Wrote my car off yesterday

[id24]

Ok so i wrote my car off yesterday, really sad considering the amount of work id done to it.
Does anyone have any tips on getting as much from the insurer as i can? I know they'll just say here's one on autotrader for say £900, way less than i paid for the car/spent on the car. The thing is my interior and paint was immaculate, i had a steering wheel from snappy, 182 full interior, resprayed dash strips and gear knob insert, professionally replaced sunroof, exhaust/engine mounts replaced and other things. I'd really appreciate any advice!

Ian

 

[icebergclio172]

Was all of your modifications on your insurance?

 

[Steven103]

Admiral told me company policy does not let them take into account the following when valuing my 182:

Condition (because everyone will claim theirs is "good")
Colour
Service history (really annoying given cambelts are worth £500)
Optional extras (policy document does state these are notified but not covered for replacement)

And that they can only take into account:

Distance from your house
Independent garages only (this really helps!)
Mileage (which we know means f*** all)
Year of registration (likewise a 10 year old 04 plate vs a 9.5 year old 54 plate means f*** all for value)


Fortunately insurance companies have very strict targets to close cases quickly, and industry regulation prevents them from closing it until YOU say that you are happy.

Pick a set of search criteria on autotrader/pistonheads etc that filters out the rubbish £900 dogs and anything else which may harm your argument. Send the insurance company a few adverts from independent stealers wanting £3500 for a bog standard 182.

Also worth reading your policy booklet to see what else you're entitled to. E.g. I was also sent a cheque for the cost of recovery & storage (which I'd been paying for and tbh thought that was fair enough my car my responsibility to store it etc.) as initially I only planned to notify them and fix myself but it became a write off.

 

[Chi]

Buy it back

 

[id24]

Was all of your modifications on your insurance?

The only modifications they said they were bothered about were the seats and steering wheel but i got renault to fit them so they weren't classed as mods, this was all ok'd with the insurer. I'm considering buying it back because of the speakers, dab aerial etc cost that would all mount up with a new car. But before i buy it back i need to get as much as possible for the settlement. Would you guys suggest being tough with them and just not accepting the offer till i think its good enough?

 

[id24]

Admiral told me company policy does not let them take into account the following when valuing my 182:

Condition (because everyone will claim theirs is "good")
Colour
Service history (really annoying given cambelts are worth £500)
Optional extras (policy document does state these are notified but not covered for replacement)

And that they can only take into account:

Distance from your house
Independent garages only (this really helps!)
Mileage (which we know means f*** all)
Year of registration (likewise a 10 year old 04 plate vs a 9.5 year old 54 plate means f*** all for value)


Fortunately insurance companies have very strict targets to close cases quickly, and industry regulation prevents them from closing it until YOU say that you are happy.

Pick a set of search criteria on autotrader/pistonheads etc that filters out the rubbish £900 dogs and anything else which may harm your argument. Send the insurance company a few adverts from independent stealers wanting £3500 for a bog standard 182.

Also worth reading your policy booklet to see what else you're entitled to. E.g. I was also sent a cheque for the cost of recovery & storage (which I'd been paying for and tbh thought that was fair enough my car my responsibility to store it etc.) as initially I only planned to notify them and fix myself but it became a write off.

I'm glad you mentioned the distance from me, cars around where i live seem to be overpriced so that may work in my favour. When my dads car was written off the insurer took of a lot of the value because it was missing 2 of its 10 services, so you never know my insurer may value a FSH.

 

[Nigel]

They're not mods because Renault fitted them!!!! You might want to check that, most insurance even ask you to list factory fitted options.

 

[Munson]

WTF.

 

[JAMason]

The only modifications they said they were bothered about were the seats and steering wheel but i got renault to fit them so they weren't classed as mods, this was all ok'd with the insurer. I'm considering buying it back because of the speakers, dab aerial etc cost that would all mount up with a new car. But before i buy it back i need to get as much as possible for the settlement. Would you guys suggest being tough with them and just not accepting the offer till i think its good enough?

Thats is exactly what you do. As long as you are reasonable with your target, keep turning them down until you get it!! Iv never been in this situation, and hope I don't ever need to be but iv read plenty of stuff about it to know that holding out for the right settlement is the best course of action. Might take a while though, that's the down side to it all.

 

[Steven103]

WTF.

