HOWY

somebody drove into my wifes parked P reg escort and ripped part of the rear bumper off fortunately the bloke left his number. Eventualy she got in touch with his insurers who arranged to collect the car and take it to their repair company after keeping it 2 weeks they said they were going to write it off and keep the car as it was going to cost £700 to repair.

Although its an old car it goes well and had recently had money spent on it to get through MOT we weren't happy as she wouldn't be able to get a car for £700 that was any better and we had had a quote of about £400 to repair locally, eventually they agreed to pay up £500 and give the car back but here's the catch they say she has to give them her MOT cert and get some register check done and have a new MOT all at her expense.

This seems crazy to me as the car is roadworthy and if we had repaired the bumper no one would have been any the wiser. To add insult to injury ive orderd a new bumper including painting for £182 i'll fit it myself.

Can they force her to get a new MOT even though the car is roadworthy and not a write off (accept in their eyes cos they charge rip off repair prices)

urdad

Depends on the classification of the damage,unfortunately they are prolly worried that you will get a cheap repair done and use it for the remainder of the mot's time.
Getting you to re-mot it will at least give them an idea that's roadworthy after the repair.

GC8

Thay can not do this no. You own the car and they owe you money. Dig your heels in, insurers, especially call/admin centre ones get away with murder.

urdad

Then they will refuse to cover you,when you go elsewhere they will ask if you have ever been refused cover...you could lie then again .....

HOWY

They didn't say what classification it was but it looks like very minor to me as its just the corner of the bumper that's been damaged so simple new bumper swap and the local garage didn't say they thought it was any more than that either?

vindaloo

Reads like it's the hitter's insurance, not the hittee's that's being an ****.

J.

urdad

They are a law unto themselves,with ridiculous premiums and any excuse not to pay...

as355f1

let them keep it then get a duplicate from the mot station where it was done

daz1968

iTrader: (13)

it is standard practice if a car is written off, they usually want the V5 as well, you then have to reapply for this. It is just unfortunate that with an older car it is written off for such a minor repair. But they have rules and will follow them no matter how stupid it sounds, my wifes astra had front end damage a few years ago and a new mot was to ensure repairs completed correctly, although if it is not written off and repeired by them this rule does not get used.

speedking

What is the reason for them paying only £500 when it is going to cost £700 to repair?

HOWY

Because they say the cost of repair (£700) exceeds an acceptable % value of the car. Even though other repairers can do it more cheaply. It seems crazy that people are penalised because they can't do repairs more economically. Hopefully if I do the work myself we might be able to get it all sorted for under £500 but it has been a lot of hassle

chris singleton

Involved in almost identical situation myself with my daily work beater.

Some muppet reversed into me, minor scratch and minor dents. Their assessor wrote it off as cost of repairs being more than they valued the vehicle. They wanted to give me £250.00 which is what the valued it at. Alright it was only 89 vw polo but it was one owner, amazing condition, only 52k with fsh !

I argued with them, provided example of similar cars off the trader which were valued higher. Eventually got them up to £350 but they wanted to write it off and said I would have to apply for new mot, etc. I said I'd be claiming against them for the additional expense of doing this as the damage was minor cosmetic only and the car was 100% roadworthy. Eventually got them to concede, they paid out and I managed to keep car without it being written off. took months to sort but fight your corner.

As mentioned above, all insurance companies are barstewards

urdad

That'd be ok unless...don't want to tempt fate,it's no biggy getting an mot and the test shouldn't be gruelling it's just a check of standard of the repair and it's suitability/safety...

GC8

Read more carefully: it was the third partys insurers. The car belongs to the OP and they may not retain it nor insist on 'writing it off'. Theyll stop chuffing about when the county court letter arrives at the third partys address. They (the staff at the admin centres, rather than the insrance company itself) get away with whatever they can in order to have an easier time (or maybe to do all of the work that they are tasked with).

Simon

urdad

It's not a case of reading it it's more a case of understanding it.
If it's written off by either party it will go onto a database,the same one we use when we HPI cars.
Once paid out the cars belongs to the insurance company,by agreeing a sum you are buying it back from them,thats why they want the v5,etc.
It's all part of the contract of insurance,you'd take the 3rd party to county court for what?He was insured the rest is out of his/her hands.

GC8

You dont know as much as you think: in fact, your posts are full of nonsense.

Good afternoon.

urdad

Ha,ha mine are full of nonsense...
I think you'll find Iam correct hence your defeatist reply which is showing you up for all to see,it is not about our opinions.
Please direct me to the area(s) of nonsense,try to avoid a twisted reply,it was a worthwhile thread until you got upset with your own lack of knowledge.
The amusing bit I find is to take the 3rd party to court,but again I ask on what grounds?
The 3rd party is no longer involved,it is now in the realms of the 1st party and the insurance company,so who's talking rubbish.
Better afternoon

urdad

The VIC is compulsary and legislated for I have discovered.
The insurer will destroy the v5 and to obtain a replacement the VIC will need to be completed.
The VIC being the Vehicle Identity Check which confirms the vehicle is what you claim it to be;I know the car is of a low value but this is the norm.
They are not being unreasonable,all the information is in the link below.
Here....

HOWY

So does this mean that she can't drive the car until its been re MOT'd or until its had the VIC?

nez-wrx

if it was a cat c write off then once repaired will need a v.i.c and then another MOT

GC8

Thats correct of course, but my point is that the original poster does not have to accept this ****-poor offer from the third partys insurers.

urdad

And I'll not argue that its a **** poor offer,times have changed in the "old" days you could argue the toss.
Damn need multi-quote on here.

urdad

To be road legal,yes.

CavT

Not so.

