Just been hit, my car is very low value..what to do?

[davepoth]

I was just hit in the side by a car that decided to pretend I wasn't in the lane I was in. Liability no problem as far as I'm concerned (he admitted it), not a big hit (bumps, scrapes and a broken wing mirrror) but the car was more or less worthless anyway as it's fifteen years old with more than 150k miles.

I've not had an accident where I've had to make a claim previously so I'm not 100% clear how this is all supposed to work.I did ask for details but all I got (and gave) was name, address and registration number. The other party is insured, which is a bonus I suppose!

I called into my insurance company, and they started making the usual "we'll take it away to look at it" noises, to which I firmly said no. They also mentioned that the excess would still be charged if I made a no-fault claim, which didn't seem right. I told them I need to think about it and left it at that.

Basically, I want to keep hold of my car, avoid getting it written off if possible, and I guess make a claim on the other party's insurance to avoid losing my excess. What would be the best way to proceed?

[TwigtheWonderkid]

davepoth said:

They also mentioned that the excess would still be charged if I made a no-fault claim, which didn't seem right.

It is right. If you claim off your own policy, you pay the excess, although you can claim it back from the tp insurers down the line.

[dxg]

Claim directly off the other guy's insurance. Notify yours of the incident and that you don't need their help.

[davepoth]

dxg said:

Claim directly off the other guy's insurance. Notify yours of the incident and that you don't need their help.

That was what I was thinking - I recall a friend doing it. How do I go about doing that if I don't have the name of their insurance company though?

-edit-

Oh, AskMID. Got it.

So the way forward as far as I can see it:

1)Call my own insurers back and tell them I won't be proceeding with a claim through them
2)Speak to the other party's insurer and tell them I would like to make a claim
3)Be very firm about them not taking the vehicle away
4)Request a "cash in lieu" settlement - do I do this immediately or do I need to wait until after an engineer/loss adjuster has looked at the claim?

Am I missing anything? Thanks for the help!

Edited by davepoth on Sunday 24th June 15:37

[anonymous-user]

Your insurer should be able to tell you, or you can get the details yourself from AskMID for £4

http://www.askmid.com/askmidenquiry.aspx

[davepoth]

charltjr said:

Your insurer should be able to tell you, or you can get the details yourself from AskMID for £4

http://www.askmid.com/askmidenquiry.aspx

Brilliant, got the details now.

So I guess the question is how do I go about making sure I get a cash settlement rather than a write-off? Any "magic words" to use when I speak with the insurers?

[Alucidnation]

That claim would more than likely go 50/50 in the eyes of the insurer if he side swiped you, unless you have a dash cam?

[davepoth]

Alucidnation said:

That claim would more than likely go 50/50 in the eyes of the insurer if he side swiped you, unless you have a dash cam?

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4289767,-2.53675...

This is more or less the spot. I was travelling towards Bristol, but looking to turn right at the next junction. The car that had hit me had been right up my chuff in the temporary 30 limit about half a mile previously, but had fallen back when that reverted to 30. This particular section was again 30mph, and again he was right up my chuff. The leftmost lane is immediately following a bus/taxi lane so very few people use it; generally all of the traffic is in the right hand of the two straight on lanes.

I indicated to move right, and moved right into the lane provided for turning right, while continuing at 30mph.

The car that hit me continued in the lane I was in but accelerated up along side me. I'm not exactly sure what happened at that point, but I think he either forgot that he needed to turn right and panicked, or was planning to undertake and cut me up but badly misjudged it.

Either way, I was in my lane minding my own business and he drove into me. Not 50/50.

[MrGTI6]

I had someone drive into the side of my car a couple of weeks ago. It's 20 years old and on 145k, and the insurance company would have almost certainly written it off.

Instead I have requested a cash in lieu settlement, so I will keep the car without it being written off, and I'll put the money towards getting it repaired.

Still a very frustrating situation to be in though due to someone else's inability to drive.

