Alfa Romeo 147 - Car Written off (Pothole). A Couple of Questions.

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Wed 13 Mar 2013 12:38
Alfa Romeo 147 - Car Written off (Pothole). A Couple of Questions. - Stu.69

Hi there!

I'll try to be brief;I hit a pothole on the apex of a tight bend on an unlit country lane, last week. Such was the depth of the pothole and the severity of the impact, my car was recovered from the scene and taken to my insurers nomiated body-shop, which incidentally/fortunately is an Alfa Romeo approved repair centre. I called them late yesterday for an update and they have just confirmed my car, a late 2003 (53) model 147 diesel, as a cat C total loss; the NS of the car is bent.

Regarding the loss, I am at offer stage 3 or 4 with the total loss claims team and have refused every one so far; I have told the total loss team that I cannot buy a car the same as I had, model/spec/mileage taken into consideration, for less than £2,000.00 and I have told them that I should be put back in the position I was prior to the claim, and I cannot do that on a payout that would mean I would have to find £500 to buy another similar car, so so this has now been referred back to their engineer for discussions on re-valuation, so that is one issue that I am stuck with and am awaiting ther call back regarding increasing the offer.

My main reason for posting, is simply that I maintained the car well and recently spent over £600 on timing belt kit and waterpump and new MAF sensor! My question, simply, is this: is there any way I can recover what I spent, or at least in part, prior to my car being written off? Naturally I have receipts for the works done, and I simply feel really p'd off about the whole situation of paying out for work to be done then a few weeks later, getting my car written off, and then offers of payouts lower than I can physically buy a replacement car for?

I'd really appreciate thoughts on this.

Many thanks in advance,

Stu.

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Wed 13 Mar 2013 12:45
Alfa Romeo 147 - Car Written off (Pothole). A Couple of Questions. - RT

Sadly, the cost and value to you of recent work is irrelevant - market value is just that, what it would cost on the open market.

If you'd tried to sell your car just prior to the accident, you wouldn't have got any more for it.

If you haven't already done so, get details from Auto Trader of similar age/mileage/overall condition cars but bear in mind those are asking prices so you would expect to pay less for no p/x.

Looking at Auto Trader, £1500 looks like a reasonable figure.

Edited by RT on 13/03/2013 at 12:49

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Wed 13 Mar 2013 13:01
Alfa Romeo 147 - Car Written off (Pothole). A Couple of Questions. - Stu.69

Hi RT,

Many thanks for your speedy reply - much appreciated! I wondered if that were the case. I guess it's just Sod's law then. :(

I have, naturally, raised this with the Highways agency and have completed a claim form and submitted further details/proof/pictures etc. To be fair to them - they have been very helpful, with regards to their initial handling of my report and such. I will be claiming at least for the excess on my policy, and also for liability (I have over 10 years fully protected NCD) and wish liability for the road, therefore damage to my car sustained by their road, to be with them. I have also req'd information under the Freedom of Information Act, regarding the road condition and maintenance. I have already established that the pothole was reported as severe, by others, 4 days before I had my encounter with it although I am still expecting my claim to be met with their refusal letter under section 58 of the highways act but that's another story/post, I guess. I have to reiterate here that I am not after anything other than admission of their failure to deal with the hole in the timescale as set out, and to claim for the excess I have to pay out. In other words, I am not taking the p here at all.... BUT....

My next question would be whether I should then extend my claim for losses with the Highways claims team with regard to the work I had done then? The sheer nuisance this has caused us is pretty considerable as my Wife uses the car for her work (it’s covered under business insurance) and the body-shop obviously now want their courtesy car back!

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Wed 13 Mar 2013 13:22
Alfa Romeo 147 - Car Written off (Pothole). A Couple of Questions. - thunderbird

Many years ago, about 1992 I think, I hit a pothole that bent 2 wheels, damaged 2 tyres and affected the steering geometry. The day after I went back to take photo's and while I was there the owner of the land adjacent came to ask what I was doing. Told her I had hit the pothole, she immediately said she had reported it several times during the past months. Asked if she would write a note confirming that, it arrived in the post a couple of days later. Sent claim into local authority who immediately sent standard hard luck letter. Wrote back reminding them I had the letter proving that the hole had been there several months and had been reported several times. A couple of weeks after that I got a cheque through the door for the damage, in truth they had got their sums wrong and had paid me for 4 tyres.

No insurer will pay for work you have had done to the car prior to the incident, unfortunately it does not work like that. The best you can expect is the book value of the car and that is normally down to negotiation.

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Fri 15 Mar 2013 10:07
Alfa Romeo 147 - Car Written off (Pothole). A Couple of Questions. - martint123

The work you had done was to maintain the vehicle in a reasonable condition. Insurers usually say you have to do this - car, house etc. It is just a normal, routine expense. The fact that it was only recently done has no bearing.

It hurts, but life is tough.

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Mon 18 Mar 2013 16:32
Alfa Romeo 147 - Car Written off (Pothole). A Couple of Questions. - Stu.69

Yup - guess I have to take it on the chin. I thought as much, really. Just wondered if I had any recourse.

As an update to my OP, the insurance co have paid out now and as one would expect - it's below the value of the car, but at least I can draw a line under that part and now concentrate on my claim/complaint with highways RE liability and claiming back my excess. Incidentally, now my insurer has seen all of my pictures and report, they have said that they are going for full recovery of losses as the thing was that bad.

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