Car Write Off - Have to give up work?

[Wild123]

So some dick went into the back of my car nearly 3 months ago and has written off my car which is on finance.

It took me a couple of months of research to buy a car that was going to be reliable, economical, at a low risk of faults, cost effective and with low mileage (12070 at time of purchase).

I am no longer in a position to buy or re-finance another car and my daughters school is 2.4 miles from my house in the opposite direction of where I work. I currently do the school run in the morning and take my lunch break to collect her in the afternoons. I can't use public transport to get to school and back to work on time and i for sure can't afford the additional childcare to put in morning and after school club.

AIBU to feel like this is not fair? What the hell do I do now? I can't give up my full time job..

@altiara thats exactly what im trying to go for but i donf hold out much hope

IWork, I'm not disbelieving you, honest. I had almost EXACTLY the same thing last year - trundled into the back of a car at a roundabout, I thought she was going as she went - and then stopped. It was such a slow speed. She wanted to discuss it on the roundabout and I wouldn't, too dangerous, I pulled in to a handy business estate and waited for her.

She was clutching her neck and moaning so loudly that I asked if she wanted an ambulance. She didn't. She was complaining about the damage to her car (it was old) and the paintwork was chipped all around it, I'd only hit her bumper. The damage to my car was wiped off with a babywipe, not a scratch.

That's why I'm asking about the whiplash because that's an unbelievably quick time to settle but perhaps things have moved on.

My insurance company wouldn't tell me if she'd made a claim either. I didn't think I could get it under FOI and now it doesn't matter.

QforCucumber, that's outrageous. Did you insurance jump up (before you decided to never darken their doors again)? Mine hasn't but I've no idea if the lady claimed.

Buy cheap car. You can get a car for less than 500 quid

@Wild123 please do check your gap insurance again as I think (hoping for you) you've misunderstood it. Mine covered the difference between the outstanding finance and the original cost of the car. I am in the midst of a personal injury claim for the accident I had. My car was written off when we were traveling at 60mph and I suffered leg injuries and neck and back. It takes forever but don't give up.

I'd say get an old banger. Some of the old ones are most reliable.
I paid 750 for mine 4 yrs ago.. Its cost me a whole 57 in repairs last Yr and 4.77 for a switch this year.
Fairly cheap to run.. And only had 81 thousand on clock at 9 yrs old.

@autumnmum thank you.. i did just double check my GAP insurance and i have Total Loss Combined insurance so i maybe able to claim back something after all :)

I'm having an emotional day today and I'm not thinking straight nor in my calm chilled state of mine i am usually in!

Finance Settlement is £5505.22
Motor Insurance will pay £5950 (minus £345 excess)
Cost of car was £6498 + £110 delivery paid £500 deposit.
Finance was £6108 plus interest over 4 years

Only had the car since February

Thank you everyone.

My accident was 13 years ago. I’ve no idea if things are different now. I called at the end of January as I hadn’t heard anything from the insurance since I informed them of the accident and they told me it had been settled the week before, how much was paid out (£1.5k for a new bumper for her car and £6000 for whiplash) and that the child in the car, despite being improperly restrained, could still claim off me up until they turned 18! I reckon she was under 2 at the time so she’s got about 3ish years left to rinse me dry. (Good luck to her- I haven’t two pennies to rub together! )

i did just double check my GAP insurance and i have Total Loss Combined insurance so i maybe able to claim back something after all smile

Fingers crossed for you OP!!

@Wild123 fingers crossed. I found the whole experience incredibly stressful and not helped by people who seem to think that insurance just showers you with money if it's not your fault.

Had this already been said

Tell the insurance that you need the courtesy car for work/ family & that you can't do without it, until you have another vehicle or money to buy another

I believe that you can downgrade to a cheaper courtesy car, if you need it for a longer period, see if that's an option

@Wild123 in your shoes I would tell your personal injury solicitor that you are anxious for a quick settlement. You don’t actually have to wait until you’ve fully recovered. From what you’ve described it sounds like a soft tissue injury? I’m assuming you’ve had x rays and there’s no bony injury?

Once you have a medical report that gives an expected recovery timeline, the insurance company and your solicitors will be able to value your claim. It’s a matter of negotiation ie your solicitor will value it higher than the insurer and the offer made will be put to you to consider. If you’ve had to pay for eg physio and you expect to incur further costs for treatment that can also be included.

