Someone crashed into my car - insurance want to write it off!

[pnelson]

Looking for advice / a space to rant!

So after spending a long time looking for the right MR2, two months after I bought it, on Thursday morning some stupid woman changed lanes from stationary traffic into my lane as I was doing 25 - 30 mph. Managed to slow down to 15 ish mph before impact...

Here's a picture which I can't link properly due to the annoying forum rules. You can copy/paste it into your browser address bar:

imgur.com/a/vOcOk

I was absolutely livid! I'm not someone who gets angry easily but I couldn't believe what she'd done. She even said it was my fault because my car is old and must have bad brakes! Anyway...

Her insurance company have accepted fault. Have sent off pictures of damage and am awaiting their report. They originally wanted to write the car off and tow it but I told them that wasn't going to happen. I told them it isn't just a normal old car it is rare to find one in as good condition and low mileage as mine. It's a 1999 Cosmos Blue T-Bar NA on 62K miles, not a scratch on her.

I'm trying to get a cash settlement rather than have them write the car off and let me buy it back as that'll avoid having the car marked as a cat D!

Does anyone have experience with the following:

- Proving the value of the car, considering its value comes from it being a good colour, a Rev 5 and T-Bar and most of all its condition. I know that they're gonna look at the book price for an NA MR2 and offer me a tiny amount of money. I paid £3400 for the car two months ago

- Estimates of how much it would cost to repair using second hand parts. Off the top of my head I think I'll need: crash bar £150, bumper £150 + £250 respray, indicator £20, # plate + holder £30, trim strip £30, badge £10, replacement bolts £25?. That comes to about £650 in parts - sound about right?

[qwakers]

irrelivant. if their insurers have accepted liability you have a absolute right to demand it is returned to its original condition. tell them you want to take it to a body shop of your choice who will present them with a quotation for repair and you expect that quotation to be accepted.

it is only YOUR insurance company that can write it off if YOU where found to be at fault and they have to pay out. if it is being covered by another persons 3rd party liability the rules are somewhat different...

[Pauln]

it is only YOUR insurance company that can write it off if YOU where found to be at fault and they have to pay out. if it is being covered by another persons 3rd party liability the rules are somewhat different...

I'm not so sure that this is always how it works in practice. When I was rear ended and claimed off the other party's insurance company, who accepted full liability, after lengthy negotiations I eventually got an agreed cash settlement, and had it repaired at a body shop of my choice. But the third party's insurance company declared it a write off and contacted the DVLA to have it listed as a Cat D, and deducted salvage from the cash settlement before issuing a cheque.

Paul

[Martin F]

That damage is nothing, parts could be had 2nd hand for less than £100, get them sprayed £200 odd, maybe less and fit them yourself.
I don't know how insurance companies work but if that was me i would have asked her to give me £300 and we could have both gone our seperate ways. That would possibly have cost less than her excess far less all the hassles of the claim and extra insurance coasts etc. for the next 5 years....

[JD]

She even said it was my fault because my car is old and must have bad brakes!

She sounds like a highly qualified engineer with a very good understanding of braking systems

[raptor95GTS]

oh man, that's fugging annoying! Doesn't look too bad but best checking the bumper bar underneath the er bumper as it could be damaged. Hope you get it back on the road quickly

[CalMac]

If you have any sort of receipt from purchasing the car two months ago then I'm pretty certain that is proof of the value?

Sorry to hear about the crash anyway

[pnelson]

qwakers - After rereading my first post I see it was misleading. My insurer (Admiral) wanted to write it off. Her insurance (Tesco) are offering to try to sort out a cash settlement. Should know on Monday what the offer is. No doubt there will be a lot of haggling back and forth (oh joy!).

Paul - I am planning to fix it myself as it just needs the bumper and maybe crash bar swapping over. Not sure if the crash bar is bolt on or welded but either way i should be able to arrange a solution! I think the problem with using a body shop is that the cost of repair will be higher than what the insurance company thinks my car is worth.

Martin - she is the one who started insurance proceedings. For some reason she thought it was my fault and blamed me at the scene even though it's pretty obvious from the damage that it was her fault (hit her rear right corner, almost on the side actually... meaning she wasn't even fully in the lane when we collided! She must have phoned up the insurance company and told them what happened as 15 minutes after she hit me her insurance company phoned me and said they were accepting responsibility. £300 to get it all fixed seems very far fetched though!

