Cant get my car back

Gafcaf

My car is end of life after a recent crash- catagory B write off, and the recovery company is refusing to return my car to me saying it's against the law for them to give it back unless I am an autorised treatment faciliity, I've never heard of this before and anyone I spoke to says its crap , they just want my car cheap(500 quid )- they'll return it if I have a cert to prove I'm a treatment facility- which I'm obiously not , so it's catch 22 , crash is now 8 weeks ago and insurance won't pay till this is sorted and I don't want to let the car go for 500 as I just spent 1000 on new injectors 2 weeks before crash, does anyone know anything about this that can help, thanks

jayok

It's your property. You hold the title to it (I assume). Just because it's a write off doesn't means that it must be recycled - does the scrap yard want recovery fees?

The Nutty M

Cat A's and B's can not be put back on the road.So hence can not be given back to you in case you attempt to put a deathtrap on the public road. If it were a C or a D then you would be able to get it back.

jayok

The Nutty M wrote: »

Cat A's and B's can not be put back on the road.So hence can not be given back to you in case you attempt to put a deathtrap on the public road. If it were a C or a D then you would be able to get it back.

But if my car is a write off and I want it back, it doesn't mean I am going to put it on the road. I might was to strip it for parts to recover some monies (e.g. Stereo, wheels, etc)

Gafcaf

This is exactly what I tought, the parts are expensive for this car,and as Aviva( who I'll never insure with again) aren't giving amount they insured for the only way I'll replace car is to buy cheap one with faults and fix it up a bit from crashed car -they were paid all fees by insurance company, I went down yesterday and they moved the car from Dublin to Cavan without telling me, told him I wanted the new injectors out at least so he's giving me them but still insisting I have to be registered treatment facility to have it back, asked a garda the same yesterday and he reckons they have the right to refuse giving it back, 1st I've ever heard of this , I was told to ring council enviro section as they'll confirm his side.

corktina

the trouble is, if you claim on your policy for a total loss, the car becomes the property of the Insurance Company.

(Many of the disposal plants do not sell spares as they are contracted to scrap the vehicle.)

Chimaera

Once the insurance company pay out a claim on a total loss, the car becomes their property. Your best bet may be to find out what scrapyard they sell it to and see if you can do a deal with them.

I wasn't aware we were using the same categories as the UK for write-offs, but a Cat B means it can be broken up for parts. Cat A would be straight to the crusher. (C & D can be repaired and put back on the road)

mullingar

It really depends who the "lawful" owner is.

Its you if the insurance paid for the loss sustained.
Its the insurer paid the full market value for it and determined there was no residual value left, I believe its technically theirs.

MidlandsM

Op, it does'nt matter what work or what money you spent on the car prior to the crash, its now SALVAGE, and only worth (to all parties) its price in SALVAGE.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

jayok

Ok, say the car is scrap now and "worth" €500 of scrap, prior to this the car was worth say €2000. The way the insurance works is

Value Prior to Crash (€2000) - scrap value (€500) - excess (€300) = €1,200.

Insurance co gives the OP €1,200 and considers the matter closed.

Ins Co doesn't really get into handing with the physical cars. If the op wants to take a €500 drop in the value of the car, then let them. This is not the property of the scrapyard.

The only reason I can see the scrapyard holding the car is they probably was towing fees refunded or whatever.

CiniO

I can't see why OP shouldn't be allowed to get back his vehicle.
Surely he can sell it abroad into country where any write-off categories don't apply, and car can be fixed by their talented mechanics

discombobulate

MidlandsM wrote: »

Op, it does'nt matter what work or what money you spent on the car prior to the crash, its now SALVAGE, and only worth (to all parties) its price in SALVAGE.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Surely in a case like this if you had put in a new stereo, bluetooth kit or anything similar you'd be able to take these back. Would they be additional to the claim price or included in what they pay out.

MidlandsM

discombobulate wrote: »

Surely in a case like this if you had put in a new stereo, bluetooth kit or anything similar you'd be able to take these back. Would they be additional to the claim price or included in what they pay out.

no .... all that can be done is argue those points with the assesor and insurer, and try your hardest to get a better price (pre-accident-value) for the car .....

....as for the salvage price the breakers will buy it at, they'll not give a toss about that ......

farrellniall

cat A has to be compleatley crushed. cat B can be keep for parts only and then crushed.

cat A-B can only be held by an autorised treatment faciliity. they cannot be owned or be handled by any one else. (joe public)

mathepac

CiniO wrote: »

I can't see why OP shouldn't be allowed to get back his vehicle....

Because if the insurance company has paid out, it's their car (scrap) now not OP's.

fasttalkerchat

They can't legally stop you taking parts and belongings from the car so I would take a friend and a trailer and strip it. Leave them with a shell and tell them you want your £500.

If they are forcing you to under-sell hit them back.


EDIT: Just saw that the insurer paid out. Now that you accepted their offer, its not your car.

johndaman66

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

EDIT: Just saw that the insurer paid out. Now that you accepted their offer, its not your car.

