Write off? some advice please...

[tari]

Some pr**k has decided to pull out on me and smack my sport...

I have a bad feeling that it's going to be a write off, but am inexperienced in such matters as I've heard they write cars off for the smallest of things.

Here are some pics:









Sorry about the delay with the pics.. I've actually had headaches bordering migrane since the accident, and my sister who was in the car with me also is feeling some stiffness in the neck, thus I've been advised to claim for personal injury. As you can see from the pics it was clearly not my fault, so would it be worth it.

Also would any one be able to recommend a company operating in east london that could help process this claim.

So far I've got my insurance company to sort out a rental car until something gets sorted but I need my car back...

Cheers

[fuzzy]

if its a genuine sport then i shouldnt think that would be written off. £1500- £2G ish perhaps to repair?

[dannyboy759]

Hard to say looking at the small pic.
But when you add up each part and the labour etc it soon adds up, and i know from doing the same sort of thing to a touring i had i would say it could be close to the wire!

[fuzzy]

i had similar and was quoted about £1200 to repair from an insurance approved bodyshop and i smashed all my front lights and grill. i wasnt so fussy about the repair though and didnt use all genuine parts so bought everything for about £200 not including a new bonnet but filled and painted.

[beardymat]

from what i have seen working in bodyshops for the last 17 years, if you claim from your insurance and take it to one of their "recomended repairers" there is a good chance it will get written off, partly because these shops have no interest in repairing older vehicles especially where some parts are no longer available (that`ll be the bumper and valance).

youre best bet is to try and get a cash in leu settlement where they pay you out for the damage to the car instead of repairing it. do not let the bodyshop keep the car as that is your bargaining chip so you must keep that under your control.

another alternative is to use an accident management company such as brittania or helphire, these are companys i use up north so may not operate where you are but some similar companys will exist close to you. if he has admitted liability and/or you have witnesses they will pay you out and pursue his insurance co. for settlement. they usually have no interest in the salvage so will offer you the car back but check first to see if this will be the case.

in any event it is a repairable car so it should be worth keeping hold of, a few second hand panels and a bit of luck with the kit and you should be back on the road in no time

[tari]

Updated pics...

Thanks for the quick response guys

Tee

[Jhonno]

Shouldn't be a write off... As Beardy says, see if you can get cash in leu. Hope you get it sorted asap, looks a nice Sport

Beardy - Pretty sure the bumper and valance are still available new

[Brian28]

Will be a write write off, more or less guarenteed. Cat D minor cosmetic possible but unlikely, Cat C repairable but beyond economic repair for the insurance company most likely. Most insurers will let you buy it back off them and you will be able to get it fixed yourself for reasonable money. Will never be worth the same again tho, as the write off will be recorded on the V5.

[tari]

Cheers Jhonno...

I don't know if you remember but i met you at the last Ace Cafe meet. I was asking about the undercover beast.

Once again, I appreciate the response on this matter as this has had me fuming since friday.

[goosiegander]

both the bumper and valance are available from bmw new tho the total will be around £400 for both with fixings plus the cost of spraying those...
A good second hand wing and bonnet will be available from bigbraverianbeauties then its the jig

hope that helps a little

[tari]

Thanks mate that gives me better idea of what I'm looking at.

[beardymat]

both the bumper and valance are available from bmw new tho the total will be around £400 for both with fixings plus the cost of spraying those...
A good second hand wing and bonnet will be available from bigbraverianbeauties then its the jig

hope that helps a little

hey ho! i stand corrected, i normally check my facts first but not this time, some day i will learn.

[goosiegander]

try and stay positive, i know things like this can really twist you up but look to the day when its repaired and you will have come through the trial so to speak.

Its totally fixable

[Jon_Bmw]

What Hire car have they given you, and what company?

It'll get written off I suspect.

[tari]

They've given me a Chevrolet... Matize. Its an 08 plate with 300 miles on the clock though... Its from Enterprise

[Jon_Bmw]

Ring them back up, tell them you are non fault. They will love you for quite a while as if that gets written off, you get the car as long as it takes to send you the cheque + 5 working days.

In return, they should provide you with a small premium vehicle, Merc C class or BMW 1 series for the duration. They will require the details of the at fault insurance and then they'll decide to take a risk on it, or not to bother. This is all presuming you are over 25?

Speak to the manager, you'll get things done a lot quicker as well.

Those Matiz's are crazy thin, two adults onboard and you can't change gear!

[tari]

Those Matiz's are crazy thin, two adults onboard and you can't change gear!

Who do I call, my insurance company or the car rental place?

Thanks

[Jon_Bmw]

Car rental place, if you can avoid it, you do not even need to involve your insurance company with the claim, it just confuses the whole siuation and slows the process down. You can do all the running around, if you have time, and it'll get sorted a lot quicker.

Enterprise will need:

Your personal details
At faults details
At faults ins company
At faults policy number
At faults Reg number
At faults Car details
Your car details, harp on about it being a 2.5 BMW and you want a small premium vehicle
Circumstances of accident.


Tell the manager, why didn't I get asked if I was at fault or non fault during the paperwork stage and say you are not happy. Enterprise being enterprise will bend overbackwards for you if they think you are not completely satisfied.

The difference between the daily rate is around £60-100 for the two cars so they should be really happy, when they are happy, say you want it delivered!

