What happens after a car is written off?
Discussion
When a car is written off and the other party accepts liability they obviously pay you the market value but who gets the car afterwards. is it your own insurance company of the third party? If its your own insurance company they then sell it as salvage do they not make a profit from this if the third party has paid for everything else?
Depends whether its comprehensive insurance or not. If you're comprehensive, your insurer normally settle with you and dispose of the vehicle, then reclaim their costs from the third party. If its 3PF&T, the 3rd party settle with you and dispose of the vehicle. In either case, ultimately the 3rd party insurer foots the bill.
Doesn't matter who gets it, it goes into the salvage market (scrapyard) and gets used to repair other similar cars which are not quite written off.
Or it finds its way into the dodgy market and gets repaired, and you inadvertently buy it back when looking for a car to replace the one you just lost!
Or it finds its way into the dodgy market and gets repaired, and you inadvertently buy it back when looking for a car to replace the one you just lost!
A vast majority of the UKs insurance companies will use Copart where I work. The vehicles will either be collected from the vehicle location - normally a recovery yard or the private home address of the policy holder and taken back to one of the many branches.
When the vehicle is back at the yard, the vehicles are unloaded off the transporters, images taken, inventories filled in and sometimes a damage report carried out if it already hasnt been done, and then put away in the yard, where they are (safely..) stored until the claim is settled. This process can either be quick or take ages, depending on how severe the claim is/ amount of paperwork.
When this is all cleared - paperwork complete, owner paid out and deciding not to retain salvage - the insurance company will then instruct the Copart branch to put the vehicle in the online weekly auction where copart members (mainly foreigners..) will bid on the vehicles where they can be brought for spares or repairs, breaking or just to fix up if light panel damage. Insurance companies will normally try to recoup some of this cash also to cover their costs.
There are other salvage yards which are out there also for other insurance companies but that's how it Basically sort of works at my place!
When the vehicle is back at the yard, the vehicles are unloaded off the transporters, images taken, inventories filled in and sometimes a damage report carried out if it already hasnt been done, and then put away in the yard, where they are (safely..) stored until the claim is settled. This process can either be quick or take ages, depending on how severe the claim is/ amount of paperwork.
When this is all cleared - paperwork complete, owner paid out and deciding not to retain salvage - the insurance company will then instruct the Copart branch to put the vehicle in the online weekly auction where copart members (mainly foreigners..) will bid on the vehicles where they can be brought for spares or repairs, breaking or just to fix up if light panel damage. Insurance companies will normally try to recoup some of this cash also to cover their costs.
There are other salvage yards which are out there also for other insurance companies but that's how it Basically sort of works at my place!
Edited by RikST on Monday 6th January 22:15
Edited by RikST on Monday 6th January 22:29
Bungleaio said:
Mine was auctioned off by copart http://www.copart.co.uk
So was mine.What 5 weeks earlier was a £35k car, was auctioned for £3k.
psychoR1 said:
It doesn't get auctioned unless you agree. You still own the car until you agree the deal with the insurers so you can ask to keep it at an agreed price which will depend on what it is, the extent of damage and what category it falls into.
Yepp pretty much this, you will always have the chance to retain the salvage if the damage is not too extensive for your own repair choices, and either not let the car be collected in the first place, or have the vehicle will be returned to you from the yard if this has been agreed with the insurance company. Vehicle is only auctioned of when claim is fully settled - ie insured paid out and satisfied if the car does actually go to salvage and owner is happy for this to happen.
Zyp said:
I don't ever remember being asked if I wanted my car back.
Had I done I would possibly have had it, as the gearbox and engine were worth more than £3k!
I guess it's always worth checking sometimes with some companies to see if they do actaully offer salvage retains, as it can seem a bit of a dark area as some companies are more than happy to offer it, whilst others will not let the owner keep it at all.Had I done I would possibly have had it, as the gearbox and engine were worth more than £3k!
Guess it seems a lot of 'normal' not so car clued up people are happy to let the car go through the whole salvage route as its an easy way out, ie insurance take the car, claim is settled and owner paid and its then sold on through auction - job done! And not a lot of people will want to pay for repairs or even DIY the vehicle repairs themselves, as this can be a bit of an added expense/ time and hassle for the majority of people. Seems its just a lot easier and hassle free to let the insurance write the car off in all honestly, reckon this is about 95% of what happens to most write off claims.
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