W210 car crash dilemma!

[coneybiller]

Well after spending a LOT of money on my W210 320cdi, I ended up in a prang...

On my way to work the other night, I pulled into a filter lane to make a right turn off of a main road into a side road. There was a car waiting at the junction to turn right. There was nothing coming on the main road, so I started pulling into the side road (around the waiting car) and the car that was waiting, somehow didn't see me and pulled off, smashing into the side of my car!

The drivers side rear door is completely stoved in and the drivers door has a slight bend and scratch. The wheel arch has a slight scratch also. The sill hasn't been touched and doesn't appear to be bent in any way. The B pillar also appears to not be affected, although I think the hinges are bent or possibly where they attach to the B pillar, could be affected but not sure. The rear door is quite out of shape and is pushed back slightly. The front door is slightly bent out at the bottom, so not sure if the hinges are bent there too! Both doors open/close without too much effort and the rear window still goes up and down fine (slight rubbing inside at lower travel).

Now I'm pretty certain it was not my fault, and after I had calmed down and had run out of expletives, we swapped details and that was that. I phoned my insurance company the next day to start proceedings. Only now I'm not so sure its a good idea, going through the rigmarole when my car probably isn't worth a lot of money in terms of market value. As said before, I've spent a lot of money on the car so I'm now not sure as to what course of action to take.

Do I:

A) Cancel (if possible) my insurance claim as they've not even taken or arranged to take the car off of me as of yet; and keep it and buy 2 doors off of eBay and be done with it?

B) Take what little insurance money I get and be done with it?

C) Go through the insurance and take the money and buy the car back off them if classed as a Cat D/C and repair it myself?

Obviously I have to deduct as well, the rest of my insurance premiums (£350) and if the decision falls out of my favour (which it won't), £300 excess. Leaving me, with around a payout of £400 maybe more (if I'm lucky).

I have parts for the car sat in boxes ready to be fitted (yet more money). Im not sure what to do!!!!!!

 

[PobodY]

I'd let the insurance deal with it myself. - It's never quite as good when you try to fix things like this yourself, and the insurance route will include getting the panels resprayed to match the car.

You don't know that they're going to declare it a write-off until it happens; if you think it's economically reparable, perhaps they will too.

 

[Steveml63]

Hi,
I think it's too late to retract the insurance claim.
Even if you don't now use your insurance company to fix the car - they still have the accident on record and will use this information for future premiums.
As this is the case - you might as well let them deal with it and if uneconomic to repair, you can negotiate on the value they offer and the buyback cost.
Now would be a good time to find adverts for similar cars with similar condition and mileage - to help you counter their normal undervaluing of your car!
Cheers
Steve

 

[coneybiller]

I find it economically viable to repair, due to the fact I can buy a pair of doors in the same colour (obviously not 100% match) for £150. Including everything. They wouldn't put 2nd hand parts on the vehicle hence the right off.
I've browsed prices and it's looking to be around the 1000 to 1200 mark. Which is bad news considering I paid 1900 just under a year ago and have probably sank £1500 into it over that year!
I'm thinking that now I've started the ball rolling with the insurance claim, it is probably too late like you say. It also pains me that I'll have no car for a good while, while it's being valuated etc. Hence another part of my hesitation and dilemma! Typically, I only just renewed my insurance on the 15th of this month and didn't tick the courtesy car option, I'm now regretting that!!

 

[Delayed Steve]

It's down to what the car is worth to you... The insurance company is almost certainly going to write it off, my car was damaged at work during storm Doris ,just a scratch and broken mirror case and that's £1200 !
I think I'd repair it myself and try to get them not to categorize it C or D, it does put people off when you come to sell it.
Good luck.

 

[219]

Whatever you do - DO NOT let them take the car away . Once it is taken away it is less likely you will ever see it again .

