Had an accident, Value woes...

[Loony]

CRIKEY! I have not heard so much rubbish from people who have no idea for a long time.

This happened to me, a woman at work reversed into the drivers door of my e30. It is a TOTALLY different ball game from claiming off your own insurer. The ball is in your park so to say as they have to rectify the damage done by THEIR insured driver.

No it is not.If the car is uneconmical to repair or too badly damaged they will want to write it off.
Ok you can argue and they can not write it off till you agree and accept payment but its going to be hard to force them to pay out.

You may have got lucky and got it repaired as it was a close call between the write of cost and repair costs.I know in the past of people that have had cars repaired at more than the cars value but i know of plenty that were not too.

[tonybtonyb]

looks like a write off to me but get paid out,then buy it back and fix her up yourself mate good luck

[adit]

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Bmw-e30-318i-Cab ... 3f124ee07b

[E30_Jatt]

...

[pacerpete]

Try and get a cash settlement and keep the car and organise your own repair. A competent bodyshop using a used door and possibly wing could repair that easily for sub £1000.

Do not think for one minute that a main dealer 3.5k repair will neccesarily be any better. Most body shops are bodging scum, just some charge a lot more than others

I have an excellent door for £50

[Rtaylor2208]

Berry Heathrow: £3419.87 inc VAT
Berry Chiswick: £3339.54 inc VAT

Holy *****, I can understand that as this is an insurance job the prices are high but as pete says buy cash + keep the car, then get 2nd hand parts fitted and painted.

I dont know what prices down in London are like but up here I can get the whole front end of mine done (bonet, bumper, doors, wings and mirrors) dents sorted, prepped and painted for £700. If I'm willing to go up to just over £1K they will do the whole car.

The fella is independant, only has two young lads working with him out his unit and tends to do repairs for small garages \ punters and not insurance work. But I've used him several times in the past and his work is very good.

[verde]

thats a fucking joke. all u need is a new door which will set u back no more than 70 or 80 bucks. im sure members on here have them for sale. a new wing, which iv seen online for 23 pounds, they wont be genuine bmw ones but will do all the same, the genuine ones are around 40-50 pounds. pity about the rear rim but sometimes the odd single wheel pops up on ebay. may even be able to straighten it out although it does look a fair ding, that aside no way could that cost over 3 grand.

[Rtaylor2208]

Genuine and pattern cabby wings are NLA, second hand only or have the bottom of a good one welded onto the bottom of a new normal wing.

[pacerpete]

A new door is over £600 !


Did I mention I have a minter ?

[verde]

oh yeah shit cabby wings arnt the same as coupe

[E30_Jatt]

...

[Rtaylor2208]

They may know of a pattern part supplier but last time I phoned BMW told me they were NLA and that was only a couple of months ago.

£350 for a wheel and tyre

Also door handle, cylinder etc would these not be salavagable from the exisitng door.

No wonder insurance is so expensive.

But on the plus side if there insurance will cover it your laughing as thats alot of new parts. Fingers crossed they will as you'll end up with a pretty fresh motor.

[E30_Jatt]

They may know of a pattern part supplier but last time I phoned BMW told me they were NLA and that was only a couple of months ago.

£350 for a wheel and tyre

Also door handle, cylinder etc would these not be salavagable from the exisitng door.

No wonder insurance is so expensive.

But on the plus side if there insurance will cover it your laughing as thats alot of new parts. Fingers crossed they will as you'll end up with a pretty fresh motor.

I was looking at the estimate and thought the same, certain parts are probably re-usable. The door handle and lock cylinder may not be because the door wont open so that could either be the handles broken or something, and the lock cylinder has the plastic off the top of it missing/broken.

I shall see what the insurance company have to say, but as you have already said once this repair has been carried out it should be pretty much like new again.

[stew72]

The insurer is likely to want to negotiate on the price with the bodyshop, so they've probably specified as much as they think they can get away with so that they can knock items off that are probably re-useable rather than actually move on the price of the work that's actually required, that way they can maintain their margins.

As for arguing with insurance companies, surely it's in contract? If your premium is based on risk and part of that assessment of risk is the value of your car (why else ask for it?) then that value is bound by contract. If it was a commercial agreement between 2 business it would stand up, can't see why it wouldn't as a consumer? The only issue may be the cost involved getting it upheld.

[Brianmoooore]

I'm afraid that all the figures on that estimate are going to be purely academic, because to authorise that repair the insurance company would have to estimate the PAV (pre accident value) at well over £5000.
Your car will be written off, and you will initially be offered a paltry sum which they hope you will roll over and accept.
The box on the insurance form where you estimate the car's value is purely there so that you have the opportunity to increase your premiums. If and when that valuation is actually needed, it will be totally ignored, and they will revert to 'book' value, whereupon it's up to you to argue your case.