Now obviously I wouldn’t recommend an early settlement if there’s anything more serious or doctors aren’t able to give a prognosis but as I say, it sounds like a soft tissue injury. If you can then settling your claim rather than allowing it to drag on would seem to be the solution to your problem.

I hope the GAP means you will have extra money 🍀

Hope you can get another car but if not perhaps a scooter/moped.

Your GAP insurance should be enough to get you a new car, that's the point of it. I have GAP insurance, on a car I paid cash for (not sure if that's relevant) but my understanding is that if the car is written off, stolen etc they will pay out what I originally paid for the car, regardless of how much it's depreciated in value. I'd give them a ring to discuss.

Sorry, no help on the insurance situation but just wanted to add my experience RE whiplash claims.
A couple of years ago I clipped the back of a car as I pulled off my drive - I was going very slowly as I had restricted view due to other cars parking right up to my drive, so was probably just about walking pace. The worst damage was to the bumper of my car which needed to be sorted out. Other car didn't even have a scratch.
I claimed on the insurance and was flabbergasted to receive a letter from a no win no fee solicitor a few weeks later, claiming the other driver had severe whiplash. I contacted my insurance as I was concerned about the threatening tone of the letter. Turned out that the letter should have gone to the insurance, not me, and that yes, the other driver had claimed for loss of earnings as well as pain and suffering due to severe whiplash. The insurance chap said that even though it was clear from the amount of damage and the photos I'd sent, that the claim was ridiculous, that the insurer took the view that it was cheaper to pay claims under about £10000 than to dispute it - court
and legal costs could easily exceed that amount and obviously there's no guarantee that they would I have to pay out eventually anyway.
This was definitely within two months of the accident.

Push bike? 2 miles isn’t that far.

Would you do it ?

In the rain. In the dark. Avoiding drains. Avoiding cars. Being overtaken by motorcyclists. Pedalling around roundabouts in the rush hour.

All because the other driver was at fault.

@MissDew it's not ideal but it's better than quitting her job

Push bike? 2 miles isn’t that far.

Would you do it ?

yes, I have in the past (now no need to). Many of my colleagues cycle much further.

And many children round here from age 4/5 do that as the round trip from home-junior school-infants school (split infants/junior school system with many families having 1 sibling in each school). Every single day. In every single weather.

I think it's a sad reflection on how car dependent we have become if 2 miles is considered too far to cycle.

And even if she could somehow take her lunch break at the end of the day (ignoring the fact this means she's working more than 6 hours without a break)

The law just says you’re entitled to a break if you work more than 6 hours. Not that you have to have a break when you have worked 6 hours. The break could be at 3,5 or 7 hours.

You should be refunded the monthly payment back to when the car was written off - or can you ring them and provide evidence it's been written off? They have a responsibility to treat vulnerable customers fairly and so I would tell them everything. (Used to be a complaints manager for a leading company and they can do more than you think they can).

@Neverender is that from the finance company?

Biking will be 13 miles a day with half being up hill my daughter doesnt ride often (i havent for 20 years) and i wouldn't trust her on the road especially in the dark. I will look at scooters though maybe thats an option if need be.

My point was really that all this seems unfair when it was caused by someone else negligence.

My daughter has a bike at her dads house only before anyone picks up that i said we don't have bikes! Its a big mountain bike and definitely could not store it and he's a prick so wouldn't let it come home to me anyway.

Please talk to your solicitors. They can ask for an interim payment (vs a payment in full and final settlement). So you could ask for £1000 say whilst the rest of the claim is settled. You could suggest would be "mitigate" your losses as otherwise you would need to claim taxi expenses whilst you saved for a new car. You wouldn't have to save for a new car if it wasnt for tye other partys negligence.

The solicitors might say its a try on. Certainly the interim payment is very doable if the other party has admitted liability

In fact can i really reiterate the above. Before you buy bikes etc and please please talk to the solicitors. Explain in detail your situation, you may be able to claim for more than you think

@QforCucumber

You might want to rethink that. Any insurance company who has dealt with the claim and closed that quickly (as long as its full and final settlement) is a blooming marvel. it means there repairer network/engineering team are shit hot, which will have the amount of time the thirdparty is in hire. They actually will have kept the claim cists down by virtue of being efficient.

If you dont mind sharing, I'd like to know who they were for my renewal.