? Would they ever change their valuation?
 
Always argue, and provide evidence to back up your side. Adverts for similar cars, service history information, recent work done, etc. Anything which might have a bearing on the cars resale value..
 
Damage assessor from the bodyshop has been round and it doesn't look as bad as first suspected. The bonnet is a goner, and the headlamp has been displaced backwards and has potentially broken a plastic mounting. The bumper and grille have a couple of scrapes but are otherwise undamaged. The wing is undamaged.

Insurers have valued the car at £600. ECP do a bonnet for £118, so with painting and fitting there's still a reasonable chance it won't be a writeoff.

Thanks for all the help guys, fingers crossed. Will keep you updated.
 
I seem to remember that they have to put you back to where you were before-hand, so even if its is quite costly to fix, you can still request to have it done (within reason!)..
 
The problem is that it might be so costly that it's easier for them to just write it off.

Really I'm hoping that it won't be written off and I can just have it fixed :) We'll have to see what they say.

I've got the courtesy car now so I'm sure they'll be keen to get it sorted ASAP.
 
If the car is worth £600 and the bonnet is £118 it will be written off. But this is good news - you can buy it back for virtually nothing, buy a bonnet for £118, get some painting done and keep the change.
 
Also my fear, my cars worth about 600quid at book but, to the right person, could be double that.

I'm sorning it soon when I buy a new one, no point in selling it.
 
Just to add in, my dad was in a non-fault accident last year. A 2000 Ford Escorts estate with 46k miles on it and not a mark until the accident. He pushed for the repair as he wouldn't get a replacement in similar condition mileage for the money as not many are left. The car was repaired with a claim cost including hire car etc of £750 or so.

Edit: said car probably would have been valued at £1000 or less.
 
Think the only hope you have is that it's drivable from any accident then you can at least get it home, if it goes off to some yard you may struggle to get it back.
 
It is driveable, no airbags or warning lights. I don't think there's any fluid leaks but it's been raining so much that I can't really tell!

I had a phonecall from the insurance company this evening, saying they haven't heard back from the bodyshop yet, but trying to get me to accept it as a writeoff anyway. They have absolutely no evidence of the damage and repair costs yet. I very strongly refused this, and said I wanted to wait until the bodyshop had examined it and come up with some figures on valuation and repair.

Was I correct to do this? I didn't feel that accepting the writeoff was a good idea before I had any idea of the damage and associated repair costs.

Thanks again all.
 
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