[E30_Jatt]

I'm afraid that all the figures on that estimate are going to be purely academic, because to authorise that repair the insurance company would have to estimate the PAV (pre accident value) at well over £5000.
Your car will be written off, and you will initially be offered a paltry sum which they hope you will roll over and accept.
The box on the insurance form where you estimate the car's value is purely there so that you have the opportunity to increase your premiums. If and when that valuation is actually needed, it will be totally ignored, and they will revert to 'book' value, whereupon it's up to you to argue your case.

I can see exactly what you are saying, and if I were to be deciding, based on that quote, then I may be more inclined to write it off too.

I definitely need to get more estimates from other repairers but as I've never had to get any bodywork done on my car, don't know of any, especially any good ones.

[Falkster]

See if they will pay you out and let you keep the car, then you repair it yourself. I reckon you could find a mint door, that's local, for around £50.

[E30_Jatt]

See if they will pay you out and let you keep the car, then you repair it yourself. I reckon you could find a mint door, that's local, for around £50.

Yea at the moment that seems like the best course of action.

pacerpete said he has a mint door for £50 so might have to take him up on that offer, but still waiting on insurance company at the moment, they don't mind taking their time about doing it either.

[Gert_8]

Have you contacted Tay......? He'll do the repair for about £50, or less.

[DanThe]

You need recommendations when searching for decent bodyshops, just because the price is high doesnt mean it will be a good job, most often an insurance recommended repairer churns out crap work. Get a thread up asking for proper/sensible bodyshops in your area.

[Sanchez]

144 for a wing, did i read that right?

Thought last saloon prices where in the 200's from BMW.

[stew72]

I'm afraid that all the figures on that estimate are going to be purely academic, because to authorise that repair the insurance company would have to estimate the PAV (pre accident value) at well over £5000.
Your car will be written off, and you will initially be offered a paltry sum which they hope you will roll over and accept.
The box on the insurance form where you estimate the car's value is purely there so that you have the opportunity to increase your premiums. If and when that valuation is actually needed, it will be totally ignored, and they will revert to 'book' value, whereupon it's up to you to argue your case.

If it's not your fault you can argue to get it repaired, I know of at least one person who's done this sucessfully.

You could also go for payment in Lieu of repair as if you were going to do some of it yourself, I've been sucessful in claiming for this in the past, a grand towards repair for a car they initially valued at £1200, and no insurance record of the damage either.

[Quaser]

ok - assuming that your car is being written off, i'd be looking on autotrader and pistonheads to find the most expensive similar spec/mileage cars

print them out and use them for the valuation that the will give you.

When i had my Motorsport, they valued it at £2500 (book value) I showed them that the cars were valued circa £6k and we settled on £5.5k - i then bought the car back for 20% of that and broke it.

So, everyone who has a cab need to advertise it for top dollar

[E30BeemerLad]

Being realistic, the "real world" value of your cab in the eyes of an insurer is unlikely to be much about £2500.

The best way forwards here is to try and get some sensible estimates, using second hand panels so that you get an estimate that includes parts & labour & materials.

Then approach the compensating insurer for what is called a "cash in-lieu" settlement. What you get here is the cost of estimated repairs, less the VAT. They send you a cheque for this amount and that's the end of it. If it then ends up costing more to repair/ further damage found, then it is tough luck. This will prevent the car from going on the register as a write off.

They will take the hire car off you as soon as you've been paid out too

[Andyboy]

^^

This is what I had on my E36. The car was realistically worth about £500, and the estimate to repair (wing, bonnet edge repair, bumper, headlight and labour/paint) from BMW was £1800. I got a cheque for £700 and a 'now please p*ss off' payment.

Four years ago, a clown ran into the back wing of my E32. Insured for £2000 on a classic policy with an agreed value (which EVERY E30 owner should have), the repair cost was nearly £3500 - new rear 1/4, new rear screen because they never come out in 1 piece, replace the scuffed bumper and a LOT of labour. It was written off, and I bought it back for £300. On the day the cheque for £1700 arrived, I picked it up and drove it to a local place that repaired it for £480 cash. Beat the wing out, skim of filler, primed and paint, job done and as straight as a die.

The labour to repair your E30 would be more than the few used bits it'll need. Door 50 quid, but mint and 100% rust free used wings are now very rare so I'd go for a new one - but I reckon yours might go again. Both would need the inner edges painting off the car, then the panels fitted and the whole side of the car painted. Even if the rear wings os okay, you won't get a paint match so you'd need to colour (basecoat) up to the rear arch and then clearcoat lacquer the whole wing. Putting the panels on is simple enough, but it's the paint finish inside and out, the panel fit and the detailing that makes a good job. The place I use up here would charge about £700 all in.
If you wanted to bring it up with a used door on the back seat...........