After reading the OP's posts that not my understanding. It would seem to me that they have paid the car recovery firm their fee for recovering the vehicle but OP is having some difficulty in claiming for his car of Aviva?

Not strictly the same scenario but a third party rear ended me a few years and although my car was still driving it was a write of as it was beyond economic repair. When the other guys insurance company was making settlement with me they gave me the option of giving me a certain figure and they'd sell the car to a breakers yard or else take €300 less and I'd keep the car. I suppose its one of these things that depend very much on the Insurance company you are dealing with....as is the case many motor insurance matters

Stheno

johndaman66 wrote: »

After reading the OP's posts that not my understanding. It would seem to me that they have paid the car recovery firm their fee for recovering the vehicle but OP is having some difficulty in claiming for his car of Aviva?

Not strictly the same scenario but a third party rear ended me a few years and although my car was still driving it was a write of as it was beyond economic repair. When the other guys insurance company was making settlement with me they gave me the option of giving me a certain figure and they'd sell the car to a breakers yard or else take €300 less and I'd keep the car. I suppose its one of these things that depend very much on the Insurance company you are dealing with....as is the case many motor insurance matters

It's a CAT B write off, yours sounds like a CAT C

CAT B you don't get any options but the crusher.

Insurance most likely won't pay the OP unless they get confirmation it's been destroyed so they know a dangerous car is not going back on the road.

Our man in Havana

What is the legal basis for this? Seeing as these categories have no legal status in Ireland.

mathepac

The categories are used in a number of PDF documents on the RSA web-site, here's one -

http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Vehicle%20Std%20Leg/Consultations/Written_off_Vehicle_Consultation%20Final%20draft%2022%20Dec.pdf

download and have a gawk.

mickdw

Firstly we need to clear up whether or not the insurers are taking ownership of the car or not. I guess it's possible that they are allowing settlement direct from recycler to the car owner and then paying out the remainder ththemselves less excess.
If it's cast in strone that the car must be destroyed, then the op is snookered as one way or another the insurers would want an end of life cert and even if a higher value w as got from another breakers yard, surely the insurer would reduce their payment to match.
If the insurers are taking ownership, the op has nothing more to do with the car and is not entitled to take injectors or anything else that is part of the car.

lifer_sean

jayok wrote: »

But if my car is a write off and I want it back, it doesn't mean I am going to put it on the road. I might was to strip it for parts to recover some monies (e.g. Stereo, wheels, etc)

If the car is a Cat B as you say, under waste management rules you are not allowed to scrap the car unless you are an authorised facility. Also, you are not allowed to transport the car (eg on a friends trailer as another poster suggested) without a waste transport permit (you will see waste permit numbers sign-written on the breakers yard tow trucks these days). Of course they would have to catch you first ... but that's a different story.

I'd agree with MidlandsM that you should push for a better settlement deal, citing all the money spent on the car recently, and try to argue that it was worth more than the 2000 quoted as a result (can't say whether that figure is low or high since don't recall you saying what type of car it is?).

As regards the salvage value, if they have basically sold your car via online auction (many do this I believe), then they could reasonably argue that they got you the best possible price for the car.

I know it happens, but the bit I don't understand is why the insurance companies don't just pay out the pre-accident value (less excess), and they recover the salvage monies from the breakers.

mathepac

lifer_sean wrote: »

...
I know it happens, but the bit I don't understand is why the insurance companies don't just pay out the pre-accident value (less excess), and they recover the salvage monies from the breakers.

Whose pre-accident valuation do you think they should accept? The one on the proposal form?

The insurers will only pay market value for the car, less the deductions for excess and scrap, after they hear from their assessor.

Gafcaf

lifer_sean wrote: »

If the car is a Cat B as you say, under waste management rules you are not allowed to scrap the car unless you are an authorised facility. Also, you are not allowed to transport the car (eg on a friends trailer as another poster suggested) without a waste transport permit (you will see waste permit numbers sign-written on the breakers yard tow trucks these days). Of course they would have to catch you first ... but that's a different story.

I'd agree with MidlandsM that you should push for a better settlement deal, citing all the money spent on the car recently, and try to argue that it was worth more than the 2000 quoted as a result (can't say whether that figure is low or high since don't recall you saying what type of car it is?).

As regards the salvage value, if they have basically sold your car via online auction (many do this I believe), then they could reasonably argue that they got you the best possible price for the car.

I know it happens, but the bit I don't understand is why the insurance companies don't just pay out the pre-accident value (less excess), and they recover the salvage monies from the breakers.

as lifer John says above this is what I've been told by the recovery yard, just that I've never heard of it before, I've not receives any settlement yet from aviva , altough they will be reducing payment by amount salvage pay- 500, I tought I'd have the right to tow it home , as I wanted to buy same car and I don't know what parts I need yet, no point saying I want all parts as he's talking of offering less than 500 altough I reckon aviva will have to top up to pre crash value anyway, salvage also moved the car to Cavan without asking or telling me and the longer this drags out the longer aviva are taking to pay-5 week now,