Car written off - buying it back and any other advice please from those in the car/insurance/accident know for somebody with no previous experience?

[CarCalamity]

NC. Our family car was hit by a dangerously-driven lorry last week. The DC were in the car with me and it was pretty scary especially because of that, but apart from shock we are all ok, which is obviously the main thing.

The car was taken off for assessment and repair, and as it wasn't driveable I was given a hire car. We live rurally and one of the DC is severely disabled. Public transport isn't available or accessible so a car is essential for daily life, hospital visits and so on.

The damage was, surprisingly given the size and speed of the lorry, quite minor and I had assumed the car would be repaired. The assessors have just informed me that they have written it off because, being an older car, it is not cost-effective to repair it. This is a bit of a blow as we were ok with the car, and dread the effort and cost of finding another used one, especially when we hear prices are up and availability down. They said the hire car will have to go back too a few days after they pay us out. Being without a car in a rural area while we find another one and with a severely disabled child is not going to be easy!

A possibility is apparently that we buy our car back? We would need to get it transported over from about an hour away, have it repaired and a new MOT. Has anybody done this, and what are the pros and cons please? Any advice on dealing with the assessors, insurance company and about the loss of the hire car so soon? With everything else going on in life, it couldn't have come at a worse time and I can't see the wood for the trees at the moment.

Thanks in advance.

What category write off is it? That is important.
The email just said it isn't cost effective to repair, so I will ask them this question - thank you @Itreallyistimetogo

With a severely disabled DC can you get a motorbility car?

You can buy it back as there are categories of write offs. Some high level ones are not worth repairing but if it is a lower grade, it's fine to have repaired. Write offs are not all wrecks, just not cost effective. A private garage (not the one the insurance company uses) is usually cheaper. It needs to be declared on the documents for resale, and seriously affects resale value so maybe drive it into the ground and scrap it.

DH has 2 BMWs (one a sports car) he bought which were write offs. Had them around 7 years now and zero problems with either. Massively cheaper because of the declarations. Neither were at the dangerous category

One question that I have is who pays for the transporter to get it from their repairer/assessor to mine and roughly how much would that cost - does anyone know? On the one hand if I'm deciding to buy it back, perhaps it is me? But on the other hand, when the accident happened I wanted to have it assessed and repaired at my local garage - rural area. They persuaded me to let them handle it instead, saying my way would take much longer and be more difficult to get approval, and that it would only be going to a town about 20 minutes away, so I agreed. It was also a bit of a relief to have someone else just take it and sort it out, to be honest, when still recovering from the shock with the DC - but that was when I thought they'd just repair it of course! In the end though they said that branch was full and they took it to one an hour away. It doesn't seem fair to have to pay for a transporter for three times the distance. Yes, I know life's not fair...

This is what dh said...

@Threelittlelambs @mattressspring and @hewouldwouldnthe mentioned a Motability car. Yes, we have the option of going down that route. We haven't so far, preferring to fund a car ourselves and also wanting/needing to use all the DC's allowance on funding their other complex needs. We don't need a new new car, a used one is just fine with us, and it's quite a lot of my DC's monthly allowance lost if we went down the Motability route. I'm not sure it would solve the problem for us now either - from memory it would take 6 weeks or so to sort out, perhaps longer if there's a new car shortage?

Dh works for Direct Line and said that they would deliver it back to you.

Yes, motorbility cars tend to take a long time. Vans that are adapted can take months.

Can you ask them for a breakdown of the damage / the damage assessors report before deciding?

If you were hit by a truck and the body damage looked minimal, I'd be concerned about unseen structural damage: the impact energy has to have gone somewhere. Is the chassis OK?

Thank you @SunflowerSmith and DHSmith

So the result of it being recorded as a total loss, according to pps is that it will probably only have scrap value when we've finished with it, and is there some issue with insurance - anyone please?

It has to be road worthy and a new MOT to be insured - like others said the impact damage has to go somewhere and if it’s expensive to fix, you are more out of pocket than a newish secondhand car. You could try Cinch as they advertise delivery and 14 day money back guarantee.

Yes, motorbility cars tend to take a long time. Vans that are adapted can take months.
Thank you. We can manage without adaptations at the moment but will probably need to go down that route in the not too distant future @hewouldwouldnthe

If it is unsafe to drive they wouldn't let you buy it back, I just asked dh.

I'm not an expert at all but I know that there has been so much research into crash damage and what can be safely repaired, dh often has to scrap cars that don't look that bad but have been hit in such a way that the structure of the car is affected.
Others can look awful but be safely repaired, it also depends on the car make, some absorb impact better.

Thank you again @SunflowerSmith and DH.

I am writing all this down in a list of questions to ask and things to consider - and from pps too, thank you all - so I'm feeling a bit more clued up and less of an innocent. I wouldn't have known to haggle on their offer, for example, which seems incredibly stupid now - a forehead-hitting moment @AndreaC74 and others!

There is a massive delay on car parts at the moment
It makes me wonder @MissDollyMix whether this has contributed to it being written off, if big insurance repairer garages are being clogged up storing undrivable cars they've taken in and waiting for parts.

Can you ask them for a breakdown of the damage / the damage assessors report before deciding?
Will do this, thank you, and it will hopefully give me the information to discuss properly with my local garage @SunnyKlara - as well as answering the concern I had, and you and other pps mention, about any hidden damage. It looked largely cosmetic but yes, it was hit by a lorry and did move with the impact.

I’d guess it’s not the cost of storage, but the cost of keeping you in a hire car that’s significant.

What’s the model / age / mileage of your damaged car?

better equipped and with lower miles.
We haven't had it long unfortunately. It's not a premium make and there was various minor cosmetic damage when we bought it but we didn't pay an awful lot for it because of that. Living rurally and with DC and pets, we didn't need to worry about keeping a car/investment pristine! It had one mature owner, very low mileage, good spec and was ok for my severely disable DC's needs - so we're sorry to see it go, not just for the cost and inconvenience. But it's as you say, @LovettsPies it all has to be weighed up with the time, cost, effort and inconvenience of repairing versus how much they'll pay me and finding another suitable car.

*disabled

I’d guess it’s not the cost of storage, but the cost of keeping you in a hire car that’s significant.
Yes, good point.

Due to the damage my insurance has not been affected and I didn't need a special MOT to make sure it was roadworthy.
Do you know how the insurance might have been affected otherwise and what is a 'special MOT' of which you speak @tapdancingmum or anyone please?

have you got a repairer lined up and what timescales have you been quoted?
Not yet @Shade17 - but will speak to the local garage as soon as I get the details from the assessors, thank you. There didn't seem much point until I know more?

Many, many people buy they’re car back from the insurance company, it does not make it unsaleable in the future. An old car can be written off for minimal damage because the cost to the insurance company doesn’t make it a viable fix. Sometimes that fix is purely cosmetic, such as a dent or scratch that has no bearing on the safety and drivability of the car and you may decide not to bother even fixing it. If it’s drivable, and does need a part, your local garage will probably be more than happy for you to drive it until they can source the part and if you fix it yourself you won’t have to use new parts and can pick up most things cheaply from a scrap yard. Always remember it is YOUR choice of repairer, not the insurance companies. Let us know what make and model the vehicle is and what the damage is and those of us with connections to the motor trade may be able to advise you more.

Any pics of the damage would be great too.

There is no such thing as a special MOT