[E30_Jatt]

I phoned the insurance company today and they have told me that my claim is now on hold because I have after market alloy wheels on which I hadn't told them about.

I had only had the wheels on the car for two weeks before the accident, and didn't get a chance to tell them. Am I now in the sh*t? What should I do or say now?

[Brianmoooore]

E30BeemerLad, where are you?

[bss325i]

My best mate wrote of his E46 a few years ago and it had after market wheels he didn't declare.

All the insurance company did was adjust the final payout for the difference the premium would have been if he declared them.

Basically, if his insurance would have been an extra 100 for the year because of the wheels, the knocked that off the final payout.

[pacerpete]

I phoned the insurance company today and they have told me that my claim is now on hold because I have after market alloy wheels on which DON'T FIT VERY WELL and I hadn't told them about.

I had only had the wheels on the car for two weeks before the accident, and didn't get a chance to tell them. Am I now in the sh*t? What should I do or say now?

The insurance company may argue that your car was unsafe / unstable and you knowingly drove it like that. Looking at the pics of the wheel sticking several centimetres outside the wheel arch, they have a point. This issue as well as not notifying them of a major change to your car are just the sort of things insurance companies love as they squirm to avoid coughing up

[maf260]

I had only had the wheels on the car for two weeks before the accident, and didn't get a chance to tell them.

Didn't get a chance, or didn't bother, hoping you'd get away with it? I seriously doubt that you did not have a single spare minute to call/email/write/visit in person/send a carrier pigeon to inform them of your modification. They will doubt it too.

[Tom_Maverick]

Lenso don't make a BSX 4x100 with an offset of less than ET25.. and that would not make them stick out like that.. are you running spacers???

[fuzzy]

my mate wrote of his evo 8 a month or so outwith its first mot due date. they still paid out the £14000 value but deducted £50 for the cost of the mot that he should have had. id suspect something similar might happen here with your wheels.

[Tom_Maverick]

my mate wrote of his evo 8 a month or so outwith its first mot due date. they still paid out the £14000 value but deducted £50 for the cost of the mot that he should have had. id suspect something similar might happen here with your wheels.

unless the other insurance company says that the accident was caused by said wheels etc etc...

[E30_Jatt]

Lenso don't make a BSX 4x100 with an offset of less than ET25.. and that would not make them stick out like that.. are you running spacers???

I had to run 15mm spacers at the front so they would clear the caliper's as they were rubbing on them at first.

Didn't get a chance, or didn't bother, hoping you'd get away with it? I seriously doubt that you did not have a single spare minute to call/email/write/visit in person/send a carrier pigeon to inform them of your modification. They will doubt it too.

It's just one of those things that you put on the back of everything else you have to do day to day...its one of them things I knew I had to do but dragged my feet so to speak but I wish I hadn't done, as I wouldn't be in this mess now.

Well I just wanted to know what would happen now and whether it would jeopardise getting a payout at all.

[E30BeemerLad]

OK, so we have a "non disclosure" issue with your insurers.

I would call them up and ask them what they are intending to do about this problem. Reminding them that you are in a hire car/ courtesy car and the clock is ticking as far as daily hire charges.

Sometimes an insurer will just add up what the additional premium would have been if you had declared the alloys and just deduct that from the settlement they give you. Others will use it as an excuse to effectively void the policy. There is generally no consistency in their approach.

The breach here is pretty minor, so long as there is no evidence the wheels or tyres were in a dangerous state (bald tyres for example). Also, whatever your insurers pay out they will just go to the insurer of the fault party for reimbursement, so for your insurers to put their heads up their arse now and stiff you would be excessive. If the accident was your fault then I would expect your insurers to tell you to swivel as the wheel issue would give then a get out of jail card.

If you get no real help from your insurers, then you always have the fall back situation of getting on the phone to the insurers of the party at fault as they have no idea what mods are declared or not. All they will want to do is get you settled up ASAP because if that 1 series you are smoking about in is a hire car, those insurers will be getting the bill.

You need to get your game plan together with the repair estimate side of things as the estimates so far are write off territory without a shadow of doubt. Generally an insurer will start to look at writing a car off once the repair costs exceed 60% of the pre-accident value of the car.

I think your best plan still is to try and arrange a cash in-lieu settlement, so you get a cheque for repair costs less the VAT and they don't write the car off. You will lose the hire car/ courtesy car once the cash in-lieu cheque is in your hands.