Car destroyed in floods - options

Fionn101

Hi All,

My car was in an underground car park near a canal when it burst it's banks and flooded the entire car park. there were about 15 cars submerged in total.

So my car (96 BMW 318i) is a write off I reckon , but I wonder should I bother to tell the insurance company ?

I don't want to affect my no claims bonus and the car's book value (as per insurer) is about €1,000 which is why I am willing to write off the loss.

Just wondering what would fellow boardsie's do regarding claiming insurance or not ?

Once I know what is the best course of action , I am going to ring the Greener Metals fella from boards who will scrap it for free for me.

Thank you in advance for any advice offered , I really want to replace my car with the exact same but alas Montreal Blue 318s from that year are getting rarer I think my luck is out.

Cheers,
Fionn

Cookie_Monster

That shouldn't affect your NCB I would have thought as it's not a claim against you or causing an accident?...

JJJJNR

This would be considered an act of god, so your insurance wouldn't pay out.

the_syco

Check if you can claim against the blocks insurance?

biko

Ring the insurance company and ask? They won't do anything to your insurance unless you decide to make a claim, and even then they might not touch your NCB.

ardmacha

Ring the insurance company and ask? They won't do anything to your insurance unless you decide to make a claim, and even then they might not touch your NCB.

I reckon they should take away God's NCB, as it was his act.

Bigus

OSI wrote: »

Does car insurance cover flood damage? I seem to remember hearing it didn't.

Only driving into flood



As Biko said ring your ins co or broker, and check block insurance on apt and see if the flood was caused by an insured party.
Try and get 100 euro scrap value even if collected

Fionn101

Great, thank you all for the replies , I really wanted to run it by the good folks here as I don't know the insurance ins and outs.

I did check the block insurance and act of god is not covered. And I suspect the same with my insurer by I'll report back as to what they say.

Cheers,
Fionn

derry

be careful they trap you
when i rang to see how much i would get for my car for being stolen they turned the phone call into a claim even i was only inquiring the amount i would get for 1998 car worth nomaily 1000 but the market was saying less than 500 and probably only 200 from insurance company

The assessor will come on the phone give you claim number and then come look and tell you its worth 100 euros whatever and you say you don't want to make a claim for that
Too late he has claim number he charges his €250 to visit you to see car and you and you got stung

then when you decide the premium the next year is too high you find that there is claim against you

Now if you stay with them the claim is covered under the no claims rule so there is no claims against you with your own company but if you transfer to another company there is claim against you so the next company will cost you more

Been there done that got the T shirt so I changed company anyway SOBS

Derry

Fionn101

My thoughts exactly , thank you Derry.
I think I should just take the loss on this one as it's such a low value car it's not worth the premium hike.

Fionn

veetwin

OP I think you really need to talk to your insurance company on this and discuss fully all your options with them. The amount on nonsense being offered here as advice is unreal.

Fionn101

thanks VeeTwin,

I had a friend check the book value of the car and it's so low that I'm just going to take the loss on this one. the scrap-my-car people are arriving tonight at 6pm

Such a pity that the blood sweat and tears of keeping an old car going don't add to it's value

Thank you everyone for your replies ,I really appreciate it.

Fionn

LifeSaabItch

I might buy it for parts depending on the spec and where you are?

If you could PM me a picture or the last 7 digits of chassis number and location.

gordieboy04

I'm assuming that you have comprehensive insurance on your car or you wouldn't even be considering a claim? If this is the case then why would you spend the extra money getting cover you'll never use?

Wile E. Coyote

I'd look at the scrap value before you claim on the insurance if you're worried about your NCB. You might get a similar price out of it going through any of the scrap metal dealers.

EDIT: Actually it's very unlikely that you'll get a similar price. You'll generally get about €150 per ton depending on who you go to and as the car weights a max of about 1.5 ton you'd probably be better stripping it and selling it in parts.

Fionn101

LifeSaabItch wrote: »

I might buy it for parts depending on the spec and where you are?

If you could PM me a picture or the last 7 digits of chassis number and location.

Hiya Saab,

there is extensive water damage and I couldn't possibly take any money for parts.
The scrap man is coming at 6pm today but if there is anything that you might want from the car just let me know and I'll rip it out for you (plastics maybe)

Fionn

Fionn101

p.s. it is a 1996 318is Montreal Blue E36

Fionn101

thanks Wile , I will just let Scrap my Car take this one tonight for free. As I wouldn't feel comfortable taking money for water damage parts.

Fionn101

Geordieboy , fair point , I've been running this car since day 1 , so it once had a value , but now it's devalued to a point where I had to come here to ask the question "Is it worth a claim?"

cheers everyone for your help , first round is on me

Fionn

rovoagho

gordieboy04 wrote: »

I'm assuming that you have comprehensive insurance on your car or you wouldn't even be considering a claim? If this is the case then why would you spend the extra money getting cover you'll never use?

There's more to comp cover than "your car and their car". You should read the policy descriptions fully, you could let yourself in for a world of hurt if you insure 3rd party without seeing what other benefits aren't included. Medical bills in particular could bankrupt you.

As to the person that had a query turn into a claim, isn't that as much your own fault for allowing it to happen? Insurers can hardly be regarded as trustworthy.

veetwin

OP a family member had her first car destroyed by flood last year. She is only 18 and had the car about 6 weeks. She contacted her insurance company and they paid her more than she paid for it. No repercussions on her renewal either. The car was only worth €1500 but that's what insurance is for.