Crashed my classic, and the repairer can't be arsed, apparently.

[fordperv]

If it does come to that you can ask about a contract agreement of repair which is usually just below the total loss price to repair it meaning it doesn't get categorised. that advice came from my trusted bodyshop when I was worried about the outcome of my car

[skattrd]

As said, don't let them take it away.

You need to get the assessor to inspect it at your place, so if they do write it off it doesn't magically disappear.

[rovamota]

It needs a front wing, front panel, bonnet, slam panel, bumper and radiator. I have all of those except the front panel (anyone got a DZB 1314?), so I reckon about 4 days to fix it.

[2MB]

There is another option, it's called a payment in lieu of repair. An engineer will come and inspect the car and damage, ascertaining that the repair of which will cost more than the car's value. The instance company will then write you a cheque for 80% of what they deemed the car to be worth before the smash and there will be no write off marker. Only thing is I think the car has to be deemed roadworthy, but it could be worth looking into if you don't want the princess to be a cat c.

[rovamota]

As you can see, there's no structural damage. 

[mercrocker]

What 2MB says...I had two no-fault shunts in my 2.3LX Granny. Not insured as classic at the time, just TPFT normal policy. First (rear-end) shunt was fixed by insurers - a sub-standard repair although the paint was good. Second time a bloke drove into the front nearside but this time I refused to let the car out of my hands. Assessor came down and I got £250 in lieu of repairs, it cost less than that to repair properly and the insurance company was happy about not having to pay for a hire car etc.

[Skizzer]

 

Does this mean Corgi/Vanguards are going to have to get busy with a hammer on the forthcoming 1/43 version of yours?

 

http://www.corgi.co.uk/catalog/product/view/id/9403/category/1426/

 

 

Too old and not worth fixing, my arse.

[eddyramrod]

They'll bring it back..... hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Don't let it out of your sight until you KNOW it's going to a repairer YOU trust.  Definitely DO NOT let the so-called authorised repairer take it.  They don't want it.

Read Vulgalour's thread about his beige Princess.  He had a similar-looking bump and to look at the car now, you'd never know.  I had one in my black Princess 25 years ago, osf against nsf of a Polo (he turned across my path).  That one got written off, I think I got 400 in the end.  There are so few of these lovely things left now, we can't let insurance companies randomly kill them off.

[oldcars]

Shame to see this, i hope its gets sorted out. As you have most of the bits looks like to will.

[sierraman]

Where will they get the panels from to rebuild the front? That's probably why they aren't wanting to start repairing it. From the repairers point of view there's also the possibility once panels are removed rusty areas will require remedial work to weld the new ones on.

 

It's sad but the decision whether it gets fixed will be insurers. If you are wanting to keep it then probably best idea would be to take the bullet and repair it yourself. That's going to cost but there might not be a lot of choice here. The insurance company look at the costs involved with putting it back on the road, which is likely to far exceed what the car is worth. At the end of the day they are running a business, they couldn't give a shit whether its one of only 20 left or whatever, if its worth £2k and its going to require £1500 worth of work once all is said and done it will get paid out on.

 

I'd be inclined to see if the insurer will write it off, get the pay out and inquire about buying in back off them. Make sure they would do this before however.

[vulgalour]

Been here done this.  To cut a long story short, the assessors didn't care and weren't about to let me take my car away until I PAID to have it transported home and cancelled my claim.  You know that I repaired the car myself and that it since went through an MoT with the scars on show, providing moderately reliable transport after the fact.  The damage to mine was less severe than to yours and while the value of it is lower because of condition they couldn't have been less interested in fixing it.

 

If possible, take it out of the hands of the insurance company and just use your contacts to get it fixed.  The only reason we take out insurance on cars like this is because we have to, no insurance company is going to fanny about trying to fix a rare, low-value classic.  It's just easier to write them off and tell the owner to jog on.

[purplebargeken]

^^ sad but very true.

[Christine]

Take the cash , buy the Alfa 156 estate .. http://autoshite.com/topic/15995-£350-alfa-romeo-156-sportwagon-v6-veloce-for-sale-bonus-dirty-photos-now-with-clean-but-crarp-pics/

[flat4alfa]

Don't let it out of your sight.  Hide it, in fact.  They have a habit of turning up while you're out and lifting it away.

