(not sure where to post it) Help with car insurance claim

[kis]

It will still recorded as a claim (but not as a total loss/write-off) so will appear on the insurance history, and you'll still have increased premiums from declaring the claim.

So in this scenario, they don't register it as a cat N? But they will still pay you towards the cost of the repair?
Do you know any percentages? Under the assumption they write it off they were going to give you 100% value? What if you go down the repair yourself route? They give you? 50%? Or? :?

Didn't know this was a thing?

 

[mmm-five]

There’s no hard & fast rule, but it seems to be classed as uneconomical to repair if the estimated repair cost is above about 60-70% of the market value.

So if your car is worth £10k and the repair is looking to be over £6k, then they’d rather write it off as it saves them money in the long run...as they don’t want to authorise £6k of repairs for the garage to then inform them of further damage (in my case a £3k diff on top of the £8k repairs they’d already completed).

In most cases (as there are some insurers who will fit pattern parts) the approved bodyshop will also have to use genuine parts...and invoice at full price. In my case they were paying £750 for one tyre and wheel from BMW, when I’d not long ago got a whole set of the same wheels & tyres for £1100.

Of course, if you’re able to repair it yourself, there’s nothing to sop you fitting used or aftermarket parts.

How much they’d offer you in lieu of repair is down to the insurer and you negotiating...assuming your insurer is happy to offer cash in lieu. If you don’t ask, you won’t get, but don’t go in demanding it...wait until they suggest it’s uneconomical for them to repair it, as this means they’ll save money (as they won’t have to pay out for a total loss) and you might get more cash than you need to repair the car,

If they decide it’s Cat A, B or S, then they won’t offer this, but may offer you the salvage rights. In this case (or if you agree that it’s too expensive to repair and it goes as Cat N) it would be recorded as a write-off/total loss.

Either way, it will affect your premiums in the same way as you’ll have to declare a claim, so you won’t gain anything (other than the agro arguing over market valuation) whether they pay out for repairs, pay you cash in lieu, or write it off.

 

[kis]

Thanks mmm-five this is very useful. In most cases I'm not too worried about it, but as the Zed gets older any little knock (like the OP had) makes it more likely to be classed as a CAT N irrespective of the actual damage... something which I obviously want to avoid! (Unless it's more than a little knock, in which case it would be warranted).

 

[yg54sg]

Here is what I did last year , someone cut me off with light damage to wing , my insurance wanted 600 excess to start the process of the repair I declined and called up directly the other insurance company they agreed over the phone to pay me 350 which is what I asked for (and I felt I could have asked for more, lesson learned) and since the wing I had purchased off eBay in the correct colour was around 100 I was happy with that. More important the wing was original and has bmw paint rather than some crap job done by local garage which I’ve experienced before. In other words speaking to the other insurer and doing everything yourself or paying yourself for it to be done may be an option. The downside is it goes down as a notification in your insurance not a loss.

This avoids giving them the power to write it off , the other insurance company will snap your hand off as they are avoiding paying all the admin and larger repair bill. The notification on my insurance I was told can be worse than an actual loss in terms of making the premium rise , I guess they don’t like you doing this.

 

[Stefano]

Hi Guys thank you for all the messages.
Update:
I've been called by the insurance. The engineer has confirmed that is uneconomical to repair and so it's a cat N at the moment.

For now I'm trying to make them change their mind, showing them an estimation I've got from a garage

If they don't accept they have told me that my only option is to "sell" and "buy" the car back from them.
At that point they will suspend my insurance and restart it only after I repaired the car and put a new MOT

They also told me at this point I cannot withdraw my claim and walk away. I'd just end up with a cat N car and no insurance.

If I would have known all of this, I would have never claimed my damages

 

[jimmybell]

from memory there's a % cost to repair vs the value of the car that helps them determine if it's a write off. My C63 was a write off due to them only using certain repair shops (and then my insisting on if_it_must_be_repaired then they must use my choice of mercedes approved bodywork place) and only OEM parts with inflated labour rates.

