Advice re car collision and car being written off

juliedxx

Hi all,
I am just looking for some advice.....
Basically a few weeks back somebody crashed into the back of my car. The other party admitted responsibility and agreed to pay for the damage without going through insurance. Just to be on the safe side I called the gaurds to have a record of the incident on file and called my insurance company to notify them.
The problem is that before we had gotten to get the car fixed I hit a rock on the road and our car is now being written off by our insurance company.....
So where do we stand with the guy who crashed in to the back of me??? I don't feel that he should get away with not having to contribute anything! We had gotten him quotes to get the car fixed bit he felt they were too expensive, but surely he doesn't get to decide how much damage he caused??!
And surely my car will be devalued by the damage done to the back of it?!
Not sure where to go from here!!

coylemj

A lot of people get quotes for damage repair and then pocket the money, that's what you should do. Tell the other guy that you're prepared to take cash and get the damage repaired later so you'll settle the matter if he pays you xxx, otherwise threaten to claim off his insurance, he'll pay up.

juliedxx

Yes that's what I thought alright, the problem is that he is now trying to insist we bring the car to a certain garage to get it fixed.....which obviously we can't do, and I don't think, even if we were getting the car fixed that he can insist on us bringing it where he wants I would have thought I got to decide where I get my car fixed???
The quotes we got were both very similar only a few quid in the difference so I might say to him look we'l accept a bit less, just want to get it sorted!!

Alan b.

he does not get to decide, its your car, and you offered him a number of quotes from differant garages. thats all he is entitled to. its the same with his insurance company. you are entitled to have a garage you trust do it, or refuse a garage they sugest that you dont trust.

tell him that is the quotes you've gotten, and they are the only garages you are willing to visit. and if he does not wish to settle you will go through his insurance.
offer him the opertunity to sugest how much he thinks he should pay.
and if it's close to what you'd be happy with, take it.

edit:
also, was your car written off for being too dangerous to put back on the road, or was it an economic write off due to the cost of repairs compared to the value?

bazz26

Give him two quotes from different garages that you are comfortable with getting the work done. If he starts complaining or feels they are too expensive then tell him that you will let each other's insurance companies deal with the matter from here on in.

You are under no obligation to get the car repaired where he chooses, he hit you and you are entitled to have the car repaired to the condition it was prior to the accident.

coylemj

+1 to both of the above posts. He is going to pick the cheapest repair shop he can find, you are well within your rights to reject his choice.

Tell him to pay up or you will send the quotes to his insurance company demanding that they pay.

juliedxx

Thanks for the advice guys!! I have a feeling he will say fine, let insurance deal with it, in which case I'm not sure where we stand as the car is being written off from a separate accident (Yes I have VERY bad luck with cars!!)
I would assume him/his insurance would still have to contribute something as the damage done to the back of the car will probably affect the value my insurance company arrive at?
I haven't mentioned anything to him yet about the car being written off.....

Alan b.

juliedxx wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys!! I have a feeling he will say fine, let insurance deal with it, in which case I'm not sure where we stand as the car is being written off from a separate accident (Yes I have VERY bad luck with cars!!)
I would assume him/his insurance would still have to contribute something as the damage done to the back of the car will probably affect the value my insurance company arrive at?
I haven't mentioned anything to him yet about the car being written off.....

and dont, find out what it is being written off as first from your own insurance company. they will tell you its too badly damaged to be safe or its not worth spending the money to fix it. one or the other.
if it's to go to his inurance, send it to them and say nothing. see what they tell him first. then he might cough up what you gave him as a quote

MugMugs

In the event that your car is a total loss and this is not influenced by the damage caused by the rear ending then claiming off the third party and "pocketing" as has been crudely suggested is ILLEGAL and if you are found out could and hopefully will have severe consequences.

-Chris-

I'd be very wary with taking any of this advice above until you know exactly where you stand with your insurance company. You need to call them.

My take on this is:

-Someone damaged your car and should be paying to get that damage repaired.

-Your car is now written off and your insurance company has to pay to replace it.

-I expect that your insurance company will want to pay you on the damaged value of the car, in which case the money you get from the guy will make up the difference to the pre-accident value.

-If your insurance company pays you on the pre-accident value and you get any money from the guy who hit you, you're potentially (probably) guilty of insurance fraud. Being convicted of this will make you virtually uninsurable in the future.

Personally, I'd tell your insurance company about the accident and give them the guy's insurance details. Let your insurance company pay you the pre-accident value and then they can pursue the other insurance company for any depreciation they feel the accident caused.

