To not want my car written off. Any advice?

[NameChangedForTheDay]

I unfortunately had a RTA on Friday.

I was queueing at a roundabout and a car hit the car behind me at speed, which then hit me.

Luckily I'd kept a gap from the car in front and despite the other cars being obvious total write offs, my car only sustained damage to the corner of the bumper (as the car behind me left the road at an angle) and a broken rear light.

The insurance have been great TBF, but have said that the computer says my car is a write off. Nobody has inspected it.

Anyone any experience of fighting a car being written off at all? Any advice gratefully received.

PS: Nobody was seriously injured.

it is a rip off

Op, can’t help with the insurance, but just to say, take it easy, I got hit from behind a while ago, I didn’t really believe in whiplash before that, but I carried on as normal with exercising etc. I was in agony after about 6/8 weeks.

I know you say they haven't seen it, but you have presumably described the damage. So their system will tell them a new bumper costs x, a new light array costs x etc from whoever their approved centre is near you and that comes out as being more than the car is worth. Unless you've over egged the damage on the phone I doubt there's any chance of changing their minds.

My car was rear ended and the damage looked minimal bumper dent in the centre etc.

However when we realised the rear door on the hatch back wasn’t latching properly It was found the base of the car had sustained damage and pushed under.

Please check as that will really mean a write off.

My god OP don't be so silly as to even consider keeping the car until you have had the damage assessed. That's nuts. You don't know what could be wrong.

The insurance wanted to write mine off over the phone due to age. When I said how few miles and full dealer service history they changed their mind. Any chance you can ask if something like that makes a difference?

I’ve got a vehicle that has insurance write off on its record (it was stolen, recovered and bought back by a previous owner). It doesn’t affect its resale because it’s a specialist vehicle
If they’re writing it off and it’s got a low value it’s not really effect it’s resale if you buy it back and fix it as it’s worth is low. You will need to check it’s just bumper damage though

My old car was hit in a car park - minor damage to bumper
Insurance wanted to write off I had to withdraw the claim itself as they couldn’t guarantee buy back and once categorised as a write off could affect premiums
I kept it for another 3 years then lent it to DP for 2 years - finally sold it recently

My car was broken into a few years back - it needed a new door / window etc - as others have said if the cost of repairs exceeds the value of the car the insurance company will write it off . Apart from the door it’s engine / mechanics etc were perfectly sound and it was an otherwise reliable car with no large repair bills other than wear and tear -
I paid for the repairs myself and car still going strong . When it’s
‘Dead’ I’ll buy a new one .

No advice but I think it's ridiculous if no expert has even looked at it.

It depends what Cat the write off is OP. Ask the insurance company. If its not a complete write off, you will be able to keep the car, and then take the insurance money they offer you, minus the salvage fee. You can then use that money to repair the car (or just keep the money if you are planning to run the car into the ground anyway)

For a 2010 car, the insurance company should at least send a mechanic/assessor out.
In 2012 our 7 year old Skoda had a new bonnet, O/S wing, grille and lower front panel, plus respray on the front end after it was assessed, no questions asked, took about 10 minutes to reach a decision.

Our 2010 car got hit by a lorry last week and needs a new wing, door and 2 new wheels. The insurance company wanted to write it off - they told us they work on a repair value of no more than 60% of the value of the car. They should be sending an engineer though.

We got our own quote from the main dealer - tell the dealer it doesn't need to be repaired to showroom conditions . So - the insurance company would replace the wing, but having looked at it, the dealer says it can be fixed, it will be safe, but won't look absolutely perfect. Also see if you can get a realistic value from the dealer for your car. We gave both these quotes the insurance company and they've now agreed not to write off the car.

Not sure if it'll work, but might be worth a try? You might need to be a bit pushy, but worked for us.

Thank you. If I buy it back I know I buy it back as a write off, which can affect the future saleability.

But you'll have had the full value for it anyway, following the accident. So even if you get half what it's worth when you sell, you're still up on the deal.

If you’re claiming against someone else’s insurance your insurance company will generally get you a good amount for a write off. I bought a car for £400 it was written off weeks later and they got me £1000

I'm in this situation currently. My time googling seems to give the following options:

• decline the first one or two values for writing off and do market research to back up your stance. This will tend to increase the offer.
• have it repaired yourself for as reasonable a quote as you can and then pursue the claim through small claims court. If claim is more than wrote off value then you're unlikely to be successful but could potentially claim a percentage.

