Car insurance repair after bad crash

Mad Benny

A friend of mine was recently in a crash in which the other driver has
accepted full responsibility.

His insurance company has offered to repair the car however it was a serious crash and she is not happy that the car will ever be the same again in terms of its safety having had the cosmetic repairs done. The car collided with three others.

Is she entitled to refuse the offer of having the car fixed and request that the insurance company pay the amount that the car was insured for?

seamus

If she's concerned that there's structural damage to the vehicle, then she should get an experienced shop/mechanic to assess the damage to the vehicle.

The insurance company aren't going to stiff her and have her driving an unsafe car. If there's frame damage, the car is written off. In general I would say that if the insurance company have sent their own assessor to look at the car, then it should be fine to repair.

EPM

What kind of damage was done. Things can look worse than they are. In saying that the converse is often the case too. If it's cosmetic damage it should be fine. Make sure the owner claims for loss of value on the car too.

brembo26

She should be offered for the car to be repaired up to a certain value, if she dosnt like that she will be offered the book value of the car. If she takes the latter she will receive a cheque from the OP's insurer for the amount they think the car is worth and then they will scrap the car. All of this will happen after an independent assesser comes out on behalf of the OP's insurance company to assess the damage.

Del2005

Mad Benny wrote: »

Is she entitled to refuse the offer of having the car fixed and request that the insurance company pay the amount that the car was insured for?

I'm not too sure if she can refuse the repair, she'd need to pay for an independent engineers report that the car can't be repaired safely. But barring a major smash all cars can be repaired safely, it's just depends on how much money is thrown at it. That's why most cars are written off as it's not economical to repair then, not that they can't be repaired.

She'll get nowhere near what she's insured it for. She'll get book value, which unless she's very knowledgeable or lucky will be way less then she's insured for, less the scrap value of the car.

S Line

Despite what you might think insurance companies dont want to go for the cheapest solution - just the most eceonmical one for them.


For example if a car had a front end smash with airbags deployed the car may look shagged but once you remove all the bolted on parts there is probably very little left to 'repair' on the car.

Once you would use brand new o.e. parts to do this repair with an approved bodyshop there should be no problem with the car.

While you are the injured third party they are only obliged to get the car to 'pre accident condition', cover any of your expences and perhaps pay you the deprecation you will suffer come trade in time.

Just because you are the injured third party they are hardly for example going give you €50000 for your crashed 09 E class wheres a top notch repair even done through a merc dealer with cost € 15000

No matter if you are the insured person or a third party you cannot tell the insurance company you want the car written off. If it is more economical to repair the car (safely !!) thats all they are obliged to do
I they thought for a second that the car would be unsafe post-repair, it gets written off and sent for dismanteling. Its a group A or B write-off 'end of life' vehicle

As an insurance company and their approved bodyshops have to offer warranty on repairs they are not going to repair a badly damaged car instead of letting it be deemed a write-off. They have to offer a warranty on repairs for 3 years so any budget repairs done to car to prevent it being a write-off will come back to haunt them.

The niggle in your mind you would have with driving a 'crashed' car I can understand. The souldtion is to have the car repaired get a deprecation cost settltement and trade the car in.

Bigus

The insurance company are on the back foot here and don't want to encourage your friend to get annoyed and start claiming for injuries as well.

In other words put the foot down and demand what you think is reasonable or else !

Del2005

Bigus wrote: »

The insurance company are on the back foot here and don't want to encourage your friend to get annoyed and start claiming for injuries as well.

In other words put the foot down and demand what you think is reasonable or else !

Writing off a good car isn't reasonable.

But on the other hand, insurance companies do quotes based on OEM parts and franchise dealer rates. If the car crashed into 3 others there'll be a lot of panel damage and it may be written off. Then she has the problem of trying to find a similar spec'd car for the money she gets, which unless she's very lucky will be nowhere near what she thinks her car is worth, with all the dangers of buying 2nd hand. Sometimes you're better off with your own repaired car, better the devil you know.

ryaner777

All claims departments use a simple calculation when deciding if to write off a car of not. If the repair costs exceed 60% of the current market value of the car then the car will be written off. If not then the car will be repaired.

oldyouth

Bottom line is that you cannot 'abandon' the car to insurers. However, if they can find someone to purchase the salvage on your behalf and add that to your repair settlement, everybody should be happy

Dtoffee

I have a situation where someone shunted / rear ended my wifes car and accepted full liability.

The word from the garage is that the insurance company will try and write off the car as they will claim the market value is below the repair costs. We have just spent a fortune getting the car into top shape with a new clutch, battery, all brakes and timing chain replaced. It appears that they will not take that into account and I will get an offer that only allows me buy a car that risks needing us repeat all that work again at our expense.

To say I am pissed off is nothing to the way I really feel. She did nothing wrong and we are going to be out of pocket as a result of this.

However, as mentioned above ...... I wonder if her sore back got worse would they sort the mess out quicker and maybe be more willing to drop the market value crap ???

anyone any experience of this situation, do they have the right to refuse to repair the car? how long before she can put a claim in for her back pain (after we visit one of those bloodhound solicitors).

-Chris-

Dtoffee wrote: »

I wonder if her sore back got worse would they sort the mess out quicker and maybe be more willing to drop the market value crap ???

You're walking a fine line of possible insurance fraud there. I certainly wouldn't be posting about that kind of thing on a public forum.

Dtoffee

-Chris- wrote: »

You're walking a fine line of possible insurance fraud there. I certainly wouldn't be posting about that kind of thing on a public forum.

She has a sore back but refuses to claim saying that the woman who ran into her was very nice and sure its bad luck anyway.

-Chris-

Dtoffee wrote: »

She has a sore back but refuses to claim saying that the woman who ran into her was very nice and sure its bad luck anyway.

Fair 'nuff, I didn't mean to imply anything

Esel

Dtoffee wrote: »

It appears that they will not take that into account and I will get an offer that only allows me buy a car that risks needing us repeat all that work again at our expense.

I think you are entitled to keep the car and have it repaired yourself (if it not a write-off on safety grounds, of course). They will pay you the amount they offered you, less the scrap value of the car. Chances are that you will be able to have the car repaired for a lesser amount than you will receive. Consider the balance to be compensation for the reduced value of the car when selling or trading in. Don't go for a cheapo repair unless you are planning to drive the car into the ground (i.e. scrap it when you are going to change).

Also, you can, to a certain extent, dispute the amount they are willing to pay. They might come up a bit...