My €0.02

I think we need MugMugs opinion on this thread...

unkel

I'm with Chris here. Be very careful what you do you dealing with an insurance company.

Out of interest, what car is it (make, model, year) and how much is the quote for the earlier repair?

challengemaster

Am I the only one interested in how the hell hitting a rock on the road managed to write off a car? Unless it was this..

juliedxx

It's a 03 Laguna, The quote to fix the earlier damage was approx 600eur, not huge, but I'd imagine the damage will affect the value our insurance company will arrive at........So I feel that the guy who hit us or his insurance company should be liable for some of the loss.
I'm definitely not interested in committing insurance fraud!! But I am afraid that if we go down the route of dealing with his insurance company then we won't get anything from them as they'll say the car was written off due to the second accident....and we'll be out of pocket!

Anan1

juliedxx wrote: »

But I am afraid that if we go down the route of dealing with his insurance company then we won't get anything from them as they'll say the car was written off due to the second accident....and we'll be out of pocket!

You don't have to deal with them, let your own insurance company do it.

juliedxx

Haha Yeah the rock wasn't quite that big, but it was big!! And it put a hole in the wheel and set off the airbags, and considering the car is only a 03 Laguna, not worth a huge amount so the insurance company have decided it's not worth repairing.........So annoying that it happened since we spent a LOT of money on the car a few months back!!!

MugMugs

-Chris- wrote: »

I think we need MugMugs opinion on this thread...

He's a wee charmer.

It's unlikely that your Insurer have considered the damage from the rear end. Reasons being,

1. They are not liable for this damage therefore its none of their concern.

2. They work on a PAV basis (pre accidental value) and rarely take condition into consideration (but can do if warranted) however if they did then its back to point 1 again anyway.

If they write off your vehicle then they own it and if you subsequently claim from the Third party for the rear end then you've just claimed for something you no longer have any interest in and that could get you in a lot of bother.

If they have considered the damage and adjusted the value of your vehicle to reflect it then you could pursue the third party for that however the 600 quid worth of repairs could be worth a lot less on the value of the vehicle.

In the long and short of it, if you're happy with what you're being offered by your insurer then take it and leave the other lad. That way you avoid a whole world of pain should anybody ever find out and believe me, insurers are finding out.

Your call though.

Ps - on my mobile so a bit sketchy.

coylemj

If the first guy pays over cash to avoid an insurance claim then nobody will be any the wiser by which I mean no insurance company will be notified of the settlement and I agree with the OP, why should he (the guy who rear ended the OP) get the benefit of the subsequent accident that wrote off the car?

MugMugs

Possible to argue the toss. Insurer could say he was aware of all facts at the time and had intimated the claim with then with intent to benefit from the other party.

Also he reported to his own insurer so they're aware of the other claim, don't put it beyond them keeping an eye on this.

Why should the OP benefit from a loss he hasn't actually suffered because with his car written off the first loss is irrelevant and he is not at a financial loss.

Personally I wouldn't run the risk but I'm a chicken.

Anan1

coylemj wrote: »

If the first guy pays over cash to avoid an insurance claim then nobody will be any the wiser by which I mean no insurance company will be notified of the settlement and I agree with the OP, why should he (the guy who rear ended the OP) get the benefit of the subsequent accident that wrote off the car?

Now that the car belongs to the insurance company, isn't his liability for the damage to the car is to them, not the OP?

coylemj

Ok, let's try a different version with the timeline slightly altered.

On Monday the OP gets rear ended and there's €500 worth of damage to his car. Let's not worry about multiple quotes, just call it €500.

On Tuesday the other guy accepts liability and in order to preserve his NCB and avoid an insurance claim he hands over €500 cash. The OP signs a 'full and final settlement' receipt.

On Wednesday (before the OP has time to get the damage repaired), he/she hits a stone and the insurance company says the car is a write-off. Effectively this makes the rear-ender a freebie.

What does the OP do with the €500? I say keep it.

Now as this is the 'Motors' and not a legal forum, say you have a situation where your car develops a mechanical fault which the garage says will cost more to repair than the car is worth. And say on the way home you hit a stone and your insurance company says your car is a write-off, do you tell them that it was a write-off anyway so you won't accept any compensation arising out of the accident or do you happily accept a cheque and say nothing?

juliedxx

Well technically the car doesn't yet belong to the insurance company, they have told us over the phone it's a write off and they are going to value it, we still have to fill out accident report form etc, so still at very early stages of a claim. We still own the car though..........

Alan b.

simple solution, if in doubt, check with your insurance if they are taking the damage done by the other guy into account and act accordingly.