Body/Trim: My beloved car saved me - assessors now want to write it off

[lillia]

On the very bright and sunny Thursday morning last week, I set off for work in good spirits. Windows down to enjoy the fresh air, no radio or music to distract me. I was very early and looking forward to relaxing for a good half hour or so before starting work. Last day of school for some in the area, so I was being extra vigilant in case there were children running about or in the street.

Approaching two flat mini-roundabouts (those slightly raised flat circles on some roads, one several metres in front of the other), I of course stopped, looked all around, everywhere was clear save for a car approaching the junction on the left. He stopped. I entered the junction and was just about to navigate the first circle when I observed a grey car approaching from the right. It did not stop. It was not slowing down. My first thought was "oh my god, he's heading straight for me!" - which he was - straight towards the driver's door. Despite the limited room in front, I managed to move forward and to the left, moving ME out of harm's way. With the two roundabouts the way they are arranged, it's hard to accelerate hard or far under many circumstances. You negotiate one and wait to negotiate the other. The car hit mine somewhere towards the OS passenger door but mainly under the petrol flap. The smash was so tremendous that I did not think there would be any car left. But thank the gods that Volvos, especially old Volvos, are really, really tough. Astonishingly, the car jerked slightly(?) on impact, but otherwise, remained solidly planted on the road. The airbags did not deploy. The seatbelt did its job. I remember getting out of the car, don't quite recall how. Looking back, it's amazing how calm I must have appeared. Disbelief, I guess. I have never had an accident in all my years of driving on different continents and never made a claim on an insurance company, not even for windscreen damage. I recall glancing at my car as if in a daze and thinking "oh, it's not too bad", then looking at the other car, the front of which appeared to be quite smashed up. His registration plate was missing and his front bumper was cracked and half resting on the road. There was an elderly driver half-standing behind the wheel, half-standing on the road. No blood, no broken glass. Relief. When I realised that we were blocking the path around the first and to the second roundabout, I motioned that we should get out of the way, around the corner. He nodded. I could not speak. I was numb, on autopilot. I was trying to remember all the things you read about what to do in accident.

He followed me around the corner (left turn), I could hear his bumper dragging on the road, but at the the time it was hard to tell whether the sound was coming from under my car or not. Around the corner, I looked at him. He said "are you ok my dear?" So sweet, I could not summon the rage I would have felt with a younger person. To be honest, I could not feel a thing. It was all just so unreal. I asked him whether he was ok. He said he was. I said "what happened, did you not see me?" He smiled and said, "oh yes, I saw you, did you not see me?" What to make of that? Anyway, we were very polite to each other, exchanged contact details, wrote down car details and insurance information. He only had the breakdown details with him, but was certain his insurance must be with the same company (it was). I took several photographs of both cars (all these years I've kept a camera in my glove box for just such an event and finally got to use it, sadly).

So far so good. He pushed his bumper back on (still cracked) and went to look for the missing registration plate. I actually went straight to work, still in a state of disbelief. I was so keyed up that I did not sit down for an entire hour. And then I felt the pain in my right shoulder. But that's another matter. I called the insurance people. My insurance broker (if you have had an accident and wish to make a claim, press 1) actually put me through to a "no win no fee" company instead of to my insurance company! I was talking to the woman for nearly an hour before I realised that she was sitting in a solicitor's office. Had to hang up and call the real insurance company. It was not fun hearing the insurance company say that "because this happened at a roundabout" the other driver's insurance company may not want to accept liability but may instead wish to share liability. I said, but it was most definitely not my fault! In fact, the damage is only as little as it appears because I took evasive action.

Since then, both the no-win fee company and my insurance company have made arrangements to have the damage assessed. The no-win person looked at it on Saturday. The insurance people will look at it tomorrow because they were too busy to do it earlier. And here starts my second (third?) misery. On Friday, the owner of my garage said to me, I'll bet that your insurance company will try to write off the car because they will say it is too expensive to repair. If they try to do that, just give me a call and I'll talk to them. It appears that I shall have to do just that. Because the first assessor called today to tell me that they have estimated that it will not be cost-effective to repair the damage, so I'm looking at a write-off. It will be a couple of days before I hear what the insurance company's assessor says.

What are my options in this case? From my point of view, the damage is localised to one part of the car and to be honest, you would have to stand and look at it to see it. But I do want to have it repaired. I certainly don't want the car to be written off. I'm sure a few forum members have been in this position before. What advice can you give? I've attached some photographs.

I drove myself to the hospital, but I am not driving at the moment because they gave me muscle relaxants to treat the symptoms of whiplash and when they kick in I can't even focus! They said the important thing is to keep active (but not overdo it), which is good, because if I am still for a moment the neck pain feels worse and I just keep replaying the collision in my head. I passed the collision site 4 times since it happened and each time I have to breathe deeply so as not to become tense. My family and neighbours have been lovely. The neighbours have been telling me how lucky I am that my car is a Volvo.

I know it was a long read, so thanks for looking. When I think of what might have happened had I not moved, and then on what actually happened and the fact that I'm fairly ok all things considered, I thank my lucky stars that the car I drive is a Volvo. And although I am only now beginning to feel upset at what happened, especially after this write-off news (yesterday I could not stop shaking), I do hope that the other driver is ok.

[kieran40]

The focus came worse off,main thing is youre both alright why didn't he slow down or better still let you go

[JRL]

Get your guy to talk to the insurance company on your behalf. They want to write it off because A, their bodyshop will charge top dollar and B, will want to use new parts. Your guy should be able to fix it for a lot less.

