10 years old is past it

entwisi · 18-01-2008, 21:10

On the way home today some bloke swerves to avoid a car pulling out. Only
I'm in the right hand lane and he hits the back quarter of the volvo. No
real speed or anything, back door pushed in a bit and paint scraped on the
door and rear wheel arch.

Get home, rings the insurers ( Swinton through MMA Insurance). Give them
the details. Anyway, Volvo is 10 years 6 months old. "Oh, its over 10
years old sir" We write those off!

its probably £500 worth of work. to make mint again.

so I'm left trying to negotiate a buy back but it will be cat D....

Grrrrr

Ian

grego · 18-01-2008, 21:19

Would it be cheaper just to pay for the work to be done without going through insurers?

Bonnyboy · 18-01-2008, 21:31

If you want to keep the car, withdraw the claim and just have it repaired yourself. Don’t understand the bit about you having to negotiate a buy back deal. Are they implying that it is now unroadworthy and that a mechanical engineer would just scrap it ? Confused

entwisi · 18-01-2008, 21:38

The reason it has to go through the insurers is that the car that it me was a courtesy car as the driver had had his car written off last week. Hence the damage to it will need to be covered as well.

I would have normally offered to let him pay for it to avoid another claim but he has no option as the car he was driving wasn't his.

There is no doubt that it is still perfectly roadworthy. However if I withdraw the claim I'm £500 down to make it good myself. Its a non fault accident from my perspective so I want it making right.

mr_flibble · 18-01-2008, 21:38

Im guessing he wants to get a buy back because the insurance will write it off as a cat D, give him £500 quid for it or whatever and then he can buy it back for £90 or so and repair it himself.

Cat D means that car is not economically viable to repair but there is no major chassis damage to the car just cosmetic damage.
Cat C would be not economically viable to repair with damage to the chassis or sub frame of the car
Cat B is major damage and my never be used on the road again but parts of the can be used.
Cat A means the car must be crushed and none of its parts used.

Bonnyboy · 18-01-2008, 21:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_flibble

Im guessing he wants to get a buy back because the insurance will write it off as a cat D, give him £500 quid for it or whatever and then he can buy it back for £90 or so and repair it himself.

Cheers, that cleared that up, think my brain shut-down

entwisi · 18-01-2008, 21:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_flibble

Im guessing he wants to get a buy back because the insurance will write it off as a cat D, give him £500 quid for it or whatever and then he can buy it back for £90 or so and repair it himself.

Cat D means that car is not economically viable to repair but there is no major chassis damage to the car just cosmetic damage.
Cat C would be not economically viable to repair with damage to the chassis or sub frame of the car
Cat B is major damage and my never be used on the road again but parts of the can be used.
Cat A means the car must be crushed and none of its parts used.

I'm hoping for a chuff more than £500 for it!

Less · 18-01-2008, 21:49

If he hadn't had this accident, how long would the insurance company have continued taking money off him? One year? Two Years? For ever?

One thing for certain they wouldn't be saying pay us less as your car will be automatically written off due to it's age, it seems like yet another underhand get out clause they have introduced and who gets screwed again? The innocent, law abiding driver, thats who.

This thing stinks of some form of, (though no doubt perfectly legal), unfair trading by the insurers to me.

Bonnyboy · 18-01-2008, 21:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by entwisi

I'm hoping for a chuff more than £500 for it!

You do know the buggers will drag it out for as long as possible and try to nail you into the ground settlement wise

mr_flibble · 18-01-2008, 21:55

What car is it exactly? I deal in cars quite a lot and unfortunetly with insurance company's as well, might be able to give you a good idea what you will get for it.

entwisi · 21-01-2008, 11:13

Its a V70 Volvo, 1997 2.5 LPT CDSE, 190K miles, excelllent pre accident condition, £2K LPG system fitted in 2005 when I bought it. Full spec with eleccy everythng, tow bar etc

WillowTheWhisp · 21-01-2008, 11:28

They'll only give you the market value for it won't they?

entwisi · 21-01-2008, 12:43

yep , problem is 2nd hand car market is not good, add in teh 190K miles and I'll be lucky I reckon to see £1K. This is the reason I want to keep it. I know there are 2-3 good years left in the thing

***Mr D*** · 21-01-2008, 13:10

You have the right as a individual to not claim via your insurers.

If you can get it repaired at your own garage at a resonable cost (Ie not more than its worth) you can submit this to MMA and see if they will agree it or.

Inform MMA of the accident for Information Purposes, use you legal cover that swinton should of included and recover your costs from the third party direct. You should be able to ring swinton, or your legal cover provider and they should advise you of this.

Also check as Courtsy cars arnt ususally given when the car is a total loss.

Any help just drop me a PM

Oh you will probably need your legal cover to recover your Excess and any othe Uninsured losses, Injury, time of work Ect. should you claim via your policy anyway.

Busman747 · 21-01-2008, 18:59

I have been advised by various people that as soon as a claim is put to the insurance company, the "no claims" will be lost or reduced even IF the claim is later cancelled. Has anyone experienced that?

Also, if you have "no claims" protection, and claim, you still get the same discount..........but the premium goes up