Safe Speed Forums

You might remember a while back I posted a thread where my GFs 1990 200SX was rear ended and written off and we ended up losing a lot of money because we only got £1900 for it (much less after excess and bogus fees tacked on by the storage company). Cheapest replacement we could find that wasn't a complete rustbucket cost £2000 but was at least a 1994 model, add on another grand in swapping over all her modifications from the old car (rebuilt and upgraded engine+gearbox, ecu, turbo, exhaust etc. etc.) and we're down about 2 grand.

Now someone has reversed into the front wing, the only damage is to the wing and the wheelarch liner which rubs the wheel. The guy who hit her has been throughly decent about it, left a note with his full details, we've spoken to him got insurance details, he wants to go through the insurance though. (Makes a change, given last time it was an insured driver who gave a false certificate to the police, who are now not interested in helping)

So now Helphire have had a look at it. They say the car is only worth a grand and the repairs are more than that (for a wing and an arch liner FFS) so while we have a hire car it's got to go through the insurance, we're with Markerstudy the other guy is with ESure.

She has not had much luck the last two times a claim has gone throuh Markerstudy, so she wants to claim directly off ESure, I'm not convinced it's a good idea, what if they too say it's only worth a grand and write it off, also she was on hold for 45 minutes to ESure's claims department on Friday before giving up. My theory is they're going to be even less helpful given that their job at this point is purely to minimise costs, at least Markerstudy aren't going to be footing the bill.

What should we do here, can we demand that it be repaired? Any way to get them to take into consideration that this car has been fully restored and resprayed whereas all the £1000 ones are rustbuckets. We can't end up needing to get another car, there's so few S13s left now that are in any decent condition, and those that are left aren't getting sold. There's also no spare cash available to deal with losing more money on this.

If the other party is at fault then it is the other party (or their insurance company) who has to put things right. As you are processing a non-fault claim the other insurance party cannot declare the car as being written off. The will wriggle and squirm but ulitmately they will have to foot the bill for the repairs and any other costs (storage, hire car, etc). You need to get in your insurance companies ear and tell them to get on with and stop wating time. They arent footing the bill so its not in their interest to lose you as a customer.

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The police ARE the law, not ABOVE it!!!

Well past experience shows that Markerstudy aren't very good at looking after their own customers's interests that is why she is considering taking the claim directly to Esure. You are saying basically that we can force them to not write the car off, is there any limit on this.

Why do you recommend that we get our own insurance involved as well?

Would it perhaps be better to find another party (eg. a solicitor) to handle negotiation with Esure, or would the cost of that have to come out of our own pockets. Basically we don't trust either insurance company not to try and screw us over right now.

Sorry to hear about this and, it doesn’t sound any easy one to sort out. Only a suggestion and I know it’s more hassle but, might it not be worth seeking the advice of a solicitor just to see where you stand. Most solicitors will give free advice.

These insurance companies are all the same now, they just look for what they see as the cheapest option to themselves and not the customer.

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Useless laws weaken necessary laws.

I would suggest handling the claim yourself. Don't let your insurance company handle it.

Get 3 quotes for repairs to your satisfaction and send them on to the insurers.

You will probably find it's a whole lot less painful than dealing with your own insurance company was the last time round.

It's been my experience that insurance companies treat 3rd parties better than they do their own paying customers.

As the repair sum is less than £3000, as above get 3 fair estimates, then tell his insurance company that you will launch an online mony claim (or county court summons) against thier customer if they do not pay out a fair sum to get your car repaired + the hire car costs within a set timescale. I doubt they will want thier customer taken to court.

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

Something similar happened to me. I knew that they would try to write the car off,
so I didn't tell my own insurance firm. I handled the matter myself. I told the
perp's insurance company that I would fix the car myself, and post them the bill,
plus all the costs of hire cars and tow trucks etc. Then they agreed to fix it. I had to
be quite firm.

Can't you take the £1000 on the basis you retain salvage? If it's so worthless in their eyes I can't see why they'd have a problem. Assuming the £1k will cover the damage.

Do you have an agreed value on your insurance? Surely if so the insurer should repair or pay out stated value?

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Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

lum sir, on what basis do you choose and insurance company? Mine (NFU) are not the cheapest, but I know where there office is and feel that when I need them they will put my interests as a customer/invester first. I might be wrong, but they are always there or there abouts in customer satisfaction polls.

My father has had problems in the past and found the insurance ombudsman to be quite helpful. They have been quite critical in the past about the way insurance companies value write offs and repairs.

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Gordon Brown saying I got the country into it's current economic mess so I'll get us out of it is the same as Bomber Harris nipping over to Dresden and offering to repair a few windows.

Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done.

http://www.wildcrafts.co.uk

As a general principle, in such cases, you should always let your own insurance company negotiate on your behalf - after all, that is what you pay your premiums for. Also you have to recognise that insurance companies will seek to write off vehicles worth only a thousand or two for what may seem fairly trivial damage.

