robby

Does anyone know how much damage has to be done for the insurance company to write a car off? what damage has to be done to put it as a CAT D, etc?

Reason i'm asking is my 52 Mini Cooper has been hit and from the outside it looks minimal - dent to bonnet, bumper, grilles but the airbags went off so it'll need both front airbags, dash top (damaged bt flip up bag cover), airbag cover, steering wheel
I've been told it could be written off because of the expense of replaceing the airbags, etc

But if i had it repaired would it go on the HPI register (so i'd loose value)?

cheers

Dracoro

If ins company write it off then it'll go on the registers.

They'll all have their individual policies regarding writing off or not and the cost rules (cost to fix + cost of legal issues + cost of hire car etc. all add up) whether they'll write it off.

If they do, pocket the cash and get a replacement, non crashed car. If the airbags have gone off, there must be some fair damage internally as they don't tend to go off in minor shunts. You've probably some internal structural damage as well as the exterior panels & dash stuff. As you say the damage LOOKS minimal which isn't to say it actually is. The assessor will check the damage & what needs sorting, you need to see this report before making any decisions about whether you want to fix it. There'll probably be more things needing attention than you think.

Stephb1986

Mine was a Cat C write off i can show you a pic of it and tell you the damage if you like it depends how much the car is worth and weather it would cost more to fix it rather than just give you the money my damages was coming up to 6k on a 2k car so they wrote it off

Spoon

The weather has no bearing on the outcome whatsoever.

Stephb1986

cant be arsed to remember how to spell weather or whether i get mixed up so just spell it the way i know

Dracoro

whether easy

Spoon

Or whether, then.

hades

IIRC, if the cost of repairs is more than about 2/3rds the value of the car pre-crash, many companies write the car off. My parents had an Astra Coupe a couple of years back which was rear ended and pushed into the car in front. Had it not holed the radiator with a bumper mounting bolt, the car would have been completely drivable, no airbags activated etc (front end needed only new radiator, lights, bumper and a bit of panel beating). The back end looked a bit dented but not too serious, but there was a crease in the boot floor between the rear struts so new shell would have been required Assessed value pre-crash nearly £11k, repair cost estimate £9-10k - insurance write off.

lawson101

A lot of insurers will declare an accident damaged vehicle uneconomical to repair if the repair costs are more then 60% of the vehicles PAV (Pre Accident Value).