Potential New Car, but... possibly now written off!

Ste7en

Update. Not written off. Not sure how though. 6k bill for a 9.5k car.

Garage has been on and said it is all cosmetic and looks worse than it actually is. Mechanically it is "As straight as a die".

I'm insisting on new tyres.

Ste7en

So many people saying to me "I wouldn't have it back after that", I can't help but feel like I'm a bit stuffed.

I told the assessor to look at the tyres prior to the assessment, I also pointed out the windscreen had chips on it which were not there before the accident.

When the bodyshop manager rang to day I asked "What about the tyres?" the reply was "What about the tyres?" I explained again. I then asked "What about the windscreen?" the reply was "What about the windscreen?". Really starting to worry now.

Apparently it was 800 quid shy of being a write-off.

They are insisting it was cosmetic and "Not as bad as it looked". They refused to answer when I asked "Would you drive it after that?"

Honestly don't know what to do.

nvingo

So if the windscreen and tyres weren't included, with them it could still be shy of being a write-off.

Ste7en

I've no idea. Trade price probably not. If I was paying I suspect so.

I'm wondering if the garage makes more money on a repair than a write-off.

They did say that they have repaired a lot worse. They have assured me several times the damage is all cosmetic and it looks worse than it actually is.

Atavus

The garage makes little money on a write off, maybe some storage charges.

Ste7en

So it is in their best interest to have a massive bodywork job in the works. Starting to make sense now.

outoftheknow

I think the write off value in the UK is market value? Here you can choose market value or  an agreed value (in a range they allow around the market value) and pay a bit more or a bit less for that agreed value.

Either way you don’t have much haggling power with the insurance. Their assessor will decide what needs to be done and if you weren’t there the garage won’t fight any corner. The value will be as per the policy agreed and paid for. The decision as to the value when it is written off isn’t black and white as I remember either. They can pay more than the value to repair it if they decide to do that.

The lessening in value of a repaired car is a bit of a human thing. I presume you can still request other repairers look at the car to give quotes to repair? Used to be a pain as they said you had to pay to move it if required, some garages wouldn’t allow access to other garages etc..

Not sure if the rules now - or if they will entertain another quote that would write the car off. Seems logical to me that they would pay you their cheaper repair quote they were willing to pay and keep the car to do as they wanted with. If you were within a few hundred of a write off presumably that is the bit you are short to get peace of mind that the repaired car doesn’t cost you more than that down the track. What they do with it isn’t your problem if they agree to that.


I would think you ask your insurer for all
your options - the garages will quote what the assessor says the insurer will pay for. If you disagree you need to talk to the assessor/insurer I reckon

Ste7en

The assessor is from the dealership we bought the car from. I didn't know that at the time. I just got it towed to the garage we bought it from, which is a Mazda dealership.

outoftheknow

Ah yes that means the dealer is an approved repairer then? Same deal as far as I know - you have the right to have other quotes and have it repaired where you want. They would pay the lowest (theirs or yours). I take that to mean if your preferred repairer costs are
more than they would pay, you could do a deal to get a payment from them (their lower quite as basis)  and they take the car as it is.

May not be an option over there. But the point remains you can talk to the insurer about what their approved repairer/assessor is doing. Whether they do anything is another matter of course

IronGiant

If it's not been written off then will the damage repair be "logged" against it when you come to sell? We had a Renault 19 that we were sure would be written off but was repaired (virtually everything between the drivers headlight and the passenger door was replaced, ie significant chassis damage) and nothing was said when we traded it in a few years later.  My wife was happy to drive it after the accident as, as far as she was concerned, it had saved her life, so was "lucky"