Will Clio be write off? Update...

[FakeConcern]

Daughter No 2's Clio (2002 1.2 16v) owned since 17 now 24, had been playing up (missing) & got towed to garage who changed coil pack which didn't fix it so they looked at the engine ECU which was corroded. After pulling the plug on it some of the pins were broken & they were unable to fix it. So I went up to Norwich to see if we could limp it home for me to have a go at (ECU with locks & Immobiliser £50 on ebay plus upper engine wiring loom £29 ebay).

So we started it & it ran fine EML gone off! OK lets drive it back to Sussex, start off around the block & dozy young lady in 16 plate Audi A1 pulls out from parked on right of road. Daughter emergency brakes & swerves as much as she can in narrow road and just touches the A1 at back of front N/S wing denting it. Clio has scuffed bumper, slightly bent in & front wing scratched. Still going well. We get the girl's details & after thinking about it see if she will pay £50 for us to get a new wing & some rattle cans & call it quits, she agrees & we set off for Sussex. Once home Daughter gets a message from girl that it's her Mother's car & she wants to go through insurance! OK assuming she isn't going to claim it's daughter No 2's fault, but how much will it cost an insurance company to fix it? Given the problems, it would be better for us if it was written off, but is that likely?

 

TLDR

2002 Clio with dodgy ECU got a bump, scratched & pushed in front bumper & wing. Will insurance write it off (better if it did) or not? Car worth between £600 & £1500 from looking at similar on ebay/Autotrader.

[vulgalour]

Since you don't care about the outcome either way, put the claim in.  If they write it off, problem solved (premium probably hiked).  If they fix it, problem solved (premium probably hiked), punt it on however you want to afterwards.

 

Insurance may claim 50/50 unless you've got dashcam or similar footage.  Insurance may not pay out if Audi driver wasn't insured to drive it.

 

Just wang a claim in and see what happens.

[Bren]

Full ashtrays would have rendered it a write off.

[SiC]

I got told that around 40-60% of the cars value in repair will write it off. As insurance companies cba fannying around. Writing off is quick, repair takes time. Time is money.

 

Also remember that they'll use all new panels too. Plus labour and material costs to repair. Hence even a light shunt with a single broken panel can end up being a £500-1000 repair.

 

A new crash beam, new rear bumper and paint on my wifes MX5 ended up costing the insurance company £1k to repair. Then put hire car costs on top of that.

[robinmasters]

Car now drives ok, and accident damage can be sorted for £50?

 

Ask for cash in lieu - the cost of repairs, - VAT, supposedly so that you can then go off and get it repaired at your local friendly back-street garage. In actuality, you fix for £50 (second hand wing & rattle can, as previously discussed), then sell. Quids in, and all above board.

 

Also, ask insurance company to pay loss of use; used to be £10 per day for every day the car wasn't working.

[Rave]

Also be aware that some insurance companies will hike your premium at renewal time because you've had a claim in the last 5 years, even if that claim was 100% not your fault. Some actuarial bollocks about it increasing your risk. I know Admiral do, and others may well.

 

The correct answer is obviously to take your business elsewhere, but if that particular insurance company happens to be a lot cheaper than all the others it's still a pain in the arse.

[Floatylight]

Wife had a truck go into the back of her 53 plate C3 last Christmas, damage negligible but bumper scratched and boot lid wouldn't open properly, called insurance (LV) who didn't even look at it and wrote it off (CatN) they ran a program which showed values of similar models on auto trader, little bit of bartering got us to £1k agreed value, cheeky of me really as worth £500 at best, bought back for £300 and had to claim xs off trucks insurance.. 12m later car still fine, adjusted strike plate on boot lock, jobs a goodun, so message here, put a claim in.. (assuming guaranteed no claims in case Audi girl argues the toss)

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

[Minimad5]

Had an accident 3 years ago.

Not my fault, other party admitted liability.

Insurance informed, and his insurance paid for all repairs.

I'm still paying over the odds because of it

[rainagain]

Had an accident 3 years ago.

Not my fault, other party admitted liability.

Insurance informed, and his insurance paid for all repairs.

I'm still paying over the odds because of it

I still don’t understand why you can’t claim the additional cost from the third party. I had the same thing happen to me, had to pay extra insurance for three years because some old giffer drive into me at a junction.

[purplebargeken]

Yep, insurance hike whichever way. Speak to mum not stupid girl who drove it saying that both parties insurance will increase no matter what and that you will sort the Clio out for a ton. See what she says.

[Kiltox]

That’ll definitely be a write off, it’s only worth £500 on a good day and a couple of days in a courtesy car is likely to cost similar never mind body shop rates.

 

Having a claim for such a pitiful amount is a bit of a pain but I’d imagine the newer car involved will cost a fair bit to fix too.

