my cars a write off - what now

[Christophe]

Can't believe it. All happened when i was at work.

Came to my car after work and some woman hit the accelerator instead of the brake and hit into the back of mine which jolted forward into the one infront. She admited fault and went through her insurance so it no costing me anything but the garage where it getting inspected have estimated 4k to fix to which i assume the insurance company will class it as a write off. It still drives fine.

i feel sick. i'v had my 172 for 3 years. spent money on few mods and all for a waste.

What happens now? her insurance will ring me and probably offer me an amount i assume? What happens with my mods? Can i have the car back?

how much you think they'll offer?

52plate iceberg 172
60k miles
Never had problems and runs well.

 

[Vish]

In my experience, my insurance company only let me take out my audio and nothing else from the car.

I'd want paying out for the price of a replacement car plus the cost of replacing the mods so you can get a similar mileage/age clio modded to how your written off one is from the price they pay out. I don't know if her insurance will pay that much and try to just pay out how much a Clio with those mods would be for sale.

Not really sure how that works, but I'd recommend using your insurance legal assistance. Mine were invaluable after my accident.

Good luck with it all.

 

[f0xy]

You can buy the car back for a very small % of the payout usually..

 

[Christophe]

also what happens with my insurance? Cause i now need to cancel it as i dont have the car. I paid for the year and still have 4 months left. can i get some money back or not?

 

[Jamie]

Can you not "freeze" the insurance until you find a replacement. As for the mods. Remove them all. Insurance co will pay you for a standard car. If they say they'll cover the mods leave them in. I removed all my mods from mine and the insurance co weren't arsed. Took out my Recaros, Turinis, Cup spoiler. Went back in a very sorry state.

Furthermore, if you want to keep the car after inspection say you sold the car to a local dealer for parts. They will deduct this from the proceeds. Therefore you get to keep the car. Some insurance companies don't let you buy the car back as there is no official ruling on it. I tried to buy my old 172 back but they wouldn't let me and it was all in the small print. By saying you've disposed of the car you take away that risk.

 

[Vish]

You might get a couple of months insurance back once the claim is disputed and all costs recovered by your insurance company. I think most companies work on a kind of pro-rata way so you get (months remaining - 2 months)/12 of your annual payment. Personally, I'd freeze/suspend it as said above or just keep it rolling until you get another car and transfer the insurance to that.

 

[Christophe]

I guess i have to wait and see what they offer. I know i'd be lucky but i am aiming for 4k as i have looked on autotrader/pistonheads and for same miles/age a few go for 4k some lower some more! tbf only mods are bmc induction kit, 17" wheels and full powerflow system.

 

[Beef-Mc]

Get all your personal effects out of the car as the insurance company will most likely move it someplace. Take your tax disk as well, can reclaim some money from it.

 

[Christophe]

You might get a couple of months insurance back once the claim is disputed and all costs recovered by your insurance company. I think most companies work on a kind of pro-rata way so you get (months remaining - 2 months)/12 of your annual payment. Personally, I'd freeze/suspend it as said above or just keep it rolling until you get another car and transfer the insurance to that.

My insurance is up end of july where i get 6 years ncb. Now if i cancel and get a new insurance for a new car for say 2 months time i can only say i have 5 years ncb as thats all i can prove. even though i'd have 6 in 2 months. So i feel i've lost a whole year.

I know freezing it and then carrying it on with the new car would work fine but they might b expensive for the new car with other companies a lot cheaper to which again i can only say i have 5 years ncb.

 

[jobac]

If its any help as a guide my 172 iceberg, 77k, with ktec stealth was valued at £3,300 moaned about just putting the exhaust on and they upped it to £3,425. Not a huge increase but every little helps. Just got a 182 with the money and happy again. Like someone else said worth trying to get your modifications back before its scrapped..

 

[Jamie]

Shouldn't be that bad. For the reward of another years ncb and a residual increase on an "expensive" policy of a brand of car over 3 months is it really worth cancelling? Just pay it. Or get a f**king s**t car for £50 and insure that.

 

[Vish]

My insurance is up end of july where i get 6 years ncb. Now if i cancel and get a new insurance for a new car for say 2 months time i can only say i have 5 years ncb as thats all i can prove. even though i'd have 6 in 2 months. So i feel i've lost a whole year.

I know freezing it and then carrying it on with the new car would work fine but they might b expensive for the new car with other companies a lot cheaper to which again i can only say i have 5 years ncb.

Depends if there is a noticeable difference between 5yrs and 6yrs NCB.

Yes depending on the car, you may have to pay a bit extra for the last couple of months, but depends if that'll be offset by the saving of an extra years NCB.

But then if you are able to get a bit of a refund from your current policy, this might offset the extra cost of a years less NCB on the new policy.

The other thing that may make a difference is driving experience, will you have another full years driving experience if you reinsure in 4 months instead of sooner?

I just did a quick check on an online quote as I've got an open quote going ATM:

5yrs experience, 5yrs NCB - £1062
6yrs experience, 5yrs NCB - £1008
6yrs experience, 6yrs NCB - £960

Obviously rough prices, but worth a couple of quick phone calls and online quotes to see if you can save any money.

 

[Christophe]

thanks vish. I'll wait till her insurance rings me and see how much they offer and go from there. Really gutted as well cause on sunday i just spent £160 on new handbrake cables and on the tuesday the woman writes my car off.