Insurance written car off and buying it back?

Dav4

Dav4

Dav4

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Hi just looking for some advice as I’m not very knowledgeable on the process after an accident and I’m finding the information on Google or forums very contradictory.
My dad was in a non fault accident but managed to get the car home and the insurance said they are writing it off as Cat N straight away over the phone due to panel, bonnet and bumper damage.
They said an engineer too would come out to assess but nobody turned up and instead got a call from copart acting on insurers behalf wanting to collect the car. They then proceeded to offer a very good valuation for the car without looking at it is this normal process?
My dad asked for a quote to buy it back which they have said £750 it’s a low mileage ST220 which are becoming more rare these days so he’s eager to buy it back and pay to get it fixed with it being a good car.
What I don’t understand is will they just deduct the £750 from the total car valuation and the car stays on his driveway? What would happen regarding the v5 if it’s classed as buying it back from the insurance?
Also it’s not clear if it has to be registered by the owner with the DVLA as a write off some say it does and others say you can’t register a cat N it’s only registered if it’s being scrapped?
Has anyone found cat N cars more expensive to insure? Again very conflicting information on Google regarding this.
Any advice would be appreciated
 
They know based on the external damage alone that putting it into a body shop would cost more than the cars value hence there is no point in spending even looking at it.

New parts and paying for proper repair practices on a ‘back to factory’ repair is expensive.

If you are using used parts from a breaker and DIY labor then it’s a very different cost calculation.
 
As above would be my guess too. They have to pay to send out an assessor. I suspect for low value cars they just have a cut off line where they just write it off and have a value in the system for a payout.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
They know based on the external damage alone that putting it into a body shop would cost more than the cars value hence there is no point in spending even looking at it.

New parts and paying for proper repair practices on a ‘back to factory’ repair is expensive.

If you are using used parts from a breaker and DIY labor then it’s a very different cost calculation.
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Precisely.
 
Dav4 said:
What would happen regarding the v5 if it’s classed as buying it back from the insurance?
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has he surrendered v5 .. otherwise thought it was still his even though insurance will notify dvla of N category for their records,

subsequent insurance hike sounds like the tricky bit - re-MOTing presumably an obligation, to validate repairs, anyway.
 
I've worked in insurance & also have an ST220. For reference, i've got mine on a classic policy & they gave me a guaranteed up front valuation of £5.5k.

To answer your question, yes they would normally pay out minus the £750. I had a Rover 220 SDi written off in the mid 2000's, bought it back for £25 which got deducted.

Also, under no circumstances let Copart go anywhere near it, they will make a right mess of it.
 
Iamzod said:
I've worked in insurance & also have an ST220. For reference, i've got mine on a classic policy & they gave me a guaranteed up front valuation of £5.5k.

To answer your question, yes they would normally pay out minus the £750. I had a Rover 220 SDi written off in the mid 2000's, bought it back for £25 which got deducted.

Also, under no circumstances let Copart go anywhere near it, they will make a right mess of it.
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Basically this.

Keep hold of the car and the V5, speak to the insurer see if you can get some more money out of them (check eBay listings etc) and accept their offer to buy the car back.

They don’t own the car until they’ve paid out.
 
Hyburnate said:
Basically this.

Keep hold of the car and the V5, speak to the insurer see if you can get some more money out of them (check eBay listings etc) and accept their offer to buy the car back.

They don’t own the car until they’ve paid out.
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exactly this but bare in mind the car will always be showing a marker against it as cat n
 
What exactly is the damage here? A bonnet & front bumper are easy & cheap to swap over. What other damage is there?

May not even be worth claiming. Some panels are still easy to obtain used, only the rear bumper is harder to get now.
 
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gc123 said:
exactly this but bare in mind the car will always be showing a marker against it as cat n
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Yes but it's largely irrelevant with older/lower value cars. Much better to keep a car you know the history of, if all it needs are a couple of minor repairs rather than having to go through the hassle of finding another car, and the possible problems it may have at this end of the price range.
 
