A stupid cannot drive spotty teenager ploughed into my two parked cars in the driveway.
The damage was extensive one in the rear quarter and the other on the rear drivers side door, with his car being written off!
His insurance company(third party) arranged the cars to be taken away and provided replacement vehicles.
They have rang today giving me the following...
1. BMW e39 ('99) - is to be written off as the repair costs are to high. I will be given a good valuation in line with autotrader and can expect £3000.
2. BMW e60 ('04) - repair costs are too high at BMW and insurer is pleading that I get the repairs done at another garage as it will be cheaper. Said that BMW have listed a whole host of things which are not all necessary?. (im not happy doing this).
So I need help and advice on what I should do next...
1. I want as much money as possible and with the option of buying back the salvage in an attempt I could repair?What are my options? Also car has a private plate, I want to keep it what should I do and when?
2. I want the repairs done at BMW can I force this? I want everything thats an issue to be resolved and not just some things, how do I ensure this?
Thanks in advance for the help and advice
Jig
Edited by Pugugly on 09/12/2008 at 20:11
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Here's some advice from HJ himself on no-fault accidents, it's the first Q&A here:
www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/caradvice/honestjohn/...l
You should be able to insist you are put back in the position you were BEFORE the accident, and I don't believe the other insurance company can argue too much.
Edited by craig-pd130 on 26/11/2008 at 12:51
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It is your car, their insured damaged it.
If you want to take it to the BMW repairer and if the 3rd party insurer objects to anything they can argue with the Repairer - nothing to do with you!
The longer they argue the bigger the car hire bill - it is up to them.
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"If you want to take it to the BMW repairer and if the 3rd party insurer objects to anything they can argue with the Repairer - nothing to do with you!"
That's not a blank cheque though, and you still have a duty to minimise the costs, within reason, though in this case taking it to the BMW dealer is still quite legit, I'd suggest.
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If you want to take it to the BMW repairer and if the 3rd party insurer objects to anything they can argue with the Repairer - nothing to do with you!
Are you sure that's true? The recent stories about credit hire companies are a reminder that you have a responsibility to make sure the costs you claim are reasonable. If it were me, I'd probably want BMW to do the repairs too, but if they were more expensive than other local repairers I might expect to be asked to justify why paying the extra was reasonable (or risk having to pay the extra myself).
I'm not an expert so I may be wrong, but I don't think it's necessarily as simple as you suggest.
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(2) Tell them bad luck. Find out how long it will take to repair.
Then add up the cost of the repairs, and the cost of hire car for that period (£10-£15 a day). Knock 10% off, and ask for cash. Compared to BMW dealer they will be saving money so may well bite.
Oh yes, and you will have had 2 accidents (for all that they're no fault, you have to declare them; some ins cos won't cover you at all on renewal), so your car insurance will go up for the next 3 years. See if you can get that out of them too. I've never heard of anybody trying it, but I don't see why you shouldn't...
Oh yes, and the car hire costs... when I did something similar they said "we don't normally pay out for car hire costs it won't cost us if you don't use a hire car (plus central London parking £20 per day, plus congestion charge £8 per day)" "NORMALLY?" I said, "so you do SOMETIMES?"
Under such circumstances you have no need to buy back salvage; it's not your insurance company. (Your own ins co would w/o car and pay you.) They are just giving you a lump sum. The car shouldn't get on the HPI register.
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See if you can get that out of them too. I've never heard of anybody trying it, but I don't see why you shouldn't...
They do pay. If you don't ask, you won't get.
write-offs and salvage:
See HJ's faqs. [Tab just before UV tab].
non-fault accidents:
See HJ's faqs. [Tab just before UV tab].
Edited by jbif on 26/11/2008 at 14:41
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It's a shame they have taken the cars away. I would simply send two quotes for repairing or replacing each car - one from BMW and one from a first class non-BMW VBRA - approved repairer and send a letter insisting that you use the BMW approved repairer. Ask them to arrange for two comparable hire cars too or offer to arrange this yourself. They are sure to pay in my experience and you should receive a cheque that you can use for whatever you like. The trouble is, it typically takes several months.
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Pity you allowed the 3rd party insurance to take the cars away on 5 points....
1/ You state you would like the salvage of the older car, now its in their pound somewhere I dont think you will ever see it again, if its an easy repair, they may well have someone lined up to take it, and repair it.
2/ they wont be willing to give you the total value IF you get the salvage back, as they will have storage costs - someone needs to pay them!
3/ you have no control over what happens to the cars whilst in their storage, did you remove ALL personal items from the cars?
4/ IF you still have the cars, you would have had a lot more say on what happened to them.
5/ you would have had a chance of making a deal on storage charges as part of your payout as, they wouldnt have to pay the normal rate, and you 'may' have been able to charge them something.
edit... just thought.... dont forget until you have been paid out, the cars still belong to you... make it clear you dont want ANYTHING happening to them WITHOUT your express permission!
Edited by the swiss tony on 26/11/2008 at 19:01
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UPDATE:
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the help and support so far...
Ive just come back from BMW and they have given me the estimates for the damage.....
Car 1 - £6000!! no work has been authorised.
