I have dameged the back of my car and I tried to claim insurance to repair it, but they decided it was beyound economical repair.
So then sent me the cheque of £400, my car is 10 years old and apart from the dent at the back there is nothing wrong with it. Although they gave me £400, I can't afford to buy the new car at the moment.
Is it possible to cancel the claim and keep using my car?
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You can only ask them. I should think the insurance co would only be too happy to get their money back and not have the hassle of collecting and disposing of your own car, which presumably isn't worth much.
Have you actually cashed the cheque yet, or sent off the reg document and MoT cert?
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NO I haven't cashed the cheque yet, I just received it today...
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We almost had a similar situation with Honda Civic belong to my parents.
Car is 13 years old and in A1 condition for its age. only 24,000 miles. Three weeks ago, young girl comes out of side street without looking and bashes the side. We are very worrined about write-off as it is a great car and worth far more to us that the £1000 at best we could get for it.
So, the garage took it in and persuaded the insurance engineer that rather than use all new parts, they would repair bits and do a cheaper job that would last for say three to four years by which time we would care if the car lasted or not.
They agreed!, car is back looking great and still drives like it did when we bought it in 1997 with 4,020 miles on the clock.
Try it, you might just get them to agree..
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Yes I am sure you can get your car back. They only sent you the cheque as that's what the policy says, something like 'you will get market value in the event of a write off'. £400 for a 10 year old car seems a bit low however. Anyway, you need to cantact them to explain you want the car back and they can have the cheque back. Cannot see a problem with this.
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Hiya...
You don't say how the car got damaged, but I think (think!) I am right in saying that the insurance co have to put you back in the position you were in before the car got damaged... so if £400 isn't enough for you to get a replacement car of the same age/quality/milage etc, then you needed to argue a bit more. That said, you've got the cheque now so it could be said that you've accepted the offer.
I think I've read about people buying their cars back from the insurance company, but I'm not sure how it would work. If it's been written off for purely economic reasons and you can afford to get it fixed then fine, but if there's other damage that isn't immediately visible then it's a bit of a safety risk. Also, you probably wont be able to sell it on now it's been written off, but I don't know if that's a worry to you or not.
Plenty of "I think" in there... someone who actually knows what they're talking about should be along soon!
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PG, without wanting to sound patronising - top post there and what you have said is spot on.
Given the fairly limited amount of information, you're right to qualify the advice - you're giving an informed opinion but categorically saying one thing, without looking at a bundle of paper work, knowing what car is involved, what the excess is (e.g., a £400 cheque would be perfectly reasonable if the car is worth £900, the accident was the fault of the insured and there was a £500 excess...) and so on.
Also, as it seems that we're talking about a fault claim, the insured isn't entitled to be put back in the pre-accident position, only to the terms of the policy. This might be a fairly academic difference but it means that there is no right to things such as a hire car, even if it is 'comprehensive.'
The fact is that the initial post is no more than a starting point - if the damage is purely cosmetic, the thing to do would have been not to claim at all, as it is a no claims bonus, not a no accident bonus, although you would have to declare the crash. However, something being beyond economical repair may indicate a crushed floorpan, suspension damage, etc., and therefore not worth the risk of taking back and doing a superficial repair on. (Probably not, but it may).
My feeling is that the insurance company wouldn't have sent out the cheque without there being valid acceptance, so the car is probably the property of the insurance company. However I'd have to look into that in a bit more detail.
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My Dad's Cortina was written off by his insurance company several years ago after having been damaged in a fairly minor accident. When he contacted them they told him they would offer him £300 for his car; he replied that he wouldn't accept anything less than £400 for it, so they offered him that amount!
He then asked them how much they wanted for him to buy the car back from them. They went away for a while and then replied "Salvage value of £29"! So without any further thought on then matter he accepted their offer.
The only stipulation to put the car back on the road and accept it to be insured again was that, after repair, it had to pass an MOT test.
I repaired his car with bits I bought from a breakers yard. They cost me £18 and it took just one afternoon to do the work. The car passed it's MOT and promptly went back on the road, not really much different to before the accident. Dad had that car for a further 5 years!
So, the moral of the story is, if you're clever there's money to be made from those insurance claims.
Good Luck
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catcatcat -
read to the end
www.instant-online-insurance.co.uk/car-insurance-i...m
and also
www.theiob.org.uk/digest/v/valuation_of_motor_vehi...l
you can always make an offer to buy back "your" damaged car from the insurance company.
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I would just ask the insurance company what they want for the car and buy it back.
I had a similar case with my 16 year old Polo which we used as a runabout. It was hit, the other guy admitted liability and we settled for £200 and bought the car back from the insurance company for £25.They don't want 16 year old Polos and other cars that they would have to pay to dispose of so they are glad to do this.
It cost me nothing to repair because the main damage was cosmetic ( bumper was levered away from the side panel)and we kept it for another couple of years. Thats Bangernomics.
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Something I don't understand..
Where is the car ? If it is still in your possession than I would expect that the insurance company are regarding the vehicle as still yours.
If it is in a repairer or storer you may find its already gone. However, I would have expected you to already have signed an acceptance note.
Cashing the cheque, if no acceptance note has been signed, is seen as full & final, so don't do that until you're sure.
I guess it comes down to my original question - where is the car ?
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