Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Better to claim or go private

Options
  • 19-11-2018 8:19pm
    #1
    ryuken012
    Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭


    Hi

    Had a small accident at the weekend, bumped into a 25 year old Toyota Corolla, damaged passenger door and passenger rear door plus the lock on the passenger side.

    Got a quote that it would be €900 to go privatley or €1200 through insurance. I was expecting it to be expensive but not quite this expensive.

    If I go through my insurance (I've 3rd party cover) will my premiums over the next few years be crazy expensive? I can't remember if I have no claims bonus protection or not, need to check my policy

    Also, does this price seem quite expensive? They were quoting 450 for the door, 400 for the labour and 50 for materials, the rest is VAT


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    colm_mcm
    Registered Users Posts: 73,386 ✭✭✭✭colm_mcm


    What does the driver want to do, do they want it repaired? Insurance will write the car off.


  • Options
    #3
    theguzman
    Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭theguzman


    Could you offer to repay the insurance the cost of it or would they still screw you over just to know you were involved and admitted fault? A 25 year old car is not worth €900 but to the owner of it it is still their car and deserve to be compensated if you were at fault.


  • Options
    #4
    ryuken012
    Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭ryuken012


    Yeah, they want to keep the car, I don't think they are aware that the insurance company will want to write it off, I'd rather pay private but I don't exactly have €900 lying around.

    I'll need to ring my insurers in the morning


  • Options
    #5
    bazz26
    Registered Users Posts: 51,142 ✭✭✭✭bazz26


    €450 for a new door and €400 labour is very saucy on a 25 year old Corolla. Fair enough if new parts were being supplied and fitted by a main dealer but realistically €900 not to mind €1200, is not going to be spent on repairing that car and more than likely either the owner will get parts from a scrap yard or replace the car.

    Unfortunately as it was your fault there is not a lot you can really do about that. I'd imagine your insurance company would write the Corolla off as uneconomical to repair and settle with the other driver. It might be worth asking your insurance company if the claim would affect your NCB as some policies allow a claim of upto a certain amount before it impacts your NCB.

    Another option might be to let the claim go through your insurance and you pay them back the money so that your NCB stays intact. It's very possible that they will write the other car off as uneconomical to repair and settle a lower figure with the owner based on the car's market value. You then pay back the insurance company to retain your NCB. Best talk to your insurance for advice and see where you stand.


  • Options
    #6
    bazz26
    Registered Users Posts: 51,142 ✭✭✭✭bazz26


    ryuken012 wrote: »
    Yeah, they want to keep the car, I don't think they are aware that the insurance company will want to write it off, I'd rather pay private but I don't exactly have €900 lying around.

    I'll need to ring my insurers in the morning

    If the owner wants to keep the car then they can buy it off the insurance company. The insurance company will just deduct the salvage/scrap value of the car from the settlement figure.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    ryuken012
    Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭ryuken012


    bazz26 wrote: »
    €450 for a new door and €400 labour is very saucy on a 25 year old Corolla. Fair enough if new parts were being supplied and fitted by a main dealer but realistically €900 not to mind €1200, is not going to be spent on repairing that car and more than likely either the owner will get parts from a scrap yard or replace the car.

    Unfortunately as it was your fault there is not a lot you can really do about that. I'd imagine your insurance company would write the Corolla off as uneconomical to repair and settle with the other driver. It might be worth asking your insurance company if the claim would affect your NCB as some policies allow a claim of upto a certain amount before it impacts your NCB.

    Another option might be to let the claim go through your insurance and you pay them back the money so that your NCB stays intact. It's very possible that they will write the other car off as uneconomical to repair and settle a lower figure with the owner based on the car's market value. You then pay back the insurance company to retain your NCB. Best talk to your insurance for advice and see where you stand.
    Nice one thanks. If I go through insurance and the owners don't want to write their car off but the insurers do, are the car owners out of luck then? as in they will be forced to repair it themselves?

    Also if I talk to my insurer but don't claim, this won't have any impact on me next year? As in, they will know I had an accident but didn't claim


  • Options
    #8
    bazz26
    Registered Users Posts: 51,142 ✭✭✭✭bazz26


    ryuken012 wrote: »
    Nice one thanks. If I go through insurance and the owners don't want to write their car off but the insurers do, are the car owners out of luck then? as in they will be forced to repair it themselves?

    Also if I talk to my insurer but don't claim, this won't have any impact on me next year? As in, they will know I had an accident but didn't claim


    No if you go through your insurance the insurance company will write the car off as being uneconomical to repair (costs more to repair than the car is worth) and give the other driver a settlement figure based on the current market value of the Corolla. This settlement figure will include the scrap value that the insurance company will get for the Corolla from a scrap yard. If the owner wants to keep the Corolla then they can buy the Corolla back from the Insurance company/deduct it's scrap value from the settlement figure.

    And when talking to your insurance company about advice make sure to mention that you are only looking for advice and not actively opening a claim. Not making a claim should not impact your policy.