Car 2 - £3000, and the work for this car has been authorised.
I believe they will right-off car 1, which means next steps are I have to secure the private plate and ensure I get the best price possible for the car. Also if the opportunity is there to buy back the car I will take this up.
I also need to provide two estimates for damages to the wall and driveway!!:( this is quite stressfull :(
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I also need to provide two estimates for damages to the wall and driveway!!:( this is quite stressfull :(
Keep a record of the time this all takes you to unravel, and put in a claim for that too.
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Keep a record of the time this all takes you to unravel and put in a claim for that too.
you can only do that if you loose income due to the time spent.
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Out of interest
How did the "spotty youf" manage to hit 2 x cars in a driveway?
He must have some story to tell o how he managed that!
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Out of interest How did the "spotty youf" manage to hit 2 x cars in a driveway? He must have some story to tell o how he managed that!
I'm also fascinated by this one!
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you can only do that if you loose[sic] income due to the time spent.
Not necessarily.
You don't get if you don't ask.
Edited by jbif on 27/11/2008 at 23:15
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I'm sure you will use the BMW dealer for repairs - but in case you are in any doubt, or under pressure from the insurers to use their contracted repairer then my experience may convince you.
My previous car (BMW E46) was hit by a bus whilst it was (legally) parked.
Insurer wanted to use their own repairer and could offer a "same day" courtesy car - although I wanted to use the local BMW dealer, this dealer could not offer a courtesy car until the following week.
I had already arranged to take a friend somewhere very important (to him) the day after the accident ( a 500 mile round trip) and not wanting to let him down I accepted the Insurers courtesy car and they took my car to their repairer which turned out to be a large Ford main dealer.
When the car was returned it "looked" ok - althought he paint match wasn't perfect. however when I took the car for service/MOT at a BMW Independent specialist garage 6 months later - this a garage I had used before and trusted - they found several problems attributed to poor repair work, including broken headlight adjusters due to poor refitting, some missing screws/bolts and it was pointed out that they had used cheap pattern non OE parts (headlamps/front wing/bumper etc).
So stick with you choice - all repairers are not the same.
J
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>Insurer wanted to use their own repairer and could offer a "same day" courtesy car
I think they normally do that. If you know a good independent bodyshop, that may be much more convenient, and for a BM probably a lot cheaper. Last time I claimed I used a bodyshop a few miles from home, instead of the ins.co.'s suggested one in Manchester, about 30 miles away. No complaints about the work either.
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You need to act quickly on the private plate.
Do not give up the V5 until it is sorted, once you do the plate is gone.
Look at the DVLC web-site, if the car is written off they may want to see it before they agree to the plate being put onto retention.
Make sure you tell the insurer that it has a private plate and that you will not release the V5 until this is dealt with.
We went through this 18 months ago. Cost the insurer a few bob in storage while DVLC sorted the plate out. Then they got a car without plates to dispose of - you have to certify to DVLC that the private plate was removed from the car.
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Ok, happy to move quickly, but the the other parties insurance co has not come back and told me exactly that the car is written off, just that it WILL be and they will come back to me with a value...
I have the V5, and do they not need to consult me before the write off?I have contacted the DVLA and they till me I need a letter from the ins co and need to fill out a form to get in on retention and send them £105. The reason I have not done anything as I am pushing the insurance co for a repair...do I still need to contact them?
Thanks
Jig
megasnipquote!!!!
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 29/11/2008 at 13:36
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I need a letter from theins co and need to fill out a form to get in on retention and send them £105. The reason I have not done anything as I am pushing the insurance co for a repair...do I still need to contact them?
Claim the £105 as this is money you are spending that but for the accident the £05 would be in your pocket.
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The other parties insurer can't decide the outcome unless you cave in! Look at the link here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/faq.htm?id=33 HJ has set out the salient points, including "you are entitled to be put back where you were immediately before they did you the damage."
Craig-PD130 has already pointed out a similar situation.
Edited by nortones2 on 29/11/2008 at 15:11
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Update:
I'm fed up with the other guys insurance co...
They have nearly finished with the repairs on the E60 and will be returned soon and I will need to return the hire car.
The other car they are not budging on the valuation (poor) and I have been told that it is 7 days from the day they tell me I need to close. Also the fact that the insurance guy wants all of the hire cars returned (I think it has something to do with his bonus)
As for the other damage (driveway and garden) he now tells me he needs THREE quotes not two originally requested.
I am now losing my patience...
Where do I stand legally with car no.2?
I dont want to return the second hire car and dont have a leg to stand on?
Legally where do I stand with the other repairs - driveway and garden - can I just get the work done and provide them a reciept?
Thanks in adv for all the advice and help
Jig :(
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>Legally where do I stand with the other repairs - driveway and garden - can I just get the work done and provide them a reciept?
You can claim on your building Ins - get them to fix it - thy should have "preferred contractors" just like Car Insurers have preferred repiarers.
The buildings ins will then send the bill to the 3rd party Car Ins Co.
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Yes, but if you use your insurance you will.
Lose your no claims.
Your premiums will be higher for 5 years.
If you have the money, just get everything done and send them the bill.
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