Insurance issue, what do I do.

ChroniC

ChroniC

ChroniC

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So I have a 2008 c class and I had a minor accident (rear ended someone). I apparently naively though that the insurance would fix my car (worth about 3500k).

Apparently this isn't true. They have told me to take the valuation right off or pay for it myself.
Is this common, I was speechless as I know they will low ball me.

I have been left with little no choice but to fix it myself or get the valuation cash..
They mentioned some method to Cat C it, to help pay towards to the cost, buying the car at some low value. This confuses me.

What should I do.. Suck it up and try and fix it, or just take the cash?
I think personally the damage to front bumper and bonnet is fairly minimal, I might be able to straight replace the parts from a donar car for about £750..

Anyone got any advice in this circumstance.
 
Is this the smartest option vs the price of fixing it myself.
I mean I was never trying to hope I could sell it soon but being a Cat C, selling it at all might be an issue.

Which value is worse, the cost of fixing it or the loss of value.
 
Whole thing seems dodgy.

The insurance company should first inspect it and then decide whether they will repair it, or as is likely the case, write it off as the cost to repair is worth a considerable amount of the car's value.

If written off, they will give you a valuation based on the market price - often this will be a low ball value, but you do not have to accept the first offer, and as long as you can find comparable examples of your car, then you can often get their offer increased. The whole point of insurance is to put you back in the position you started at, so if the valuation isn't enough to get you back into a similar car, then it's not suitable.
Bearing in mind given the age of the car, you may not be able to get the exact same year/mileage/spec etc, so you may need to widen the scope a little when looking for prices. So e.g. if your 2008 car is on 90k miles, look at examples that are 2007-2009, 70-110k miles. E.g. slightly older car on less miles, and slightly newer car with slightly more miles.


Assuming it's written off it will be assigned a marker, likely Cat N. Cat C isn't a thing anymore, so not sure why they would mention that.
Cat N means the vehicle hasn't sustained structural damage, but is still uneconomical to repair.

You may be able to buy the car back if it's Cat N (as generally they are otherwise just sold to a salvage yard), it will depend entirely on the insurer as to whether they deal direct with you for that. In which case you'd accept their valuation, and then pay an agreed amount to buy the salvage back. You can then repair it however you like (using some of the remaining money from their valuation), and you should inform your insurer (although in theory they should obviously know having written it off) that the car has a Cat N marker
 
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JonRGV250 said:
Let them write it off, then buy it back for approx 30% of what they value it at.
Then repair it yourself.
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this, dont worry too much about loss of value, just run it and as its 2008 when you come to sell it i doubt you will notice much difference.
if they do want to assess it, and want it taken to one of there centres (prob copart) make sure all personal items removed and dont release documents or spare keys till you are fully happy with any offer.
its your vehicle until you accept the money, and they have a duty of care to look after it.
 
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ChroniC said:
I mean I was never trying to hope I could sell it soon but being a Cat C, selling it at all might be an issue.
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It's a 2008 car it's not going to be worth much anyway - as cars get older the risk of them being written off due to uneconomical repairs becomes much greater anyway. Even things like a bumper or headlamp replacement can easily run in the high hundreds of £ if done via an approved insurer using brand new original parts, and expensive labour rates.

ChroniC said:
Which value is worse, the cost of fixing it or the loss of value.
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The value to you of keeping a car that you know the history of is likely much more than the risk of buying another 3.5k car of unknown history (unless yours has a load of other pre-existing issues)
 
No that's exactly why I want to fix it. Until I pranged it, it was immaculate.. I've only just recently bought it, with just over 80k, newly refurbed wheels, perfect paintwork etc..

I'm gutted.
 
Armageus said:
Whole thing seems dodgy.

The insurance company should first inspect it and then decide whether they will repair it, or as is likely the case, write it off as the cost to repair is worth a considerable amount of the car's value.

If written off, they will give you a valuation based on the market price - often this will be a low ball value, but you do not have to accept the first offer, and as long as you can find comparable examples of your car, then you can often get their offer increased. The whole point of insurance is to put you back in the position you started at, so if the valuation isn't enough to get you back into a similar car, then it's not suitable.
Bearing in mind given the age of the car, you may not be able to get the exact same year/mileage/spec etc, so you may need to widen the scope a little when looking for prices. So e.g. if your 2008 car is on 90k miles, look at examples that are 2007-2009, 70-110k miles. E.g. slightly older car on less miles, and slightly newer car with slightly more miles.


Assuming it's written off it will be assigned a marker, likely Cat N. Cat C isn't a thing anymore, so not sure why they would mention that.
Cat N means the vehicle hasn't sustained structural damage, but is still uneconomical to repair.

