Insurance write-off question
Discussion
Hi all,
Apologies if this is not the correct place to be posting. Trying to help out a friend who has come to me as the ‘car guy’, but I don’t have an answer to this one as I’m not all that familiar with the UK insurance system.
(1) If a car is UK insured but involved in an accident overseas, does the insurance company’s calculation of the value of the repair include any recovery and repatriation costs, or just the repairs to the vehicle? There is nothing in the policy wording that I’ve been able to find on this point, so am wondering if there is an industry convention.
(2) Secondly: if the insurance company declares the car as a write-off (non economic to repair), can you actually cancel the claim at that point and just pay for the repairs yourself, to avoid the company taking ownership of the car?
Basically, in this circumstance I believe the objective is to avoid a write-off at all cost!
Many thanks!
Apologies if this is not the correct place to be posting. Trying to help out a friend who has come to me as the ‘car guy’, but I don’t have an answer to this one as I’m not all that familiar with the UK insurance system.
(1) If a car is UK insured but involved in an accident overseas, does the insurance company’s calculation of the value of the repair include any recovery and repatriation costs, or just the repairs to the vehicle? There is nothing in the policy wording that I’ve been able to find on this point, so am wondering if there is an industry convention.
(2) Secondly: if the insurance company declares the car as a write-off (non economic to repair), can you actually cancel the claim at that point and just pay for the repairs yourself, to avoid the company taking ownership of the car?
Basically, in this circumstance I believe the objective is to avoid a write-off at all cost!
Many thanks!
If the car is deemed uneconomical to repair, many insurance companies won't pay for recovery to the UK, they're disposed of in the country the accident occurred.
However, some will agree to sell the salvage back to you via a reduced payout but obviously you're then liable for repatriation back to the UK which can be very costly..
However, some will agree to sell the salvage back to you via a reduced payout but obviously you're then liable for repatriation back to the UK which can be very costly..
Draxindustries1 said:
If the car is deemed uneconomical to repair, many insurance companies won't pay for recovery to the UK, they're disposed of in the country the accident occurred.
However, some will agree to sell the salvage back to you via a reduced payout but obviously you're then liable for repatriation back to the UK which can be very costly..
That's an interesting perspective - but they'd have to somehow assess the value of the damage in that foreign country, where they don't have a repair network, right?However, some will agree to sell the salvage back to you via a reduced payout but obviously you're then liable for repatriation back to the UK which can be very costly..
klan8456 said:
Draxindustries1 said:
If the car is deemed uneconomical to repair, many insurance companies won't pay for recovery to the UK, they're disposed of in the country the accident occurred.
However, some will agree to sell the salvage back to you via a reduced payout but obviously you're then liable for repatriation back to the UK which can be very costly..
That's an interesting perspective - but they'd have to somehow assess the value of the damage in that foreign country, where they don't have a repair network, right?However, some will agree to sell the salvage back to you via a reduced payout but obviously you're then liable for repatriation back to the UK which can be very costly..
Probably a little difficult to do where a picture may just show superficial damage but possibly have underlying damage not visible. Obvious major damage though is different. Aviva, a major insurance provider in the UK is just one which uses just pictures now.
Draxindustries1 said:
Many insurance companies will assess damage on photos alone without being physically inspected.
Probably a little difficult to do where a picture may just show superficial damage but possibly have underlying damage not visible. Obvious major damage though is different. Aviva, a major insurance provider in the UK is just one which uses just pictures now.
Thanks, certainly that would seem to lean towards lower end quotes rather than higher. As you said, difficult to see any underlying damage!Probably a little difficult to do where a picture may just show superficial damage but possibly have underlying damage not visible. Obvious major damage though is different. Aviva, a major insurance provider in the UK is just one which uses just pictures now.
You don't say how bad the damage is, I'm assuming that if it were driveable he'd have driven it home and none of this would be a problem.
Insurance companies are notoriously lazy when it comes to this sort of claim. If can just be too much bother for them to deal with a remote claim, all the costs associated with reuniting the car with the owner, possible issues with repair warranty etc. all of which add to the cost of the claim. So they will probably err on the side of writing it off.
Most insurance companies now work on photographic evidence and it's rare for them to send an engineer or assessor, back in the UK they will push you to their "approved" repairer which can be another whole tin of worms.
Once you've started the claim with your own insurance company it's up to them whether they write the car off or not and even if you try to cancel the claim the chances are that it will still be recorded as a write off, it's different if you make a third party claim as you can just refuse their settlement.
If they write it off you generally get the option to buy it back (they just deduct a sum for the salvage value from the payout), you can then get it repaired yourself as long as it's not a cat A or B.
Insurance companies are notoriously lazy when it comes to this sort of claim. If can just be too much bother for them to deal with a remote claim, all the costs associated with reuniting the car with the owner, possible issues with repair warranty etc. all of which add to the cost of the claim. So they will probably err on the side of writing it off.
Most insurance companies now work on photographic evidence and it's rare for them to send an engineer or assessor, back in the UK they will push you to their "approved" repairer which can be another whole tin of worms.
Once you've started the claim with your own insurance company it's up to them whether they write the car off or not and even if you try to cancel the claim the chances are that it will still be recorded as a write off, it's different if you make a third party claim as you can just refuse their settlement.
If they write it off you generally get the option to buy it back (they just deduct a sum for the salvage value from the payout), you can then get it repaired yourself as long as it's not a cat A or B.
(1) The insurer ought to consider the repair cost in the country where the car is, the repair cost in the UK (including the cost of repatriation) and the cost of those options compared to the value of the car plus its salvage value, which will be lower than in the UK assuming it is in a country that drives on the right.
(2) When I handled motor claims in the 70s/80s/90s cancelling the claim would have been an option, but somehow I doubt that would work now! If the insurer decides the car is beyond economical repair the owner could still opt to keep it, but it would have a Cat N or Cat S marker and the owner would probably have to pay to get it repatriated.
(2) When I handled motor claims in the 70s/80s/90s cancelling the claim would have been an option, but somehow I doubt that would work now! If the insurer decides the car is beyond economical repair the owner could still opt to keep it, but it would have a Cat N or Cat S marker and the owner would probably have to pay to get it repatriated.
Thanks. Latest info seems to be that the insurance company is repatriating the car and sending it to the owner’s choice of repairer.
They’re going to try to find out what the insurance company’s write-off threshold is (50%? 60? More?) and ensure the repair quote is less than that, and pay any additional repair costs themselves.
They’re going to try to find out what the insurance company’s write-off threshold is (50%? 60? More?) and ensure the repair quote is less than that, and pay any additional repair costs themselves.
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