Child probably written off car

[Trumplosttheelection]

Just looking for a bit of a handhold. My poor kid bought their first car a few months ago and last night she misjudged a corner and collided with a fence. Thankfully she is ok but the car isn't and as it was quite low cost I think it will be written off. Just realised she won't get a premium refund either. It's more than she's ever spent on anything and she was so upset. Can anybody say anything to help? I'm sitting here feeling so anxious about it. Beyond thankful she is ok of course but she loved that car and now her heart is a bit broken.

It’s just a car. She still has her life. What’s the issue?

If the amount they offer for her car doesn't seem to be market value and fair, don't accept it. Find adverts of similar cars that would be equal replacements online and email them all to the insurance company. They will usually then up the offer.

Agree with others who say an accident isn't the worse thing to happen when you first start driving (obviously caveat no one is injured etc). My DB was a proper boy racer when he was younger (he would agree he was a total idiot). He flipped his car on ice. He was fine, but car was written off. He always says it was a total wake up call and he was much more careful on the road after that.

Would doing the Institute of Advanced Motorists test give her some extra confidence when she is back on the road? It can also help with insurance premiums. I lost a lot of confidence in driving when I had DS1. Doing the IAM course/test made me a much better driver and I was not anxious about it after I'd passed the test.

Of course she is upset, more so because she knows it's her fault. She doesnt need reminding of that or suggestions about more lessons - unless in the form of "if it's knocked your confidence would you like me to pay for a lesson to help you regain it". She doesnt need its only a car either, it's her first car - just sympathy and a reminder that she walked away and that the car protected her to the end.

She will get an insurance payout - she does have to notify any insurers in future of the accident. Hopefully she paid to protect a no claims bonus, even if she didnt have one to protect. There will be a high excess so you will need to offer help to get her another car. If she doesnt want to take it offer a loan.

@FatGirlShrinking

She must have been going pretty fast or not concentrating to misjudge a corner badly enough that she went into a fence and wrote off the car

Not necessarily, you don't know the conditions that this new driver encountered.

Just recently I came round a bend straight into standing water much deeper than it looked; I aquaplaned but didn't panic or try to brake hard or swerve because I've been driving nearly 20 years and have gained experience. If I'd only been driving a couple of months the story could easily have been quite different.

I’m 41 now but when I passed my test at 17, I, along with every friend I can think of had bumps and scrapes in our first cars. Some very minor, some cars written off, but fortunately no casualties.

Mine was also a fence. I was talking to my passenger and looked at them too long and Bang, Bang, Bang. It was a very powerful life lesson that as a driver you can’t afford to let your attention lapse for even a moment.

Your daughter has also begun to learn that lesson. It’s no coincidence that the insurance of young and inexperienced drivers is more. They make more mistakes.

Not to you OP but to others saying about accidents that the driver was not to blame ...around every bend there may be a stationary car that has had an accident or broken down and you should drive like there is. I know of someone killed when they walked away from an accident (phoned family) and were killed by another car hitting the scene.

I would reassure your daughter that the good news is that she is now 100% better driver than yesterday. She will be slower, more careful and more cautious of the results of her actions..and no-one was injured while she learned this lesson. The bad news is it will cost her in ££££. Does she work - if so she can probably pay for her insurance and even a car on a monthly plan.

Broken material possessions just don’t bother me nowadays. If your daughter walked away from an accident without a scratch then it’s a good day.

In terms of advice, is she in a position to take out a loan for a new car. Could you pay for some (decent) insurance?

@Devillishlypicklypickles

These things can happen to anyone, I wrote my first car off when I was 19 and the brakes failed and I hit the back of another car. My dad has just written off his car after taking the wrong country lane and going straight on through a corner into a van, and he's a member of the Advanced Motorists Association!

They can but it’s not your fault if the brakes fail (or if someone else drives into you)

If you misjudge a corner, more practice may help.

Your poor DD.

I am terrible for beating myself up over this kind of thing, I get so angry and upset with myself. The most helpful advice I ever had was to think hard about how you are going to feel about whatever it is in five years time (or even one/two years time). It really helps me with perspective with an mistake like this which, although horrible, will have no real long term consequences on her life.

@BlackKittyKat

I think this is a rite of passage for all young drivers to go through. I vividly remember my first crash. I misjudged a gap and pranged the back of a brand new BMW that was waiting to turn right. I was devastated. She will get over the shock and disappointment and she will become a better driver because of this. She will be fine - just give her hugs and reassurance.

