OUCH (& ouch again)!

Did you have an agreed valuation?

These insurance people really try and stiff you. I had an Audi A4 which was immaculate and FASH but because the mileage was 175,000 the deducted a fair bit. something like £100 per thousand miles over average. I had to argue my the case. They even tried to say there was loads of similar cars for the valuation. but they were not comparing like for like, I had a 2.8 V6 of which there was only 10 advertised for sale in the country, they were looking at the lower spec 1.8 models.

What I would recommend in preparation for their valuation/offer is to go on carandclassic, autotrader, club magazine and find similar cars to your own so you could justify a proper valuation.

Always decline the first couple of offers.

Colin
 
Thanks for the advice Colin. The only value shown on the certificate is £2000, although this is not an agreed valuation.

In a way this surely must not constrian me; as you advise I will look up current retail values of similar cars & play hard ball. After all, it wasn't my fault & I've got a previously (almost) unmolested car now with repairs to do. :(
 
The phrase they use is MARKET VALUE. Basically 40 years old car is judged along side every modern car so in the same way that a 10 years old fiesta is worth a few hundred they use the same rules for classics. Which is why you should always get and Agreed Valuation.

It is in their interests to mark cars down not up and will try to apply any rules that they can. I am sure you will be ready for them. Good luck Phil.

Colin
 
Had a call from "Coparts" this morning trying to arrange a time to pick up my 'damaged Rover' on instruction of my insurance company! :? I asked why & was told it was to take it to secure storage.

I said I wasn't releasing the car (based on various posts to this forum :D ) & when asked "why", I said it was my car & I wanted to keep control of it! The caller then said words to the effect of 'OK, thank-you, goodbye', so I'm not sure what the fuss was about.

I was concerned that it would end up in a compound many miles away, me getting offered a paltry settlement & not getting my car back. Especially concerning, since the accident was NOT my fault. :x

Incidentally, having now looked them up; 'Coparts' is a salvage operation & the nearest depot is 50 miles away.
 
Hi Phil. As far as I figure out your accident, you cannot say that "it is not my fault" so loud.

In fact, it is not your fault to have been hit from behind, but it is your fault to have hit the car in front of you. You must be paid for the damages on your car's boot, but you have to pay for the damages to the car in front as well as your own damages on your car's front.


At least in Spain it would be this way. I guess in England it is the same.



Regards
 
When the car that rams you up the arse so hard, it forces you into the rear of the car you were safely stopped behind,then it is not your fault,it is the fault of the driver that rammed you up the arse!
They will be liable for all damage caused!
My brother was waiting at traffic lights behind 2 other cars when he was hit from behind by a 3.5t van,causing a billiard ball effect,and the 2 cars in front of him were also badly damaged as well.
The van drivers insurance had to pay out for all 3 vehicles damaged.
It was filmed on cctv,and clearly showed the van driver at fault.
 
pilkie said:
it is not your fault,it is the fault of the driver that rammed you
Click to expand...

Good luck with this Phil. Keep on working through your insurance company and remember when you are dealing with them "Fault" is often a very subjective thing. Blame can be apportioned or claimed but from a process perspective they may not care, the 'sandwiched' car is the one that links any claims together depending on insurance terms & companies involved of course. It may be recognized as not your fault - (make sure you're not going to pay deductables or lose any no-claims) and that this is reflected & clearly stated somewhere but there will be an established process they all follow for this sort of situation.

The insurance company of the car that your vehicle hit likely only has recourse to/through your ins. co.& in turn yours is responsible to work with them for the damage your car did cause. That may be regardless of fault but as part of their process, they will go after the offending party's ins. co. for damages sustained to both vehicles. Bottom line, the ins. co. of the offending vehicle may be ultimately be liable for damage to all three vehicles although your ins. co. may settle-up with the vehicle you struck & then go after the person that hit you. I think a slight exception may be where an individual (assuming their ins. contract does not waive the right), may directly go after (decide to sue) the offending vehicle's owner.

Keep good documentation, photos, police reports, transcripts of conversations you've had (when, where, whom & what said) etc as well as any detailed records of out-of-pocket you may incur directly attributable to the accident. Some people in accidents also get checked out physically for whip-lash too depending on the circumstances but hopefully you're not heading to litigation city.

All the best,

Paul
 
The matter is not so clear, Pilkie. Or at least not for me.

Because the insurance company of the car in front could claim that the sandwiched car was stopped/parked too close to the rear of the car.

In Spain the insurance company of the car that has the damage on the front pays to the car which has the damage on the rear. It's that simple.

Of course every case is different and liable to discuss, but this is the normal rule.


Very understandable, IMHO.


Regards
 
Shazzbat said:
The matter is not so clear, Pilkie. Or at least not for me.
Because the insurance company of the car in front could claim that the sandwiched car was stopped/parked too close to the rear of the car.
Regards
Click to expand...
Different countries ins co's have different ways of dealing with these things!!
Some take the view that you are 100% guilty unless you can prove otherwise!
All depends on how hard you are hit up the arse,you could be 50 ft away and still be forced into the car in front.
The victims insurance companies will inevitably go for the guy who caused it and has also admitted to it as well!

Phil.
Well done on not letting that breaker get hold of the car.
It could of been a bit of a conman looking for storage fees out of insurance!! :wink:
And most definately dont let the car out of your sight,and dont let the ins penalise you for what is not your fault!
 
