Been in an accident today.
Discussion
Looks possibly written off to me, hopefully I'll find out quite soon.
Other guy and fault.
What happens re valuations? Will I be offered enough to buy one from a car dealer? Or will it be enough for a private sale?
And do they take into account full main dealer service history, and a stack of receipts for everything it's ever had?
Other guy and fault.
What happens re valuations? Will I be offered enough to buy one from a car dealer? Or will it be enough for a private sale?
And do they take into account full main dealer service history, and a stack of receipts for everything it's ever had?
Never had any experience of this myself but I would recommend taking a look at some adverts for similar cars to use as proof of its true value, or at least what they are selling for.
I imagine the initial offer you will get wont be amazing!
I may be wrong of course, but going by what others have said on here before, that seems to be the way it works out.
Hope you get it sorted soon
I imagine the initial offer you will get wont be amazing!
I may be wrong of course, but going by what others have said on here before, that seems to be the way it works out.
Hope you get it sorted soon
I've just been through this.
I received a phone call from the 3rd party insurers (independent) damage assessor and he asked a few questions with regards to how long I owned it, purchase price, history, etc. Then he proceeded to tell me that it was a Cat B write off and that he would value it at XXXX. He then asked me if I thought that was a fair assessment (which I did in this instance) as that was what he was going to recommend the 3rd party insurer should settle the claim at.
Depending on the 3rd party, he may then explain that the 3rd party insurer will offer this amount minus the scrap value (5% of the settlement amount in my instance). That means that you'll get your accepted XXXX, but with the 5% deducted and that will leave you to deal with the scrapping of the car. I got a little bit more than the 5%, so was a few quid in, but it did mean that I had to get the storage/recovery costs reclaimed too (instead of the 3rd party paying these direct).
Q.
I received a phone call from the 3rd party insurers (independent) damage assessor and he asked a few questions with regards to how long I owned it, purchase price, history, etc. Then he proceeded to tell me that it was a Cat B write off and that he would value it at XXXX. He then asked me if I thought that was a fair assessment (which I did in this instance) as that was what he was going to recommend the 3rd party insurer should settle the claim at.
Depending on the 3rd party, he may then explain that the 3rd party insurer will offer this amount minus the scrap value (5% of the settlement amount in my instance). That means that you'll get your accepted XXXX, but with the 5% deducted and that will leave you to deal with the scrapping of the car. I got a little bit more than the 5%, so was a few quid in, but it did mean that I had to get the storage/recovery costs reclaimed too (instead of the 3rd party paying these direct).
Q.
Bad news but at least it wasn't your fault.
I spent over 30 years handling insurance claims but admittedly it is a long time since I was involved in motor claims.
However my past experience suggests you often get a better valuation from third party insurers than your own - since they have a liability for hire car/ loss of use claims they have more incentive to get the claim settled quickly so are less keen to drag out valuation disputes.
So far as buying from a dealer is concerned when I was dealing with total loss claims we would value cars according to how they were bought, the rationale being if you bought privately then it didn't seem unreasonable to expect you to replace privately!
Good luck getting it sorted as painlessly as possible.
I spent over 30 years handling insurance claims but admittedly it is a long time since I was involved in motor claims.
However my past experience suggests you often get a better valuation from third party insurers than your own - since they have a liability for hire car/ loss of use claims they have more incentive to get the claim settled quickly so are less keen to drag out valuation disputes.
So far as buying from a dealer is concerned when I was dealing with total loss claims we would value cars according to how they were bought, the rationale being if you bought privately then it didn't seem unreasonable to expect you to replace privately!
Good luck getting it sorted as painlessly as possible.
What car is it? How old/spec etc...?
I have experience of this once with an e92 M3 and another with an F10 520d in both cases the insurer paid out against an average AUC car (BMW) But the cars were under 2 years old.
I got more back than I paid for the M3 but had to haggle on the 5 series as mine had 10k of extras and they kept using poverty spec cars but they only budged a little.
I have experience of this once with an e92 M3 and another with an F10 520d in both cases the insurer paid out against an average AUC car (BMW) But the cars were under 2 years old.
I got more back than I paid for the M3 but had to haggle on the 5 series as mine had 10k of extras and they kept using poverty spec cars but they only budged a little.
Wills2 said:
What car is it? How old/spec etc...?
I have experience of this once with an e92 M3 and another with an F10 520d in both cases the insurer paid out against an average AUC car (BMW) But the cars were under 2 years old.
I got more back than I paid for the M3 but had to haggle on the 5 series as mine had 10k of extras and they kept using poverty spec cars but they only budged a little.
Unfortunately it's not an M3. It's a 2005 fiesta ST.I have experience of this once with an e92 M3 and another with an F10 520d in both cases the insurer paid out against an average AUC car (BMW) But the cars were under 2 years old.
I got more back than I paid for the M3 but had to haggle on the 5 series as mine had 10k of extras and they kept using poverty spec cars but they only budged a little.
