What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks

Admiral are trying to unlawfully write off my car - what should I do?

I bought a 2003 BMW 540i Touring M-Sport in February 2017 from a dealer for £6900. It is a rare model and very high spec. I insured with Admiral fully comp. April 15th 2017, I pranged the front end of the car. Still drive-able, bumper and AC fan damaged. Admiral took the car away to do an assessment. They took the car to a used Suzuki dealership in Cornwall. The Suzuki dealership decided the car would cost £4500 to repair, I could either pay that myself or the car would be written off. Admiral refused to give me a valuation on the car unless I agreed to write it off. I refused to write the car off or pay their extortionate prices and at my own cost had the car moved to a BMW Specialist garage for an assessment. The BMW specialists quoted £1900 for repairs and I gave the go ahead and cancelled my claim with Admiral as it was clear they were never going to help me. The car has now been perfectly repaired but Admiral have emailed me telling me they are writing the car off. I have complained about this and they have essentially said that as their engineers declared it a write off, it is a write off. Their engineers did not inspect the car, only saw low resolution images of the damage. I have a copy of these images and you can see it is only the bumper and fan that is damaged. Is there any way I can get them to remove the Cat C write off? The value in these BMW is in their condition and originality and a Cat C would kill the value of this car.

Asked on 27 June 2017 by Rick Hannah

Answered by Honest John
Yes, if your vehicle has not been subject to an insurance claim, they cannot apply a categorisation on it. Contact them and complain, advising "they have caused significant financial detriment to you by applying a categorisation on a vehicle that they have no lawful entitlement too". Advise them that you will sue the for the diminution in value as a result of their negligence, the vehicle is your vehicle and at no point have they had any lawful entitlement to it. Ask them to provide a copy of the engineers report detailing the repair work required and the market value placed. Then contact the financial ombudsman and also complain to them. Make it clear that no insurance claim was made. www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints...m

If you get stuck, please contact me.
Similar questions
I was recently involved in an accident which wrote off my car. I've notified my insurer without claiming and the third party hasn't claimed either (I suspect she was not insured to drive to begin with...
I got a red light fine but I went to a speed awareness course so assumed I didn't need to declare it to my insurer (Admiral). But they found out and want to charge me £320. What can I do now?
Both doors were replaced on our 2013 Ford C Max and now the alarm keeps going off at night. We get error messages for child lock malfunction, service required, drivers back door open (then the door jams...
Related models
Nicely balanced and enjoyable handling, sharp styling, modern-looking interior, great range of engines including impressively efficient diesels.
 

Value my car

Save £75 on Warranty using code HJ75

with MotorEasy

Get a warranty quote

Save 12% on GAP Insurance

Use HJ21 to save on an ALA policy

See offer