 

Once it is on the truck it will be treated as if you've already accepted the loss and the disposal process will already be in place with a third-party.  They won't 'bring it back' regardless of what the broker says.  Attempts to retrieve will be met with 'Health & Safety' gumph and failures to get back to you, just to stop you in your tracks.

 

The next time you see it it will be listed on Copart etc with a ridiculous PAV figure on it so it will only stay within the confines of the trade.

 

Been there, etc.

[Christine]

/\ WHS and the storage fees come out of your pay out , total loss , that your policy ended.. NCB back a step.. take 3k and buy the Alfa ! 10 years down the road it'll be like a 155 is now ! ££££

[sierraman]

Annoyingly it's best with an old car to have the mentality 'you bend it - you mend it'

 

Insurance for me is literally a piece if paper I'm demanded to have both for legal purposes and as a means of not bankrupting me should I injure someone. My current car is worth possibly £700-800. If I claimed I'd get that back but would then knock off the £150 excess, then knock off increased premiums for 4-5 years its not worth claiming. I'd just either fix it myself or save up and buy another.

 

It's frustrating as the whole system is designed to be helping out the courtesy car operators and the lawyers for the blame claim culture. 30 years ago you fell of a pavement and broke your nose it was tough luck. Now people submit a claim to the council for you not looking where you were going. Unfortunately someone has to pay for this and its usually you or I.

[rovamota]

Yeah, it's staying here now and I will be using my sources to get it fixed. Obviously the payout will be used to fix it, but I'm loath for it to be a Cat C or similar. Hey ho, at least it'll be fixed and back on the road, and I've no plans to flog it.

[Alexg]

Unlucky Rovamota, all the best with getting her back on the road.

[captain_70s]

Ouch, bad times. I bumped the rear end of my Dolomite a while ago, bent the rear panel behind the bumper slightly, can't get a bodyshop to touch it. Not worth their time seemingly, too hard to sort compared to modern motors.

[purplebargeken]

Really^^? It is an easy panel to do once you have unbolted and removed the tank and then the rear bumper. 

[alf892]

Unless you have given it away you have the right to take the car to the repairer of your choice.........so worth locating a trusted place and sending a quote to the insurance company.

They may wriggle on this by saying you won't get some of the added extras......usually a courtesy car, but not really an issue here.

When mine got hit in the arse I was worried about it getting written off but the agreed value was enough to put them off doing that. Even when the bootlid cost a packet to repair and the engineer tried to argue the body fella just shrugged and invited them to supply a new panel for less..........knowing it couldn't be done.

[Asimo]

Apart from the essential - and not just 'coz it's the law - third party insurance, I just don't think it is worth insuring old cars of low value and this sad tale is one of the good reasons not to bother.

If the potential loss would not be financially crippling to you, take your own risks.

 

I had years of aggro over a £3k house insurance claim for example. Not worth it, I should have fixed it myself.

 

When my Renault Alpine was damaged by a theft attempt my insurer insisted it was repaired by a Ford dealership. Imagine what a good job they did, and how long it took them to get the parts. And how long it took to fix their bodgery.

[eddyramrod]

Now that I'm on the other computer I can show you this...

Shame, it was a lovely car until then.  I hope you can get yours sorted out.

[rovamota]

Oooh, sad. HLS too.

[michael1703]

If you've got good pictures, show the pictures to 3 body repair companies and get quotes.

 

I always get a courtesy car so they pay up quicker and get to the point ( still can take 3 months)

[eddyramrod]

That's a before pic.  As I said, a nice one... 2.0 manual, triple black.  Never mind, it's long gone now and I've had some lovely cars since!

[eddyramrod]

That's my mum, always good for a laugh!

[captain_70s]

Really^^? It is an easy panel to do once you have unbolted and removed the tank and then the rear bumper. 

Think you said it there yourself, they don't want to fanny about taking out the fuel tank and finding the boot floor is all rotted out underneath etc. Also said that it might be possible to pull out but the bottom of the rear wing would probably fall apart from the shock.

Current plan is to tie the bumper mount to a tree and just the roll the car forwards to pull the dent out until the bumper will sit straight and leave it at that... PROPER JOB.

[vulgalour]

[fordperv]

^ That's an Austin approved repair method