  • Options
    #9
    selous
    Registered Users Posts: 1,373 ✭✭✭selous


    I was in a little tip some months ago, the hit the back of me, they said they didn't want to go through their insurance, I said fair enough, not major damage to the bumper and no injuries, I bought the parts, asked a friend who could do the job told the person how much it was E600, they said perfect.......never heard from them again, straight to voicemail everytime I rang, so had to go through their insurance, cost just under 1000, paint, labour, sundries and VAT,

    But the thing when my insurance renewal came was the sneaky question have you been involved in an accident either for or against in last 3 years, so advise the other party of that too, even though it wasn't their fault the insurance want to know.:mad:


  • Options
    #10
    newmember2
    Registered Users Posts: 2,594 ✭✭✭newmember2


    ryuken012 wrote: »
    Nice one thanks. If I go through insurance and the owners don't want to write their car off but the insurers do, are the car owners out of luck then? as in they will be forced to repair it themselves?

    Also if I talk to my insurer but don't claim, this won't have any impact on me next year? As in, they will know I had an accident but didn't claim

    If your insurance company write the other party car off they can take the pre-accident worth of the car minus the salvage value from your insurance company and then either sell the car for salvage or else fix it themselves.

    I had a claim before where I paid the value of it back to the insurance company before the year's insurance cover was up and I kept my NCB.


  • Options
    #11
    Alkers
    Registered Users Posts: 6,813 ✭✭✭Alkers


    How is the other person acting about all this?
    You could get another quote and see if you can get the work done cheaper but you will need to be aware that you've already inconvenienced this person significantly by crashing into them.
    I would sooner take out a loan for the 1200 than claim for that amount through your policy UNLESS as set out above you can go through insurance and repay the cost to them. On the other hand that may end up with you being tied to your particular insurer for the next few years and unable to shop around and therefore end up worse off in the long run so I'd be inclined to work out a deal with the person.
    You could approach an assessor to handle the negotiations on your behalf as the insurance co would do but this in itself will probably cost 120e or so.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #12
    ryuken012
    Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭ryuken012


    They are being sound about it really, they were being pretty upfront about wanting to keep the car and they give me 2 paper quotes and mentioned a few others who were more expensive, I know they just want it fixed and be on their way. If I could muster up the 900, I'd pay it but I can't at the moment.

    I'll ring my insurer and see what they say.


    For the option of paying back the claim amount to the insurers, would insurers offer a direct debit to do that or would you need to pay it in a lump?


  • Options
    #13
    coylemj
    Registered Users Posts: 25,345 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    Realistically, that 25 year old Corolla is worth nothing because nobody who buys it will be able to insure it. But it probably has a paper value of €100-200 so if I was the OP, I would offer them €250 cash and if they refuse, let them hear what the insurance company offers them.
    ryuken012 wrote: »
    They are being sound about it really...

    Are you serious? They are taking the p1ss chancing their arms quoting €450 for a door for a 25 year old car. Are they claiming they got that price from Toyota? No way is that part still in stock.


  • Options
    #14
    ryuken012
    Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭ryuken012


    coylemj wrote: »
    Realistically, that 25 year old Corolla is worth nothing because nobody who buys it will be able to insure it. But it probably has a paper value of €100-200 so if I was the OP, I would offer them €250 cash and if they refuse, let them hear what the insurance company offers them.



    Are you serious? They are taking the p1ss chancing their arms quoting €450 for a door for a 25 year old car. Are they claiming they got that price from Toyota? No way is that part still in stock.
    No, the parts are second hand. The guy who owns the car is out every second day cleaning and polishing the car, they bought it brand new so they are legit about wanting to keep it and the quote is from the crash repair company, it's no benefit to them if they are charging 900 to fix it.

    It might work out cheaper if I go through the insurance as the price + scrappage cant be anywhere near €900


  • Options
    #15
    coylemj
    Registered Users Posts: 25,345 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    ryuken012 wrote: »
    It might work out cheaper if I go through the insurance as the price + scrappage cant be anywhere near €900

    It will definitely cost someone less than 900 to sort out the claim but remember one thing - a claim is a claim and it might cost you more than 900 in additional premiums over the next few years if you do it through your insurance.

    So you have to negotiate with the other crowd but they have to understand that they cannot expect to get more than the fair market value of the car which after 25 years is in the 100-200 range. Your insurance will not fork out 900 and neither should you. Offer them 300 and let them push you to 400 but you do not want a claim that low to go through your insurance.


  • Options
    #16
    SCOOP 64
    Registered Users Posts: 5,216 ✭✭✭SCOOP 64


    coylemj wrote: »
    I would offer them €250 cash and if they refuse, let them hear what the insurance company offers them.

    I have a 98 astra ,had it 10 yrs not worth anything to anyone else only to me,
    i know the history of the car and how well its been looked after, still if i was offered to €250 for it, i would say go through your insurance, wouldn't give them another chance to sort it privately.


Advertisement