Insurance says car a write off but I want to keep and repair - help!

[TheRedRabbit]

I was in a minor car accident and the rear passenger door is dented quite badly. My car is very old but very dear to me! It was the other driver's fault and his insurance company has said my car is a write off. Can I keep my car and use the write off money towards repairs, using my own funds to make up the difference?

The car isnt' that badly damaged so it wouldnt cost much more than the write off sum to repair it. How can i get the insurance company to let me keep the car?

Can you get a second opinion? Sometime damage can look minimal but the reason it's written off is because after 'fixing' it would actually be unsafe to drive, even if cosmetically it looks fine.

You need to find out the salvage category if its a write off, to determine if you can keep it. If its a D or a C it shouldn't be a problem but you would have to put it through MOT again after repair to get it insured (double check that with your ins co, I'm a bit rusty on that part). You could ask for a cash in lieu settlement. Just phone them and ask what your options are.

I know many years ago I wanted to keep a 'right off' car and not repair the visible damage since they wanted to replace 2 panels with tiny dents at the bottom which was only visible when on the floor. However, they would not let me buy the car off them (with the insurance money) and repair it myself. The car did however go back on the road about 6 weeks later so the insurance company also thought it was worth repairing.

Thanks, it is category C apparently. I will ask insurance company and see what they say. It will be the other driver's insurance company paying (hopefully) so I hope they are reasonable about it.

If it's a C then more likely to go on the MIAFTR system, but still possible for you to retain. You would need to inform your own insurer, and ask them what you need to do to continue cover. I think it's as simple as a new MOT but best to make sure by asking your insurer what you need to do if retaining your car after its been deemed a cat C wrote off. Please be aware that it'll be on a system where your insurer can get easy access to the info re this claim so don't consider not telling them - it'll only come back and bite you later!

done this. A Cat C may indeed only be a dented panel. Your insurer will tell you what you need to do - some demand new MoTs, some don't. Follow instructions to the letter and do not drive until you have confirmed that you are insured. You also need to put the car through a VOSA inspection before you can sell it, change address or tax it, so book one of those after the repairs - costs about £40.

you must always declare that it is a write off when insuring it, it will have almost no resale value and you will need to declare this as a 'no fault' accident on all future insurance applications for a few years.

hassle but not impossible.

I've done this twice- live in a narrow rat run so a permanent hazard meaning I'd never buy a pricey vehicle. My current car is 14 years old but only had one previous owner who maintained it by the book, and still has less than 50k miles on the clock. The last write off (2 years ago) damaged a wing and ripped off my electric mirror but I bought a working replacement from a breakers yard and the remainder of the payout still covered a full respray

You should be able to insist that you want to keep the car, less the salvage value so they pay out the difference. Get the repairs done, VOSA test/MOT. The V5 will be replaced after this, annotated with the Cat C write off. Whole process can be done in 2-3 weeks.