However, Lum does have an unusual situation in which his gf has a fairly old specialist car that is of much more perceived value to her than to the market as a whole. They may also have found many of the general insurers unwilling to cover them.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

It's not just my GF who thinks the car is worth more than the insurance say, it's anyone who is selling (or owns) one that isn't a complete rustbucket. They really are hard to get hold of and even the poor condition ones are disappearing as this time of year is basically culling season for them (the cheap ones are geting bought by 18yr olds who want to get into drifting, then get wrapped around lamp posts and the like).

Sounds like most people think we should take the claim direct to the 3rd party's insurance though. And yes it's difficult to find an insurer who will cover this car at a sensible rate. Markerstudy are very competitive when it comes to Japanese performance cars.

I'll get her to give esure another call, I don't think she can get the necessary time off work to get 3 quotes in advance though.

You are entitled to have your vehilcle returned to the condition it was prior to the accident and are claiming for this cost from the third party who did the damage. If they pass on your claim to be delt with by their insurance company, if the cost of repair is more than they value the car at they will try and take the cheapest option and write the car off. However, as you have no agreement with them that gives them the right to write off, you can insist the damage is repaired regardless of cost.

This is not the case if you claim through your own insurance as you have agreed in the terms of the policy for them to repair or write off at their discression.

I have sucessfully done this on behalf of my son when someone went in the back of him and the cost of repairs were three times the value of the car. Again on behalf of my sister when someone came over a hump back bridge on the wrong side of the road and damaged the complete side of the car which cost about ten times the value of the car.

So just be firm with the insurance company and point out that you are not under any obligation to have the car written off and that you want it repaired.

Good luck

whynot

The last time I had to get quotes I just dropped the car at my preferred repairer and he got me another two quotes (funny how he couldn't find one cheaper than his ).

Only do that if you can't deal with it yourself. You would be penalised for it. Insurance firms have secret tariffs that apply to any incident, whether your fault or even if no claim is made. Actuaries have access to the statistics and apply an extra fee to your next policy if your record is "stained" for ANY reason. If is best to leave your own firm with NO information that could prejudice your record, unless they explicitly ask you to provide the data.

And there is no need to worry about the legitimacy of this, because:
(a) if they don't know about the incident, they won't be able to question you about it and
(b) if they do know about the incident, then they have nothing to grumble about!

Have no mercy with insurance firms - they'd want their pound of flesh, so make sure you get yours.

Absolutely. It's your property and you decide what happens to it. If their offer doesn't satisfy you, tell them why and ask them to hold up their end. They have no power to "write off" a car unless you agree to it as well.

I'm in a very similar situation

I'm with markerstudy and my claim is being sorted by helphire.
Have helphire arranged for an engineer to inspect your car? I had one come and inspect mine and it was valued @ £884 minus the salvage. My car is/was a completely restored & immaculate Clio 1.8 16v, I only had it back from the respray for 2 months when the accident happened The respray & restoration work counts for nothing in their eyes Mine was very recently resprayed so you can imagine how p*ssed off I was to hear that I managed to dispute the valuation by adding the costs of the mods on the car, suspension/engine upgrades/ 4 pot brake calipers etc. So I managed to get the value up to £1500 despite similar examples selling for well over £2k.

I opted for them to write my car off as I gave the prices for replacement panels from Renault main dealers (scandalousy expensive ) plus the labour costs that I knew from the initial respray. So whats happened is, my car is now a cat C write off BUT I'm keeping the car and getting £1200 as payout, and it's being repaired at a cost of £500. So I'm £700 up on the deal when they eventually pay up

Now as far as I can tell, your situation is exactly the same as mine - totally not your fault and it's not going through your insurance, but all against the 3rd party insurers negotiated by helphire.
Drop me a PM to compare notes if you like, this post may be clear as mud upon re-reading it but tonight is my 1st night shift & my brain is mostly mush atm

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WARNING! LIFT OFF OVERSTEER CAN CAUSE SERIOUS UNDERPANT MALFUNCTIONS

Helphire sent us to visit the engineers and then decided they didn't want to know once the cost of the repair came in vs the value of the car. They've given her a Golf to drive and left her to sort out the claim on her own.

No idea what the current status is as I'm away from home, and had no mobile signal last night.

We Esure still aren't answering the phone, and this is the same claims line you have to use if you are involved in an accident, so I guess I wont be taking my business to Esure when my renewal is up.

Going to get some quotes this weekend and send them a bill via recorded delivery.

"un-economic repair" is what the insurers call it....... It doesn't mean that it can't be safely repaired, simply that in their view it's easier to pay you up than repair it because it's so old and the bottom book price is next to nothing. After all, we ALL know that the first question that a repairer asks you is: "Is it an Insurance claim" (Which means costs X 2). It's an Insurance write off - not a damage write off.

Go for the best that you can get, plus... say that you want the car back as well......It'll cost you half to get it fixed, and you'll have a free holiday with the rest.