Receiving insurance payout OFFER without making it a Cat N/S

[kushty]

My car was hit by a truck recently.
(https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=2005584&mid=653750)

I applied to my insurer, Admiral, to make a claim when it happened. They told me on the phone that, based on the photos, it would probably be an insurance write-off i.e. it can be repaired (Cat N/S), but the cost is higher than the value of the car, so they will just pay me the value of the car. They then said they'll send through requests for more information so they can make a decision. I haven't answered their additional requests yet.

I think it's possible that they will offer more than my costs to put it back on the road (plus other costs like increased insurance premium). So I'd like to receive the OFFER from them, and then decide. I know that if I accept their offer, I am obliged to notify the DVLA of an insurance write-off, and this will lower the market value of the car. If I decline their offer, am I correct in thinking that I am not obliged to notify the DVLA? From my perspective, the car is not an insurance write-off if I don't actually complete the claim by receiving the money.

[Draxindustries1]

If you don't accept the offer your car won't go on the hit list as DVLA won't know. It's always the labour element that puts paid to a viable repair.
As long as your car is repaired to a standard to pre accident damage you don't 'need' to mention it to anyone..

[bennno]

Just ask for an offer sufficient to repair it but not for it to be written off.

[Decky_Q]

In my experience with Aviva it worked out that they made me an offer, this was on the phone with the loss adjuster, I argued the toss and he upped the offer, I then asked how much to get the car back and they said they would give me the car back but take £2k out of my payment which I agreed to. Payout was £10,500. Everything was done in 1 phonecall.

[BertBert]

Decky_Q said:

In my experience with Aviva it worked out that they made me an offer, this was on the phone with the loss adjuster, I argued the toss and he upped the offer, I then asked how much to get the car back and they said they would give me the car back but take £2k out of my payment which I agreed to. Payout was £10,500. Everything was done in 1 phonecall.

With or without a category status?

[bencollins4]

If insurers make a decision to write it off it will go in the register regardless of whether you accept a cash in lieu offer or not.

[Decky_Q]

BertBert said:

Decky_Q said:

In my experience with Aviva it worked out that they made me an offer, this was on the phone with the loss adjuster, I argued the toss and he upped the offer, I then asked how much to get the car back and they said they would give me the car back but take £2k out of my payment which I agreed to. Payout was £10,500. Everything was done in 1 phonecall.

With or without a category status?

No cat status recorded. Wasnt alot of damage tbh, I had a quote of £700 for the repair. I ended up not repairing it and just bought another car, the next owner then contacted me to say hed broken it for parts which is a shame as it only had 22k miles on it and the damage was superficial.

[kushty]

Decky_Q said:

No cat status recorded. Wasnt alot of damage tbh, I had a quote of £700 for the repair. I ended up not repairing it and just bought another car, the next owner then contacted me to say hed broken it for parts which is a shame as it only had 22k miles on it and the damage was superficial.

Are you saying you received £10,500 for a car with £700 of damage, which was only superficial?

[kushty]

bencollins4 said:

If insurers make a decision to write it off it will go in the register regardless of whether you accept a cash in lieu offer or not.

So you disagree with @Draxindustries1?

Draxindustries1 said:

If you don't accept the offer your car won't go on the hit list as DVLA won't know. It's always the labour element that puts paid to a viable repair.
As long as your car is repaired to a standard to pre accident damage you don't 'need' to mention it to anyone..

[Decky_Q]

kushty said:

Decky_Q said:

No cat status recorded. Wasnt alot of damage tbh, I had a quote of £700 for the repair. I ended up not repairing it and just bought another car, the next owner then contacted me to say hed broken it for parts which is a shame as it only had 22k miles on it and the damage was superficial.

Are you saying you received £10,500 for a car with £700 of damage, which was only superficial?

Yeah it was a 2 year old vx220, they couldnt source a new clam at the time. Headlight alone was few thousand so they opted for full payout (£12.5) rather than repair it themselves. My repair was to patch repair the fibreglass bits rather than replace, and respray the damaged area. Ended up sitting in my driveway depressing me every time I looked at it, so sold it on.

[bencollins4]

kushty said:

bencollins4 said:

If insurers make a decision to write it off it will go in the register regardless of whether you accept a cash in lieu offer or not.

So you disagree with @Draxindustries1?

Draxindustries1 said:

If you don't accept the offer your car won't go on the hit list as DVLA won't know. It's always the labour element that puts paid to a viable repair.
As long as your car is repaired to a standard to pre accident damage you don't 'need' to mention it to anyone..

Yes, pretty sure if it’s written off you can’t just talk nicely to them and persuade them to take it back off as technically, it’s a total loss and needs to be recorded as such.

[Draxindustries1]

bencollins4 said:

kushty said:

bencollins4 said:

If insurers make a decision to write it off it will go in the register regardless of whether you accept a cash in lieu offer or not.

So you disagree with @Draxindustries1?

Draxindustries1 said:

If you don't accept the offer your car won't go on the hit list as DVLA won't know. It's always the labour element that puts paid to a viable repair.
As long as your car is repaired to a standard to pre accident damage you don't 'need' to mention it to anyone..

Yes, pretty sure if it’s written off you can’t just talk nicely to them and persuade them to take it back off as technically, it’s a total loss and needs to be recorded as such.

Look at a V5 with a car that's on the hit list, it will say (words to the effect) 'damage sustained beyond economical repair' on the Special notes section . It's recorded there by dvla when the ins company send the V5 off to them. You need to send the V5 to the ins Co when making a claim.
If you don't accept an ins offer it's case closed. The V5 stays in your possession and nothing is recorded against the car.
No one informs the dvla ref a car being repaired yourself unless of course you've accepted an offer with buy back.

[Draxindustries1]

Decky_Q said:

In my experience with Aviva it worked out that they made me an offer, this was on the phone with the loss adjuster, I argued the toss and he upped the offer, I then asked how much to get the car back and they said they would give me the car back but take £2k out of my payment which I agreed to. Payout was £10,500. Everything was done in 1 phonecall.

Aviva do this all by email now after you've sent them 4 pictures of the damage.