Write off advice

[jimmyjam]

Got sandwiched in a 4 car pile up this morning on A3. Resulting in serious front and rear damage to my P&J. It is pretty certain to be a write off.
I've never dealt with a write off claim before, not really relishing the idea either. Any clues and tips on how best to proceed from the start to make sure it all goes swiftly and with the best results.
Oh....sorry to anyone who got stuck southbound on the A3 this morning by New Malden....I didn't want to be there either!!
I am of course offsetting the disapointment of losing my classic Alfa with the excitement of trawling the classifieds for a new toy

[Riggernut]

haggle the price the insurance company offer with supporting evidence from auto trader. Suppose this might be difficult with a classic because cars are purchased on condition in regards to price.

[BeerForBreakfast]

That sucks man. At least you're okay though. Shame about the Alfa eh.

[wolf1]

Give anniesdad on here a call it's his area of expertise.

[missdiane]

We were prepared for the haggling- on a nearly dead Seat, we suspected the offer would be about £700, the first offer was £1300, we only paid £1500 for it and had it 18 months

Good luck with it, never good when it's a P&J

[Vixpy1]

Good to meet you this morning Jamie, sorry it was'nt in better circumstances.

[RWS]

missdiane said:

We were prepared for the haggling- on a nearly dead Seat, we suspected the offer would be about £700, the first offer was £1300, we only paid £1500 for it and had it 18 months

Good luck with it, never good when it's a P&J

I had almost exactly the same thing when I wrote my old Micra off. Was only expecting a valuation of about £700 as it was in pretty poor external condition, they came back with £1300. Decided not to risk haggling as every website I checked had it valued at barely equal to or less than they offered.

[jimmyjam]

Cheers all. The insurers have told me they will call on Monday to discuss and have given me a few questions that they will ask, how long I've had it, purchase price etc. They want to know how much service history was with it. Does anyone know whether they will expect to see proof of this?
Thanks Vixpy. The GTV6 is currently 5th on my short list of replacement toys but that changes by the hour

[Kurtblythman]

Got any pictures of the car?

[jimmyjam]

They're coming.......

[Kurtblythman]

jimmyjam said:

They're coming.......

Thanks

Sorry if its abit cruel asking for pictures of your smashed up P&J

[DangerousMike]

jimmyjam said:

looks broken

Edited by DangerousMike on Saturday 16th August 10:00

[Z4monster]

Ouch! What a shame. Hope you get what you want for it. I'd be devastated if that happened to my p&j

[jimmyjam]

Thanks DM. I was just trawling through the upload guides to see what I'd done wrong! It is still painful to see those pictures
Assuming it does get written off, I may see if I can buy it back from them to sell the parts if the price is right.

[Kurtblythman]

Poor alfa

The rear crumpled in a very odd way. The arse just seems to have dropped off.

[hman]

Strange how the floorpan and chassis legs at the rear just seem to have buckled downwards, you're lucky the car didnt drive over the top of you!. Perhaps theres a weak point in the chassis below the hood or around the rear suspension turrets (corrosion?)



I know a few guys who would restore that for you, although obviously they'd want to take a look at the real damage underneath the panels before committing.

How much are those alfa's worth?

[jimmyjam]

Yes, that doesn't look right, it seems to have folded from above the wheel arch when it should have crumpled. I wonder whether there was some structural weakness at that point(not surprising as its an Alfa!).

[jimmyjam]

Not sure its going to be economical to repair but any leads welcome. Its worth £6k on a good day, £5k conservatively. But I am open to the idea once I've had the damage fully assessed

[riwiho]

I recently went through a write off claim and I fully agree with what has been said above.

Haggle with the insurance company. Do not take the first offer. Use autotrader and other second hand car sites to find similar examples and send these to the insurance company.

My insurer was excellent. Quick and always willing to listen to me.

Sorry you have to go through this but good luck

[jonnylayze]

I agree - sadly I've had to negotiate with underwriters on two write-offs. You seem to have an idea of what the car is worth and if the under writer takes a different view be prepared to haggle - it is expected and there is always room their end for negotiation.