Hi,
My neighbour was in an accident on Sunday (not his fault) and is concerned he might get his car written off. He has a 1989 VW Polo Countryman in pretty good condition. The damage isn't heavy at all (bumper pushed up against tailgate, crease underneath bumper, rear light broken) and I suspect he could repair it himself with a secondhand bumper, etc.
If the insurance company suspect it's not worth repairing (I'd value the car at £400-£500) can he 'buy it back' and repair it himself? If so, where does he stand when a) he tries to insure it again b) he comes to sell it or trade it?
Ideally he wants to keep the car for another 12 months at which point he will buy another one.
Any advice?
Cheers,
John
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As I understand it you can approach the Insurance Co with a view to "buying the vehicle back" and then repairing.
However if an insurance Co "writes off" a vehicle then it should notify DVLA of this fact and send Registration Document (V5) to them.
Following repairs then to get another V5 and Licence the vehicle then an appointment should be made for the vehicle to be inspected by VOSA (Vehicle and Operators Service Agency)under the VIC (Vehicle Identity Check) to confirm not a "ringer" or stolen parts used. This is not an examination on roadworthyness and should be presented with a current MOT and Insurance if driven, but movement to testing station exempt from Excise Licence. On getting clearance from VOSA DVLA will issued V5 and vehicle can then be taxed.
Not sure whether or not the new V5 will have it marked an ex write off which will, if present, draw the attention of a new buyer to that fact.
DVD
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I wonder if its possible to get in before the insurance co forms an intention to write the car off.
That way, they never do so and do not need to tell DVLA?
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you are perfectly entitled to have the car repaired and claim off the third party.
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You are also required to mitigate your loss - you cannot simply insist that the car be repaired, whatever the cost, and a safe, well disguised repair on a car like this is very likely to cost more than the generous £500 estimate of its value.
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jes
ask your neighbour to talk to the insurance company.
they may do a deal, but on condition that the quality of diy repair is acceptable to them.
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I agree with Mark999 you can decide to bypass your insurer and go directly to the third party insurer for the repair costs.
DavidHM is slightly off track, whilst you have to mitigate your loss...a)the repair and how it is repaired is upto you eg.dealer bodyshop versus a back street alley bodyshop. If it went to a dealer and they did a beautiful job there could be an arguement of betterment anyway. b) If the repair is going to cost more than the value of the car then you just claim the value of the car plus the cost of disposal of the car from the third party, it is up to you how you dispose of the car, you could choose to pay a friend to take it away. And don't forget you can claim the cost of an engineers report aswell. In this scenario it is best to first phone the thirdparty's insurance and talk to them, say you believe the car may be a write off try to agree a value with them, if you can't agree a value ask them if they would like you to have an engineers report done, tell them this will cost (them) about 117 pounds. Oh and BTW a cheap "pull out" and fit second hand bumper repair will cost nowhere near 500 pounds.
As to the original question...No, if the car is a write off you have no right to retain the vehicle, and there may even be a clause in your policy which specifically exludes you from this. However if you ask the insurer may let you keep it at their discretion. (nb my sister has a polo and Direct line gave her the value of the car - 600 - and allowed her to keep the car for free, she pushed the dent out and kept driving it.)** The second part of your question, *If* it is a writeoff it will be classed into one of 3 categories (a,b,& c I think). I think class 'A' they are not allowed to let you have the car and it has to be destroyed, 'B' you can have the car but you have to have it checked as per one of the previous posts, 'C' you can have the car and may not need any check or may need an MOT. I am not sure about these classes and you will have to wait for someone else to confirm.
** In my sisters case the car was not written off, the money given was for the "value" of the repairs, and she "repaired" it as she saw fit (with a hammer).
My advice is to talk to your insurers, if the thirdparty admit liability, ask your insurers if they will give 400 pounds for the "cost of repairs", or ask if they can agree to some sort of "buyback scheme". If not Go directly (by phone) to the 3rd party insurers and tell them you think the car maybe a total loss and you therefore require of them the sum of 400 + 50 disposal, if they protest tell them the engineers report will cost them another 117.
If the 3rd party does not admit liability, talk to your insurer first, same as above. At this point if you are still not happy with your insurer's response you can still go directly to the 3rd party insurer and threaten them with legal action if they do not quickly admit liability and pay up.
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was kev_is_here
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Slight correction/addition...
When talking to the 3rd party you could start off by saying, repairs are likely to be 400 if you agree on that figure, just send me a cheque. They may want an estimate, I believe you can get an estimate and tell them to pay up, if they say something like "we will pay for the repairs to be done" you can say that's not acceptable, you say, my car has been damaged to the cost of 400 (or what ever the estimate is) and that is the value of my claim against you, if you don't like it I can have an engineers report done but that's going to cost you extra"
It's up to you how you play it, but it is better for them to pay for "repairs" rather than "write off" because write off might involve an engineers report.
Obvioulsly polite persuasion is better than threats (to start off with anyway).
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was kev_is_here
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Another addition sorry.
