Someone hit my car, I'm going to be out of pocket
Discussion
So Wednesday morning whilst my car was parked up someone drove into it !
He admitted liability (didn't have much option I was in the house ) and his insurance company rang me to say don't involve your insurance company we can sort this.
His company Direct line sorted me a hire car and took mine away for repair. Today I got a call saying it's not worth repairing and they will be in touch. !
Now I'm a bit worried, it's a 56 plate Audi A3 1.9tdi with 180,000 on the clock.
But it's very very tidy I have always gone above and beyond with its maintenance and it's bodywork.
On paper I'm guessing the cars not worth a lot, but no way I can get one like this for what I suspect I will be offered.
Plus it had heated seats that I loved and none of the others I'm looking at on eBay seeem too.
I'm gutted, anyone have an idea of what I'm likely to be offered for the car ?
He admitted liability (didn't have much option I was in the house ) and his insurance company rang me to say don't involve your insurance company we can sort this.
His company Direct line sorted me a hire car and took mine away for repair. Today I got a call saying it's not worth repairing and they will be in touch. !
Now I'm a bit worried, it's a 56 plate Audi A3 1.9tdi with 180,000 on the clock.
But it's very very tidy I have always gone above and beyond with its maintenance and it's bodywork.
On paper I'm guessing the cars not worth a lot, but no way I can get one like this for what I suspect I will be offered.
Plus it had heated seats that I loved and none of the others I'm looking at on eBay seeem too.
I'm gutted, anyone have an idea of what I'm likely to be offered for the car ?
I've been in this situation. First, whatever their first offer is (which may be better than you expect) say your car was exceptional and ask for whatever figure, more than you think. They'll up their offer a decent amount. Take it. The first offer will never be the best, but after the second you'll spend weeks arguing for another fiver. Then ask about buying back the scrap car, which you can have repaired yourself if you like.
Thanks guys
Interesting otherman, it's part of life but could not have occurred at worse time !.
Direct line have been very good and organised TBH so far I can't fault them but I am realistic and know they only offer what they view it's worth.
It's not just the car, you've then got to swap insurance to new car that's a 25 quid fee or whatever plus difference. Then I'll have to sort some bits as cars at this money are bound to have issues then I'll worry if cam belt has really been done so will do that etc etc.
You don't think about it when your dripping money into transport a little at a time but when you need to sort all at once you suddenly realise how much this all adds up.
As you can tell I'm not a powerful company director ! ,
Interesting otherman, it's part of life but could not have occurred at worse time !.
Direct line have been very good and organised TBH so far I can't fault them but I am realistic and know they only offer what they view it's worth.
It's not just the car, you've then got to swap insurance to new car that's a 25 quid fee or whatever plus difference. Then I'll have to sort some bits as cars at this money are bound to have issues then I'll worry if cam belt has really been done so will do that etc etc.
You don't think about it when your dripping money into transport a little at a time but when you need to sort all at once you suddenly realise how much this all adds up.
As you can tell I'm not a powerful company director ! ,
You will be offered market value not trade. If you are not happy with the offer then provide the insurance company with adverts of similar spec'd cars that are being sold for a higher price.
Also, create a list of all your out of pocket expenses as these we will be reimbursed if reasonable.
Good luck!!
Also, create a list of all your out of pocket expenses as these we will be reimbursed if reasonable.
Good luck!!
Mgd_uk said:
Ask to buy it back from them at scrap value once they pay out for it.
You could end up with say £2500 payout, buy the cat back £200/300 , leaving you with the car + £2300 in your pocket to fix or drive on dependent on the damage.
This.You could end up with say £2500 payout, buy the cat back £200/300 , leaving you with the car + £2300 in your pocket to fix or drive on dependent on the damage.
Beat them up to a decent offer, buy it back once written off, then repair with the cash you've got. The car will be worth less, but you'll have had a significant payout on its value for repairs etc already = profit!
How much are the repair costs?
When someone drove into my £500 Volvo V 70 this year I was worried that the same would happen. My insurance company said that, with cosmetic damage, they would ensure that the other driver's insurance would pay up whatever the value of my car.
I ended up with a Toyota Land Cruiser as a loan car for two weeks while my car had a new wing and the front bumper and wing sprayed. The whole car was also machine polished.
I had to pay nothing!
When someone drove into my £500 Volvo V 70 this year I was worried that the same would happen. My insurance company said that, with cosmetic damage, they would ensure that the other driver's insurance would pay up whatever the value of my car.
I ended up with a Toyota Land Cruiser as a loan car for two weeks while my car had a new wing and the front bumper and wing sprayed. The whole car was also machine polished.
I had to pay nothing!
rustyuk said:
You will be offered market value not trade. If you are not happy with the offer then provide the insurance company with adverts of similar spec'd cars that are being sold for a higher price.
Also, create a list of all your out of pocket expenses as these we will be reimbursed if reasonable.
Good luck!!
This.Also, create a list of all your out of pocket expenses as these we will be reimbursed if reasonable.
Good luck!!
Good news is Direct Line are pretty good with payouts if you argue.
My car, my estimated value to be around £14-15k, was written off by DL. The engineer looked at the car and sent an offer of £12.5k. I was terribly upset, thought it was the end of the world. Refused the offer, and asked for the engineer to contact me to discus it.
Pointed out that the car had lots of extras, and an unusual spec (it also had higher than average mileage). He told me to get adverts of possible like for like replacements. Sent him a bunch of printouts of very expensive examples (the most ludicrously expensive ones I could find advertised to be fair!).
They sent me a cheque for £18,5k a couple of days later. I didn't argue.
Good luck!
Ilovejapcrap said:
On paper I'm guessing the cars not worth a lot...
I'm gutted, anyone have an idea of what I'm likely to be offered for the car ?
You will be offered what it's worth. Market value.I'm gutted, anyone have an idea of what I'm likely to be offered for the car ?
A 10yo 1.9TDi A3 with nearly 200k on the clock? There's a dozen similar cars on Autotrader. The cheapest is a snidge under £2k. The steepest is just over £3K. Frankly, I'm astonished they're that much.
Find & download as many examples of cars for sale that are identical to yours in as many respects as possible. You can then use this to argue the offer from the insurers, if necessary to the Ombudsman.
Be aware that going the ombudsman route is the long game, I did this with one of our cars some years ago. Took 9 months before we got paid.
Be aware that going the ombudsman route is the long game, I did this with one of our cars some years ago. Took 9 months before we got paid.
Edited by paintman on Friday 4th November 09:02
Mgd_uk said:
Ask to buy it back from them at scrap value once they pay out for it.
You could end up with say £2500 payout, buy the cat back £200/300 , leaving you with the car + £2300 in your pocket to fix or drive on dependent on the damage.
This is the winner. Also, haggle over the price, as said earlier. They will give you the realistic cost to replace. They have to, it's the law. You could end up with say £2500 payout, buy the cat back £200/300 , leaving you with the car + £2300 in your pocket to fix or drive on dependent on the damage.
But salvage like this is a winner.
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