[:(] This weekend one of our guests reversed into the front of my 1993 MK1. The guy came back the next day and admitted that when they left he’d knocked my car, and that as it is a company vehicle we can let the insurance company sort it out.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /><o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>However I’ve had a full Bomex body kit installed, so the fiberglass has cracked quite significantly, and also creased/bent the wings. As the car is quite mature I’m concerned that at £350 for a bumper and £150 per wing plus all the labour etc that his insurance company won’t want pay for the repair as the book price is quite low for J plate.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Like most members of this group I’ve spent significant sums on their cars over the term of ownership. Only two years ago I had the body kit installed, and a full re-spray costing just over £1200. Not to mention all the servicing, tyres and new Mk2 hood install. Suffice to say its worth a lot more to me than Mr Glass’s Guide will suggest.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>So the question is do I have any control over accepting a right off against a repair?<o:p></o:p>
I don’t know if I was lucky but when someone ran into the back of my car (ok - maybe not lucky!) one of the first things the person accepting the call at the insurance company end said was ‘I ought to warn you I think that’ll be a right off because of the age’ (or words to that effect) and they weren’t even considering sending someone out to assess it.
However, my IMMEDIATE response was - ‘No way is it being written off - I’ve just spent ‘X’ having it restored. If you do write it off I want to talk about buying it back, right now’.
They backpedalled right away, saying that they were just trying to prepare me for the worst and they WOULD indeed send out an assessor. I insisted - and made sure - I got my car back to the people who had done the previous work and knew the car and they backed me when the assessor arrived. He was quick to agree with mine and the specialist garage that it was right to repair it given the condition of the car.
I think the thing is, some people roll over easily and just accept what they are told, others make it tough for the insurance company and show they are not going to be a pushover.
Good luck.
Blimey mate,. thats bad news…! Yeah, the answer is don’t accept anything. Its your car and for one thing I was always told you can get it fixed anywhere, the insurance company may tell you to go to a certain bodyshop but you dont have to. And rememer waht happened with Bavers roadster. The estimate to fix it made it a right off after he pranged it, but with a bit of haggling to get the price down it then became viable and I was happilly driving it about still yesterday about 4 years later…
Did you declare all the mods? I hope so as that could make a difference…
Bad luck Smiffy…
Serious sympathy
In someways that may not apply as you are not claiming on your insurance as you might if you visited a tree unintentionally. The claim is against the 3rd party liability of your friends insurance. This should allow you to argue your point backed up by reciepts etc. Think of it as a case of making good damage they have done to any item of your proprty in an accident?
(My view anyway)
Good luck
Hi Smiffy
Sorry to hear about your bump!!
If you are going through an insurance company as a TP you will have more sway as the fault is their insured’s. They should put you back in the postion you were before the accident. The declaration of MODS won’t be an issue as your contract is not with them, that would only be a concern if you were going through your own insurance company.
The TP insurance company won’t want to bother with dealing with the ‘scrap’ should they insist on writing it off so the car will be yours as long as you make them aware that you definitely want it. They may take the value of the scrap off the amount they agree with you (as long as you agree to scrap it though) but at least then you can repair it with the money you get back.
My advice would be to stick to your guns with this and make them repair it. At the end of the day their insured is in the wrong and you should not suffer for it. The only issue you may have is that it is more difficult to make a formal complaint against a company that has no contract with you and I don’t think the Financial Ombudsman Service would get involved should you have difficulty getting the reaction you are looking for.
If you want to give me a call about it when you have spoken to the insurance company involved I’m happy to chat it through with you. (I only offer as I used to work in Motor claims so have seen both sides of this argument)
What’s the insurance company name out of interest? I can ask about work to see if there are any things to watch out for with the company.
KT
Bad news !!!
IF it comes down to it and you do buy the car back to get it repaired yourself, give me a shout. I know someone who’ll be able to repair the front end you have and you’d never know the difference.
[quote user=“martin”…
Did you declare all the mods? I hope so as that could make a difference…
just out of interest martin, im probably a bit dumb what would constitute mods = i have quite a bit of chrome on mine, BUT no go fast bits ie=
supplied on car from new = style bars, and sound board, c mirror covers,& door handle covers s/s grill, c fuel flap, six cd changer modual,
added later = c light rings, all clear lights & reflactors, hardtop, s/s 100mm dual rear box, how far as they say = do you have to come clean with ins co regards L
p/s sorry to hear about your miss-fortune smiffy, hope ya get it sorted soon.
safest bet is declare everything in my opinion!! it all has an effect on value and possibly desirability and risk if you are in a claim situation. I have heard of people paying more after declaring the addition of a mesh radiator grill not that a decent insurer will do that of course but it sort of proves that such things can be of concern to insurers.
I’ve just heard from the car body shop and the estimate has been passed onto “the assessors”. They have declared the car a total loss. I’ve yet to speak with them so see what they are offering me, but a '93 Mk 1 at DandyCard is close to £4k!!!
Will update again once I hear from them…
Must be gutting.
Hopefully you can convince them otherwise - keep in mind that bodykits, and roofs will take it up even more.
As it stands you are (I think) going to be significantly worse off as a result - that obviously should not happen…
I have read in the motoring press that you should not be left in a worse position than you were before the accident as it was wholly the third parties fault. I can’t remember the detail but would strongly recommend you make some more enquiries Citizens Advice Bureau, google the net, speak to the ex insurance guy etc before accepting anything.
One suggestion would be to deal on a ‘cash in lieu of repairs’ basis, basically they have written it off as on their labour rate / parts / paint etc its uneconomic to repair. They will pay you the cost of the repairs and you can get the car repaired yourself using pattern / second hand parts etc
Happy to talk in more detail off the forum if you want to talk some more
Matt