Insurance claim questions / advice please.

There's little you can do to influence the claim by the other driver.

If your car is written off, the first offer is likely to be low, so it's in your interest to find similar s/h cars at good prices to improve it's s/h value. You also want the 'buy back' price to be low. At this stage I' be looking through the s/h ads for well priced cars, while the Insurance Co's sorted out valuations etc. Mike.

Understood.

Ok ..

So is there a link between those two Mike? If I try to keep the value price up will they then try to claw some_of_that back on the buy-back do you think?

Ok, will do, thanks.

IME with cheaper cars the two valuations are not usually linked. Chances are that they'll only want a nominal sum for you to keep the car. A friend has just had his car written off after someone drove into the back of it. £1600 valuation, buy back £125. He could sell the engine alone for more than that. He reckons he can repair it for around £600, so he'll be in pocket after it's been repaired. That's if he forgets what his labour might be worth. :-) Mike.

Your insurance company will probably send an "engineer" round to assess the damage to your car. Be sure to mention that you'd like to keep the car - the engineer has some leeway in the amount of salvage value he recommends (the insurance company will charge you this amount for retaining the car) and can also be flexible when it comes to the write-off category he gives your car (a "D" would be good).

Oh, and be sure to check that all the tyres on the car have at least the legal minimum tread - that's one of the first things he will look at.

Ok ..

Ah, ok, thanks.

Yup and I believe they are all fine (I'll double check though). ;-)

FWIW it only went through the MOT recently and everything is and works as it should.

Cheers, T i m.

Ok good.

And that's the rub isn't it ... a 'five minute job' rarely turns out that way! ;-(

T i m

One thing is not to admit liability, unless you want too ??.

My wife had a very minor scrape, only 6mm scratch on other persons bumper, it would have cost £50 to get repaired by a scratch company.

But due to the other person being very threatening and abusive, my wife went thru the insurance. Her insurance premium has gone up £80 and has lost 4 years NCB. Insurance company put the cost down as £500.

I wish I had claimed for a new bumper etc for my wifes car as it needed one.

But make sure any MOT observations are clear as well, like brake pads might need changing in x miles time.

Too late I'm afraid floosy, she did so at the scene more or less "sorry it was my fault etc". I couldn't be too strong with her when she rang as she was obviously a bit shaken and annoyed with herself.

Ouch. I have no idea how bad the other car was or *exactly* what was going on at the time .. he reasons why she couldn't recall this information was "I didn't think to look" etc. Funny isn't it, I guess most people here would take note of all that sort of thing because we might know it might be important to know? [1]

We have spoken to both the lady and her hubby tonight and exchanged insurance details etc and they seem pretty reasonable. We also discussed notifying the Police (we haven't yet as they have only just given us their details) but I guess we should?

Sri, not sure what you mean here floosy?

Cheers, T i m

[1] I also asked her if she heard any screeching of tyres (if so there may have been skid marks indicating the other car was over the white line) and how far the other car went past after impact before it stopped (indication of if / how much effort the other driver may have been putting into avoiding our car etc).

Now you have to hope that they stay reasonable.

Nobody injured hence no need.

After being involved in a staged accident, I would advise taking photos at the scene - of the cars, surroundings and also the driver and any passengers. My car was hit by a group of people who work for a taxi firm in the Merseyside area. It didn't go to plan as I reacted too quick. The accident was also caught on CCTV from a local shop! It didn't stop the driver using passengers he apparently didn't know as witnesses! The same people injured in the car were also just standing on the pavement. Thanks to false statements collected by B**** C*** & Co Solicitors I had to go to Court and point out the people couldn't possibly be in two places at once - and a private detective followed them about proving they were all relatives. One had even gone AWOL from the Army. Insurance companies will often drag it out to prove a point. The solicitor did all the claims on a no win no fee arrangement, how bent is that, no one was ever prosecuted as the Police were not interested as one of them was meant to be an informant. A blind eye is often turned. The number of scams going on now is out of control. The same people were involved in a number of other accidents. If the accident had gone to plan I would have hit the taxi as it drove from a road on my left which had a GiveWay sign. I accelerated and the taxi hit the left rear and wheel.

So get pictures, record the other person - anything to get evidence. It does sound like a genuine accident, but the other driver shouldn't have been going so fast as not to stop. What if someone had stepped out from a pavement? I doubt your wife would have done a massive wheelspin and shot out as it sounds like she was concentrating. It's just one of those things, but bent solicitors advise people to make false claims for whiplash and have done for years.

I dunno if you fancy it, or if it is worth the while in this instance,

But if the OP is ameanable and you fancy paying for the repairs to their car out of your pocket, it is worth giving them a bell and asking them.

Obviously depends on if you can afford it and if you want to lose your no claims etc.

Tom

Indeed.

A couple of legal sites on the net seemed to suggest that although there was no requirement to do so (as no one was injured and as you suggest) you should still do so if only to get some form of note logged / crime No that something happened between these cars and drivers on this date in the event of any party being uninsured or not having a licence etc.