I am looking at the second option myself and intend to contact the other party with a letter before action offering settlement before I commence court proceedings. It would save them money to do so. Also I have several pieces of evidence where the other party accepts full liability to add to my claim. Without this it could be unprovable and I wouldn't risk court

It makes me angry that my car has a really small dent and scrape that could now lead to a write off. The car is low value in money but has barely been used and was in showroom condition til it was hit .

I’d get it looked at before making a decision. Modern cars are designed to absorb impact and crumple, which protects the passengers. My friend’s 6 month old BMW was rear ended at speed. The airbags didn’t go off and the damage looked minor until we realised the metal had rippled all down both sides. When it was inspected, the whole chassis had bent and it was written off. Expensive, but neither of us felt so much as a twinge of whiplash or back problems so the car did its job.

I’d just make sure any repair is fully safe and doesn’t compromise the car’s integrity rather than focusing on the economics.

We were in a similar situation this year - car written off after (what we thought was) a small bump from the car behind.

Turned out that though there was no real visible damage, bar a new rattle, being hit from behind tends to concertina the undercarriage, which costs thousands to repair. I'd guess that's what they've 'diagnosed' given the information.

On the upside the insurance company 'write off' offer was at the absolute high end of what we could have expected to get privately so not all bad!

you can't argue the write off but you can argue the compensation. I had two panels knocked in by a dumbo who didn't know that you reverse IN to drives, hit mine while parked. It was a cat D (this is a while back) but the insurers gave me twice what I had paid for it! Pulled one panel straight, replaced the other from a scrappie and drove it for three more years until it went to the scrapyard.

so argue, get as much money as you can, repair with scrappie bits at an independent and drive until it falls apart. Minimise what you spend on cars, not only is reusing older ones more eco-friendly but there are so many dumbos about driving too close (like your perp) , on the phone and so on.

Mine was written off for a tiny dent (05 plate car) but a really good little car. Insurance offered me £1200 for it. Bought it back for £110. So got my car back plus £1090. Repair cost me £240 at local garage and hasn’t affected insurance at all. When I renewed with a different company I called them to check as it wasn’t on the online quote, and they weren’t interested at all. As long as it had since passed an mot.

@NameChangedForTheDay

There is a way round this. It tends to happen for comparatively small amounts and for simplicity.

Get a couple of quotes for the repairs [and use secondhand parts if not safely critical] and then make it quite clear to the insurance company that you do not want them involved. Then simply pay for it yourself - it probably will be cheaper than the excess and increase in premium. If it was a simple shunt by one car then you could have sued the driver.

Too many simply leave it to the insurance companies who use main dealers charging say £80 per hour whereas a small backstreet garage would do a good job for 1/4 the cost

Thanks all. I emailed a consumer rights bloke that knows about car insurance like the back of his hand and he replied with the following, which is very interesting.

Your entitlement is here www.motorclaimguru.co.uk/what-are-my-rights-on-a-non-fault-claim

Inform the insurer that you wish for the vehicle to be repaired, Request a "FULL" not "summary" version of their Audatex estimate, if the cost of repair is less than the market value, you can insist the car is repaired. The Car is YOUR car, and the claim is YOUR claim. Do not let anyone tell you anything different.

DO NOT contemplate any offer with your retaining salvage and repairing yourself, you will be conning yourself in doing so. www.motorclaimguru.co.uk/what-is-a-total-loss-or-insurance-write-off

www.motorclaimguru.co.uk/advice-on-retaining-the-salvage-of-your-vehicle-after-a-motor-claim

I don't think either of those links back up your assertion that you can insist on a repair.

I've always had old cars and 'touch wood' never had a prang in them. But it is annoying that you can't keep a good old car on the road, just because it gets a little dent.
What if it happens and you don't know who did it? No claim put in?
Would they void a later claim, just because you chose NOT to claim for a dent previously?

Hi all. Just to update...

The independent advice I got helped. Apparently I couldn't insist on it being repaired right up to the repairs quote matching my car value.

But I didn't have to in the end. My car is probably only worth £3k. The repairs quote was £2.5k (for a rear light and bumper), but eSure covered it and I also had a hire car until my car was back.

My car was repaired good as new and back to me withing 10 days of the accident.

Surprised by how stress-free it all was in the end.