Motor Claim - car write off

jaytobe

First time in a claims process and can say that it's not pleasant. All advice I get is to fight the corner as claims handler don't really give a hoot..(no call from them after 8 working days..)same all over I suppose?

Anyhow, car damage is between 12-15k from garage estimate but await assessor report. Car cost €33k 4weeks ago. Spoke with a few garages and they say after that kind of repair it's worth <20k.
Surely the car is a write off? Can I force the write off with insurance company?

Atlantic Dawn

Get independent quotes for the repairs, go to the main dealers only of whatever make your car is. Given the amount of money at stake you should perhaps get a claims assessor on your behalf, the insurer will pay for this expence.

I would also rent a similar car to yours out while you are without yours and bill the insurer.

Henry Ford III

What happened?

jaytobe

Rear ended by young fella in a pile up... No liability on my behalf

@atlantic dawn, tks. Got a class d rental.
It's only damage repair ( if agreed) back to own insurer?

All other costs are direct to guy behind I.e. Rental, loss of earnings etc..?

Henry Ford III

That level of damage suggests a hefty impact. Whatever about the car getting fixed (I'd insist on getting a new one btw.) the passenger(s) must have endured a heavy collision.

Make sure everybody gets checked out fully. That's much more important than fixing metal.

punisher5112

Had a few experiences in crashes myself.

Horrible thing to happen and hope you and everybody are ok op.

If you are having any trouble I would be able to recommend a specialist solicitor who I had to use as the car that hit me went and said it was my fault and insurance wouldn't get back to me even after gave them 2 months.

I won the case as I was in the right and without the solicitor they would have walked all over me.
it was really annoying and upsetting that they could do what they did and how they tried to claim off me.

No matter how good the work the crash will always go against the car as it will be registered repaired and damaged.

Best of luck op and as I said if any trouble I can pm you.

jaytobe

Tks, got a solicitor after the first week when I realised how the insurers deal with people.. Same for regional claims guy calling looking to get another angle.

Assume one takes on their own insurer for full cost of car and they can go after whomever...this rarely goes to court?

Atlantic Dawn

The insurer will see that your not an idiot and they can see plain and simple they will have to pay sooner or later and the later they leave it the more expense they will have to pay your way.

I wouldn't agree with anything to them over the phone either unless they offer a full car replacement, say you need to take advice and wait a day or 2 to answer them back.

jaytobe

So still in the depths of the BS with the insurers....

They refused to issue their own car assessors report saying it was confidential (although they did issue it to Axa who admitted liability).

Now when we decided to take the repair money on offer, they deduct the VAT? Even the solicitor hasn't heard of this...

I intend to add the entire depreciation loss of the car to the injuries board claim, is this the norm?

9935452

jaytobe wrote: »

So still in the depths of the BS with the insurers....

They refused to issue their own car assessors report saying it was confidential (although they did issue it to Axa who admitted liability).

Now when we decided to take the repair money on offer, they deduct the VAT? Even the solicitor hasn't heard of this...

I intend to add the entire depreciation loss of the car to the injuries board claim, is this the norm?

A friend said to me that he had a claim and when they paid him it was including vat. as he was vat registered he had to pay the vat.
I had a claim lately , the total included vat but the check was issued for the full amount , im not registered for vat so didnt pay it.
i wouldnt accept that . You pay the vat when you repair the car. If the solicitor hasnt heard of it they are trying to pull a fast one.
They are lucky you havent a personal injury claim in against them

jaytobe

9935452 wrote: »

A friend said to me that he had a claim and when they paid him it was including vat. as he was vat registered he had to pay the vat.
I had a claim lately , the total included vat but the check was issued for the full amount , im not registered for vat so didnt pay it.
i wouldnt accept that . You pay the vat when you repair the car. If the solicitor hasnt heard of it they are trying to pull a fast one.
They are lucky you havent a personal injury claim in against them

I wouldn't be repairing the car so taking their cheque and salvage...€8k loss with VAT removed.
I have an injury claim for all my costs also.

goz83

jaytobe wrote: »

I wouldn't be repairing the car so taking their cheque and salvage...€8k loss with VAT removed.
I have an injury claim for all my costs also.