Armageus said:
Yes but it's largely irrelevant with older/lower value cars. Much better to keep a car you know the history of, if all it needs are a couple of minor repairs rather than having to go through the hassle of finding another car, and the possible problems it may have at this end of the price range.
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Debateable depending on his intentions for the car. They are all old now so if it's a daily driver it's highly likely it's days are numbered anyway & therefore the cat N is irrelevant.

If it's a keeper, then decent ones are now increasing in value, i paid £1700 8 years ago and the insurance have pre-agreed a value that's now 3 times that, not sure what impact a Cat N would have on that.
 
jpaul said:
has he surrendered v5 .. otherwise thought it was still his even though insurance will notify dvla of N category for their records,

subsequent insurance hike sounds like the tricky bit - re-MOTing presumably an obligation, to validate repairs, anyway.
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No the insurance have still not asked for the v5 my dad is going to have to ring them again to see what their process is.
Co part have made the offer for the car and he asked to buy it back which they said will be deducted from the offer and that is it from them it will be passed back to the insurance company so we still don’t know if a v5 needs surrendering to them with him technically buying it back off them even though it’s been sat on the driveway since the accident.
So the insurance company notify the DVLA do they about it being cat N? We looked online and apparently there isn’t an option to declare it ourselves unless it’s being completely written off.
Should the car be declared as Sorn or just carry on paying the tax each month?
 
Iamzod said:
What exactly is the damage here? A bonnet & front bumper are easy & cheap to swap over. What other damage is there?

May not even be worth claiming. Some panels are still easy to obtain used, only the rear bumper is harder to get now.
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The wing, bonnet headlight and front bumper all need replacing. The front bumper is proving a nightmare to find they are very rare some sellers on eBay wanting upto £400 for front bumpers but the wing and bonnet should be easy to get hold of from a standard Mondeo
 
Dav4 said:
The wing, bonnet headlight and front bumper all need replacing. The front bumper is proving a nightmare to find they are very rare some sellers on eBay wanting upto £400 for front bumpers but the wing and bonnet should be easy to get hold of from a standard Mondeo
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The wing from a standard car won't fit, the ST220 has flared arches. The bonnet & headlight will be fine though.

What colour is it?

EDIT- There are front bumpers on FB for £100-150. Wings seem to start at about £40.
 
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Iamzod said:
The wing from a standard car won't fit, the ST220 has flared arches. The bonnet & headlight will be fine though.

What colour is it?

EDIT- There are front bumpers on FB for £100-150. Wings seem to start at about £40.
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Oh really I thought a normal wing would have I forgot about them being flared arches. It’s black the car.
Do you know if the front bumper from the ST diesel fits the ST220? It looks exactly the same but a guy at my local garage said it won’t fit the 220 if it’s from the diesel ST?
I’m not on Facebook do u have any links to the front bumpers on there? Maybe I can sign up to see the adverts. Thanks
 
Dav4 said:
Oh really I thought a normal wing would have I forgot about them being flared arches. It’s black the car.
Do you know if the front bumper from the ST diesel fits the ST220? It looks exactly the same but a guy at my local garage said it won’t fit the 220 if it’s from the diesel ST?
I’m not on Facebook do u have any links to the front bumpers on there? Maybe I can sign up to see the adverts. Thanks
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Yeah, the only panel different on the ST220 & TDCi is the rear bumper.

There are a fair few suspension differences & the rack is different but if it's just panel damage then this shouldn't be too bad a repair, especially if it's Panther Black.
 
Iamzod said:
Yeah, the only panel different on the ST220 & TDCi is the rear bumper.

There are a fair few suspension differences & the rack is different but if it's just panel damage then this shouldn't be too bad a repair, especially if it's Panther Black.
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Thanks for the info that’s what I was thinking until the guy at the garage who used to own a 220 said the diesel front bumper won’t fit which I found strange given they look exactly the same.
I noticed a few eBay sellers listing them as st220 bumper or ST Td bumper there’s actually a decent black bumper off a diesel on eBay for £240 I might try and get that.
The only one actually listed as being from an ST220 won’t drop below £300 for it.
Might try and sign up to Facebook if there’s people selling them on the marketplace?
 
What's low milage? My st220 is on 40kish. Been garaged all its life. Only valued with andrian flux at 2k which is about what i bought it for.

Should I increase it?
 
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