I feel your pain, I'm in the exact situation. Non fault accident, cracked bumper and a bit of paint. We had to take it to a garage that the other parties insurance suggested to get an "engineers" report on it. £1800 of damage on a car he valued at £2500. So it's over 66% of value in repairs that they want to write off.
I could find another car for that value but we are the second owner, it's in great condition, new tyres all round, expensive services completed recently and it's not that done many miles for or its age and it's got lots of extras. I won't find a car with the same history for the money they want to pay out.
I've had two other looks at the damage and they range from £350 to £450 using oem parts including all painting, prep work and fitting. Where £1800 come from I don't know. I can't even pull out of any insurance claims and say forget about it, I'll just pay for the repairs and nothing else will be said on the matter.
Problem now is that I can't pull out of any insurance claim now the other party have done this report. So they can decide to write my car off with no input from me. Best case scenario now is that they have 14 days to agree to pay for the work at £1800. No response means we go ahead. Or they write it off at £2500, I buy that "salvage" at 10% so I'm left with my own car and £2250 to pay for damage and pocket the rest. Problem with that is that I now own a cat c or d car, worth less and no one will buy it and could be difficult to insure with my current insurer.
This is the first time this has happened to me. What I hate about it is that someone else can decide to write my car off when all it needs is a bumper which is £150 non painted from a main dealer. I see cars in worse state every day and I have no say in the matter now. Good luck
That is £1800.
I could find another car for that value but we are the second owner, it's in great condition, new tyres all round, expensive services completed recently and it's not that done many miles for or its age and it's got lots of extras. I won't find a car with the same history for the money they want to pay out.
I've had two other looks at the damage and they range from £350 to £450 using oem parts including all painting, prep work and fitting. Where £1800 come from I don't know. I can't even pull out of any insurance claims and say forget about it, I'll just pay for the repairs and nothing else will be said on the matter.
Problem now is that I can't pull out of any insurance claim now the other party have done this report. So they can decide to write my car off with no input from me. Best case scenario now is that they have 14 days to agree to pay for the work at £1800. No response means we go ahead. Or they write it off at £2500, I buy that "salvage" at 10% so I'm left with my own car and £2250 to pay for damage and pocket the rest. Problem with that is that I now own a cat c or d car, worth less and no one will buy it and could be difficult to insure with my current insurer.
This is the first time this has happened to me. What I hate about it is that someone else can decide to write my car off when all it needs is a bumper which is £150 non painted from a main dealer. I see cars in worse state every day and I have no say in the matter now. Good luck
That is £1800.
Edited by oldaudi on Sunday 1st February 09:59
Edited by oldaudi on Sunday 1st February 10:00
Edited by oldaudi on Sunday 1st February 10:01
Edited by oldaudi on Sunday 1st February 10:20
oldaudi said:
I feel your pain, I'm in the exact situation. Non fault accident, cracked bumper and a bit of paint. We had to take it to a garage that the other parties insurance suggested to get an "engineers" report on it. £1800 of damage on a car he valued at £2500. So it's over 66% of value in repairs that they want to write off.
I could find another car for that value but we are the second owner, it's in great condition, new tyres all round, expensive services completed recently and it's not that done many many for its age and it's got lots of extras. I won't find a car with the same history for the money they want to pay out.
I've had two other looks at the damage and they range from £350 to £450 using oem parts including all painting, prep work and fitting. Where £1800 come from I don't know.
Problem now is that I can't pull out of any insurance claim now the other party have done this report. So they can decide to write my car off with no input from me. Best case scenario now is that they have 14 days to agree to pay for the work at £1800. No response means we go ahead. Or they write it off at £2500, I buy that "salvage" at 10% so I'm left with my own car and £2250 to pay for damage and pocket the rest. Problem with that is that I now own a cat c or d car, worth less and no one will buy it and could be difficult to insure with my current insurer.
This is the first time this has happened to me. What I hate about it is that someone else can decide to write my car off when all it needs is a bumper which is £150 non painted from a main dealer. I see cars in worse state every day and I have no say in the matter now. Good luck
I'm sure you can have your car repaired at which ever garage you like? (I.e a cheaper one!) I could find another car for that value but we are the second owner, it's in great condition, new tyres all round, expensive services completed recently and it's not that done many many for its age and it's got lots of extras. I won't find a car with the same history for the money they want to pay out.
I've had two other looks at the damage and they range from £350 to £450 using oem parts including all painting, prep work and fitting. Where £1800 come from I don't know.
Problem now is that I can't pull out of any insurance claim now the other party have done this report. So they can decide to write my car off with no input from me. Best case scenario now is that they have 14 days to agree to pay for the work at £1800. No response means we go ahead. Or they write it off at £2500, I buy that "salvage" at 10% so I'm left with my own car and £2250 to pay for damage and pocket the rest. Problem with that is that I now own a cat c or d car, worth less and no one will buy it and could be difficult to insure with my current insurer.