The idea of making a claim is to find yourself in the same financial position had you not been in the accident. Why are you accepting an 8k loss?

jaytobe

goz83 wrote: »

The idea of making a claim is to find yourself in the same financial position had you not been in the accident. Why are you accepting an 8k loss?

They have an assessors report saying car is a repairable prospect so won't consider salvage and depreciation. Apart from not wanting the car back, and all the advice, our own assessor says isn't not even economically viable to repair.
It's going on 3mths now and it's PIAB time (another 6-7mths I'm told) where the €8k loss will be added...so not accepting any loss. I intend going to court if this doesn't work out.
Has anyone gone through this process with depreciation added?

goz83

jaytobe wrote: »

They have an assessors report saying car is a repairable prospect so won't consider salvage and depreciation. Apart from not wanting the car back, and all the advice, our own assessor says isn't not even economically viable to repair.
It's going on 3mths now and it's PIAB time (another 6-7mths I'm told) where the €8k loss will be added...so not accepting any loss. I intend going to court if this doesn't work out.
Has anyone gone through this process with depreciation added?

Depreciation must be included in any claim. The accident caused damage that if repaired, would still leave a huge value loss to your property. I would under no circumstances accept a cheque from them unless it covered the full loss. Be sure to include all your car rental costs until they pay up. Make sure they are fully aware that you're not accepting a loss. If you take a cheque from them, you are accepting the payment for property damage and cannot recover the remaining 8k via the Injuries Board.

If the car was brand new, they should be offering no less than a replacement. Even if it wasn't, that kind of damage is way too much to not consider depreciation.

jaytobe

solicitor said you only go after your own company for material damage. I told him to write and state we are not accepting the depreciation loss.
I can't afford a replacement car without taking their cheque, otherwise a large loan at more cost.

Rental, depreciation, medical, lost earnings and others go though PIAB solicitor tells me so that's why we stopped arguing.

goz83

jaytobe wrote: »

solicitor said you only go after your own company for material damage. I told him to write and state we are not accepting the depreciation loss.
I can't afford a replacement car without taking their cheque, otherwise a large loan at more cost.

Rental, depreciation, medical, lost earnings and others go though PIAB solicitor tells me so that's why we stopped arguing.

It's definitely unorthodox. When you accept a cheque from the insurance company, it is to sign off on property damage, or injury. I'm not aware of a way that you can accept a cheque for part of the loss, but if your solicitor is sure of this, then fire away. I hope it works out.

To Elland Back

jaytobe wrote: »

solicitor said you only go after your own company for material damage. I told him to write and state we are not accepting the depreciation loss.
I can't afford a replacement car without taking their cheque, otherwise a large loan at more cost.

Rental, depreciation, medical, lost earnings and others go though PIAB solicitor tells me so that's why we stopped arguing.

I think I see what is happening here. Are you claiming under your own policy for the material damage now and letting them recover on your behalf from the TP later on? If that is the case depreciation should not form part of your negotiations with your own company, it forms part of the recovery. At this stage, your own insurer is only obliged to repair or write off your vehicle. The TP is responsible for all your other losses

jaytobe

To Elland Back wrote: »

I think I see what is happening here. Are you claiming under your own policy for the material damage now and letting them recover on your behalf from the TP later on? If that is the case depreciation should not form part of your negotiations with your own company, it forms part of the recovery. At this stage, your own insurer is only obliged to repair or write off your vehicle. The TP is responsible for all your other losses

Correct, starting with TP claim now. Wasn't aware until recently that own insurer only covers material damage.

goz83

jaytobe wrote: »

Correct, starting with TP claim now. Wasn't aware until recently that own insurer only covers material damage.

Is there a reason you're not claiming directly from the TP?

Property damage (including depreciation) can be claimed separately to Personal Injuries. It's effectively two claims from one incident.

My car was rear ended 9 months ago. The property damage was covered within a fortnight. I have a PI claim that went in 3 months ago and that could take some serious time.

Odyssey 2005

goz83 wrote: »

Is there a reason you're not claiming directly from the TP?

Property damage (including depreciation) can be claimed separately to Personal Injuries. It's effectively two claims from one incident.