That old girl will go again .... bootlid, front and rear valences, nsr wing and a set of bumpers. Looks a nice old girl .... it is such a shame when things like this happen .... the problem is, is that insurance companies write the car off given the expense of rare brand new panels and obviously labour.

Have you thought about buying the salvage back! State to the insurance company that you "wish to retain the salvage". Often, they let you buy it back at silly money, then scour ebay and pals in the club for good panels. Bootlids are peanuts, rear valences are available in glass from Classeparts and wings new from "Roly" on here. Get a good panel beater to square the rear up again, send the panels to paint and refit it yourself in half a day.

Still very disheartening, but rest assured she will be up and about soon enough. Trouble is, the car will be on the hit list .... but if you intend to keep it, who cares. You will probaby find they will give you your £2k and knock £500 off for salvage/excess .... use the rest to repair it. As for the wing touching the nsr door .... all it has done is moved forward .... dont try and open the rear door as you will damage the paint... undo the retaining bolts in the boot and pull the wing back. Good luck.
 
TwinPlenum3500S said:
That old girl will go again ....
Click to expand...

Yes she will :) . I have stated that I want to keep the car, so salvage shoud be an option if it goes down that route.

Thanks for your comments everyone; it's a real pity that this original & straight ser 1 V8 will now have a recorded accident - I hadn't thought about that aspect. Especially as it was not my fault (above comments noted, though :wink: ), & the damage is not dangerous or safety related.
 
Yes, but most people would expect a 40 year old car to have seen action ... just keep the pics for the future in case you do sell it, to show people it was light damage and you didnt have to weld two halves together to get out of trouble :wink:
 
Just chatting to a friend in the trade about the salvage call & he says that he suspects the insurers may be intending to write the car off already.

Surely as long as I keep hold of it, whilst it may well get recorded as a financial write-off, it isn't a safety-reasons write-off & so at the worst I could get a settlement a repair it myself? :?

I just can't understand why my insurers didn't advise me of the call supposedly made at their instruction. :?
 
Firstly they assume that the car is accumilating storage charges, so want it removed to stop those increasing, it never occurs to them that it may still be with you being stored FOC, and secondly, as I said earlier, once you lose control of the car they have the upper hand in any negotiations, so hang on to it at all costs. You need a settlement that will enable you to repair the car to the condition it was prior to the incident, the ins co will only price it up using new parts, which will inevitably render it a "write off" as far as they are concerned. You can either accept a cash settlement agreement which includes keeping the car, and repair it yourself, or nominate a repairer who can negotiate on your behalf to agree a "contract repair" which would involve the use of a combination of new and used parts to get the car back as it was previously.

Always remember, it's your car, not the insurance company's
 
It is because of the nature of the car there is a problem. A late car, smashed up and written off, will see its owner only to keen to see the thing collected and gone. This car, given its age and scarcity of panels new, is a financial write off with only minimal damage. The thing is, unlike 99% of the population, you are attched to the car. As such, it is always important to make sure you have SALVAGE RETENTION rights on any insurance policy for exactly this reason.

I have had this 3 times in the past. Driving about in lateish rover Mini Coopers a number of years ago, I wrote off two of the Coopers and my wife the third. All were paid out and full and I retained the salvage each time. Only once did I fight to keep the salvage on a real late Sportspak model. Sometimes they can be funny, but mostly see it as a way of saving on the cost of collection by a recovery firm and on storage charges until the case is sorted.

Importantly, see what kind of offer they are willing to pay on the car. See what sort of price the salvage is. Then make your decision from there, but explain early on you wish to retain the salvage and are not willing to release it until a figure on total payout and salvage cost is made. Good luck ....... get pricing them panels up :)
 
A bootlid is £10 on ebay, a new wing £150, rear valence £40 from Alan and good second hand front valence about £45 (try Winns) ---- thats £250, plus a pair of bumpers, say £200 for blinders (£450) ----- a penel is £125 each to paint --- £500!! Thats £900 ... loads of scope there for someone to bang the arse back into shape!

If its £2k to repair, drive it down to London and ill do the job :wink:
 
TwinPlenum3500S said:
A bootlid is £10 on ebay, a new wing £150, rear valence £40 from Alan and good second hand front valence about £45 (try Winns) ---- thats £250, plus a pair of bumpers, say £200 for blinders (£450) ----- a penel is £125 each to paint --- £500!! Thats £900 ... loads of scope there for someone to bang the arse back into shape!

If its £2k to repair, drive it down to London and ill do the job :wink:
Click to expand...

Yes - I get your drift :D . I was pricing up with NOS items where possible (which presumably the insurers will have to do) together with a professional respray of replaced panels.

In actual fact, I've got all the parts I need in my collection (except a good rear valence) but don't want to use them up as I need some of them for my other projects or indeed just want them as spares.

Also, did I mention it was NOT my fault! :LOL:
 
CoPart is , I believe , the new name for Universal Salvage . Normally they pull in written-off vehicles and either the Insurer inspects there or some Insurers let CoPart do the valuation .Then it's in their interests to downvalue the car as they pay a fixed % for the salvage.

I agree with everyone saying to keep the salvage and see what the best offer is .They can't put it on the total loss register with a serious category - it is repairable

On the topic of liabilty the car that hit Phil in the rear might say that Phil had already hit the car in front before the impact into the rear took place. I've seen it happen in my 39 years as an insurance claims investigator (currently redundant )
 
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