Enlighten us sub-atmospheric-pressure mortals

 

[id24]

They're not mods because Renault fitted them!!!! You might want to check that, most insurance even ask you to list factory fitted options.

I understand why people are sceptical of what im saying but every time i've checked with the insurer. They state no modifications unless fitted by the vehicles manufacture. I even explained with the person from the insurer, ive got a renault wheel that ive had retrimmed by a man in crewe and renualt are going to fit it and use a new locking nut and make sure its correctly torqued to original spec and they said it was fine.

 

[DaveDreads]

I had a brand new Mk5 Golf GT TDI once,
with option leather, CD multichanger, cruise control & 4Motion,
and every insurance quote I got stated none of those factory fitted extras would be covered,
in the event of a write off, i'd get back a bog standard car with none of that on it.

 

[Gally]

Optional extras are never really taken into account when valuing cars Dave. Strange considering it makes a big difference when buying and selling.

I have had a hard day but Steve is about as close as you'll get to decent advice. Listen to him.

 

[id24]

I had a brand new Mk5 Golf GT TDI once,
with option leather, CD multichanger, cruise control & 4Motion,
and every insurance quote I got stated none of those factory fitted extras would be covered,
in the event of a write off, i'd get back a bog standard car with none of that on it.

I think i haven't worded my original post very well. I want to get as much as i can to help offset the cost of the options i have put on the car at my expense. Of course im not expecting the insurer to pay for them. I have insured a standard dynamique and thats what i expect to get a settlement for. My original intention was to draw upon peoples experience on here to help me get as much as possible from the insurer. Im a broke uni student and just getting an extra £100 will make a big difference for me. I also have a massive excess so need to try and offset this too. I just want to get back at least what i paid really because my clio was an unusually good example when i bought it, i even had compliments from the policeman and the recovery man at the accident, massive consolation at the time as you can imagine! I just dont want to be stuck with an amount that wont replace what i had and be unable to get the new car into a nice state because of my current finances (a lot of student debt and overdraft).

Cheers guys

 

[id24]

Cheers Steve i appreciate your advice mate

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

What happened ?

Full write off - totalled ?

What do you think the car is worth ?

 

[id24]

I wasn't concentrating for a split second, the wheel caught the curb and blew out. I wasn't sure this happened at the time but the car behind me saw it happen and told me afterwards. Anyway the car veered off, it was on a gradual left turn so i was already steering left, the car mounted the grass, pretty violently as i was going at 50. This set off the passenger airbag, i managed to bring it back down onto the road and as i did i brought it down over a maintainace gap in the curb which blew out the back too. Both front and rear passenger tyres are blown and alloys buckled. The front suspension is fucked and the airbag is deployed, rest in peace 182 seats. The value is about 1200 i think, hence why its a write off, would be borderline without the airbag. I was gutted, mainly at myself because i've fucked up and ruined all the work ive put in. The only consolation is that as the policemen told me, there was a massive ditch and telegraph pole so things could of been a lot worse.

 

[Fantom]

Can't you just take the steering wheel off and replace it with some piece of tat off ebay?

 

[GrahamS]

Drop me a PM for advice. I was the man sitting on the other side of the desk until October.

 

[id24]

Quick update- The insure decided it was a category B, which is absolute crap. I could of put it back on the road for about £600. There was no bodywork damage or structural damage, just suspension and other things that were remove and replace jobs. I'm pretty gutted

 

[GrahamS]

You need to ask why they are making it cat B. If it's cat B you can retain at an insanely low salvage value.

 

[Neil@greenlight]

If there is no underlying chassis damage then it is likely been declared Cat B based on the repair costs. If the repair costs are quite substantial compared to the vehicle value it can push it from Cat C to Cat B

Just bear in mind that when insurance companies get estimates for repair they use approved repairers who guarentee the work. The labour charges are often similar to what main delaers charge so this can make repair estimates at the upper end.

You can still keep a Cat B car but it can only be used for spares...so you could always buy another Clio and put any parts accross.

Cheers
neil

 

[Chi]

I thought you needed to be registered to buy cat b, learn something new everyday

 

[fil_b]

Scrap that not read all the posts

 

[Neil@greenlight]

I thought you needed to be registered to buy cat b, learn something new everyday

Think as the owner you can do it with a decleration that you wont put the car back on the road and will just be used for spares.

 

[Chi]

Think as the owner you can do it with a decleration that you wont put the car back on the road and will just be used for spares.

Good info Cheers Neil