Rang my insurer to tell them my car had been damaged and they say it's a write-off - can I stop it being written off?
My daughter skidded off a B road in the Scottish Borders yesterday. The road was heavily covered in mud from tractor work in the adjacent field. There was no "mud on road" warning signs posted. Her 2009 Ford Ranger mounted the verge and hit a tree with damage to the front nearside wing, headlights and wheel. She called the police to warn of the hazard and, when home, called her insurance. Insurance said from damage described, the car would be a write-off. She now wishes she hadn't bothered calling them as she will have to get the truck repaired as it is needed to get to work and collect children from school. Will the call to her insurance constitute a claim and affect her premiums and no-claims bonus if she undertakes the repairs from her own funds? I presume the car cannot be written-off unless she actually pursued the claim.
Asked on 28 October 2019 by KenScotland
Answered by
Honest John
She would need to contact her insurance to cancel the claim, but her insurance will still keep on record. You are basically now damned whether you do or do not contact your insurer. She needs to contact her insurer and advise that the car is not a total loss and she wishes for them to arrange for an engineer to inspect the vehicle, as well as for it to be repaired. Her insurer will still try to total loss the car even though no claim is made so she needs to make sure this does not happen. There is also a duty on the landowner to make sure they are not causing a hazard by causing mud to be brought on to the road. It may well be a claim can be pursued from the landowner. To make it clear, a vehicle is only ever a total loss when the repair costs exceed the market value. If the repair costs are less than the market value, the vehicle is not a total loss.
Tags:
insurance
write offs
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