Claim for no fault accident

[e21Mark]

Driving home, we were rear ended on the slip road leaving the M5. The traffic came to an unexpected halt but the chap behind me couldn't stop in time. He hit me hard enough to cause me to hit the car ahead of me. I was stationary.

I have had the car recovered to my home and being an e30 M3, there are only a couple of places I trust with the repairs. I just need some advice, as to what I can and cannot insist upon? The other guy admitted liability, so I am hoping it'll be straightforward?

Do I have to have a selection of estimates or can I simply insist the car is repaired, at a garage of my choice? I assume they will instruct an assessor to check the car and it's condition prior to allowing any repairs?

Any help and advice would be much appreciated. I'm absolutely gutted that my car is damaged and obviously want the best repair possible.

I'll post a few pics tomorrow.

[anonymous-user]

Awww man, just tonight I was thinking about e30's. I can't offer advice just make sure you're happy with the outcome. Good luck

[e21Mark]

Thanks.

Was hoping there might have been some advice re claim. Damage is more extensive than first thought, so repair is going to be expensive.

[Driver101]

You can request it to be repaired at a garage of your choice. You might not be allowed a courtesy car in those circumstances.

If there is a significant amount of damage, I'd say there is a good chance it will be written off.

[Magic919]

I expect they will write it off and you'll be unhappy with the valuation. You won't have any real power to insist it is repaired or even where it is done. I'd start gathering any evidence of pre-accident condition and value.

[Steve H]

For a 20+ year old car I would usually agree with the previous posters but given that the lowest value E30 M3 on PH classifieds is up for £25k I think they will go for the repair and you can stand firm on getting it done properly.

[Doodlebug87]

It will depend on the insurer more than likely. I just claimed for a non fault accident and their insurer (tesco) sorted me with a car the next day and were more than happy for me to take my car anywhere for repair. Two weeks on and this Hyundai IX35 is destroying my soul.

[e21Mark]

Isn't there a set percentage that determines whether it is economical to repair a car?

If they were to write mine off, the cheapest replacement I know of is £25k but I would still need to retain the salvage of mine due to the modified parts and upgrades.

Ideally, I hope they simply agree to the repair costs and allow it to be done ASAP.

Here are some pics showing some of the damage. The photos don't show the panel distortion very clearly though. Things like the leading edge of the bonnet (where it has bent over slightly) are more obvious in the metal.























There is also an oil weep, that definitely wasn't there prior to the impact. The exhaust has clearly been hit and so I'm wondering if that is related? Either way, it will need to be looked into.

[swisstoni]

Sorry to see that. Hope you get it back on the road asap.

[UpTheIron]

Best of luck getting a satisfactory outcome. I don't know enough about these lovely cars to estimate the cost to repair.

e21Mark said:

...but I would still need to retain the salvage of mine due to the modified parts and upgrades.

Please tell me you had this pre-agreed with your insurer? Not just the presence of the upgrades, but that you want first claim to the salvage. It was the first thing I checked when insuring my Tuscan after modifying it and I hope you get sorted.

[Steve H]

UpTheIron said:

Please tell me you had this pre-agreed with your insurer?

That shouldn't matter in this case as he is claiming off the other guys insurance.

It looks like there's a fair chunk of work to do there to get it back to where it was but I can't see it costing anywhere near the price of a replacement.

[e21Mark]

I'm insured with Competition Car Insurance and am always careful to declare upgrades / modifications. Although, as said, I'm claiming off the other guy anyway.

I am reasonably confident the repairs won't be uneconomical, although I am also aware of how quickly repair costs can spiral when M tax is involved.

[mustdash]

Sorry to see this.

However, are you not liable for the damage to the car you were pushed in to? Would the insurance co of the guy that ran in to you only be liable to pay for the rear end damage, and yours for the front end damage? I'm not sure how these situations work in regard to insurance liability.

[e21Mark]

mustdash said:

Sorry to see this.

However, are you not liable for the damage to the car you were pushed in to? Would the insurance co of the guy that ran in to you only be liable to pay for the rear end damage, and yours for the front end damage? I'm not sure how these situations work in regard to insurance liability.

I was stationary and pushed into the car ahead, by the chap who hit me. It's he who's responsible. The woman I hit isn't claiming anyway, as it was an old car and the damage minimal.

[Doodlebug87]

Sorry to see such a nice car in such a state :-( generally speaking insurers may start to get tetchy if the damage is towards or over 60% of the value as they see it, ie book value. God knows what value they would deem this as, maybe have a look at parkers or similar to get an idea... you'll probably be ok and even if written off just keep pushing back until you get a fair payout

[e21Mark]

The guys insurers called and accepted full liability. My cars being transported to a body shop this week and they're dropping a hire car off to me tomorrow.

[Driver101]

e21Mark said:

The guys insurers called and accepted full liability. My cars being transported to a body shop this week and they're dropping a hire car off to me tomorrow.

Best of luck with getting it fixed. Hopefully things go well.

[AyBee]

Is it a body shop of your choice? I'm currently going through this with my Elise. Got put into a Merc E250 by the other guy's insurance - close enough

[oldaudi]

Percentage is 66%. If the total of the repairs is greater than 66% of the value that THEY value the car, they'll write it off. That's what they will possibly try.

However, I've just been through this and the value of the repairs was 72% of the car and I argued that by the time we go back and forth over the value of the car, their Admin over heads and then them having to pay out 100% of their value of the car to me in cash, buy it back at salvage value etc it would cost them more in the long run.

So they agreed to get it fixed. £1800 on a £2400 car. The reason I followed it up was purely based on the history, miles and services we had on the car. Plus it was the principle that someone else could write the car off when we were not at fault.

Good luck

[e21Mark]

AyBee said:

Is it a body shop of your choice? I'm currently going through this with my Elise. Got put into a Merc E250 by the other guy's insurance - close enough

Yes. I explained that I wanted done by someone who knows older BMW and they were fine with it.