Drat!

[tron]

Blind woman drove into the back of the Merc today. It is a write off, rear door shuts have closed up, driver's seat belt sprung and SRS lamp on.
Another fine S202 to the scrappy.
It hasn't been a good day.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Blimey. Sad day for you indeed.

Hope no one was hurt.

 

[leef44]

OMG!
Hope no one is hurt and everyone is ok.
For that amount of damage that must have been quite a big shunt. What that at high speed?

 

[tron]

Hit the towbar. Car stationary at junction. Due to its age, insurance won't give courtesy car as it is likely to be a write off and they are going to take my car away before offering me a settlement. I am inclined to say no on principle and demand its return but I shall wait for the offer first.

 

[leef44]

Sorry to hear that. Grab all your gear and any parts which can be sold on ebay out of the car. Once they take it away for their loss adjuster, you won't see it again.

I was gutted when I once put four new tyres on my car at a cost of over £600 and then it was written off soon after. The loss adjuster said those are just consumable parts and did not allow for any increase in value for that.

I'm not saying leave it on bricks before they take your car away. I'm just giving an example of how crude they can be in valuing your car.

 

[GeeJayW]

Ooh, not good! I hope your neck is not too stiff.

Good luck with the insurance company.

 

[tron]

Thanks, just a snatch from the belt tensioner and a bump on the nut from the steering wheel.

Right. onward. Don't like the W203. Cannot afford anything later.
Looking for a good S202. Leather, Diesel and Aircon, naturally.
After that 250 motor, how will I like the 220CDI?

 

[Vintage Racer]

Blind woman drove into the back of the Merc today. It is a write off, rear door shuts have closed up, driver's seat belt sprung and SRS lamp on.
Another fine S202 to the scrappy.
It hasn't been a good day.

Did she try to sell you any blinds?

 

[zipdip]

Bad luck,it must have been a decent shunt to stop the rear doors opening,still nobody injured or are you feeling poorly,it can sometimes take 24 hrs before the effects of a rear end impact comes out.

 

[tron]

Hope not. I'm off to Bruges on the QM2 tomorrow. Mrs has been looking forward to it since Christmas and I could just use a large Belgian beer!

 

[Rayny]

Your insurance might not provide a courtesy car - but the other persons insurance company might be of help to you in these circumstances. Alternatively, if you have legal cover you can get them to sort one out for you.

 

[grober]

The direct injection 4 valve 220 OM611 123bhp with turbo should be fine altho slightly down on power on the indirect injection 5 cylinder 250 OM605 it has fractionally more torque at 300Nm--its the turbo-less early diesels that were a bit agricultural if long lived.
Because the 4 is direct injection watch for the dreaded "black death" leakage from the injectors.

 

[tron]

123 BHP? I want to travel in it, not deliver milk!
That one is out of the question then.
Funnily enough, the 2.7 seems to be cheaper on both insurance and VED.
It also has a good bit more power but I really don't like the S203.

 

[clk320x]

Shame about the car, glad you are not injured

I do like the S202, and I also am not a fan of the W203

Why not a W211? Those can be picked up for not too much

W210s are nice but most are rusted to bits so you'll need to look carefully

 

[tron]

Thanks. The 210 has never appealed, is the 211 significantly better?

 

[clk320x]

Thanks. The 210 has never appealed, is the 211 significantly better?

I think the S211 looks nice, you are after an estate right?

The estates are dearer than the saloons

 

[markjay]

Your insurance might not provide a courtesy car - but the other persons insurance company might be of help to you in these circumstances. Alternatively, if you have legal cover you can get them to sort one out for you.

Correct - if it's the other drivers fault, then you are entitled to have all reasonable expenses covered in full, including courtesy car.

Incidentally, you should report the accident to your own insurer, but you are not meant to have any further dealing with them - instead you are supposed to sort this directly with the other party's insurer, unless the other party is uninsured or does not accept liability.

I have done this when another driver hit my wife's car - i.e. I notified our own insurer but claimed directly from the other party's insurer. They could not be nicer or more efficient... because whatever the pay you will be far less than what it will cost them if you decided to involve one of them accident management companies.

 

[tron]

Thank you. I'll call them when I get back.

 

[markjay]

Thank you. I'll call them when I get back.

In fact... if the other driver informed her own insurer... they are likely to call you very very quickly - they would want to settle your claim before you rake up any more expenses or bills.

 

[kid-jensen]

The bugger is that you now have an accident on your record, which to an insurance company (yours) means you are a higher risk.

Very simplistic, but that's the way they think.

Expect to have a conversation with some meerkats come renewl time, or the premium will almost certainly go up.