turbomagikz 0 Posted June 20, 2005 my dent is pi55in my off BIG STYLE! i wished id fixed it !!!! someone try & advise me ! ok im"36"y/o, fully comp/ protect no claims/7yrs ncd/ / modified car insurance / adrian flux ? ok . 96 "N" vr6 / white / fsh / leather / 17"s/ect ect ect ..valued at £6000 (insured). then "BANG" ive got a dent now ! (see pics) "wrote off "BER" but only panels damaged chassis ok ? a.flux has offered me £3400 ?????? yess ! & the salvage firm is keeping me car ? wont let me buy it back ! ( car is standing me approx £7000+) i need help off you lads ? "is this rite?...what do i do ? i could of easy repaired car ! ..but its my £3500 cash on extras im pi55ed off about (tottally standard when purchased/ no leather). please look at my dent "help" mark Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted June 20, 2005 The usual answer (and this has been discussed many times) is that you need to scour the autotrader for similar cars with reasonable prices and send in piles of documentation to that effect. You don't have to accept their offer. Note they usually won't explicitly cover the replacement cost of modifications (such as the alloys), but "factory-style" mods like fitting leather seats should increase the insured value. Depending on the class of write-off, you are entitled to buy the car back. The most extreme classes of write off can only be legally sold on to a licensed breakers yard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Madjackal 0 Posted June 20, 2005 If its a cat C or D you have the right to retain the salvage, B it can only be sold for parts and A is basically game over. You do not have to accept the offer, here's what I did when they wrote mine off. As mentioned before get on autotrader find same model, similar mileage, similar age, and send it all in explaining that it is a rare car, FSH if you have it, anything to big the car up basically. I also included in my letter that I was really disappointed with the way my claim was handled blah,blah,blah, and I would be going to the financial ombudsman if they didnt increase the offer. The reason for this is that it costs your insurers £750 just to defend a claim to the ombudsman, they have to pay this and then they may have to increase their offer as well! With this in mind you are quite likely to get a higher offer. Also note that if you receive a cheque from them this is not the end of it as they have to have a signed acceptance of the offer to close the file. Doing this got me another £1100.00 out of my company. This is not set in stone, I cannot guarentee you will get more. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bally 0 Posted June 20, 2005 poor rado.. maybe break it & buy another one...?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NickVR6 0 Posted June 20, 2005 If you really get stuck, take all the extras off it and replace them with standard ones! I've got a set of scabby old speedlines you can whack on it and im sure someone has some old cloth seats etc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gradeAfailure 0 Posted June 20, 2005 If the accident's not your fault, don't you have the right to demand that your car be returned to its pre-accident condition? And that you can refuse to have it written-off? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Madjackal 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Not really it doesnt work quite like that. Liability has little to do with processing a Total loss. If the accident is not your fault you can claim from the third party's insurance directly, and hope that their engineer values your car at a high pre accident value. Most insurers use parkers and/or glasses and then add or subtract on the basis of mileage, age and condition. Problem is a third party insurer wont really care if you complain cos you aint their client. The best way is usually arguing loads till your insurance co get bored, remember it costs nearly £25 for them to send you a letter, so chances are they will cave eventually. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gradeAfailure 0 Posted June 20, 2005 Quoted from this thread... "According to a report of a recent test case, it seems that, if your car is damaged by a third party in an accident and it is in danger of being written off by either party's insurer, against your wishes, you can sue the third party for the full cost of restoration to the pre-accident condition? This is irrespective of the cost of the repair or the market value of the car; you apparently have an absolute right to choose to have full restoration to the status quo ante (that is yer actual Latin for "what existed before") if you can prove liability." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Madjackal 0 Posted June 20, 2005 You're talking about 2 separate things here. Insurance or at least motor insurance is based on the term of indemnity, i.e. Your are insured for the value of what you own, not what it costs to replace it. Lets say you buy a leather jacket and insure it under an indemnity policy. After 2 years igets stolen from your car, you insurers will not give you enough to get a new leather jacket cos thats not what was stolen. Likewise, if your car is written off (repairs will cost more than the value of the vehicle) you are not entitled under your policy to have it repaired otherwise you are benefitting from your insurance policy (betterment). If you choose to sue a TP for writing your car off it is highly unlikely that a judge would sustain a claim for more than the cost of your loss. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted June 20, 2005 But that's the whole point - if the accident is provably the "third party"'s fault, then you can sue them and their insurer for all the costs required under their "third party" part of their policy, which clearly has no set liability limit. Sure, if there's some doubt as to who is at fault, then you will be limited by your own insurer's liability limit on your comprehensive policy, but the law works slightly differently if you can prove it wasn't your fault. Basically if it wasn't your fault the law says you have the right to have NO LOSSES from the accident, be that in monetary terms or in losing your chosen vehicle, and any driver's third party insurance policy includes liability cover for exactly this type of issue. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted June 20, 2005 I note that there's a big unanswered question here... how did the "little dent" get there in the first place? Is turbomagikz claiming he was totally and provably innocent? He's not said so far ... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Madjackal 0 Posted June 20, 2005 You've lost me im afraid, what is a liability limit? I cant say i've ever dealt with a claim where somone has managed to sue the third party for more than the value of an interest. As an insured you have a duty to mitigate your costs. An insured has to document a claim be it through insurers or not. If an independent engineer inspects a vehicle and determines that it is a total loss it is because of factual evidence i.e. repair costs would be more than the pre accident value of the vehicle and therefore it is uneconomical to repair. If a third party is at fault this does not change, and if a third party was ordered to pay to have that vehicle put back on the road the insured would have gained not been indemnified. They would have be in a better finacial position than before the accident. Whats more if the salvage is a CAT A or B it cannot legally go back on the road, which would mean by your rational the insured would never be able recover their losses. At which point they, again by your example, would get (for the sake of argument) £5000 cash in reimbursment of the 'would be' repair cost, instead of £3500 which the insurer would have offered and the engineer deemed to be an accurate PAV. Again they would incur betterment. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turbomagikz 0 Posted June 21, 2005 my fault ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dr_mat 0 Posted June 21, 2005 Dunno about the betterment bit.. I don't see how getting your car repaired for £5k makes you better off than having no car and £3k in the bank.. Regardless of the point of view of the insurance company involved. (Lets face it, their insuree might have hit a more expensive car, so they MIGHT have had to pay a lot more than £5k anyway - but that's what third party insurance is FOR.) I see your point about the class a or class b write-off though. Cars deemed unsafe obviously can't be recovered. And this is all moot anyway, cos as turbomagikz admits, it was his fault! :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Madjackal 0 Posted June 21, 2005 Oh dear, game over then. Mine was a fault claim to. Prepare your wallet my friend. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turbomagikz 0 Posted June 21, 2005 cheers lads ! when i wrote this post , i had already sent off pics / receipts / letter to insurance company ! i had to call them yesterday ? they have upped my offer by £1500 & & told me to call back tommorrow to see if i can now buy car back & how much ?? could be sweet if i get car back ! as all my parts will go onto new white 95vr6 i have in my sights ...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henny 0 Posted June 22, 2005 8) glad you're getting there! 8) Be prepared though, they may ask for upto 20% of the payout to buy the salvage back... :| J-DUB got a little more expensive to buy back than I was first quoted after I kicked up a fuss and got more cash out of them 'cos the payout crossed over to the next higher buyback value... :roll: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
turbomagikz 0 Posted June 22, 2005 they have just told me i cannot buy it back !!!! so ive chucked the towel in ! start from fresh ! soon have a nice gleeming vr6 again !!!!! cheers for all your advice & help Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