Go and get a duplicate MOT certificate, make sure you make a note of the Document Reference number on the V5 logbook if you have to surrender it, you can then goto any MOT centre, give them the reg and the doc reference number and they can print you out the duplicate.

If your car hasn't got much tax on it, keep the green new keepers part of the V5, tell the insurance company you lost it, go down and get the car retaxed for a year.

Theres nothing illegal at it, I did it with a Corsa for a while.

Obviously, if you've got the duplicate MOT, you can book a VIC check for it which is £35 which includes the fee for replacement logbook.

badgersport

It sounds like the 3rd party insurance company have written off the car and classed it as Cat C - meaning the V5 has to be destoyed and a Vehicle Identy Check done before a new one is issued by DVLA.

This is the insurance company trying it on. A 3rd party insurance company cannot write off your car without your permission. Regardless of cost you have a legal right to have the car put back to its pre accident condition. In theory you should take legal action against the other driver (not the insurance company) and a court will award you damages which the insurance company will pay.

However, we are dealing with a £500 car that you can repair yourself for under £200 leaving a nice profit to compensate you for the hassle of having to get a VIC check done and apply for a new V5 and MOT.

phill6x6

I had a Mk2 16v golf GTI, an old lady pulled out of a side road straight into the nearside rear quarter, thankfully had lots of witnesses. anyway the car was valued at £500, the repair was quoted at £1800, so her insurance company tried writing it off and offered me the £500..
I agrued that i had a perfectly good car before she stoved into the side of it... The accident was not my fault.I couldn't replace the car for the £500 and I wanted my car repaired...
Which they did and provided a courtesy car while it was repaired too, the total cost to the insurers was over £2000,,, for a car worth only £500.
dig your heals in and insist they repair it and return it to you.

GC8

QED. They have to put you back in the position that you were in before the accident and you do not have to roll over and accept any offer that they make. On a seperate note it is very easy to argue that the ABI category is incorrect: again, dig your heels in. This doesnt apply if you insist on repair, of course.

The trouble with BBSs like this is that everyone has an opinion and it can be difficult to establish who really knows that theyre talking about and who is repeating drivel that they heard somewhere.....

Good luck and remember that youre in charge, not their insurer...


Simon

JPF

iTrader: (1)

There was a thing on the box a while ago about some insurers offering a repair using second hand parts from scrapped cars as an alternative to righting off, don't know how many have this as an option yet, sorry a bit of the topic but thought it worth mentioning anyway....oh and all that about the MOT? I bashed the back of my old Rover a few years back, it needed the whole side of the car replaced at a body shop, abt £1500 on the insurance, there wasn't a mention of a re-MOT.

urdad

Differing opinions contribute to a worthwhile thread.
I as others on here have had cars written off,repaired salvaged cars and put them back on the road,non seriously damaged I'd like to add.
The question of the mot is the fact that the insurers are asking for a new mot to be taken understand that I'm sure they are doing this for safety reasons,they couldn't allow "you" to take a previously damaged car on the road as they would find themselves partly responsible,like it or not they are only doing what they think is right safety wise.;as it's all computerised now do you think it will be as easy as just applying for a duplicate?
As for the insurance companys standing I think we need the input of a insurance operative( ),I see they are being quiet on this one;don't forget not all insurance companies are equal.
Citizens advice or even ask your own insurance company for their opinion.
Wether you can get them to repair it or not I don't know I'll sneak a look on drivel.com,,the bone of contention I have is with the validity of the mot and vic.
TBH I really can't see that it's such a big deal to buy it back repair it(pocket the xtra) then get the mot and vic done.
If you have clicked on the link in one of my previous posts the VIC is actually intended to stop ringing.
Cavt I don't think it is that easy now with all these big brother computers;if DVLA receive the log book form the insurers I'm sure it will be "marked" as "written off" and that will flash up on the Vascar police monitors,and how will you get insured if its on the insurance database as such?
GC8 is your drivel comment directed @ me,as I said direct me to the area(s) of concern and I'll happily address it(them),there's no need for animosity just because someone doesn't agree.
It's l8 I'm bored c.u 2morro(text talk for chavs and car thieves)...

urdad

The Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) scheme has been introduced as a deterrent to ringing. Since 7 April 2003, insurers must notify Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of all cars ‘written off’ within salvage categories A, B or C. This notification will set a ‘VIC marker’ against the DVLA vehicle record. Whilst a VIC marker remains set, DVLA will not issue a registration certificate V5C, or vehicle licence reminder V11. The VIC marker will only be removed, when the car passes a VIC.
The VIC, is carried out by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA). It is designed to confirm the car’s identity and helps ensure that the genuine car is returned to the road. It takes around 20 minutes to complete and involves comparing the details on the DVLA vehicle record, against the car presented. The VIC is a check of identity, it does not formally assess the quality of the repair or confirm roadworthiness. If you have any concerns regarding these aspects, you should seek the opinion of an independent expert.
Once a car has passed a VIC the V5C issued will be annotated to show "substantially repaired and or accident damaged; identity checked on dd/mm/ccyy,""quoted from the link".

We all seem to agree that the offer is not fair wether or not they will repair it is questionable.
The contention seems to be with the people who don't agree with a new mot/vic and those that do.
What I fail to understand is why people are adamant about circumventing the system that is in place to hopefully reduce car theft/ringing through vehicle indentity checks,in fact the systems that is in place to protect honest car owners from rogues.
As for other issues on here there are websites where you can check insurance(non-DVLA)and mot(DVLA),so what can the police check?
If they can seize your car for not having valid insurance I'm pretty sure they will have a field day if we follow some of the advice on here,the VASCAR units flash up irregularities with the vehicle and the registered owner..