Have their assessor come out to look at it , then see what they offer . You don't have to accept their offer , you don't have to go with their choice of repairer and you don't have to claim - you can tell them you have notified them of the incident as required contractually and leave it there .

It is worth contacting the other insurer as sometimes they will offer a settlement which avoids the charges of hire cars and repairs being marked up by the other side ( your insurer ) before they get the chance to pay .

If you're handy and can get the two doors for £150 that seems a good option to me - the other driver , in the cold light of day , might even pay that to avoid an insurance claim .

Do make sure hinges aren't damaged ( they might just have moved and can be realigned , or it might just be the doors are distorted ) - you could let the engineer from your insurance examine the car and see what he says , then decide how to proceed .

 

[219]

You can cancel a claim at any time and change to notification only .

Even though you have no hire car on your own insurance , the other side may offer one if they accept their driver at fault - only to the point settlement offered and accepted - it is cheaper for them to provide a car than be fleeced by the other side .

You can absolutely ask for a contract repair using used parts to keep the cost down , or accept a settlement in lieu of repairs without the car being written off .

 

[wu56Shoozz]

Oh No!!

Really gutted for ya.. as I like your car.. remember also not to take the first offer the insurance make.. haggle, show them receipts etc, demonstrate how much it meant to you and of course the fact that you'll not be able to get as good a replacement car for what they offer.. I did this with a girlfriends car, tailended on the M8 in a que of traffic, person that hit her was texting.. It was a Fiesta with 18k on the clock & one owner. Somehow at low speed the chassis got twisted and you could place the nearside front wheel down on the ground and the rear offside lifted.. long story short, after 3 offers and two engineers reports she settled and got £800 better than the original offer of a grand!

Stick to yer guns Amigo!

 

[bob6600]

You may retract the claim however they will note it as an incident (not claim) and it will remain on your insurance. They can/will use this against you as the incident took place.

They will probably write it off so look at getting a payout and buying it back

 

[219]

It is YOUR car , and if you don't wish to sell it to them you don't have to - you can ask for a settlement below write off value in lieu of repairs - so no question of 'buy it back' and no write off recorded .

You are better , if you can , putting this to the other party and they can settle with you without a claim being made against your own insurance .

You have to notify your insurer regardless of claiming or not , but you can keep your claims record , and NCD , intact . They may still weight against you at renewal , but for a single , non fault incident most insurers won't .

 

[coneybiller]

So I can basically ask them to bring an assessor to my house to inspect the car where it stands? Instead of them taking it away?
Then ask the 3rd party insurers if they will settle outside of my claim?

 

[jonny705]

Hi was involved in a hit and run rear ender at traffic lights in my Accord last year.


Car is a 2006 but only 80k and was minted condition, I spent over 2k on suspension and brake upgrade so was really gutted.


I would be amazed if they don't write yours off, as they price it with genuine parts , my accord was about 3k in parts alone, so knew they would write it off.


If you inform the Insurance assessor you want to buy it back , I read it was your right to do so as long it's not totally wreaked.


They will pay you the bottom book , but I checked on net for a few weeks at adverts for similar cars as mine, and noted their prices as a bargaining tool, but he offered me a decent price.
You have the right to a dispute the value but you have to be realistic,they simply base the age and milage and book it at that.


Even if they take your car away, until you have formally agreed an outcome they cannot' keep it' as such.


Mine was drivable so just left it at repair place and a few days later the guy phoned me.


Was beyond economic repair, so offered me 3k , said that I wanted the car back , no problem.
They valued scrap at £600 so I bought it back for that think cat D .


I wanted to keep car anyway, as has no faults left -any I have repaired ,so 100% reliable-plus have owned it for years and look after it and had lots of expensive upgrades.


Ended up with £3000- scrap value@600=£2600 - loss of £350 excess as classed as my fault , total in bank £2050 plus my car back.


You will pay more insurance regardless at re-newal even if it not your fault, was about £50 for me.


