Just typed out a long post but Internet Explorer just lost all, so this will be brief.
Last week a foreign lorry changing lanes crashed into my Clio (1996, 5dr, 1.2, just under 70k) at 40mph. I now have a big dent in the passenger front door (car is still drive able). It was completely his fault, he didn't speak any English, but from his body language and actions I assume he and his insurance will accept liability.
Obviously my car isn't worth much (£500, maybe more) so the cost of repair has the possibility of being higher than it's worth and therefore an insurance write off. Last Feb for the MOT I had a big service and a major belt changed (sorry can't remember which), the car still fine and would hopefully should for a while yet.
While doing the quote I've asked the garage to have a quick look over the car to see if the car is likely to pass next months MOT and if it looks like it will keep going for a while yet. Assuming they say yes and I'm not being fussed about dents, what are likely scenarios? If the insurance say it is a write off, is there any way of keeping the car and a significant percentage of the cash? If they provide the money for the repair, can I pocket the cash and leave the dent?
Sorry for the ignorance. I look forward to your advice.
Jim Bob
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Sorry forgot to say I've got 3rd party insurance, so a legal representive is dealing with my claim.
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Assume the car is worth £500.
Assume the 3rd party agrees their fault and will pay out.
You will get an offer of £500 and they take the car - scrap dealer says it is worth £100.
You could be offered £300- £400 and keep the car.
A few years back I knew someone who's car was written off 3 x in 2 years - each time he took the cash and kept the car - a very bashed Fiat Punto but "free motoring" as he had collected more in 2 yearts than the car cost him 2 years previously.
A Foreign Lorry & Insurer - hope you have lots of patience - it could be a long wait.
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Did this twice with a Jetta - I was paid a total of £1350 and still sold it for £200. First time the OS wing was scraped, and the door scraped/dented, second time the boot floor was creased.
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A few years back I knew someone who's car was written off 3 x in 2 years - each time he took the cash and kept the car - a very bashed Fiat Punto but "free motoring" as he had collected more in 2 yearts than the car cost him 2 years previously.
He would have had to have changed insurance companies each time, and these days they share info.
Is it easy to insure a car that's declared a write off? I realise that the car may not be very damaged, but surely the insurance would know?
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Is it easy to insure a car that's declared a write off? I realise that the car may not be very damaged, but surely the insurance would know?
Of course it is, why do they sell them as salvage. So long as they can take premiums they're happy.
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He would have had to have changed insurance companies each time, and these days they share info.
He had 3rd party F&T ins - he told his Ins co of the accident(s) but the other party paid the damage / write-off. As he had no blame there is no nee to tell your Ins Co apart from the incident.
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I managed to write my E-type off on a Jaguar Drivers Club track day.
The policy gave me the salvage as part of the deal, so I had it repaired myself.
The insurance company insisted on an engineers report before they would re-insure it, which I got - no problems since.
When a car is written-off, I believe there is a category assigned to the car that will show on an HPI check.
One category is for cars that can never be safely repaired, another is for cars that are just un-economic to fix.
If your's is the latter, your insurance company should re-insure you, but wether it is worth the cost of an engineers inspection is up to you.
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Slightly off the subject, but your closing comment was of interest as SHMBO's car (and very nearly SHMBO) was written off by a German driver/HGV on Monday.
If anyone has had experience with claims against foriegn vehicles / drivers I would be intersted in knowing what pitfalls to look out for.
Thanks
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Just got off the phone to my insurance's legal people.
1. The lorries insurance's / uk reps still haven't admitted liability.
2. Someone has been to have an external look at the car.
They have classed it as a band C write off (which I understand means a repair is uneconomic) and have set the price at £825. Apparently a letter is in the post explaining this. She asked if I would happy to accept his, I said maybe, but not until the other party admitted liability. Also she said as my car has now been officially classed as Band C that officially I shouldn't be driving it and if I wish to carry on then I need to get a VIC (which she couldn't inform me about) If I have have this carried out now can I claim the cost back?
What are my options now?
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I am not clear on the sequence of events. In your second post you explain that you're TP but in you last post you imply they may pay £825 - which you won't accept until the other party accepts liability. But until they accept liability you won't get a penny, so if there's any money on the table now I would grab it and run. £825 is a good offer considering the car's age.
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>>Just typed out a long post but Internet Explorer just lost all, so this will be brief.>>
Not IE, this site times out after 15 to 20 mins so best to type out in Word or similar and copy & paste into here if a long post.
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I am 3rd party, I didn't really understand either.
A few weeks ago, the garage advised a few things that needed doing, I didn't want to pay for anything if the car was going to be scrapped the next week. I phoned the my insurancers and explained the situation, they said they would send out someone to check the car.
The only way I'm getting any money will be if the other party admit liability, but surley won't their insurancers want to do their own inspection?
I'm off on holiday tomorrow, but asumming I've recieved the letter by the time I've got back, I'll let you know what they have put in writing.
Thanks for your interest.
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jb101,
I had similar some years back when a chap in a camper van drove into the side of my old car (when it was tpf&t).
Two replacement doors from a scrappy and it would have been up and running again.
I had all that carp about writing it off......and refused to let them do it. I told them that I owned the car and I would choose whether I claimed or not. If i didn't claim it wouldn't be written off. They also told me that they wanted the MOT and I 'might' be able to buy it back from them. I advised that as I owned the car, always intended owning the car and was never going to relinquish ownership of it, even to them... what were they willing to do on that basis alone i.e. i'd paid my premium and wanted some assistance, but on my terms not theirs.
