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I dont want my car to get written off

... but it sounds like they want to evade paying out for the repair.

They will try to find any excuse to not pay out/reduce payment. Remember that insurance is 'faith' based, ie you declare that the car is as you say it is and they believe you, so when it comes to paying out they then check up on you and the car. You have promised to keep the car MOT'd, Taxed, serviced and in roadworthy condition. You've also promised to tell the insurance company if you make any changes etc.

Now is the time to scrutinise the small print of your policy!!!

They don't do it deliberately they are just following their T's&C's (you know, those things we rarely read when we take out insurance!)

You will have to declare the accident/repair whether you fix it yourself or get a garage to do it. Personally, I would probably fix the car myself with good quality 2nd hand bits as previously mentioned.
 

I'm not worried about the car getting categorised D or C, because i know it wont, the damage is no where near that bad. Its just a shattered bumper and a small dented chip on the bonnet. the bonnet hasn't even crumpled.

this is going to require some weekend thought :)
 
Roadcraft : The System Of Car Control - EVERY action must be preceeded by use of the mirrors ; it is just as important to know what is happening behind you as it is in front . The Highway Code is only a book of advice aimed at novice drivers and is not definitive nor law .

Whilst I agree completely with what you have said about use of mirrors, it was your use of "MUST" in the original post that I was querying. AFAIK Roadcraft has even less legal standing than the Highway Code?

It would surely be preferable to run over a dog than to have your child in the back seat wiped out by the truck behind that could not stop as quickly as you ? Never mind who is to 'blame' .

Certainly. However slamming on the brakes would probably be a reflex (no matter how irrational) for a large percentage of the population. A friend of mine was nearly decapitated by iron railings after swerving to avoid a fox that ran out at night.
 
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A friend of mine was nearly decapitated by iron railings after swerving to avoid a fox that ran out at night.

I would've ran it over.
 
I would've ran it over.

Rationally, so would I.

But for most people the immediate instinct is to try and avoid hitting something that suddenly appears in front of you.
 
I'm not worried about the car getting categorised D or C, because i know it wont, the damage is no where near that bad. Its just a shattered bumper and a small dented chip on the bonnet. the bonnet hasn't even crumpled.

this is going to require some weekend thought :)

I don't believe you will even get that - thought these Cat's were for badly damaged vehicles? I believe someone posted them last week....?
 
Also one question:

If the insurance was to write it off, and i bought it back off them, would i be able to repair it and put it back on the road and re-insure it?

Yes - but when you sell the car, anyone who does a HPI check will see it was an insurance write-off.

Also, going over your milage may be an issue... some insurance companies go as far as saying you are breaching your T&C thus rendering your insurance invalid...

M.
 
Also, going over your milage may be an issue... some insurance companies go as far as saying you are breaching your T&C thus rendering your insurance invalid...

Good point, I rang directline this week to update my mileage, and I was told by them that there is no tolerance for going over it...
 
Good point, I rang directline this week to update my mileage, and I was told by them that there is no tolerance for going over it...

There must surely be some tolerance - it's an estimate, after all. But in this case it's nearly double the declared annual mileage, which I think would be pushing it.
 
I don't believe you will even get that - thought these Cat's were for badly damaged vehicles? I believe someone posted them last week....?

My Astra just had a little ding in the rear above the bumper and a cracked light and they worte it off Cat D the garage they sent me to priced the repair at £3000 which was a grand more than the car was worth. I bought it back off insurance bought a new rear light knocked out the dent got the car VIC'd (all cars written off must go through a VIC before they can be brought back on the road) and drove it for another few years before selling it, the buyer knew it was a CAT D repaired car.
 
There must surely be some tolerance - it's an estimate, after all. But in this case it's nearly double the declared annual mileage, which I think would be pushing it.

On my classic car insurance I phoned them up and they said if I go over the specified amount without telling them then I revert to TP only insurance.

I mentioned I was going over and they said no problem.

Dave!
 
It looks i'm going to repair it myself anyway.... i can replace parts without problems...there's no brains involved... bolt-on bolt-off and i have my trusty haynes manual! ;)

I was looking at 230 kompressors with similar mileage to mine and they are around the £2800 mark, which is extremely close to the price of the repair bill. Hence my worry. (I do worry too much, i know)
 
It looks i'm going to repair it myself anyway.... i can replace parts without problems...there's no brains involved... bolt-on bolt-off and i have my trusty haynes manual! ;)

I was looking at 230 kompressors with similar mileage to mine and they are around the £2800 mark, which is extremely close to the price of the repair bill. Hence my worry. (I do worry too much, i know)

I will echo my point earlier if 230's that havent been written off and repaired are worth £2800

How much is one that has been written off and repaired by the owner on the cheap worth???

Of course you might not have any plans to ever sell the car but its not just if you sell it but it the car really does get written off by a thrid party or gets stolen you will get a very low settlement figure from the insurance company

Not trying to be harsh but you need to factor that into your sums
 
Another development;

The guy from prestige allparts ltd told me that he has about 200 odd mercs in his yard and it'd be very hard for him to determine the exact colour that i wanted, but if i told him 'dark blue' say, then he'd try his best to send me a dark blue one.

He did also say that it might have chips or scratches on it (bonnet or bumper), and to be honest, i dont care if the bumper has scratches, but if the bonnet did, i would find that unacceptable.

Do you think its worth it to drive up there and have a look for myself? Oldham is quite far though...
 
Lots of different ' dark blues ' in MB's colour chart ... ;) Azurite blue is a dark blue but it's not the right one .... Yours is ' Emerald green ' by the way.

If you are going to have to have it sprayed anyway , just get any colour one from a local breaker and not have to worry about dicking around drving hundred of miles or paying hundreds of pounds postage.
 
Lets say i knew the owner of a body repair garage, and i wanted him to repair my car with those particular parts from a breakers, then wouldn't that be a much cheaper way of getting the insurance company to pay for my damage without having to write my car off?
 
Lets say i knew the owner of a body repair garage, and i wanted him to repair my car with those particular parts from a breakers, then wouldn't that be a much cheaper way of getting the insurance company to pay for my damage without having to write my car off?

Whilst an insurer may have approved bodyshops they use, you should be able to express a preference, providing that the cost is not a mickey take. The insurer is more likely to send out an assessor though, to make sure they're not getting screwed.
 
I'm not worried about the car getting categorised D or C, because i know it wont, the damage is no where near that bad. Its just a shattered bumper and a small dented chip on the bonnet. the bonnet hasn't even crumpled.

this is going to require some weekend thought :)

If the insurance writes the car off, ie its a total loss and your paid marker value for it, the vehicle will be a Cat C or D. Most older cars tend to go on as a Cat C, and a catD would suggest the car is still economical to repair. A catC means the car is uneconomical to repair, with this car being in that category.
 
How does insurance work on a CAT C?

does that mean only third party as a pay out has already been made?
 

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