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[BgBLizard]

Hi all

Just after some advice from the wise as I have been rear ended today and I am confident it’s a write off. It is now 50mm lower at the back and 70mm shorter than when i set off for work this morning.http://images.omegaowners.com/forum/smf2000/Smileys/oofstd/cry.gif

My car was a 1999 (V) 3.0l MV6 in black and obviously not worth much, just wanted to know if anybody had previous experience of claiming on insurance with a low value car or any pit falls to watch out for.

Thanks in advance
Andy

[horsecow]

I had my 2001 astra coupe 2.2 wrote off in may, wasnt expecting to get much for it as I'd only paid £600 for it. Insurance company wrote it off as it was uneconomical to fix it. Then they looked at how much it would cost me to replace it with similar model, there was only 1 available in northern ireland at the time and it was valued at £800. They offered me £800 for mine and when I asked about keeping the one I had they said they would charge me £100 to cover the salvage cost as they recovered it from side of road for me. I  haggled with them and ended up keeping my car and getting £900 for it as well. Then went and sold it to the scrap man and got another £400 there. Hope this helps

[RobG]

Read this thread http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=105337.0

[BgBLizard]

Thamks guys

When i re-insured in May they sugested that the value of the car was £450 and i havent seen a simialar car for sale recently so cant compare.

Andy

[horsecow]

I dont know if all insurers work the same way but you should check out how much it would cost you to buy another, same yr mileage etc, theres a few on ebay, try autotrader as well

[Godders]

Most insurers work on the principle of replacing whatever is damaged, lost or stolen with an equivelant replacement. So if you shop around to find an equivelant then it gives you some idea on what to haggle with your insurance over...and NEVER accept their first offer Good luck

[Entwood]

You have no contract with the insurers of the party who hit you.

Under the law it is your RIGHT to have your car returned to the condition it was 1 second before the other party damaged it.

You do NOT have to claim of your insurance, but you must infoprm tham of the incident and the fact that you are claiming DIRECTLY from the other parties insurers.

Ask those insurers for a copy of any agreement, signed by you, that entitles them to write off your car ( it doesn't exist of course) ... and insist on them returning the car to its previous condition, or quite simply, you will start a claim in the county court against them.


It works, believe me ... you just have to stick to your guns ..

[BgBLizard]

Cheers for that

Im keen on keeping the wreck as it has a long life exhust and a few other bits i would like to transfer to my next one.

Andy

[zirk]

The fact tou have been rear ended, means 99.9 percent not your fault so I wouldn't even bother contacting your Insurance Co. Just claim directly on thiers and if need be get an Insurance Assesor on their case, might not get much more for the car but your be better off in your pocket for things like loss of earnings, car hire fees, etc, that way you can also still keep your no claims intact.

[BgBLizard]

Cheers Entwood noted

[BgBLizard]

Thanks I have seen so many people out of pocket recently with car claims.

Andy

[LC0112G]

If you want to keep the car, do-not let it out of your possession. If it was recovered to a bodyshop or other garage, get it back to your own property ASAP. Keep it off road if it's no longer road legal. Why....

Somone rear-ended my miggy a few years back - the Aubergene Dream Machine. Some silly bint in a Frod Ka skidded into the back of me whilst I was waiting at some traffic lights. Anyway, next morning i dropped it off at the local Bodyshop. I fuilled in the insurance forms, and one of the questions was about disposal. I crossed that section out, and wrote in big bold letters that under NO circumstanced was the car to be removed from the premises without my permission.

A letter arrived on the Friday. Unfortunatley I was away abroad on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. When I got back Sunday night, I opened the letter, and it said to get round the bodyshop pronto to remove personal belongings as the car was being written off.

I went round Monday morning to drive the car away back to my home. At first I was told the car was 'round the back' - but I couldn't find it. Then they looked a bit more deeply into the 'puter, and Universal Salvage had arrived on Saturday morning and taken it away. I was Livid.

I kicked up and almighty stink, thretening to call the police because the car had been "Taken without owners Permission". I think I had Universal Salvage, the insurers and the bodyshop all dead to rights because i had copies of all the documentation. In the end I settled for (IIRC) £3000. Which I was happy with cos I'd only paid £2K for it in the first place - I was expecting a sub £1K offer.

Anyway - moral of the story - If you want to keep a write off, make sure you keep the vehicle on your own property, and under your own control.

Cheers
Malcolm

[BgBLizard]

Hi All

Thanks for all your help

I have been offered £850 less £112.50 for keeping the car. It was valued at £1000 and they took £150 off for pre-accident damage (rust on rear wheel arch) Its now a category C.

I would like to ask what would be the best way of maxamising the return on the car the local scrap yards have come back with £110-150 but I feel that as it has a longlife exhaust and a manual box would it realise more advertised.

If somebody could steer me in the right direction it would be appreciated as the more have back the more I can spend on my next Mig

Andy

[Elite Pete]

Cats are worth about £50 each if they're genuine Vauxhall. Gearbox on its own is pretty worthless as the manual one is tough, if you remove all the stuff needed for an auto/manual conversion you might get a few bob for it but you could be sat on it for  quite a while.

[BgBLizard]

Cheers Pete

Thanks for that would the stainless exhaust be worth much its been on for 50k.

Andy