My car was rear ended 9 months ago. The property damage was covered within a fortnight. I have a PI claim that went in 3 months ago and that could take some serious time.

Very same happened to me 3 years ago, two claims with the material damage settled v quickly.

jaytobe

In terms of car damage, the Third Party and my insurer were in agreement the car could be repaired (shared assessors report) after 3 weeks so I could have taken their cheque then. TP will settle with my own insurer afterwards.

As the poster above has said, depreciation does not form part of the costs with my own insurer.

Now we will accumulate all other costs and assume issue to both injuries board and TP.

StereoSound

Just out of interest, if the Insurer insisted the ops car was a right off does that mean he would not be allowed get it fixed and put back on the road again?

goz83

jaytobe wrote: »

In terms of car damage, the Third Party and my insurer were in agreement the car could be repaired (shared assessors report) after 3 weeks so I could have taken their cheque then. TP will settle with my own insurer afterwards.

As the poster above has said, depreciation does not form part of the costs with my own insurer.

Now we will accumulate all other costs and assume issue to both injuries board and TP.

So, basicly you are getting shafted. Even if/when you recover the depreciation, you are still left with less to purchase a replacement in the present. Take the fcukers to the cleaners and claim every cent you can then. Good luck with it.

goz83

StereoSound wrote: »

Just out of interest, if the Insurer insisted the ops car was a right off does that mean he would not be allowed get it fixed and put back on the road again?

A write off can be a simple case of of being uneconomical to repair, but it can be repaired and and as long as it passes an engineers report, can be used on the road again.

This happened two of my cars (both FTOs). They were written off, but I paid the salvage cost in the form of a lower property damage pay out and I had them repaired.

MugMugs

Request that the insurer carry out a Dimmunition report on the vehicle. Taking into consideration large dimmuntion can assist a vehicle in becoming a total loss.

jaytobe

goz83 wrote: »

So, basicly you are getting shafted. Even if/when you recover the depreciation, you are still left with less to purchase a replacement in the present. Take the fcukers to the cleaners and claim every cent you can then. Good luck with it.

Yes, certainly feel the system is broken here. I can't purchase a car of equivalent value now so will have to go back a few years and trade up when claim is settled.

9935452

jaytobe wrote: »

Yes, certainly feel the system is broken here. I can't purchase a car of equivalent value now so will have to go back a few years and trade up when claim is settled.

Its completely wrong especially when you consider you were in the right. You went off and bought a nice car and someone hit you. as a result you are out of pocket. What i find is almost as bad is the time lost as a result, you had to go get a hire car, get a solicitor , meet assessors ,get checked out by the doctor, will have to go looking for a replacement car, all the above takes time you will never get reimbursed for

jaytobe

In terms of time loss, I have a full record kept and it's already in the claim form. I bill by the Hour so they will get the full amount.

I'm also tempted to get a loan in order to get an equivalent car and charge them the interest.

Also, as I'm still getting Physio and the claim is being submitted, assume the injuries board will take this into account.

goz83

jaytobe wrote: »

In terms of time loss, I have a full record kept and it's already in the claim form. I bill by the Hour so they will get the full amount.

I'm also tempted to get a loan in order to get an equivalent car and charge them the interest.

Also, as I'm still getting Physio and the claim is being submitted, assume the injuries board will take this into account.

Do me a favour and pm me if you manage to claim your lost time. That would be interesting. I don't think you will be abke to claim interest back. I jokingly mentioned the interest on my credit card bill from medical expanses and my solicitor said that I can't claim that in compensation. It is a shame really, because the interest accrued was a direct result of medical expenses I wouldn't have had, were I not in an accident.

jaytobe

will do, hope to lodge early next week

jaytobe

Sorry, just another piece of advice from those who have been through it..

I used a solicitor up to now as I had no clue on the process/rights etc.. he's fine but slow enough and needs a lot of reminders. He also said he would not go outside County boundaries if this ever went to court (accident happened in another county)

As I am now at PIAB stage, is it best to go alone on this route? This is the reason for the board being set up I understand, to mediate w/o solicitors.

bongobonga

what insurance company are you claiming off??

jaytobe

Mine is Allianz but liable party is Axa.

Some people saying that injuries board will not entertain all lossess I.e. Depreciation so will have to see