I had a minor accident a couple of weeks ago - very slight damage to my car (cracked bumper and a broken headlight) and no injuries. I exchanged details with the other party at the scene, all very civilised, no accusations or raised voices.
I reported the accident to my insurers that night, and after giving details of the accident and other party, they immediately said they arrange for a salvage agent to collect the car shortly and replace it with a hire car until the claim was resolved. As I'm rather attached to the car, and the hire car they offered was totally inadequate I asked if I could continue using the car at least until the claim was resolved. The insurance company agreed to this, and called back shortly asking me to go to a local bodyshop to get a quote for their records. I called in there the next day, and spoke to the guy who looked at the car - he said there was no damage beyond the light and bumper, but with the cost of buying these parts new plus labour it was likely the insurers would write the car off.
I had the car repaired the next day - headlight for a tenner from the local breaker and a bit of glassfibre on the bumper. A few days later I had a further call from my insurers - after a few minutes of negotiation we settled on a value for the car. He said that the car would be collected in the next 24 hours and a cheque issued by the end of the week. I asked the same question again about keeping and using the car and he agreed to cancel the collection.
The cheque arrived today - it's made to the value we agreed less my excess, with no other deduction; the covering letter simply stated final payment less excess and salvage. So, cutting a very long story short, is my car written off? I've had nothing in writing or by telephone stating or even suggesting that it is, and the insurers have not requested any of the documents.
The insurance claim has actually been quite stress free to deal with - the insurers have processed the claim fairly quickly and with the minimum fuss.
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yes it sounds like your car has been written off, and now belongs to the insurance company.
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That was at the back of my mind Zero, but I've had nothing from the insurers to confirm or even suggest this. I had two letters since the claim was put through, one confirming the offer made and the other a covering letter for the cheque. No request for keys, logbook, or any other documents, unlike the last time I wrote a car off. When the insurers called me to arrange the settlement I asked about keeping the car, they were happy for me to do so although no value for salvage was discussed.
It just seemed rather odd that the covering letter with the cheque clearly stated the amount was less salvage yet there was no deduction - I'm hoping they've put a value of £0 on the salvage.
Incidentally I've just thought to check askmid - it's still listed on there as insured.
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yes your car is now a write off and the insurance company have deducted the 15% salvage settlement in their final cheque to you
if you go to "dvla tax my car online" in a few weeks time you will more than likely see that your car will need a vic check if the name on the v5 ever changes,however as long as you keep and run the espace in your name you can tax and mot in the normal way
im pretty confident its been classed as a cat c insurance write off
you are lucky as many insurers now refuse to let the owner keep the salvage as most salvage is going abroad at much better returns than the 15% normal salvage fee write off value
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you do know its now not insured?
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To be honest Zero, no. As I said I checked askmid tonight and it's still on there. I've told my insurers I'm still using it and they've been quite happy for me to do so. I think a call to them tomorrow morning is needed.
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Thanks Bellboy - that sounds like the best explanation for what's happened here. The thing that's thrown me though is that there is no deduction in the cheque for salvage - the amount is what was agreed less the excess. Would the fact that the thing is mostly plastic affect the salvage value?
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Renault Espace - Insurance has paid out - write off? - Zero
