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Drive-by write-off

At least I think so.

I was happily parked (or at least Marge was), when a little old lady in a Fiat Punto decided she didn't like its shape (the Punto's, I mean), and used Marge's o/s rear corner to do a bit of that Peugeot-elephant-advert stuff to hers.

So now we have "England: nil Punto." Or at least one less, since, once the damage to its A pillar, B pillar, C pillar, wing, both doors and rear quarter is accounted for, I think it's not economic, etc.

But that still left a nasty crease in Marge's back quarter panel, a missing light, and 'light protector' which, although it gave of its very self, died in vain, as a new indicator is needed, oh and a rear door that doesn't fit too well any more (but I think it's just the hinges out of alignment). It looks, well, a bit remodelled, but the crossmember I'm supposed to be replacing (yes, I know Richard, but I was only paid this week after six months!), is actually straight (but there's no ally on top of it!).

So my question is this: Marge has long been a teenager, and is not in the finest fettle at the moment, although she's definitely roadworthy and MOTed. I don't want to rip anyone off, but OTOH I do want her put straight, and I do NOT want my NCB messed with.

So can anyone share any similar experiences - how they got on with insurers, 'engineers' etc.? Is there anything I ought to be doing/saying to make sure she actually gets mended, rather than written off or whatever? The other insurer is Provident BTW, mine is NFU Mutual.

Any thoughts appreciated, but bear in mind I'm trying to be absolutely straight (but firm) about this with t'other party's insurers.

Many thanks.

Simonm.

Reply to
SpamTrapSeeSig
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When some moron ploughed into my series, I figure it was not worth involving the insurance company as they would want more putting right than I was prepared to countenance pushing the cost closer to write off value.

In the end it cost about £250 to put right, a quarter of the insured value, basically welding on a new dumb iron, straightening out the steering/suspension and bashing the wing roughly into shape.

Since then I have spent far more than that on an MOT :(

Reply to
Larry

Having your car written off by the 3rd parties insurance company is a good thing. They pay you the vehicle value minus the salvage value and you decide if and how you fix it. I've had it happen to me 3 times now, twice to the same car ;-)

John

Reply to
John Greystrong

On or around Mon, 14 Aug 2006 22:15:29 +0100, "Larry" enlightened us thusly:

tell me about it...

was putting the bumper back onto Edward II yesterday, and noticed a crack in the sealed beam headlight. uh-oh... turned it on and sure enough it started to fill with fog. Bugger.

so, out with the posidrive and take the headlamp apart, to find the shell is buggered by rust. may as well look at the other side, yep, ditto.

so 2 replacement shells and 2 replacement headlamp units are, I hope, on their way from Beamends this morning and will, if the carriers live up to their promise, be here wednesday morning. MOT rescheduled from 10:30 wednesday to 4:30, so provided the headlamps actually DO arrive...

Reply to
Austin Shackles

I was under the impression that if a vehicle was written off by an insurance co they also told the DVLA etc so keeping the thing legally on the road was tricky... Either that or they insist that the remains are disposed of via their tame "wrecker" who charges silly money if you want the reamins. Cartel?

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

On or around Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:49:04 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice" enlightened us thusly:

there are various grades of write off, though.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

Ah, I'd forgotten all about the Cat A,B,C,D stuff, my write offs were all in my mispent youth. I still think Cat C and D stuff is fairly easy to get back on the road and it'll only be an issue when you sell the vehicle.

I'm fairly sure that's only going to apply when you're claiming off your own insurance but yes, I agree, there is something very dodgy going on there.

John

Reply to
John Greystrong

I'm and expert at this now, having just wirtten my defender off....

I put it in a ditch. Elephant.co.uk sent it to a Ford Garage who wrote it off as a Cat D (Uneconomical to repair.) I instructed them that i wanted to keep the vehicle. They made me an offer - I refused They made me another offer - I refused They made me another offer - I accepted. They sent me a cheque for the offer, less my excess, less the salvage value (~£500) Once repaired, got it MOT'd and re insured it with someone else who would let me choose the repairer. Sent new insurer a copy of the MOT and some pics.

Jobs a good'n.

Reply to
Mark Solesbury

In article , SpamTrapSeeSig writes

[update]

The other party's insurer's engineer called late yesterday afternoon.

Very nice chap, apparently knows Landys well and understands my concern about 'book value' issues. He's coming to have a look on Thursday, so we'll see what he says.

I'm off to the wilds at the end of the week, so may not be able to write the next instalment until later...

Regards,

Simonm.

Reply to
SpamTrapSeeSig

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