Insurance write-off? Advice please folks...

[DJCarlos]

Morning all,

My wife was driving her beloved '88 Scala yesterday morning, when some little nob in a company Audi raced off from the lights and smashed into the her.

This shunted her into the car in front - they were stationary at the time.

So, our 60,000 mile, lovely condition motor with it's two-month old £1500 auto box rebuild and brand new Weber carb has been trashed.

I've only seen pics as it's gone off to be assessed, front end doesn't look too bad at all - the bumper has been pushed 'up' on one side, one underhanging fog light is smashed and one of the full-beam lenses is smashed.

Back end is a bit of a mess though - bumper and bodykit seem fine, number plate isn't even cracked, windows all intact - both light clusters are smashed (but I have spares), it's the metal I'm worried about. The rear panel on the passenger side is creased and folded nicely, bit of paint flaked-off, panel below the boot is bent it and dented but the boot still shuts and locks.

Question is....it it just needs a load of panel-beating and a bit of respraying, is that likely to cost the earth and get it written off?

If so, can we keep the car and get it repaired anyway?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrgggggghhhhhhhhhh!

[MRMENDER]

I would guarantee they will write it off.
The problem I had, was they would not let me buy the wreck back off them! You need a good body work mad to assess the shell properly. Did you have agreed value insurance?

[bengould]

Hi,

I have had 2 written off since coming into the world of Scirocco ownership. Both caused by someone else not paying attention to what they were doing.

Keeping the car depends on the category of write off.

D or C you can "buy back" off the insurance company, but may need to have the car inspected before returning to the road.

B or A you can't put back on the road and can't buy from the insurance company without a scrap merchant licence.

By the sounds of it you will probably end up with a cat C. From the description I doubt the structure will be that badly damaged. Would you want to repair it though, as attached as I was to my last 2 cars I don't think I could have kept them after the accidents. Even a well repaired car will never be as good as one that hasn't been crashed.

I decided to buy back my car, buy a cheap but solid donor, and swap all the good bits from mine to the new car. Kept a load of spares and scrapped the shell.

If you don't have an agreed value they will probably want to give you about £500. DON'T accept this, send them links to cars in the for sale section priced at the value you would expect your car, in its pre-crash condition, to be worth and you can get this value greatly increased.

It won't be your insurance company that pays, it will be the person that is at fault, you just have to convince your insurance company that they need to fight a bit harder than they will want to for the value you expect.

I ended up, both times, with about £1500 and the car back for spares.

Gutted to hear the bad news, hope you get a good result.

Ben.

[Village Idiots]

Re value: Ed posted updated Mk1 values from Classic Car. Did they publish Mk2 values? If so could be a good bargaining point.
Gutted for you mate, hope you get it all sorted OK.
Hope missus is OK. Make sure she is physically and emotionally OK, if not chase insurance on this.

[DJCarlos]

Cheers all!

Yep MrsCarlos is fine - just really pissed off about her car. Equivalent cars on eBay and Auto Trader seem to be priced at around £1995, all with much higher mileage though.

Ben's £1500-plus-the-car is what I'm expecting, we've spent two grand on the gearbox, carb etc in the last three months so I'll be happy with getting the car back with enough cash to get someone with a hammer to bash it vaguely back into shape!

We only paid £1000 for it four years ago, and it's been a daily driver ever since then so it hasn't done badly at all. Be such a shame to scrap it it really was in great condition.

[daveyg]

Sorry to hear about the car, main thing is the mrs is okay though!

4 categories of write off

CAT A - Complete burn out (wont apply to you)
CAT B - Cost of repairs outweighs the value of the vehicle and there is structural damage to the car. This can be stripped for parts, but only by someone possessing a salvage license.
CAT C - Cost of repairs outweighs value of the car, you can buy the salvage back
CAT D - Insurer decide it is not viable to repair, you can buy the salvage back

Your vehicle will be inspected by an independent engineer instructed by your insurer. It is likely they will cost up for new panels rather than repairing the existing damage dependent on the severity of the panel damage. They will also likely use glasses guide to value your vehicle, so be prepared to get some evidence together of other examples for a price you are happy with. Be advised most insurers will not accept examples found on ebay.

Once you have agreed a value with the insurer they will offer you the chance to buy back the salvage, the salvage value will vary dependant on whether they class the vehicle a CAT C or a CAT D. So you will receive the agreed pre accident value, minus the salvage value plus your car. The idea being that you use the remaining funds to get your car repaired. The advantage of this is you can take the car to a proper panel beater who knows these cars rather than an insurance approved repairer who wont want to repair any panels.

If your car is deemed a CAT C then once you have had the repairs carried out you will need to have a VIC check carried out, this is so someone can inspect the repairs and sign them off as being of a satisfactory standard.

Its all a bit of a headache really but I hope you get it sorted

All the best

Pete

[the edmundator]

Re value: Ed posted updated Mk1 values from Classic Car. Did they publish Mk2 values?

Afraid the classic car world doesn't recognise the mk2 as a classic yet, just an old car, so no values available.

I believe the Register can help paid-up members with valuations if your insurance company isn't reasonable.

I'd expect somewhere around £2000-£2500 for a car in the condition you describe.

[SYNCRO]

Practical Classics do a mk2 valuation page. ;)

[DJCarlos]

Nice one, looking at that it's worth £2000 which sounds about right.

It looks like it's been written-off, just waiting for confirmation now.

Anyone want a fully rebuilt auto gearbox?

[mr.brown]

Anyone want a fully rebuilt auto gearbox?

No, but I can sell you a 51k GTII auto to put it in

[Lukeh17]

Awful news!! At least the wife is safe and well.... just shows you how modern driving has become so inpatient and careless

[DJCarlos]

Anyone want a fully rebuilt auto gearbox?

No, but I can sell you a 51k GTII auto to put it in

Reeeeaaalllly?

Where are you and how much is it?

And.....Mrs Carlos wants to know what colour

[mr.brown]

Esher, Surrey and it's black. I paid £2495 for it (which was too much but I was in a hurry) and I've fitted all new suspension and now all new cooling. MOT is due in 9 weeks so I was going to wait until then before "officially" selling. The original plan was big engine conversion but it's far too nice to molest I've decided. PM me if you're interested/need more info.

[DJCarlos]

PMing now!

[DJCarlos]

Update - the insurance company came through with an offer of £2000 with no prompting - it's a Cat B right-off though

Luckily my local mechanic is getting it delivered to him and he's going to strip it of everything worth salvaging, so I may have some parts available soon if people need them.

It's a red Scala if that helps anyone.