Insurance Claim

Spartie

Hi out there, I recently crashed my car. Totally lost control of the car on black ice and hit a wall. All of the left side of car was damaged, but no one else was involved, but my garage wont do up the detailed estimate list that the insurance company wants. I spoke to them after the crash and they said that since the damage was in excess of 8000, it would be written off. However, the insurance company want the total list. Did anyone ever come across this before and what was the outcome. Will the insurance pay, and if so, how long is it likely to take?

Any advice appreciated.

ilovecars

get a letter to say it needs to be written off, i'm sure the assesor from the ins will know to look at it, you wont get anything for about 6 weeks

Profiler

Ask your insurance company to send out an assessor to view the car at your garage, and ask them to send someone out ASAP, if it is a well known garage and not far out of the way there is little reason that the can't have someone out there within 2 working days.

Tell them that your car is an obvious write off and that preparation of an estimate is a waste of time according to your garage.

As for 6 weeks before you see a settlement! can't agree with that. Unless you end up in dispute with your Insurance company then if you don't have a cheque in your hands before two weeks are up then I'd not be one bit happy.

Seth Brundle

+1 to profilers post

Spartie

I reported the accident on the day it happened and the assessor was out the following day. I think that he may have been talking to the mechanics, but the very next day, I got a load of forms and a letter requesting detailed estimates.

Then I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do when I couldn't get the list. I can totally understand, the mechanic's view that it would waste a lot of time preparing estimates if the car is going to be written off anyway..

Profiler

Spartie wrote: »

I reported the accident on the day it happened and the assessor was out the following day. I think that he may have been talking to the mechanics, but the very next day, I got a load of forms and a letter requesting detailed estimates.

To be honest I'd phone up the Insurance Company and tell them to get their assessor to speak to your garage, I know it is your responsibility to do present them with a costing for repairs as part of your comprehensive claim... but I don't understand why they are asking you to ask the garage to complete an estimate only for you to pass said estimate onto the assessor??? why not cut out the middleman (you) and speed the whole process up???

That being said it sounds like you car is a border line repair. By that I mean your car can be repaired and safely put back on the road but the cost of repairs are going to almost the same as the market value.

For example, there is no point spending €5000 on repairs if the car's market value after repairs is only €4000.

If I were you I'd phone your Insurance Company and tell them that, I'm not a mechanic or an assessor so why not ask those two professionals to sort it out between them and when they are in agreement let me know the outcome.

Spartie

The car is insured for 15000, but I think the front wheel was badly pushed back due to the impact. I dont think I would feel safe driving it even if it was fix.

Another question. How do insurance companies pay, do the give full value, crashed value or what. I don't want to have to pay another 10g along with an insurance cheque to replace car.

ilovecars

ring a garage and see how much a car is same year and spec to yours and whatever they say expect less,

ilovecars

and if you have finance the check will be made out to your bank, not you..

Profiler

Spartie wrote: »

The car is insured for 15000, but I think the front wheel was badly pushed back due to the impact. I dont think I would feel safe driving it even if it was fix.

Another question. How do insurance companies pay, do the give full value, crashed value or what. I don't want to have to pay another 10g along with an insurance cheque to replace car.

It is not in the insurance company or garage's interest to put a car back on the the road that isn't safe. What you might have is a BER write off (Beyond Economic Repair) the other type is a TWO or Total Write Off. The TWO means that the chassis is bent or broken and as with any metal you bend and then bend back into shape you weaken it. However if the Insurance Company and the Garage are in agreement to go ahead with repairs then you can be sure the car will be safe.

What I would do now if I was you is start researching on line and in car papers for the same make, model, year, spec and mileage of car as your damaged one and see what the average price is.

The reason for this while your sum insured is €15,000 your policy wording will be "indemnity" basis

In non insurance terms indemnity means - We (the insurance company) will put you back in the position you were in before the accident.

Now what this means is if the market value for you car now is €7000 then that is the offer you would get for a written off car. Their argument will be that to buy right now another (for example) 2003 BMW 3 series with 50,000 on the clock you will only have to pay €7000, you may have paid €15,000 12 months ago, but if €7000 is the average price in the market today then that is what you will be offered.

Profiler

ilovecars wrote: »

and if you have finance the check will be made out to your bank, not you..

It should go out in both names!