Looking for a bit of advice guys and gals. Yesterday evening I was t boned at a junction. It was and admitted to by the other drivers fault. Damage appears to be limited to the rear drivers door and there's small scratches to the rear alloy. I rang my insurer who, after my describing the damage, declared the car beyond economical repair. :0

When I challenged this they said I could approach the drivers insurance but they would more than likely arrive at the same decision. Within 10 minutes of my ending that call, the drivers insurance company rang to say that they would look after the repair of my car negating my insurance companies involvement. They are going to ring me back to confirm my decision, but what happens if they too deem it beyond economical repair. Would they then pay out? Would the car be a class C or D and all the complications that entails if I ever move it on?

Ultimately I am gutted, I love my Freely it really is the best car I have had. The other driver is more upset though as his car was only a day old with smashed bumper, smashed headlight and crumpled front wing which has pushed into the door, much more cost putting that right methinks. 2010MY 2.2 e4 (gone but, not forgotten)
Audi TT Roadster 3.2 DSG
FFRR Westminster 4.4 TDV8 (L322)

Not sure how your insurance company can write it off over the phone without an engineer even looking at it.

However they will write it off, offer you what they deem to be the fair market value for the car and the car then becomes theirs. You can probably buy the car back off them (dependant on actual level of damage) for an agreed reduced value, and you can fix it up as a categorised insurance write off.

quite why the other drivers insurance company will cover all the process without the need for you to deal with your own insurance company is a bit of a strange one, in my experience you deal with your own company and they recover the costs from the other drivers insurance company once its all completed.

I had a similar situation a few years ago when I was taken off my motorbike. I was stationary at a red light and a car ran in to the back of me. His insurance (Directline) phoned me the next day and accepted liability. They repaired the bike at my request, it was a borderline write off, and paid for a new crash helmet. It does happen  2007 TD4 XS The work horse that earns its up keep
2013 SD4 HSE The posh one for towing the caravan
1973 Triumph Stag I bought in 2009 and restored.

That’s not strange at all, our RX was parked at work in the winter when it was side swiped by an over exuberant Mini driver, ended up needing new door skins, door mouldings and a complete side respray, I contacted my insurance who informed me that the third parties insurance had been in touch with them and would liase with me, it was all carried out by the other insurance company, including the hire of a brand new MB 350ML over Christmas which worked out in all as a one month hire!

Never heard another peep from my insurance until renewal time when I mentioned the accident of course and they stated it was all taken care of on the records and no effect would it have on my policy, in fact my fee that year went down  Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

My understanding when in this situation is if their Policyholder was at fault and their insurer has offered to take care of all the repairs directly, then irrespective of whether or not it is beyond economical repair, you have the right to demand that it is repaired. They are not in a position to "write off" the vehicle, without involving your insurer.

Insist that it is repaired to JLR Bodyshop standards, not some Fred-in-a-shed on the cheap.

Whichever way you look at it, it's your car you negotiate the payout within reason i.e trade value for repair payout replacement cost for a write off, get your chosen repairer to give you a quote, it may look like superficial damage, but get them to ensure there is no structural damage. You can get a cash payout and repair with used parts without any notation if dealing with a third party's insurance. my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

Thanks for your replies. His insurer is esure. I would hope that I'm in a strong position to get it repaired. I took a look on the bay of fleas last night and a right colour door, complete can be had for less than £200.

What is galling is I fitted a new battery a month ago and a new throttle body last week, always loving this car I really don't want it categorised. It would be a great shame.

Having had a look at it this morning, the door has taken all the damage. No damage to the sill or C pillar. The marks on the wheel look as though they'll polish out tbh. 2010MY 2.2 e4 (gone but, not forgotten)
Audi TT Roadster 3.2 DSG
FFRR Westminster 4.4 TDV8 (L322)

so seems a very knee jerk rash decision to callit a write off without seeing it... the insurers engineers report should highlight if there any further hidden issues.

having a door, wheel and respray certainly wont categorise the car

Quote:

Insist that it is repaired to JLR Bodyshop standards, not some Fred-in-a-shed on the cheap.

Milothedog wrote:

I had a similar situation a few years ago when I was taken off my motorbike. I was stationary at a red light and a car ran in to the back of me. His insurance (Directline) phoned me the next day and accepted liability. They repaired the bike at my request, it was a borderline write off, and paid for a new crash helmet. It does happen

I don't know if it's because I have extended warranty but I am told that in the event of an accident to call JLR accident services before anyone else and they will deal with my insurers. My wife has a similar sticker in her new Suzuki. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

The purpose of insurance is to put things right, or in other words in this case to repair the damage to make it as it was. Insuranced companies will usually say it is a "write off" and beyond economic repair. They say this because it is cheaper and more profitable for them. It is easy to offer so called market value for your car, which then becomes their property that they can sell off for parts or scrap value. Do not accept that it is a write off beyond economic repair. The economic side of it is of no interest to you, only the insurance company and their profits, so insist on having repairs done to the manufacturers standards - this is your right. Of course it can happen that it may not be possible to repair a car to a safe and original standard but don't just take the insurance company's word for it, get an independent check. If you don't and you accept a "write off" all you will get is market value for your car and the chances of getting something as good as your car that you have cherished and looked after for that price is most unlikely.

J

Could be wrong But I always thought it was the insurance companies right (T&C's) to decide if its repaired or you get paid out  2007 TD4 XS The work horse that earns its up keep
2013 SD4 HSE The posh one for towing the caravan
1973 Triumph Stag I bought in 2009 and restored.

Steve D wrote:

Milothedog wrote:

I had a similar situation a few years ago when I was taken off my motorbike. I was stationary at a red light and a car ran in to the back of me. His insurance (Directline) phoned me the next day and accepted liability. They repaired the bike at my request, it was a borderline write off, and paid for a new crash helmet. It does happen

I had the same thing too on my motorcycle when someone t boned me and I got taken to hospital just two days before going on holiday. His insurer phoned me up when I was on holiday, admitted liability and when I came home they offered me £2,000 for personal injury, £600 for loss of earnings, £500 for damage to helmet, jacket and phone screen (was in my back pocket and I landed on my arse) plus £1,250 to keep and repair the bike myself. The repairs cost me less than £100 as it was already scratched up from a previous time I was knocked off of it (and paid out). I bought the bike new in 2009 for £3,500, I still use it daily and to date I have collected £5,950 in accident payouts in its lifetime.

In my case it was my Triumph sprint ST 955i , since then I've has a Triumph sprint ST 1050 and currently a Triumph Sprint GT SE 1050

My current bike with my wife pretending she could ride it



 2007 TD4 XS The work horse that earns its up keep
2013 SD4 HSE The posh one for towing the caravan
1973 Triumph Stag I bought in 2009 and restored.