Insurance Question

The Dagda

I'm hoping to get some help with this situation.

So the wife was involved in an accident where she was rear-ended. No one injured and car behind admitted liability so everything ok from that point of view.

The other party's insurer has told the wife that she has to use a certain crash repairer so my first question is; can they insist on who carries out the repairs?

The other issue is; the wife's car is only worth around 2k and the repair place that the other party's insurer is insisting be used has given a repair cost of approx 2.5k using all new parts. So it looks like the insurer will be calling it a write- off.

What are the options in this situation?

If the insurance company decide it's a write-off and we come to agreement on the amount they pay, will the insurance company "buy" the car with the payout? Or do we retain ownership?

The repair shop has said he can repair the car with second hand parts for around around €700 so it would seem that one option would be take the payout and do that, but I'm confused by the "write off" issue i.e will we still own the car after the payout, and if so, is the car allowed to be repaired and put back on the road?

The repair shop has described it as category c damage with all of it to the rear. The car is currently driving fine.

Thanks in advance.

Technoprisoner

its your car.... the choice is yours where you bring it too.....but what they might have asked was can you bring the car to such a place as to be inspected

Wheres My ForkandKnife

To answer you questions,

a) You can have the car fixed where you like.

b) Going on your figures they will definitly write off the car. The insurance will then pay out the market value of the car minus the scrap value of the car. They might decide that the market value of your car is a lot less than €2k. I'm not saying you car is worth less than €2k but people generally overvalue their cars. Emotion comes into it whereas the insurance co. just deal in numbers. If this happens you will have to prove your car is worth the €2k (ads from donedeal,carzone etc)

c) When its settled you still own the car and can get it fixed as cheaply as you like. However you may have problems getting insurance on the car after its fixed. Your insurance co. may insist on an engineers report to say that the car is roadworthy.

Mr.Fred

I thought once a car is written off the Insurance company essentially buys the car off you so as to avoid this scenario of repairing a damaged car.

The Dagda

Thanks for the replies.

The insurance company came back with an offer yesterday.

They're offering 1500 minus 450 for scrappage. Seems low.

Car is 02 Honda Civic 3dr Automatic.

Does anyone have experience in dealing with insurance companies in similar situations? Is it possible to negotiate?

blindside88

The Dagda wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

The insurance company came back with an offer yesterday.

They're offering 1500 minus 450 for scrappage. Seems low.

Car is 02 Honda Civic 3dr Automatic.

Does anyone have experience in dealing with insurance companies in similar situations? Is it possible to negotiate?

If you find that a similar car cannot be bought for this price and you can provide proof (ads of similar cars for sale) you can negotiate. Based on those figures I wouldn't take the scrap and have it repaired, if it's market value is 1500, your paying 1150 for a crashed car repaired with second hand parts (450 for car and 700 parts and labour) which will be worth much less if you sell it

corktina

i imagine they propose giving you 1150 and are saying you will get 450 scrap for the car. You will get tops 200 scrap unless you are prepared to break it yourself, so go back for more on the market value, if you can show this is so (as suggested above) and get a couple of quotes from scrapyards to get that 450 reduced.

they will always start low and you will get more if you fight for it.

The Dagda

blindside88 wrote: »

If you find that a similar car cannot be bought for this price and you can provide proof (ads of similar cars for sale) you can negotiate. Based on those figures I wouldn't take the scrap and have it repaired, if it's market value is 1500, your paying 1150 for a crashed car repaired with second hand parts (450 for car and 700 parts and labour) which will be worth much less if you sell it

Tbh I think a realistic replacement figure is 2 - 2.5k. They're only offering 1500 minus 450, so 1050. The crash repair place said the scrap value is only 300.

Wheres My ForkandKnife

I wouldn't accept the offer.After a quick look on donedeal the cheapest 02 civic auto is asking €2650. The whole idea of insurance is to put you back in the position you were before the accident.If you accept the €1500 offer you are well out of pocket.Print/take screenshot of all the ads of 02 civics that are for sale on carzone/donedeal etc, (there aren't that many 02 autos for sale) and then get in touch with the insurance and let them know if you are not willing to accept the offer.There is one on carzone looking for €4500 although that seems a bit off the wall.

How far you will have to go with them to get near the value you want I don't know, maybe ring the insurance ombudsman and ask for advice.Best of luck.

bazz26

Yes you can negotiate with them. Best thing to do is find some similar type cars for sale on the likes of donedeal, print the adverts off and present them to the insurance company.

The Dagda

bazz26 wrote: »

Yes you can negotiate with them. Best thing to do is find some similar type cars for sale on the likes of donedeal, print the adverts off and present them to the insurance company.

Who should we be negotiating with? Is the first person we get through to on the phone the person we should be talking to, or is there someone else we should ask for?

Henry Ford III

The Dagda wrote: »

Who should we be negotiating with? Is the first person we get through to on the phone the person we should be talking to, or is there someone else we should ask for?

Tell them you won't accept the offer and see where you go from there.

Have your facts and figures ready to back up your argument.

Wheres My ForkandKnife

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Tell them you won't accept the offer and see where you go from there.

Have your facts and figures ready to back up your argument.

Exactly as above.Ring up about claim no. xxxx and you will soon be through to the right person although be prepared to be transferred/put on hold a few times when you say you are not accepting their offer:).

Print out all the 02 autos for sale.They seem to be asking between 2.5 and 4.5k.My guess is that they are not taking into account the fact that your car is an auto.The manual ones are asking a lot less money.

Stay calm and be able to back up anything you say.It's their job to try and give you as little as they can get away with.Hold firm until you reach a compromise you can live with because once you agree that's the end of the matter.The asking prices of them seem to be on you side though.

mgbgt1978

Op if you find that you are getting the runaround with the insurers it may work out much faster to get a solicitor involved.
Most (OK, all) insurance companies will keep joe public dangling for ages, but once a solicitor gets involved they seem to be able to pay up a whole lot faster.
Also, a solicitor will usually include a few items that you won't...car hire for example.
Often these extra items will more than cover the cost of hiring the legal eagle.....

Henry Ford III

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Op if you find that you are getting the runaround with the insurers it may work out much faster to get a solicitor involved.
Most (OK, all) insurance companies will keep joe public dangling for ages, but once a solicitor gets involved they seem to be able to pay up a whole lot faster.
Also, a solicitor will usually include a few items that you won't...car hire for example.
Often these extra items will more than cover the cost of hiring the legal eagle.....

A loss adjuster/assessor will do the same job, only quicker and at less cost.