Does anyone know anything about cars being written off please?

[vanillandhoney]

So, I was in a car accident on Monday - a van drove into the side of my car and completely destroyed the passenger door. Reported to insurance and I had a courtesy car the next morning, and my car was took off to be repaired.

I just had a text through to say they're writing off my car as it's un-economical to repair it (which I half expected, but never mind). Luckily I have enhanced courtesy cover so I have my courtesy car for 28 days total, but I'm going to need to get a new car for work fairly soon as I'm self-employed.

I assume the insurance company will look at the value of the car, deduct the excess and pay me the rest? Does anyone know how long the process takes? Luckily we have enough in savings to cover a new car outright but would just be interested to know other people's experiences.

Thank you! :)

honestly it largely depends on fault and whether there are any other issues that need to be resolved. But anything from 14 days to 6 months is possible

If you have comp insurance and claiming through that it won't take long at all. I presume you are as you had a courtesy car the next day? My car was written off on Jan this year And I had a payment in less than 14 days. They'll want you out of the courtesy car PDQ!

Also, depending on the circs, they may not deduct your excess. I had dash cam footage of my RTA (motorway RTA, changing lanes, I wasn't at fault) and my excess was waived as soon as my insurers viewed that. I didn't get an admission of liability until 4 months later.

Less than 24hours here. I was with admiral

@Imtryingveryhard

If you have comp insurance and claiming through that it won't take long at all. I presume you are as you had a courtesy car the next day? My car was written off on Jan this year And I had a payment in less than 14 days. They'll want you out of the courtesy car PDQ!

Thank you, this is reassuring! Yes, fully comp and courtesy car cover even if the car is written off.

I can go and buy a new car tomorrow and already have one booked for a test-drive but I was just curious as to how it it would work :)

My car was written off last year when my car was hit at the back and then shunted into another car at the front. Insurance company were fantastic, they knew the car was a right off straight away and had a payment within 7 days including the money for two new car seats for the kids.

Picked up my (nearly) new car 7 days after the accident, although it did take them 2 weeks to collect the hire car as they forgot about it.

@beakyboo10

My car was written off last year when my car was hit at the back and then shunted into another car at the front. Insurance company were fantastic, they knew the car was a right off straight away and had a payment within 7 days including the money for two new car seats for the kids.

Picked up my (nearly) new car 7 days after the accident, although it did take them 2 weeks to collect the hire car as they forgot about it.

Thanks! I just need to make sure I have a new car when they come and take the courtesy car really.

I'm self-employed and can't do my job without a vehicle so if they came and took the car, say, on Monday I would be utterly fucked! But my insurance says I can keep the car for three days after I receive payment from the insurance payout so hopefully I should be covered.

When DPs car was written off, his own insurance company (fully comp insured) sent him the money and took the car away within 2 days, which sounds good, but they deducted a £400 excess and they haven't bothered to reclaim the loss from the other party's insurer so currently DP has a claim on his record that wasn't his fault - he wasn't even in the car, someone else hit it while it was parked and he is down £400.

He spent ages phoning and emailing them to try and sort it out with no success so he needs to tell them he's going to the ombudsman unless they sort it soon, because currently it doesn't look like they're even trying to make things right.

It was all a bit 'blink and you'll miss it' and with hindsight DP would have rather kept the car, which was scrapped, so he didn't have to find a new one with no notice whatsoever - the damage was only cosmetic, but because it wasn't worth much and all one side was dented and scratched, it was a write off.

Thanks @BarbaraofSeville - mine isn't safe to drive at all as the passenger door is so smashed in, plus there's a massive hole in the side of the door (which won't open or close or do anything, really!).

My local garage have quoted me £2400 to repair the door but I would then need to pay for a courtesy car on top so once all that's figured in, I won't really have much change left over from what they pay me, as they reckon it will take a good couple of weeks if not longer.

I payed just over 5k for the car back in August - it's only five years old and there's nothing wrong with it apart from this damage. Passed its MOT about a month ago with no issues. I've accepted I need a new car which is fine and I have no issues with that, but just want to make sure I can get the car sorted before they want their courtesy car back off me.

Just make sure the value the insurance company puts on your car is acceptable to you. When this happened to me (albeit about 10 years ago) the insurance company tried to offer me much less than what it would have costed to get a like for like replacement. In the end after sending them ads to support this they increased their valuation by nearly £1000. No one tells you that you have the option to haggle with them where it's justified!

@mummabubs

Just make sure the value the insurance company puts on your car is acceptable to you. When this happened to me (albeit about 10 years ago) the insurance company tried to offer me much less than what it would have costed to get a like for like replacement. In the end after sending them ads to support this they increased their valuation by nearly £1000. No one tells you that you have the option to haggle with them where it's justified!

I'm prepared for that

Like-for-like cars are going for about 4.5k online. I've screenshot the ads in preparation!

Quick update!

Tesco have rung me and I get the value of my less the excess which is £4650, so I'm pretty happy with that :) money should be in my account by Monday at the latest.

Have to say I'm pretty impressed with their service. Now to get on with buying a new car!

I got a good payout on my written off car
However geberally as soon as its written off your right to a courtesy car ends.

It took v little time to get my payout and I just got a pcp after that. Incidentally the car I wrote off is still on the road.

good news, OP! Make sure the car is recorded as scrapped (do it online, the DVLA have months of unopened post) and unfortunately be prepared for 5 years of hassle from the 'did you have an accident?' lot. you'll also need to declare it on all insurance renewals for 5 years so make sure it is recorded as not your fault.

and of course if any child seats were in the car they need to be replaced.

Thanks!

Tesco informed the DVLA for me - I got an automated e-mail through this afternoon about it. I have to say, they were really good at dealing with it - I expected a lot more stress!

Off to test drive a new car tomorrow

Even though it's not your fault, ask the insurance company for the value of the claim (which will include courtesy car costs etc) as insurance companies ask for that info when you change. We had multi car insurance, but after someone went in the back of us, we had to just insure the one car, which became more than the multi car insurance for both cars - we changed companies). Good luck x

Thanks so much!

I've put a deposit down for my new car - should be with me on Tuesday! The dealer sold me my last two cars so they're fast-tracking it through a free service and MOT for me (and they gave me a discount)