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2011 Volkswagen Polo - Insurance write off - chris b query
A good friend on mines VW Polo was recently crashed into when parked on the street during snowy conditions. The other parties insurance company have said that the car is a write off but due to the fact it has been in another accident previously they have only offered the very low sum of £5,500. Which won't make a dent in the remaining HP owed and would leave a significant shortfall. The previous accident was fixed to a high standard by VW themselves although this was done by a mechanic friend at a reduced price so we aren't sure what information was put through the books. Can anyone please advise on the best course of action as my friend was going to return the car shortly as it will have reached the half way mark in the finance agreement as she can no longer afford the HP and this situation has devastated her.

Thanks for your help.

Edited by chris b query on 27/02/2013 at 06:52

2011 Volkswagen Polo - Insurance write off - tony g
(another accident previously they have only offered the very low sum of £5,500.) )
Hi chris,
I think the issue in this case may be the previous accident .If your car was registered as an uneconomic repair .(write off) before it was repaired by vw or your friend ,that would have a huge effect on your cars value .The effect of a car being on the HPI register as a repaired cat c or d ,is to reduce a cars value by a minimum of 33% and possibly as much as 50% .Possibly that's why you are being offered such a low figure .

However if your cars not registered as a cat c or cat d ,even if its been involved in a previous accident that won't have the same effect . You need to check the HPI register .

Basically an insurance company has to compensate you to the extent that your no worse off after the accident .

Finally the 50 % payment ,that allows you to return a car to the finance company ,now applies to very few finance agreements ,you need to check .In addition the will only accept the car back in a reasonable condition .They will reject it if its not .