should my car be a write off?

[calcon2]

I had a car crash that was my fault, i pulled out of a side road and had a collision with another car. My insurance company have taken the car to their accident repair centre and informed me the car can be repaired and will be ready in 10 days. My partner (who did not see the car damaged as it was taken away from the accident spot) rang the repair centre to find out what damage i actually did! He was told there was �2093 pounds worth of damage including new bumper, grill, wing, bonnet, headlights, 2 new wheels, respray, etc etc. I was told by a friend that if a cars damage amounts to more than 60% of the market value of a car it was usually written off. As my car is a 1.2 renault clio on a T registration with high miles and not in the best of condition for its age, (looking in the auto mags i could only sell for �1800-�2000 Max) why are they repairing it when the damage is �2093?? I was glad it was repairable at first, but now am not sure i want to drive my kids around in a car that has suffered that much damage. Does anybody know if I can request they look at it again and make it a write off? 

[Gef]

Sorry to hear about your crash however you could be lucky. The insurance company will only have it repaired if there is no major structural damage and so you should not worry about driving it in future. Also, if it is written off you would probably get offered no where near the re-sale value and so would not be able to buy a similar car. My advice would be to get the repairs done.

[MORELLO]

My advice would be to not. That sounds like a lot of damage, especially if renewing wheels is neccessary. Your car must have taken some hit, which will have affected the steering. I had a similar accident years ago and the car was never quite the same to drive even after competent repairs were made. If the market value of your car is around �2000, the same as repair costs, take the money as a write off and invest in a new car. Don't let the garage have it, with you getting a 'repaired' car and the insurance company clawing back the money through increased premiums. After all, that's all insurance companies are - loan companies. They always get their money back, so better from you wth a new car than the garage.

[MORELLO]

Forgot to say, in my experience and people I have known, money paid out for write offs has always been pretty much the same as re-sale value. Besides, you can also reject the offer. Good luck, and remember to look left and right!

[jake-the-peg]

I'm really rather surprised that they're repairing it. It might be that the claims department think they're being really customer focussed and it's what you'd want.

I wouldn't worry about the car's repairs if it's being done at a reputable place, but if it's being repaired it sounds as if they may have placed a value on it higher than you have so it might be worth talking to them about it being written off as you may be able to get a good deal.

Remember that you only get to find out how good an insurance company is when you come to make a claim and if you get any resistance drop that into the conversation :c).

If you got your insurance company through a boker my advice would be to try to speak directly to the claims department of the underwriters, my experience has mostly been that they've been very approachable.

I guess the bottom line is work out exactly what you want and ask them for it.

[apex204]

As I work for an Insurer I ought to know the answer to this. An insurer will only write off a vehicle if it is deemed unroadworthy. Write offs come into four categories, ones where the repair is valued at more than the vehicle itself (which sounds like your case), ones where the vehicle will be broken down for parts, and ones where the vehicle is so badly damaged that it needs to be crushed. So, if what you say is true, you should be getting a cheque from your insurer for �2000. With regards to getting the full payout of your car, bare in mind that they will deduct the excess from your payout. Aside from this, any reputable insurer (such as the one I work for) should indemnify the vehicle for its full value on the open market, which means to say that you should be able to buy the same make and model, of similar age and condition from a motor trader or a private seller, and not have to pay anything towards the transaction yourself.