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[bob.dent]

My mate's wife pranged their van recently and while the damage isn't that bad, their insurer has told them it's a write-off. They are reluctant to part with this van because it took them a long time to find one that suited all their criteria. Someone they know has told them they could repair it for around £400, so could they turn down the insurer and have the repair done privately?

[albitz]

I dont think so. I think that the van is now technically the property of the Ins. company. They will normally let you buy it back for peanuts though. It will have a cat C or D marker on it though, which will mean it wont be worth a lot if they want to sell it in future. It might help to take (and keep) some photos before its repaired, so that a future buyer can be shown that it wasnt repaired from a ball of mangled twisted metal.

I could be wrong though. Someone else may know better.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

My mate's wife pranged their van recently and while the damage isn't that bad, their insurer has told them it's a write-off. They are reluctant to part with this van because it took them a long time to find one that suited all their criteria. Someone they know has told them they could repair it for around £400, so could they turn down the insurer and have the repair done privately?

They could have the van repaired privately, but that cuts the insurance company out and your friend would have to pay the £400 themselves.

What is the van worth? :-/ :-/

[Lizzie_Zoom]

I dont think so. I think that the van is now technically the property of the Ins. company. They will normally let you buy it back for peanuts though. It will have a cat C or D marker on it though, which will mean it wont be worth a lot if they want to sell it in future. It might help to take (and keep) some photos before its repaired, so that a future buyer can be shown that it wasnt repaired from a ball of mangled twisted metal.

I could be wrong though. Someone else may know better.

No it is not the property of the insurance company.  It only becomes that once you have accepted the payout offer

[bob.dent]

My mate's wife pranged their van recently and while the damage isn't that bad, their insurer has told them it's a write-off. They are reluctant to part with this van because it took them a long time to find one that suited all their criteria. Someone they know has told them they could repair it for around £400, so could they turn down the insurer and have the repair done privately?

They could have the van repaired privately, but that cuts the insurance company out and your friend would have to pay the £400 themselves.

What is the van worth? :-/ :-/

Sorry Lizzie, didn't make that very clear. Yes they are prepared to pay the £400 out of their own pockets and cut out the insurance company, but he wants to make sure they stay on the right side of the law.
I think the van's worth around £1000.

[Hannah Judes Dad]

If the repair is done for £400 without going through the insurance company it will not be recorded as a claim and the no claims will stay intact if no other party is involved.
Once you go through the insurance company then it will be recorded as such and as mentioned a Cat D or Cat C will be noted.
There is no reason that you have to go through the insurance company as you will see plenty of vehicles for sale as non-recorded that have been repaired or need the work doing.
If they are happy with the vehicle to be repaired then as mentioned above get some pre repair pictures taken as evidence for when it does come to resale time.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

My mate's wife pranged their van recently and while the damage isn't that bad, their insurer has told them it's a write-off. They are reluctant to part with this van because it took them a long time to find one that suited all their criteria. Someone they know has told them they could repair it for around £400, so could they turn down the insurer and have the repair done privately?

They could have the van repaired privately, but that cuts the insurance company out and your friend would have to pay the £400 themselves.

What is the van worth? :-/ :-/

Sorry Lizzie, didn't make that very clear. Yes they are prepared to pay the £400 out of their own pockets and cut out the insurance company, but he wants to make sure they stay on the right side of the law.
I think the van's worth around £1000.

Ah right!

They can just go ahead and do that as the van is still their property.  As HJD has stated it is only once it goes through the insurance route does it become more complicated, so as I said and they are intending to do, leave out the insurance company.

PS I am assuming no other vehicle or property was involved? :-/ :-/

[Kevin Wood]

First thing to do is ensure they have possession of the vehicle.

They could either drop the claim and pay the repair themselves (insurance company may already have declared the vehicle a write-off, however) or try negotiating with the insurance company. They may be able to offer them a settlement of the value of the vehicle minus a consideration to keep the salvage, which might even cover the cost of repairs if they are done more "economically" than an insurance repair.

Either way, if the vehicle ends up getting declared a write off, an inspection will be required to put it back on the road, and this will of course affect its' resale value and no doubt cost some money to get done.

Kevin

[Banjax]

the insurance company will gladly let the claim drop 

as Kevin says, it may need a new MOT once the works done tho 

[Big_Al]

"Uneconomical write off" was the term the engineer from the insurance company used when it happened to SWMBO's motor about 3  years ago.

Minor damage to bumper & light unit but being an S reg Vectra they wrote it off & valued it at £1000.

Take off the excess off £100   left £900  & we asked if we could buy the car back. They simply deducted 25%  & paid us the rest ( £675)

Not bad as we only paid £600 off Flea bay  15months before.

Only scrapped the car a month ago & had nearly 3 more years out of it.   Never had any paperwork through saying it was cat. C or d or anything.

 Engineer sugested that we get a new MOT before we put it back on the road though,

worth asking your insurer if this buy back is still available