[Jhonno]

Cheers Jhonno...

I don't know if you remember but i met you at the last Ace Cafe meet. I was asking about the undercover beast.

Once again, I appreciate the response on this matter as this has had me fuming since friday.

Ello mate, thought it was you.. Gutted for you. Doesnt look too bad though, be good to save it

Any pics of the chassis rail on the car etc?

Also do as Jon says.. You should have a much better car for a hire car considering

[pacerpete]

That will definately be a write of, as well as all the obvious panel damage i would put money on suspension damage on the n/s . Best case scenario is a nice big pay out and keep the car. You then have the choice of repairing it with good used bits or fragging it.

[Steve-E30]

I had a minor ding in mine and for a wing bumper and light unit with labour and paint they said mine would be a possible write off so i never claimed , But mines only facial and have sorted the light unit just the wing and bumper to swap , yours looks much worse though so if not a cat d would expect a cat c , The labour prices usually bump the repair price up thats why i never claimed , Why is your reg in the window in the crash pic as i take it that it was there before the crash ??

[tari]

Cheers for the response guys.. I'm going make some calls today and hopefully would have it sorted soon

Cheers Tee

[josh-hocking]

gutted for you

[Jon_Bmw]

Made any progress Tee?

Are you over 25?

[tari]

Hi, yes I just turned 25 in June.

I spoke to a local garage, who said as I've already got the rental car through my insurance it would be too much hassle to withdraw it, so it might be worth just taking it through insurance.

I spoke to Enterprise and they agreed to give me a focus sized car, which to be honest will do me just fine.

Thanks Jon, I really appreciate your advice

[Jon_Bmw]

No problem, they should have asked you all those questions when you got the car in the first place.

If you are good to them and you want something a bit different after a few days, just give the manager a call and ask when something else in the same class is available, can I swop. Try out a few different cars, if thats your thing

Back to the claim, hassle your insurance company to hassle the at fault(if you still chase it through your own as most people do-it is the easier/simpler option to a degree) A few calls to the at fault insurance company will help as well. Make sure you call the free lines as you'll be on hold a lot. Also never agree to them calling you back, as they never will Just say, i'll stay on hold till you have got it sorted. You have to be cruel to be kind

Good luck fella.

One more thing, start getting together overpriced sport adverts

[madaboutthe30]

Damn thats unlucky

In my household 2 of our cars have been written off in the past, and its one big headache if you ask me.

Make sure its well established that it wasnt your fault, last thing you want is to face larger insurance premiums in the future for someone elses mistake.

Also keep a record of all the people you speak to on the phone............

Personally I reckon the insurance company may write it off. In that case dont accept the first payment they may offer you for your car, even if its a good one, try get as much money off them as possible. When one of my cars was written off I eventually got 1200 off them even though the car was only worth 200 back then. Eventually I bought the car back off them and repaired the car to its original condition for 500.

This may sound silly but sometimes these things can be a blessing. First time round we sued for compensation and got a nice four figure sum out of it. Second time round got the car fixed and had fair bit of money left over aswell

Good luck mate!

[tari]

Will do, thanks again mate.

[jprcelite]

Sorry to hear that you had a bump! Looks pretty cosmetc to me but you do need to check for inner wing / suspension damage. If there is no inner wing damage it will most likely be a CAT D claim. Contrary to popular belief a CAT D claim on a car that is 15 years or older does not significantly affect the value beacause most cars of this age have had minor bumps. I work in the trade and newer cars with CAT D are at least 25% cheaper but when buying an older car current condition is much more important. However insurance companies use CAP guide for valuing cars and unfortunately this means that you probably wont be offered that much for it. It will be a good idea to try ask them to make you an offer which includes you keeping the car and then get it repaired at a local ( reputable ) body shop using second hand parts. ( second hand original parts repainted are far better than pattern parts ) Alternatively if you decide that you do not want the car anymore let me know how much you can buy it back from them as I may well be interested. There is light at the end of the tunnel after all!

[corkie]

had mine written off for this...


good luck with it,nice car to.

[tari]

OOOhhh... cheers Corkie.

I'm going to try my best to keep her on road as she's my baby so sorry jprcelite...

[happytheboxer]

tari. give me a bell, i know the guy at big barvarian, so we c what he goves on prices if it can be repaired

[Lizzie]

Tari

So sorry to hear of your accident. I am really sorry to see the damage to your car. At the end of the day it is just a car, as long as you and your sister are alright. You will probably be feeling rather sore atm. Hopefully you will get over this in the next few months or so.

Look at your pms, I'm going to pm.

Does the other guy actually have a driving licence or insurance?

[nicey]

Hi ya budz, gutted for you mate, I had a prat run into the back of my vw camper when it was parked and I sorted it out by speaking directly to the insurance assessor, I explained that the van was my pride and joy and had had alot of money spent etc, etc, he then informed me that he could put me down as trade and i could get paid out minus the salvage cost, which he did , i got to keep the van and got my money. Another tip DO NOT let it be taken from you to a compound (i.e. scrap yard) as it then legally becomes the property of the compound owner!, I argued with the insurance company about this as I told them that until I had been paid it was my property, also parts seem to dissapear at compounds!. Good luck mate.

[tari]

Thanks Nicey.. thats definitely one to think about..