 

You can buy a mk3 Clio for £1500 so anyone asking that for a 2002 one is dreaming

[sierraman]

Write off. Wouldn’t get involved with cash for repairs, if the other party puts a whiplash claim in the insurance company won’t want to know as you’ve breached reporting it to them so probably come to you for costs.

[loserone]

Yeah, time to face up to increased insurance premiums for five years. If you need an excuse to have it taken away and replaced with money, this it it.

[rainagain]

This will sound scummy but sometimes you have to play the insurers at their own game. Get doc appointments for you and your daughter tell doc you both had a sore neck the day after the crash but you ‘think’ you’re ok now but you’re still getting the odd bit of pain. This will get it recorded in your medical notes.

 

If the Audi driver still admits fault, then take either the write off or cash in lieu or repairs which ever you prefer. If they suddenly decided it wasn’t their fault and go 50/50 bring out the sore neck, I was injured in a crash a while back (worse than whiplash) and the first thing the other insurance company did was offer £1000 to every occupant in my car when I told them I was injured. I spoke to my own insurance company who said this was a standard thing and I should reject it and ask for more. When you mention the neck to the other insurer they will trot out the offer of £1000 each just take this and use it to get another car/pay for the increased premiums for the next three years and remind yourself you wouldn’t have to do this if the insurance industry wasn’t such a farce.

[Skizzer]

This will sound scummy but sometimes you have to play the insurers at their own game. Get doc appointments for you and your daughter tell doc you both had a sore neck the day after the crash but you ‘think’ you’re ok now but you’re still getting the odd bit of pain. This will get it recorded in your medical notes.

If the Audi driver still admits fault, then take either the write off or cash in lieu or repairs which ever you prefer. If they suddenly decided it wasn’t their fault and go 50/50 bring out the sore neck, I was injured in a crash a while back (worse than whiplash) and the first thing the other insurance company did was offer £1000 to every occupant in my car when I told them I was injured. I spoke to my own insurance company who said this was a standard thing and I should reject it and ask for more. When you mention the neck to the other insurer they will trot out the offer of £1000 each just take this and use it to get another car/pay for the increased premiums for the next three years and remind yourself you wouldn’t have to do this if the insurance industry wasn’t such a farce.

You’re right, that does sound very scummy.

 

Apart from insurance fraud being a criminal offence, it’s shit like this that pushes everybody’s premiums up.

[sierraman]

A fraud conviction that will prevent you from obtaining bank accounts, mortgages and insurance will run a mile.

[Kiltox]

This will sound scummy but sometimes you have to play the insurers at their own game. Get doc appointments for you and your daughter tell doc you both had a sore neck the day after the crash but you ‘think’ you’re ok now but you’re still getting the odd bit of pain. This will get it recorded in your medical notes.

 

If the Audi driver still admits fault, then take either the write off or cash in lieu or repairs which ever you prefer. If they suddenly decided it wasn’t their fault and go 50/50 bring out the sore neck, I was injured in a crash a while back (worse than whiplash) and the first thing the other insurance company did was offer £1000 to every occupant in my car when I told them I was injured. I spoke to my own insurance company who said this was a standard thing and I should reject it and ask for more. When you mention the neck to the other insurer they will trot out the offer of £1000 each just take this and use it to get another car/pay for the increased premiums for the next three years and remind yourself you wouldn’t have to do this if the insurance industry wasn’t such a farce.

Get yourself to fuck you cretin - arseholes that do this are the reason we are all being utterly reamed for insurance.

 

Some waste of skin did this after causing an accident on a roundabout I was the other party in, their fake injury claim made it the most drawn out affair ever. It’s okay though, she got more than the £3 her fucked old Rover 25 was worth so never mind the hassle/fraud eh?

[rainagain]

Wow, chill everyone it was only a suggestion if the other driver is being a dick. Otherwise this could happen:

Other driver contests crash, insurance companies decide to go 50/50, they like this as both sides have to pay their excess.

They value the Clio at £500 minus say £300 excess leaving fake concern with £200. He then buys the car back for £200. Leaving him with £0 in his hand a damaged car and increased insurance premiums for the next three years. Is that fair?

[rainagain]

Just to be clear I have had three non fault accidents since I’ve been driving and the insurance company pushed me to claim for composition in all three but not being a dick I only claimed when I was actually injured. The injury I did receive will be with me for life.

[purplebargeken]

Fair enough comment but it is an indication of the shit state of insurance in this country.

 

Hope it works out as wallet painlessly as possible. At least daughter was ok. I had a stupid cow drive into the back of Mrs PBK's new Micra at the time, pushed the car 40 feet down the road. I claimed for whiplash and was put through t he wringer with 2 medicals. First cunt said I was a more or less putting it on. Had a neck xray a few months ago and it turns out I'd broken a vertebrae in my neck and was quite visible in the x ray. She was doing between 30 and 40mph when she hit me from behind. 

