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Fiat 500e - Is my car a Cat S? - Karl Gross

Hi all,

I have registered to ask for advice and apologies for the long wall of text below.

My vehicle was hit by another vehicle while it was parked off road.
The person admitted liability and I originally went through my insurance company but the third party insurance company cold called me to ask if they could deal with it instead.
I agreed as they promised a loan electric vehicle and £100 upon completion.

However, I have been receiving confusing information from them and I am now unsure if what they are doing is legal.

After their chosen garage submitted a large repair quote, they asked an independent vehicle assessor to inspect the vehicle to see if the quote was valid.
After the inspection, they concluded that all the parts and labour quoted for were required, minus a small reduction to the cost of the labour.
However, the report they submitted to the insurance company stated that the vehicle should be dealt as a total loss due to GTA guidance showing the costs exceeding 66% of the market value.
The report also stated under salvage category that the vehicle was a Category S.

The insurance company initially wanted to deal with the claim on a total loss basis but once they realised the vehicle had PCP on it, they opted for the repair route instead.

When I questioned on the report that a Category S was also listed, I was assured that because they were not dealing with the claim as a total loss, the vehicle would not be recorded as a Cat S.
Because of this, I opted for the repair route after being told that I would be left out of pocket if the vehicle was written off.

For the last month, I have been trying to confirm whether they can actually do this as I didn't think they could ignore a professional engineer's report.

The latest email I have had from them today, after escalating to one of the managers for clarification, stated that there has not been a decision to disregard the professional engineers report that classifies the vehicle as a Cat S, despite being previously told that the vehicle would not be registered as a total loss or Cat S.

Would anyone be able to advise on this?
I can provide more information if required.

Cheers,
Karl

Fiat 500e - Is my car a Cat S? - sammy1

You would appear to be in a very strong position in that your car was hit while parked.. You should have left it to your insurance and the PCP company as you are not the legal owner. Are the later two parties aware of what is going on, if not you should inform them sharpish in my opinion

Fiat 500e - Is my car a Cat S? - Karl Gross

You would appear to be in a very strong position in that your car was hit while parked.. You should have left it to your insurance and the PCP company as you are not the legal owner. Are the later two parties aware of what is going on, if not you should inform them sharpish in my opinion

I have tried to let my insurance company know but as I elected to deal with the third party, they said they could not assist.

I have spoken with the finance company and they said that I would be liable if repairs were not up to a satisfactory standard.

I haven't been in touch since the third party alluded that my vehicle will be a Cat S when they said it wouldn't.