This is the first time this has happened to me. What I hate about it is that someone else can decide to write my car off when all it needs is a bumper which is £150 non painted from a main dealer. I see cars in worse state every day and I have no say in the matter now. Good luck
Or buy it back from the insurers as a cat D/C and repair it your self?
oldaudi said:
Problem now is that I can't pull out of any insurance claim now the other party have done this report. So they can decide to write my car off with no input from me. Best case scenario now is that they have 14 days to agree to pay for the work at £1800. No response means we go ahead. Or they write it off at £2500, I buy that "salvage" at 10% so I'm left with my own car and £2250 to pay for damage and pocket the rest. Problem with that is that I now own a cat c or d car, worth less and no one will buy it and could be difficult to insure with my current insurer.
This is the first time this has happened to me. What I hate about it is that someone else can decide to write my car off when all it needs is a bumper which is £150 non painted from a main dealer. I see cars in worse state every day and I have no say in the matter now. Good luck
Are you sure about that?This is the first time this has happened to me. What I hate about it is that someone else can decide to write my car off when all it needs is a bumper which is £150 non painted from a main dealer. I see cars in worse state every day and I have no say in the matter now. Good luck
I cannot see how a third party insurer can force you to hand over your property if you withdraw your claim.
oldaudi said:
Or they write it off at £2500, I buy that "salvage" at 10% so I'm left with my own car and £2250 to pay for damage and pocket the rest. Problem with that is that I now own a cat c or d car, worth less and no one will buy it and could be difficult to insure with my current insurer.
Think about it another way - you would receive the fair market value of your car now, and (with a minor repair) still get to keep the car to drive as long as you like. If it's worth very little later on, the loss in resale value will be less than what you get now, so you're still ahead. This wont be the end of it. Im so angry about it all. If they wont play ball, Ill just remove the claim if they will let me, last week they said they wouldn't. But I will be taking this further. Its not surprising our insurance is so high with stuff like this going on. seriously £433 for parts when Renault will sell me an OEM part for £150. £390 for paint when 2 other companies say they will do the FULL job with PARTS for that price.
Sorry, hijacked this blokes thread. Sorry
Sorry, hijacked this blokes thread. Sorry
oldaudi said:
This wont be the end of it. Im so angry about it all. If they wont play ball, Ill just remove the claim if they will let me, last week they said they wouldn't. But I will be taking this further. Its not surprising our insurance is so high with stuff like this going on. seriously £433 for parts when Renault will sell me an OEM part for £150. £390 for paint when 2 other companies say they will do the FULL job with PARTS for that price.
Good on you! The issue is there are too many opportunities for people to overdo estimates, parts costs etc etc (and car rental) when it's an insurance job. We suffer through increased premiums and cars written off for minor damage. Why insurers haven't realised is beyond me but I suppose as they just pass on the cost to you and me they just turn a blind eye.
Being a bit more on the ball MUST be able to save insurers say at least 10% which must be many tens of millions a year but why should they bother??
Missingbadly said:
Good on you! The issue is there are too many opportunities for people to overdo estimates, parts costs etc etc (and car rental) when it's an insurance job.
We suffer through increased premiums and cars written off for minor damage. Why insurers haven't realised is beyond me but I suppose as they just pass on the cost to you and me they just turn a blind eye.
Being a bit more on the ball MUST be able to save insurers say at least 10% which must be many tens of millions a year but why should they bother??
I agree wholeheartedly-I cannot believe the hire cars some of my mates have had not for a couple of days but for weeks, all paid for by insurance-worth many times the cost of my three policies combined. This surely increases the cost of policies.We suffer through increased premiums and cars written off for minor damage. Why insurers haven't realised is beyond me but I suppose as they just pass on the cost to you and me they just turn a blind eye.
Being a bit more on the ball MUST be able to save insurers say at least 10% which must be many tens of millions a year but why should they bother??
And funny how most of us can get minor damage repaired for far less than than via the insurance approved repairers.
When my Sapphire was written off ( some utter c*** ran over it) the damage was just a dented bootlid, roof and bonnet. I took loads of photos of the damage, bought it as salvage, then got photos of the parts replaced (bootlid and bonnet from a scrappers-even the same colour) and of the roof repiar by a good bodyshop. Sold the car easily for non cat d money with the portfolio of photos.
I had a bump in December (not my fault) and I'm still waiting for mine to be repaired. If you really like the car, then have a nice word with the assessor and explain how well loved it is. That's what I did, and despite it costing £5500 to repair and is probably worth the same, the nice man understood and approved the repairs.
justanother5tar said:
Unfortunately it's not an M3. It's a 2005 fiesta ST.
I know of a fiesta ST sat on somebody's drive after they went out and bought a 1 series in November and have not shifted the ST on yet. It'll be a up for a decent price since it's just sat there. It's not a million miles from you in West Yorkshire. It's near to retford, North notts.
PM me if you want her details.
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