 

It's all a ball pain really, no one really wins. As I said, thankfully no-one was hurt.

[rainagain]

And the real reason premiums have been increasing is these arseholes:

 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/28/car-insurance-and-credit-hire-agencies

 

Accident management companies, last time I had an non fault accident and was given a hire car whilst the accident

management company assigned by my insurer ‘investigated’ the accident I ended up with a hire car for about a month. The bill for this was over £5000 and that’s not including their ‘professional fees’

 

Insurance companies love them as they get a nice kick back

[Lacquer Peel]

^Exactly.

Insurance companies have got very good at blaming policyholders for making spurious claims, it's largely bullshit.

[sierraman]

Likely outcome of this will be the A1 will be on PCP, they’ll take it to a body shop on the presumption it’ll cost £100 or something ridiculous to put right, they’ll get quote through and it’ll be upwards of a grand or two to put right so they’ll go through the insurance company. Possible outcome there will be 50/50, a cheque for a couple of hundred quid and an increase in premiums for the next 5 years. Harsh but that’s how it goes.

[Kiltox]

And the real reason premiums have been increasing is these arseholes:

 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/28/car-insurance-and-credit-hire-agencies

 

Accident management companies, last time I had an non fault accident and was given a hire car whilst the accident

management company assigned by my insurer ‘investigated’ the accident I ended up with a hire car for about a month. The bill for this was over £5000 and that’s not including their ‘professional fees’

 

Insurance companies love them as they get a nice kick back

No arguments from me on that - credit hire needs to die.

 

Hugely inflated daily hire rates even though maximum rates are prescribed they’re still ridiculously high)

[FakeConcern]

Thanks for all the help & suggestions, here is an update;

 

We didn't get a choice really about making a claim or not as girl's mum had already told her insurance and admitted fault unconditionally, so nice to have someone honest to deal with!

Direct Line phoned my daughter today told her the Clio will be taken away & fixed (!!!?) and she will get a hire car free of charge whether she wants one or not! Also daughter had broken her elbow a few Months ago and found that last night it kept her awake with the pain having been fine for quite a while, Direct Line also unfazed by this & said they'll arrange phisio or whatever so that's good as well.

I also had a quick look at Clio & the very edge of headlight is broken so as she told us only genuine Renault parts are used, I expect that will be more than the car is worth on it's own!

Later the body shop phoned and asked for some photos to be sent to them, I'll have to do that tomorrow as we were in Norwich and Clio in Sussex. I'll try to make the photos look as bad as I can!

[Kiltox]

I reckon they’ll write it off before it gets to the body shop if they have asked for photos.

 

Admiral wrote off my 4 year old Kia Rio before it had been recovered from the side of the road, it went straight to copart after 24 hours at the recovery firm’s yard

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Chances are that when they see the pictures they'll decide its uneconomical to repair and make you an offer, possibly with the option to keep it for £50 salvage . We've had this with an old KA and a Corsa, both times just kept using the cars didn't have to reMOT or anything and neither was registered as a Cat - whatever. It saves the insurance company a lot of money in recovery/ storage/ hire cars/ disposal , so is often their preferred way of dealing with low value 3rd party claims.

[sierraman]

Penny to a pound they’ll write it off, if you let them take it away and you then choose not to claim you’ll have to pay the storage and release fees. Only they’ll tell you it’s a write off once it’s in their possession. At which point you’ll have no choice but to accept.

[Parky]

I am surprised the insurer didn’t write it off straight away. Genuine new wing and headlight will probably be north of £200, chuck in an hour to fit and we are at £300. That’s before the wing is prepped, rust treated, sprayed, and lacquered which might not cost much in materials but definitely does in labour time.

 

When Mrs P got hit we needed a front wing and a few minor plastic bits behind. Parts were around £300, Lights and everything else were fine. That cost £1500 in total, a metallic would have been even more with all the blending in, etc. First thing the body shop asked was “private or insurance m8?” So i suspect it would have been less if I had been paying myself.

 

Remember if they have it and write it off it might be hard to get it back before it hits the Copart racks. If you want to keep it, do your utmost to hang onto it! Sounds like the whole lot could be fixed for less than £100 in second hand parts from the bay and a Cat N marker won’t matter.

 

EDIT - previous posts indicate I need to type faster

[richardmorris]

If you want rid of it, just let nature take it’s course and I expect it will be written off and you’ll be offered £500 less your excess ( claim back via uninsured loss recovery?). If you want to keep it then kidnap it to a safe and friendly garage and let the assessor visit it.