When I phoned her with our insurance details and mentioned I was about to notify the Police and checked if that 'was ok' (to check how she would react) and she said no problems and they were going to do the same. When we tried they said there was no need (as we knew) so we didn't push it.

I'm going to a car spares place in a mo for some more brake cleaner and some Gun-Gum (I'm tidying up an old GPz 550) and I'll see how much a pattern indicator is to keep her legal in the meantime.

Cheers, T i m

Good idea Ian and I know we were advised to keep a disposable camera on us for such purposes but we never have (no reason other than not got roundtuit). Also, neither of us have camera phones (we prefer phones that really work as phones, like my 6310i ). Also, because the accident was 'minor' the two drivers pulled over to a parking space straight away (my Mrs was still across the main road with the nose of the car just over the central white line).

Oh?

Handy.

Sweet.

Even better, all helps your character assassination of them.

Not so sweet.

Ba$tards.

I feel I would have been more 'aware' of stuff and known exactly how I got into that position. Having a good eyesight, hearing and the ability to look over my shoulder (many older folk can't because of arthritis etc) and being a cycle and motorbike rider all helps to keep me aware. I can also generally do that 'how did this damage happen' thing and has at least once convinced someone that the damage they were trying to blame on me couldn't have come from me [1].

I don't think she was going 'fast' (it's only a 30 along there anyway) and may not have had time to brake as I believe the Mrs pulled out right beside a big (obscuring) car turning left so neither driver had chance to see each other. Having said that ( and especially as a motorcyclist) I look out for clues, like looking for wheels of one under another vehicle. The Mrs suggested the car that was next to her was a Range Rover (it probably wasn't but a 4x4 at least) and because of it's size, blocked her vision to the left but if it was a 4x4 then it might have been quite easy to see under for the other driver.

Well in this instance they would have had to step out behind said 4x4 Ian, similar to crossing the road from behind an Ice Cream van or bus, but had that happened the consequences would have been worse, yes.

Yup, she wouldn't and was (but not enough it seems). It's a side road square to the straight high road but the side road is two lanes and wide and one of the 'contributing factors', as if it wasn't two lanes wide her vision to the left wouldn't have been obscured by the other vehicle. In fact neither would it if it had not been a 4x4 (or van etc). Because it's a fairly straight piece of road it's also often quite difficult to get out and she has joked in the past when sat there with her daughter, "we could be here all day" etc (she won't block the road to her right by pulling out into it like many drivers do (and causing an 'obstruction' I believe).

Yep, ba$tards.

It's a shame she should have made this bad call yesterday because normally she's a pretty good driver. She drives every day in heavy rush hour traffic (not just a school run or the shops) and won't always allow herself to be intimidated or taken advantage of by other drivers. She's not 'fast' nor over-confident and hence why she has both a clean licence (after nearly 40 years driving) and only a couple of previous 'why did I do that' type minor accidents to her name. Having said that I think she's a better motorbike rider (currently an XV750) than she is a car driver and that she admits this is down to the involvement and concentration required.

Al the best ..

T i m

Hmm, I did consider that Tom but I think there was more damage to the other (newer / 2001) car than ours. As they consider themselves innocent in this they would want a proper job done (my Mrs is happy to leave our car as it is and I'd have to admit it's not that obvious at first glance).

Well we could but we don't have a lot of spare cash to throw about. :-(

*Luckily* it's Comp and fully protected Tom, cos at our age the difference in cost between FC and TPFT is negligible and Comp covers windscreens etc. ;-)

All the best and thanks for the thoughts. T i m

I understand your point, but for archive purposes as much as anything, there is no reason that having the work done privately should not be considered a proper job.

Some old biddy reversed into me a few months ago and we was going to settle privately until she stopped communicating, turned out the same garage did the work, to pretty much the same spec.

Even though your no-claims may be protected i would expect them to load your policy next time around.

Tom

Indeed, I suppose I meant they would expect it to be immaculate when it was finished rather than (maybe) just as it was pre accident?

I have been party to an insurance assessor looking over a motorbike that had been dropped at pretty low speed (not mine). The fact that there was a small scratch on the exhaust meant another ~ £1000 on the bill. This eventually ends up being paid by all of us of course. :-(

Ok.

I'd like to think not but we will see ... :-(

All the best, T i m

Our renewal premium went up by something like £20 the following year following a fairly small knock claim (which totalled £2.8k in the end!)

- certainly the increase was not enough to suspect they were trying to recoup their losses that way. They were also the lowest premium when I searched around, so I kept with them - no (noticeable) premium increase, and no loss of discount. :)

D

"Tom Burton" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net...

I've heard the same, but it has never happened to me. I've had maximum and protected NCD for over 20 years with different Ins Co's, and during that time had 2 'no blame' claims. Neither resulted in any apparent increase in premium the following year.

In fact I'm rather surprised that during that time my annual premiums have stayed about the same. I paid around £237 fully comp protected NCD for a Rover SD1 Vitesse in the 90's. My current car, a 528i BMW in a similar insurance group, costs me around £250 for the same cover, so in effect I'm paying less now, than I was 15-20 years ago. Mike.