Pulled slight dent out of body with my landys winch heated the inner bumper and bashed it back into shape-and a few other bits of bashing and spent total of £10 on new plastic fixings for the removed panels.


And put the 2k towards Vito which recently bought- so ended up okay in end for me, but I was wound up for weeks regarding hit and run as Police/witnesses/Insurance simply DO NOT care.

 

[219]

So I can basically ask them to bring an assessor to my house to inspect the car where it stands? Instead of them taking it away?
Then ask the 3rd party insurers if they will settle outside of my claim?

Yes , when my W124 was written off in my driveway ( uninsured driver crashed through my garden wall and sandwiched car against wall of house ) I informed my insurer straight away , they said they would arrange collection , which I declined , then a short time later I had recovery company on the phone saying they had been instructed to uplift car - I told them I was keeping car and not to come .

Although the car was indisputably beyond repair I stated I wanted to keep it for parts , which they said they did not 'permit' . I pointed out it was MY car and I would be keeping it .

Assessor came out to my house and agreed the car was beyond repair due to extent of damage to bodyshell , which I agreed with , and reiterated that insurer ( Direct Line ) would not allow purchase of salvage 'for environmental reasons' .

My car was severely damaged with back end squashed significantly in on both sides after car coming through my wall at approx 50 mph and ramming it into my house on the other side , but it still contained many parts which were useful to me for my other cars .

I held my ground and refused to accept their derisory settlement of a few hundred pounds , broke the car myself getting just shy of £2K for the parts I sold off , keeping what parts I wanted to hold onto , then weighed in the shell at the local breaker .

You don't need tp 'sell' your car to your insurer , are under no obligation to do so , and the 'buy it back' scenario does not need to arise . They won't like it , and will try to persuade you otherwise , but no one can force you to sell something that belongs to you against your will .

You can decline your own insurer's offer and go after the other party directly for the reasonable cost of repairs - in your case a couple of hundred for secondhand doors on a £1K - £2K car . If it went as far as small claims court you would win hands down on that basis .

Don't be bullied .

 

[coneybiller]

Well I had a phone call today from a 3rd party company, who were tasked with arranging collection of my car. So I said I don't want the car collected and that it's still perfectly driveable. I said I would like an assessor to come to me instead. They were fine with it but had to relay the information back to my insurer. So I'm going to ring them tomorrow and explain.
I've also called the other parties insurer, who have told me that the incident was not reported to them. I have now reported the incident with them and they are going to contact the person. She said, it sounds like that it will be pretty clear cut and that it'll be a non fault accident on my behalf. BUT, if he contests it (which I'm almost certain he will, based on his excuses and body language at the scene) then it'll have the be investigated further!

 

[coneybiller]

Another update today. The 3rd party accepted liability (which I'm pleasantly surprised about!)! His insurance is taking over proceedings and I'm going through them. They're sending an assessor to me which I didn't even ask for, and they also offer a settlement in lieu of repairs option. They require an assessor to view and assess the damage before they offer the "lieu of repairs" option though. But either way my car will not be going off anywhere I'm not happy with! They'll even give me a courtesy car (focus or Astra) which I'm happy with considering I didn't tick that option on my insurance!
I must say, I'm most impressed with his insurer (Hastings direct) and also the helpfulness of my insurer (1st Central). First class customer service and friendly staff

 

[coneybiller]

Well the engineer visited on friday. He has officially written the car off as Cat C. Ive phoned the insurance company and they have paid out £1350 and I get to keep the car. I'm more than happy with that result as its much more than I thought I was going to get. They've told me that the car can still remain in use as its only cosmetic.

I've sourced 2 doors in the same colour and pending pictures, I shall hopefully have them soon enough for fitment. It will also leave me with enough cash to do some other things to the car which have been bugging me!

Although the car is Cat C, I'm not fussed, as i'll be running it into the ground any way. All in all, I'm happy!

 

[wu56Shoozz]

Result!