My car wrote off in accident..Advice please..

CarpeDiem85

I'm just looking for some advice..

I was on my way to the airport at 7.30a.m yesterday morning to catch a flight. I was driving on the main road around a sharp bend when my car skidded on some black ice. My car spun about 4-5 times down the road, hitting either side of the road on the way down. It ended in a ditch on the other side of the road facing the opposite way. I didn't hit any other cars or anyone else thankfully. I was deeply shocked but unhurt thankfully.

I did a lot of damage to the car, the front bumper was hanging off, underneath the back of the car looked like it was badly damaged and one of the rear lights was smashed and the rear corner was badly bashed.

I have fully comp insurance and I rang the insurance company from the scene. They sent a pick up truck to collect the car and the man reckons the car is a write off and is beyond repair.

The Gardai arrived at the scene and took a statement from me, I also have the phone numbers of 2 guys who stopped to help me also.

The car is a 2011 VW Polo and I was going to trade the car in and the VW dealership were going to give me 9,500 for my car when I spoke with them last month.

I was wondering how do I proceed with my insurance company in this situation? I haven't heard from the insurance company yet.

I have never been in this situation before so any advice is much appreciated.

bazz26

They will probably contact you tomorrow morning, if not then ring them promptly yourself. Most likely they will send out their own assessor to examine the damage and he/she will determines if it is repairable or a write off. If the assessor determines it is a write off then they will offer you what they consider the current market value of the car, not the trade-in price a dealer gave you.

Now the assessor represents the insurance company so it's their job to be conservative with the market value of your car. You don't have to accept their first offer. You would need to do some research and see what similar cars are selling for. The dealer you were buying from assuming they are VW dealers should be able to help with the value your car would have been worth prior to the accident. You can then go back to the assessor/insurance company with this info and negotiate a better settlement figure.

Also check your policy you might be entitled to car hire while you are without a car.

Moneymaker

Glad you're safe and well OP!

mickdw

Just a point to note. If your car is written off, you will now be going into vw dealer without trade in and as such should be able to get a good discount.
You may find that your car is worth less than the trade in figure you had from vw but the new car will also be discounted for straight sale.

Office girl

I'm glad to hear you're ok OP. I was in a car accident myself over a month ago and my own car (a 2011 golf) was written off. I rang the insurance company on the Monday morning (even though I had crashed on the Saturday night previous and had rang the insurance company to get the car towed they didn't seem to have been expecting my call) - don't be waiting for them to ring you! They went through a fairly detailed list of questions with me. I think the phone call took over half an hour. They advised me who would be assessing the car and told me someone from a car rental company would be in contact. They also sent me out a fairly detailed form to fill out. You should check your policy to see if you are covered for car hire and for how many days. There was a bit of a mess up with mine - when I was bringing back the car (as I thought I had only five days cover) I was told I could have another two days. A pity they hadn't told me that day 1.

CarpeDiem85

Thanks for all the replies. I will contact the insurance company first thing in the morning.

Another point I'd like to make is that just after the accident happened, I put the hazards on but I was in a deep shock and I literally didn't know what to do next so I stayed in the car. 3 cars drove by just after it happened. I actually couldn't believe it. It just registered in my head that if I ever come on the scene of an accident, then I'd stop to make sure everyone is ok. It could be a matter of life or death to get an ambulance there as soon as possible. Luckily I was uninjured but still. The people who drove past didn't know that!

I was very lucky, the people who did stop with me were so kind and really took charge of the situation. I have their numbers and I know where one of them works as I saw his work fleece, they will be rewarded well.

CarpeDiem85

Office girl wrote: »

I'm glad to hear you're ok OP. I was in a car accident myself over a month ago and my own car (a 2011 golf) was written off. I rang the insurance company on the Monday morning (even though I had crashed on the Saturday night previous and had rang the insurance company to get the car towed they didn't seem to have been expecting my call) - don't be waiting for them to ring you! They went through a fairly detailed list of questions with me. I think the phone call took over half an hour. They advised me who would be assessing the car and told me someone from a car rental company would be in contact. They also sent me out a fairly detailed form to fill out. You should check your policy to see if you are covered for car hire and for how many days. There was a bit of a mess up with mine - when I was bringing back the car (as I thought I had only five days cover) I was told I could have another two days. A pity they hadn't told me that day 1.

Can I ask you if your insurance premium went up by much after the accident? I'm dreading this bit.

fsfg

CarpeDiem85 wrote: »

Can I ask you if your insurance premium went up by much after the accident? I'm dreading this bit.

Who are you insured by?

CarpeDiem85

fsfg wrote: »

Who are you insured by?

Aviva for the last 5 years. I have never claimed before.

ScouseMouse

Dig out your policy. See if it has a protected no claims bonus. We have it on our Ford Galaxy and we can have one claim with no increase in premium. Ours is FBD though

fsfg

CarpeDiem85 wrote: »

Aviva for the last 5 years. I have never claimed before.

Sorry I am not familiar with their policy. Most have a step back of 3 years meaning your no claims years will be 2 instead of 5 (a discount of 20% instead of 50% approx) on your base premium. The base premium itself could be affected depending on their policies. You might have been offered no claims discount protection- if you have that the bonus remains but the base premium may or may not rise.

Sorry I can't help more. Check carzone etc for current market price.

Hachiko

good that you are ok, will this screw up your premium? I never drove a small car, I always get bigger family sized ones, in the event of accident like this small ones almost always fare worse.

Office girl

CarpeDiem85 wrote: »

Can I ask you if your insurance premium went up by much after the accident? I'm dreading this bit.

I don't know - I haven't replaced the car yet (I've been lucky enough to have been able to get lifts off my family so far). I'm trying to prepare myself for the bill when it eventually comes.