It took a number of phone calls and I had to speak to managers not those first on the phone...but eventually got it repaired, (for no more than what the write-off value would have been), not shown as a write off (i've checked), at no point did I not own it and no one ever saw the MOT.
In all fairness though the 3rd party driver always acknowledged blame and his insurance co. were not slow to pay...which obviously helped.
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.. had all that carp about writing it off......and refused to let them do it. ..
westpig: that is excellent advice, which i repeat to all who ask about their no-fault claim.
however, note that in the case of jimbob101, he says " Sorry forgot to say I've got 3rd party insurance, so a legal representive is dealing with my claim. "
in other words, his own insurance company is not involved.
even if it was comprehensive inusrance, i would advise jimbob to go the route he has - i.e. use legal claims service (or self) to claim direct from the 3rd party and/or thier insurance whilst keeping his own insurance company notified purely "for information".
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>>I managed to write my E-type off on a Jaguar Drivers Club track day.
>>The policy gave me the salvage as part of the deal, so I had it repaired myself.
Did you have special insurance that covered you for use on track days or did you just not mention that it was on a track when it got smashed up???
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Thanks for all your comments. Back from holiday and had the letter waiting for me.
In brief:
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... We have heard from third party insurers following inspection of your vehicle. They confirm it is damaged beyond economical repair
Gross Valuation: £825.00
Salvage: £0
Nett Valuation: £825.00
....If the claim is settled in full in your favour, we would therefore expect to receive a cheque for the nett valuation, with the vehicle remaining your property.
This should not be construed as an offer at this stage as the third party insurers may not have accepted liability for the incident,
1. To enable us to respond please confirm in writing if the valuation is acceptable to you, enclosing a copy of the vehicle reg document and MOT.
2. If you do not accept the valuation..... (I do).
As your vehicle has been rendered beyond economical repair there may be an effect on the insurance cover for your vehicle... important to contact insurers particularly if you are still driving the vehicle.
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So it looks like when(if?) the polish insurers admit liability, I get a cheque and get to keep the car. The letter makes no mention of a VIC or anything similar, just that I have to inform my insurers. The car passed it's MOT and been reinsured since the crash so hopefully the insurance won't go up too much. Now just need to find out how much the new pads will cost.
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Ok so I'll ask the stupid questions... jimbob probably knows the answers but I'm confused!
Does the above mean that the car is recorded as written off, even though the OP is still driving it, MOTed and insured? So the £825 is to take care of the drop in value being recorded as written off will cause?
Why does he have to send off the MOT and reg doc if he gets to keep the car?
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>Why does he have to send off the MOT and reg doc if he gets to keep the car?
To ensure that a) the cheque is being made out to the regd keeper (at a guess) and b) that the car was roadworthy at the time of the accident (again a guess)
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Same thing exactly happened to me.
But twelve months on I have been offered a write off value of £600 less my £100 excess , which would have suited me fine, until I was told that my car which is completely roadworthy was going to cost me 85% of the write off value if I wished to retain it.
The company steadfastly refuses to budge on this. So I have no other alternative but to retain the car, which now has a marker against it (cost £37) to remove at a VOSA station) return the cheque and my no claims history remains intact.
Grateful any suggestions on how to resolve this mess.
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to read how to get money for your "damaged or written off" car but still carry on driving it afterwards, read
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=53835&...f
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Well after 8 months I've paid in a cheque for £825 and driving the Clio on the same insurance.
Thought a summury might be of interest.
05/01 - Hit by Polish Lorry on M1, Damage: Dented front passenger door. Driver provided Business Card and tear off insurance slip (Polish & English)
06/01 - Reported accident to Admiral, forwarded claim to Albany Assistance Ltd (as I have 3rd party F&T insurance only).
20/01 - Letter received from Albany: Third Party has not responded to request for their insurance details
03/02 - Letter received from Albany: Third Party has not responded to request for their insurance details
06/02 - Sent two estimates (£600-£800)
19/02 - Letter received from Albany: Third Party has not responded to request for their insurance details, we will write again threatening legal action
Between Feb and Jul, I made occansional phone calls chasing Albany up to chase up the UK claim handlers/Polish insurers/.
01/07 - I phoned Albany, explaining that the car needs a service, but I need to know if the car is to be written off or not. Albany said they could arrange a valuer to come look at it.
24/07 - Letter received from Albany: Vehicle valued at £825, "beyond economical repair, salvage value £0" This is not an offer, third party have not admitted liability"
20/08 - Letter received from Admiral: Insurance cancelled 31/07 due to car beyond economical repair
22/08 - Letter received from Admiral: Insurance reinstated
23/08 - Informed Albany of acceptance of offer
05/09 - Letter received from Albany: Notified third party of acceptance of valuation
20/09 - Letter received from Albany: Cheque for £825 received
The thing was that made me most angry was the letter I received from Admiral on the 20/08: "Unfortunately your car...has been deemed beyond economical repair. As a result all insurance cover is now cancelled for you and any other drivers on your car with effect from 00:01 hours on 30/07/07."
They only informed me that the insurance had been cancelled three weeks after they did it! Fortunately I was on holiday so didn't drive during that time. When I got back I made a few calls and managed to convince them they shouldn't of cancelled it, why cancel my insurance on the basis of a valuation when I've had an MOT and reinsurred the car with them since the accident? Common sense finally prevailed once I'd sent them a copy of the MOT.
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Forgot to mention the MOT in February, the car only failed on emissions, so after some cleaner, it was fine, the damaged door had no affect.
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jimbob101 have you still got the log book for this car then?
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jimbob101 have you still got the log book for this car then?
Yes, I just sent a copy of it and the MOT. At the end of August I phoned the VOASA and they said they looked up the car on their database and they said it was clear.
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