If your neighbour has a stiff neck, a quick visit to the Doctor will result in an easy 3000 pounds.
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was kev_is_here
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If your neighbour has a stiff neck, a quick visit to the Doctor will result in an easy 3000 pounds.
But go the the doctor the SAME DAY as the accident. Most receptionists have standing orders to fit someone in if they call in these circumstances.
Going a week later looks very iffy, almost as if you read about it on a motoring forum on the internet...
On the same issue, if you are the driver at fault then always ask the others involved if they feel ok. If they all mutter "yes" then make a mental note and include it in your report to the insurer, i.e. that they confirmed they were ok.
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On the same issue, if you are the driver at fault then always ask the others involved if they feel ok. If they all mutter "yes" then make a mental note and include it in your report to the insurer, i.e. that they confirmed they were ok.
As long as you go to the doc whilst you are still in pain it makes no difference, most whiplash clear up within 7-8 days. I would think even going afterwards you might get away with it.
On your last point, it makes no difference if they say they are ok at accident, whiplash (if you genuinely have it) won't become apparent for a couple of hours. You will really feel it the next morning. as long as the third party has been to a doctor and said "my neck is stiff" then your insurer (if at fault) WILL pay up, I know because that bleep did it to me, for just a scratch to her passenger door. NO DENT - less than 5mph - and only a scuff mark on the door - result according to her "whiplash".
I know of another case, a taxi stopped at a red light, passenger, said nothing, 2 months later, taxi driver got a claim for injuries to passenger as a result of the vehicle stopping at a red light. Passenger had gone to doctor to say he had a stiff neck. Result - Insurance company paid out no questions asked. Taxi driver lost his no claims bonus, which meant to him an extra 1200pounds in the first year post accident, 800 pounds in the second year post accident, 800 in the 3rd, 400 in the fourth. And if you add up those extra premiums, it is just about the same amount of money the insurer gave to the claimant. So the claimant might aswell have said to the taxi driver, here's my 5 pounds for the ride home now you give me 2995 pounds, thanks very much, nice doing business with you, cheers driver.
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was kev_is_here
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Yes, it's not going to finally determine the case either way, but asking at the scene and consulting the doc the same day is going to help.
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jes -
sorry i missed the "not his fault" bit.
your neighbour is entitled to be put back in the position he was in prior to the accident - by the other party.
do a "forum search" and you should find many threads on this subject.
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My answer was specifically in response to Mark999's statement that you can simply get the repair done and claim off the third party.
You don't have to accept the cheapest quote, irrespective of the standard of the repair, but the blanket statement that you are entitled to get the car repaired and then claim from the other side is misleading. £500 doesn't buy a lot of body work and it would be wrong for anyone to rely on that to get the repair done and then attempt to claim back more than the car's value.
I think that any argument of betterment regarding, for example, minor dents and scratches, is unlikely to be worth pursuing, although there is a theoretical possibility that it might.
Also I'm not sure I agree with your automatic £3k assessment on quantum for personal injury, and it would probably take at least 18 months for the cash to come through, but I agree that a visit to the doctor could prove financially very prudent.
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David
My easy 3000 is based on the 3rd party admitting liability. I know because I had a bump (my fault), the woman was fine and the impact was at 5 mph and only scratched her car. Her husband was a solicitor.
I got a letter from her legal cover reps and they said in their 1st letter, they will be seeking cost of repairs and we will be enquiring with the client on injuries....
By the time my insurers wrote to me, 3 - 4 weeks later a claim for injury had been placed. My insurers settled the claim with no quibble (much to my annoyance and objection). I imagine she will get her money within 2 months of the repair completion.
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was kev_is_here
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My wife was in a similar situation recently with someone crashing into the rear of her rover 216. Similar damage - crease in the boot floor, twisted hatchback, damaged bumper etc. The distorion in the boot floor meant that the car would have to go on a jig to stretch things out again. The cost of repair was around £1500 excl VAT. - I saw the original quotation from the approved bodyshop.
Despite the car being well maintained and tidy, in the end it was in our interest to have the car written off, as trade-in values of Rovers are not particularly great right now and we were thinking of changing the car anyway. We actually got more from the insurance company valuation than a garage would have offered us in trade-in for the car in it's pre-accident condition.
A cautionary note: I was advised by our insurers that if I bought back the Rover, then it would be marked on the insurance industry shared database as being a write-off and I would only be able to insure it again with at best 3rd party cover, no matter who I insured it with. I wouldn't expect the premiums for this to be very reasonable.
Perhaps your neighbour ought to see what the insurance company will offer as write-off value for his car before going down the buy back & self-repair route. He may end up doing a cheap repair, but then spending an awful lot more than he's used to on insurance. A cheap repair will also be obvious when he comes to sell it or trade it in.
My advice is to have the car written off and go and get another vehicle as a cash buyer with no trade-in. This way he can negotiate hard, and in any case it's a buyer's market out there.
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Thanks to all who replied... I'll pass this onto my neighbour at the week.....
thanks again,
Jes
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