It may also include other costs in that % assessment (ie, Accident management company ('AMC'), costs.. their time, recovery costs, rental cars they love to throw at you and any other party involved to bump the claim value...etcetc). I cant remember exactly but i think it was something like 40% in the case of my C63 and that was a write off. I negotiated the value up (well, refused their hillarious offer) on the basis i had a receipt fo the impending sale, and that was by definition 'market value' and bailed on the car, sadly.

Also bear in mind if you buy it back after them writing it off, you're then the owner of a Cat-something car, which is hard to sell and has reduced value.

It depends on what the car is to you, in value terms, as to whether it's worth the hassle of keeping or just write it off and move on.

 

[kis]

They also told me at this point I cannot withdraw my claim and walk away. I'd just end up with a cat N car and no insurance.

Seems interesting, surely they need to process something for it to end up as a Cat N? They can't just write it off as Cat N without any payout??
Can you not proceed with something like "option 3" below:

In general, there are 3 ways you can be recompensed for a damaged/stolen vehicle:

1. Insurer pays one of their approved bodyshops to repair your car (not listed as a write off)
2. Insurer writes off car (listed as write off)
   [*]Insurer gives you cash for you to get your car repaired by yourself (not listed as write off) - and they may suggest your choice of main dealer/specialist bodyshop is too expensive so it will be written off to persuade you to go to one of their cheaper approved repairers...or accept a lower cash settlement

 

[Jfgoldfish]

If I would have known all of this, I would have never claimed my damages

I sympathise with you. This is why I don't insure my cheap runabout fully comp; even if it was damaged beyond repair, it just isn't worth claiming for a cheap car.
My zed would be better parted out to make some cash back rather than going down the insurance route.

You almost always pay for it in the long run.
I hope the payout and buy-back prices work somewhat in your favour so you can recoope some of your impending costs.

 

[Stefano]

They also told me at this point I cannot withdraw my claim and walk away. I'd just end up with a cat N car and no insurance.

Seems interesting, surely they need to process something for it to end up as a Cat N? They can't just write it off as Cat N without any payout??
Can you not proceed with something like "option 3" below:

In general, there are 3 ways you can be recompensed for a damaged/stolen vehicle:

1. Insurer pays one of their approved bodyshops to repair your car (not listed as a write off)
2. Insurer writes off car (listed as write off)
   [*]Insurer gives you cash for you to get your car repaired by yourself (not listed as write off) - and they may suggest your choice of main dealer/specialist bodyshop is too expensive so it will be written off to persuade you to go to one of their cheaper approved repairers...or accept a lower cash settlement

I don't know if they are pretending, but they told me that the engineer declared it Cat N: uneconomical to repair.

They can eventually change their mind after checking the estimate of my mechanic. If they do it will be "option 3" and the write off mark will be removed.

This is what they say... And this is why at this point even withdrawing the claim it will stay Cat N

It would be great to know if my car can be a Cat N without me accepting any money from them

 

[Stefano]

If I would have known all of this, I would have never claimed my damages

I sympathise with you. This is why I don't insure my cheap runabout fully comp; even if it was damaged beyond repair, it just isn't worth claiming for a cheap car.
My zed would be better parted out to make some cash back rather than going down the insurance route.

You almost always pay for it in the long run.
I hope the payout and buy-back prices work somewhat in your favour so you can recoope some of your impending costs.

I never had 3rd party insurance on my previous cars, but I thought the Z deserved it -_-
I'm very nervous, because I was initially not sure of claiming my damages, given my compulsory excess. Then when I asked, they told me I could have had an estimate from them and then decide.

 

[Jfgoldfish]

Then when I asked, they told me I could have had an estimate from them and then decide

What b*****ds. Nice of them to give you that option!
I personally wouldn't trust them at all.
I hope I don't ever get into a situation where I am tempted to claim again. As I say, I really do sympathise, the way these companies operate is really shitty.