Reffro

Before everyone gets the wrong idea from my title, I wasn't the driver, and the actual driver was insured third party only when he had the accident.

Basically my friend borrowed his fiance's Jeep Cherokee the other night, and ended up parking it upside down in a ditch. From the sound of it the damage is limited to the bodywork, both wings, bonnet, roof, grille, windscreen. All the lights are intact, and the interior and mechanicals are untouched. How it happened I don't know until I see them tonight, but they've asked for my help with what to do now.

Now if it was me I'd have round to my friendly repair man and stump up the cost of the damage. Oh the car is a 96 P-reg Cherokee Limited, 55k miles, Met Blue with tan leather. It was in top condition prior to the accident. Its either repair it, or sell it and that's where I come unstuck. Obviously you can sell the parts for a fair whack, my choice would be via ebay, or do you know anybody who will give a reasonable price for the vehicle as it is. They are holding out for all the money that's the problem, they want £2-3,000 for it as it stands, but with a market value of £6-7,000 if it was OK, I don't think they stand a chance.

So scoobynetters, don your thinking caps and give me any advice you think would be useful, besides the driving tips that I will impart myself when I see them tonight.

David_Wallis

cough claim on fiance's insurance as she was actually driving..

oh no... cant do that..

Repair it.. reshell it..

sell the bits

pay the money

they are the only options I can see.

David

JoeyDeacon

I would definitely claim on her insurance and say she was driving.... As long as there were no witnesses and the police didn't turn up how will they find out?

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

Think they usually say that once the roof has gone repair costs are going to be more than the thing is worth

Richard Askew

Perverting the course of Justice is serious!

So he has the following options:
1) Dig deep and pay for the repairs
2) Sell the car as it is to a salvage yard
3) Break for spares

Either way he does it he's gona get hit hard in the pocket, but not as hard as if he'd hit someone else and then been sued for personal injury..

Reffro

Sorry Mod's just realised I posted this in general, if it is to be moved can you move this thread into Non-scooby related where it will get some views and hopefully a few replies.

chiark

...by discussing that very tactic on a BBS, perchance?????

Legal suggestions that don't lead to defrauding the company would probably be suggested. After all, I would wager that you don't really want the cost of your insurance going up do you?

Repair costs ahve got to be looking to be more than the difference in value from my uneducated eye. Also, there may be damage to the chassis that you can't see right now.

I'd offload it for as much as possible (autotrader has a damaged/repairable section, doesn't it) as I can't see this being cheap to repair, and can see it being a right nightmare

Gutted for him - this must be a complete nightmare.

banshi

Spoken like a true Scoobynetter

Once borrowed a Scoob on third party cover and was asked "what if you bump it?" I get it repaired to your satisfaction.
"How about if it's written off?" must have seen my driving
Simple - I sell my Scoob or re-mortgage to replace it.

So looking down on the masses from my holier than thou position:-

Your friend knew the situation albeit with the usual it'll never happen to me philosophy. He should be reaching for his cheque book.

They could scam the insurers, but if it went pear shaped its Fraud. Don't know wht the g/f does but when I've completed job application forms there's a neat little section that requires a declaration on criminal records.

The key questions:
How is their concience i.e. will they worry/have sleepless nights?
If caught out, what are the consequences & is it worth the risk?

I would guess it's a right off anyway. The salvage yards have dozens of rolled cars "that will panel" But I wouldn't want my wife driving one even if it had not been subject to an economical repair.

To break it could take an eternity to clear, plus time involved in removal and negotiation. Meanwhile still no cash and no new car.



Bite the bullet. Stick it in Auto Trader for some dodgey dealer to patch up and start looking for a replacement.