You may be able to buy the car back if it's Cat N (as generally they are otherwise just sold to a salvage yard), it will depend entirely on the insurer as to whether they deal direct with you for that. In which case you'd accept their valuation, and then pay an agreed amount to buy the salvage back. You can then repair it however you like (using some of the remaining money from their valuation), and you should inform your insurer (although in theory they should obviously know having written it off) that the car has a Cat N marker
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Honestly nowadays, a lot of insurance companies dont bother inspecting cars esp the older ones. Once they have seen the pics, they know that its going to be a right off. I mean the OP has said he could fix it on the cheap with used parts for £750 so that will be at least a £2k repair for new panels. Not even worth considering on a car worth £3500 to the insurance company.
 
Greebo said:
Honestly nowadays, a lot of insurance companies dont bother inspecting cars esp the older ones. Once they have seen the pics, they know that its going to be a right off. I mean the OP has said he could fix it on the cheap with used parts for £750 so that will be at least a £2k repair for new panels. Not even worth considering on a car worth £3500 to the insurance company.
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I get that, but doesn't sound like they've specifically said it's written off as yet?

ChroniC said:
They have told me to take the valuation right off or pay for it myself.
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Not sure where the "pay for it myself part" would come in, unless they were to cancel the claim and allow you to repair it without applying a marker to the car?

(If that's the case then it avoids the car having a marker on it, potentially affecting insurance going forward and fwiw sale in the future, but relies on the OP having the cash to repair it himself)
 
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makes you laugh but son had his mondeo written off over the phone 2008 told them it had cracked the rear bumper,rear light, and creased the bottom of the tail gate , (merc rolled into it) they wrote it paid out 1750 less 300 for car bought back and his excess and still insured it . he is still driving it now 6 months later , with just a secondhand light:)
tbh when recently looking for another car for daughter it was try finding one that had not got a marker against it, most were still the same price regardless?
 
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( Did insurance go up, with CatN designation - like the similar recent thread about st220 - that would be my concern )

Was insurance companies write-off response based on photos ... but from the £750 estimate, if a garage did that repair with pattern parts & labour, total would be >50%'s write-off threshold,
diy bonnet & bumper swap shouldn't be hard though, if you don't need a perfect colour match - cutting up the old bonnet was the hardest part when I changed (cheaper than repaint)
 
Sounds to me like they're essentially telling you that because your car is low value, it won't be worth them trying to repair it (they'd probably rack up £3500 in admin fees these days) so they're giving you two/three options...

1 - they write it off, you take the settlement payment and move on
1B - they write it off, you take the settlement payment, then you buy it back cheap because it has a write off marker now, you fix it yourself
2 - you don't claim for your own vehicle at all and fix it yourself

If you take a write off payment, they'll almost certainly low ball but you can argue for more if you can legitimately demonstrate the car is worth more than they offer.

Edit - also worth bearing in mind, if you go write off route, that'll more than likely 'conclude' the insurance policy and you'll then probably need a new policy whether you buy a different car or buy this one back as salvage (cost to insure a written off car also warrants consideration, can be more expensive)
 
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ChroniC said:
No that's exactly why I want to fix it. Until I pranged it, it was immaculate.. I've only just recently bought it, with just over 80k, newly refurbed wheels, perfect paintwork etc..

I'm gutted.
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Just replace the parts yourself, a front end is very easy to take apart/replace, and anything you can't see a £5-10 Haynes manual will cover or youtube.
Then you won't be annoyed that it's been declared a CAT write off for no reason and it wont damage any resale value.
 
This is the massive issue I have at the moment...

I spoke to a crash repair centre. They said I could easily have change for under a grand.. Its a small bumper respray, and grill replacement.. Possibly the bonnet but he thinks that's just being pushed up by the grill..

Sooo, the question is, do I claim and write it off and buy it back. Use the excess cash to fix it, but then possibly take a hit from future quotes going up, (which they're likely to anyway), or take the hit on the nose and fix it myself..

I'm leaning towards the first, as I may actually end up with more money to offset the insurance increases anyway, plus I have protect NCD
 
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the point here unless im missing something is you rear ended someone else.
they may or may not claim for it but if they do you would still have a claim against you ,so easiest is if they right the car buy it and repair it.

by the way even if the other driver says he wont claim, dont take it as gospel he may change his mind or get neck pains etc, or if unlucky may develop multiple passengers over time:).

as far as ending your insurance after the payout , yes thats a possible, in my sons case they didnt, he still had 6 months policy left and has just reinsured with the same company about 100 pounds more this year.

your protected bonus is great.... it only guarantees your percentage bonus with the company you are with now.
they may keep you percentage but can increase your premium, if you dont like it and go elseware you will have to declare the accident.
 
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They have already claimed and rightly so. I broke his car, I just wrongly assumed that it might have less effect on renewals with only the other party being fixed... Like you say, a mark is a mark
 
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