JD - She didn't strike me as the sharpest tool in the shed... After she mentioned the brakes I informed her I design race cars and probably know a little more than she does... She got a bit quiet after that funnily enough!

[CalMac]

I've got a decent condition crash bar you can have for postage if you need one mate, just bolts on. It's from a Rev 1 NA but should be the same

[pnelson]

Raptor - It does suck but could've been a lot worse... we were both physically alright. Luckily I don't ride a motorbike because that could have been nasty! Yes I am assuming the crash bar will need replacing or at least have the dent pulled out! I am tempted to start sourcing parts, if I had all the bits it'd only take a weekend to get it sorted!

CalMac - I do have a receipt somewhere. I'll be in touch about the crash bar if I need it! There's a decent bumper currently on ebay for around £150 delivered.

And all of this happened the day after I booked a track day at Snetterton. Maybe if I ask nicely they'll let me reschedule it....

[Martin F]

£300 to get it all fixed seems very far fetched though!

I have broken a few cars over the years and the parts you require i have binned on almost every occasion, saying £100 was worst case scenario, all that is then needed is the painting and fitting, the latter you can do yourself, £300 worst case Imo....

In Fact, with the kind of members we have at this club you may well get offered the parts you need for the price of p and p

[Nails]

irrelivant. if their insurers have accepted liability you have a absolute right to demand it is returned to its original condition. tell them you want to take it to a body shop of your choice who will present them with a quotation for repair and you expect that quotation to be accepted.

it is only YOUR insurance company that can write it off if YOU where found to be at fault and they have to pay out. if it is being covered by another persons 3rd party liability the rules are somewhat different...

Totally made up.

Insurance is financial indemnity. This means to put you back in the position you were in before the incident financially. To do this they usually use the financial ombudsman guidelines which are checking Glasses Guide, Parkers and CAP. Adjust for pre accident condition and milage etc and there's your valuation.

Usually they will take into account a receipt if recently bought. It could be worth trying a few bodyshop's to try and get a fixed price repair that is less than the value and Tesco may authorise it, or as you are pushing for a cash in leu settlement.

[qwakers]

really. so it really hasnt actually happened to me and a lawyer really didnt tell me this and i really didnt manage to take it to the ombudsman sucessfully?



ok. if youre sure.

[kennym]

irrelivant. if their insurers have accepted liability you have a absolute right to demand it is returned to its original condition. tell them you want to take it to a body shop of your choice who will present them with a quotation for repair and you expect that quotation to be accepted.

it is only YOUR insurance company that can write it off if YOU where found to be at fault and they have to pay out. if it is being covered by another persons 3rd party liability the rules are somewhat different...

Totally made up.

Insurance is financial indemnity. This means to put you back in the position you were in before the incident financially. To do this they usually use the financial ombudsman guidelines which are checking Glasses Guide, Parkers and CAP. Adjust for pre accident condition and milage etc and there's your valuation.

Usually they will take into account a receipt if recently bought. It could be worth trying a few bodyshop's to try and get a fixed price repair that is less than the value and Tesco may authorise it, or as you are pushing for a cash in leu settlement.

i work in the salvage industry, not totally made up but way off being correct

[alanmr2turbo]

They can write it off and put a CAT C or D on it. Happened to me not long ago. Either of which don't need a VIC check now.

Guy drove into back of me and his insurance company accept it was his fault obviously. Then without even looking at the car they said they would write it off due to age blah blah.

So i agreed to this as well as me keeping my car. They made an interim payment of £1500. Only after this did the insurance guy come to access the damage. More fool them

Damage was only a hole in Tom's rear bumper with no damage to the chassis or surrounding body work whatsoever. He was going to Cat D it but since it was already a Cat D from many yrs ago there was no point him doing it again.

So £1500 in my bank, kept the car and already had a spare Tom's rear bumper sitting in my back garden in the same colour. LOL

About time someone managed to screw over an insurance company instead of them screwing us over every year.

[Ginjaninja92]

Is this the immaculate rev5 I saw at the Glasgow meet a couple weeks ago? That's frustrating man. I'd imagine producing your purchase receipt would help you in this situation, other than that just stick to your guns regarding value, always argue what they offer.