[davepoth]

MrGTI6 said:

I had someone drive into the side of my car a couple of weeks ago. It's 20 years old and on 145k, and the insurance company would have almost certainly written it off.

Instead I have requested a cash in lieu settlement, so I will keep the car without it being written off, and I'll put the money towards getting it repaired.

Thanks - can you run me through how you did it? Did you go through your own insurers or the other party's? at what point did you request the settlement?

[Mr E]

davepoth said:

Brilliant, got the details now.

So I guess the question is how do I go about making sure I get a cash settlement rather than a write-off? Any "magic words" to use when I speak with the insurers?

Why does it matter if they write it off. Take the money, offer to buy the written off car back. Continue motoring.

[davepoth]

Mr E said:

davepoth said:

Brilliant, got the details now.

So I guess the question is how do I go about making sure I get a cash settlement rather than a write-off? Any "magic words" to use when I speak with the insurers?

Why does it matter if they write it off. Take the money, offer to buy the written off car back. Continue motoring.

The operative word there is "offer"; they would be within their rights to refuse to sell it to me. I'd rather hold on to it if I can.

[Alucidnation]

I think they would probably rather you had it back, than them have to deal with it.

[Escy]

I'd contact the person you had the accident with, if they have admitted liability maybe they'd rather chuck a few quid your way to go towards repairing your car. If their car is decent they'll probably not want to but if both cars are pretty much worthless, going through the insurance isn't good for either of you. You'll both have increased premiums for years to come.

[davepoth]

Escy said:

I'd contact the person you had the accident with, if they have admitted liability maybe they'd rather chuck a few quid your way to go towards repairing your car. If their car is decent they'll probably not want to but if both cars are pretty much worthless, going through the insurance isn't good for either of you. You'll both have increased premiums for years to come.

I've already notified my insurer, so that's out of the window. For all the trouble I've seen people have keeping stuff "off the books" I think I'd rather do it properly.

[Triumph Man]

Watching this with interest, as my car is similar in as much as it's low value so being sneezed on the wrong way would write it off.

[timmymagic73]

My car is 16 years old with 150,000 miles too and I had £750 of repair work approved after someone drove into the side of it while it was parked. (dashcam evidence caught the lady doing it - yes!)

I just told my insurance. They sorted it all out with the third party. No question about writing the car off for a 75% value repair.

I went to my own choice of bodyshop who sent the quote to my insurer who claimed it all back from the third party's insurer. No excess to pay or money up front to anyone.

In shocking Pistonheads news my premium didn't even go up at the next renewal - in fact it went down slightly.

Edit to add - if it's still driveable and safe, don't let the car out of your sight. They wanted to take mine away for "assessment" and tried to involve an AMC and drop off a hire car, etc, but I refused all of that. The last thing I wanted was my "old" car dragged off to a scrapyard never to be seen again.

Edited by timmymagic73 on Monday 25th June 08:49

[Triumph Man]

That's heartening to know. Did you just send photographs for the assessment?

[timmymagic73]

Triumph Man said:

That's heartening to know. Did you just send photographs for the assessment?

Yes, I sent photos of the damage to my insurance company plus dashcam footage of the actual impact. My preferred repairer put the quote together which was then approved by my insurer's assessor.

Couldn't have been easier. It was most irritating to find the damage and no note, but incredibly satisfying to ID the culprit and her full registration from the dashcam footage. Oh to have been a fly on the wall when that letter came through her door....

[Psycho Warren]

davepoth said:

The operative word there is "offer"; they would be within their rights to refuse to sell it to me. I'd rather hold on to it if I can.

Its YOUR car until you accept the offer. Key being when they come up with a figure tell them you want to retain salvage.

At that point they cannot refuse as it is still YOUR car.

They could be an arse and refuse to pay out at all but its extremely unlikely and they would loose if you took it to the ombudsman. Plenty of rulings showing that the insurer is still liable to pay out but minus a fair price for the cost of the salvage.