Really?! I don't think having an accident because you can't judge a corner is something that we should expect young drivers to go through at all!

@Trumplosttheelection I'm very glad that your DD is OK, and it's only the car that's 'hurt', but I'd suggest that she might want to reconsider her driving skill (at the very least her speed).

Can she explain why it happened? What would she do differently next time?

OP. I wrote off my first car (a shitty battered old ford KA) the week after I passed my test. most terrifying experience of my life.

but if you can, help her get another car asap. the longer she stops driving for, the scarier it will be. she could get catageory S on it too.

My DS put his car in a ditch on a bend with his gf in the car. We were just grateful that they both walked away unscathed - although very shaken. It seems to happen quite frequently around here with young drivers and I hope that most of them learn from the experience.
We were dreading the increase in premiums as DS had 3 years NCB at the time of the accident (passed his test at 17 and gained 2yrs NCB by being a named driver on DH's car before getting his own) which of course he lost. We were all surprised to find his premium actually went down slightly on renewal which lead us to believe that NCB (like multi car policies) are another con by insurance companies.

Is it worth getting it repaired even if insurance would write it off? Would it be cheaper than the hike in insurance? Sometimes they will write off an older car even if its minor damage if the car isn't worth much.

Might be worth getting a few quotes just to see, depending on what the damage actually is. How much damage can a fence really do?

Don't tell her its "only" a car or "only" money if money is tight and the car is ger independence and/ or essential for work.

I remember my mother saying "its only money, the main thing is nobody is hurt" when similar hapoened to me and money was tight and the car essential because I lived remotely. Whilst obviously I already knew that human life is more important than metal boxes, it was absolutely infuriating to have platitudes spouted at me when I was furious with myself and worried about what to go without to find the money for repairs - sometimes (always, tbh) sympathy and humour are more useful than stating the bloody obvious/ platitudes.

OP its lovely of you to offer xour DD some money to bridge the gap, although equally understandable if she doesn't accept the offer as its so important psychologically to be independent.

These things happen my brother wrote my Mums car off 1 month after passing his test and within a year he crashed a second. She was just glad he wasn't hurt, but a bit miffed about the second crash.

I wrote off her replacement car, which was technically mine as I'd had it a year anyway. Again she was just glad I was okay!

Insurance wise I transferred but the insurance went up even though it was the same make, model and even colour as the last one. I was fuming! Particularly as the accident wasn't my fault...

@ForeverInADay

If the amount they offer for her car doesn't seem to be market value and fair, don't accept it. Find adverts of similar cars that would be equal replacements online and email them all to the insurance company. They will usually then up the offer.

This is spot on. Insurance companies make an initial offer in the expectation it will be refused.

Ignore all the suggestions of more driving tuition, OP, there’s no such thing as a perfect driver. She passed her test, which is more than most of us would manage if we had to retake it.

She has insurance... this is why we get insurance. So she can get another car when hers is damaged.

Geeze from the headline I thought an actual child had thrown a housebrick or petrol bomb at your car!

Your adult daughter had an accident, she’s ok, she has insurance. You seem quite dramatic op. Maybe she’ll drive with a bit more care and attention in future. No lasting damage.

This actually happened to my son on his 18th birthday in our quiet road. He had only had his first car for a few months, bought from years of savings. His fault but luckily only a gashed knee. Came around a corner wide to avoid parked cars and crashed straight into a truck. No white lines in our road. A passerby called police and ambulance, he was taken to hospital to be stitched. The car was taken to a crash centre and ‘written off’. Overnight, someone supposedly set fire to a nearby car which also burnt out his car. Insurance massively undervalued his car but difficult to prove its condition considering it was burnt out. I contacted the financial ombudsman and managed to get another £100 from the insurance.

Just under 3 months later he got a court summons for driving without due care and attention. The details were not actually correct but we couldn’t argue. £200 fine, which was a lot of money at the time, and 5 points on his licence. 6 points would have meant a ban as it was in his first year of driving but luckily his employers wrote a letter to support him as he needed his licence for his job.

So, the second car cost a lot less and a lesson learnt.

These things happen and so good your daughter is not injured.

Depending on what damage there is to the vehicle it is sometimes cheaper not to make an insurance claim and fix the damage privately or just live with the cosmetic damage if not too bad.