[Orca2]

Its your car and its up to you what happens ,they only insure it. If you can arrange repair at an economical price they will pay for it ,if they take it to their repairers and get ripped off as usual they will want to write it off.
You dont have to let them use their repairers.

[lillia]

Thanks, I'll contact my garage again tomorrow when I return from the second assessor. I'm just looking at the notes I made and one reason why the repair estimate appears to be so high is that the assessor has decided that I need a new back bumper. I recall parking at Lakeside a while back and returning to the car to find that some callous git had hit and scraped the other side of the bumper and driven off without leaving his/her details - my London garage managed to repair and respray it for a very reasonable cost.

Looking at these images, would a new bumper really be necessary? I'll see what my garage says. The quote does not mention the bent part of the undercarriage behind the OS wheel. And I had specifically mentioned that I needed to have it checked whether the impact might have damaged the petrol tank or dislodged anything related to it. So far this part seems to be working fine though.

The kicker in all this is that after hounding me for days before I renewed the policy and persuading me to pay extra for a 14-day courtesy car should an occasion such as this arise, the insurance company is now saying that I can't get a courtesy car while the car is being repaired unless I use their designated repair company! I distinctly recall asking whether this applied regardless of where I chose to get the vehicle repaired and being told an enthusiastic yes. At the time I assumed that I could just get a car from Hertz or a similar place if the garage did not provide one. Different story now that they know that I am getting repair quotes elsewhere.

I guess I am just in shock that they would write off a car (with 4 brand new tyres and everything else in working order, except the alarm siren) for what appears to me to be a very small amount of damage. It's not as if the car were even half smashed up or anything.

P.S. This being my first and hopefully only ever accident, I am not certain about these procedures: I thought the question of whether the damage would be paid for (and by whom) or written off could only be decided after the question of liability/fault had been settled? Is this not the case?

[Chris_Rogers]

Your other option is to find out if they will let you buy the car back from them if they write it off.

If this is the case, take the write off money having haggled to the last penny, less the buy back cost.

Then get the car repaired privately or just drive it with the damage so long as it's safe.

[nickbw898]

Hi Lillia! Firstly commiseration's! You give no information about your insurer or the type of policy you have which makes giving specific advice almost impossible. I used always to insure with Volvo Owners on a comprehensive basis. I have 45+ years driving experience ten as an instructor and five driving company directors. I used Volvo Owners because they gave very full cover and were immediately accepted by Volvo dealers for courtesy car cover.
I was hit on the drivers side drivers door and drivers passenger door after turning right at a major to minor road junction, the other driver was using a phone and left the give way before I had cleared the junction. I took photos and used Google maps to document the collision.
I took the car to two good body shops of my own choosing and when I compared their approaches and costs (two new XC doors are £1800 alone) I was clear that I wanted to use the specialist but not insurer preferred choice.The end result was to my satisfaction.

Do you have legal protection as part of you policy, or with your household insurance for instance? I would suggest that you have no redress against your insurer sharing the liability because the insured always agrees in the small print that the insurer be able to negotiate the claim.- So from their point of view they look after their own interests not the insured's unless their is a cut and dried case of fault.
You don't have any witnesses and the police did not record the facts (I assume) so you are stuck. However, you could agree a write-off value with the insurers. This might actually be quite a nominal sum. Chris Rogers is quite right! You would then own the car and be able to have it repaired and then re-insure and continue to use it. You could take a civil action against the other driver to recover your loss in the repair.

I actually had a car hit me from behind on a roundabout in heavy rain. We both stopped and exchanged details. The other driver did not give his insurers. A short time later I discovered he had claimed against me and been awarded a CCJ. So he went ahead without involving his insurers and may not even have had cover! All this is somewhat speculative as you do not hint at you car value before the accident. - Mine was £6500 and the repair costs came to about £3500.

I would strongly urge you to sound out local opinion about body shops in your area and get some quotations in writing. Reputable firms will be perfectly willing to provide written estimates and some will talk directly to assessors on your behalf.

Have you put the insurer on notice that you are receiving medical attention from injury? This sort of injury can have long-term repercussions as I know to my cost through driving instruction!

Lastly choose your insurer on a basis of how they perform, how quickly and sympathetically they deal with their clients NOT cost alone. NFU Mutual are number one and you can easily find out who are in the top ten - Google is your friend. Keep us updated and good luck!

[lillia]

Thanks for the advice and the commiserations!

My policy includes legal protection. The insurer is Highway (part of Liverpool Victoria - LV). I had told them about the aches and pains, but was not aware that I had to spell it out for them regarding injury claims. I thought this was automatic, especially as so many people seemed to be calling me to talk about injuries and physiotherapy. So far LV seems to be efficient and sympathetic. The assessor has good things to say about them, he has worked with them many times before. Apparently the instructions they gave him were that they were prepared to pay for repairs up to 75% of the value of the vehicle. I reported the incident to the police the very same day, just a few hours afterwards. They said that since the driver stopped and we exchanged details, there was no real need to report it, but they gave me a case number anyway, to give to the insurers. I'll go through the other comments above and see whether there is anything else I might have missed doing.

The good news is that I took the car to the insurer's assessor this morning and the gentleman said no way is it a write off, his estimate came in at less than half of what the no-win people to which the brokers, Chris Knott, initially referred the case, had come up with! It is the no-win people who want to write it off. The insurer's assessor said a new bumper is not needed and that it is perfectly repairable. They would even check the tracking to ensure that it was ok, considering the impact and the direction from which the car was hit. The repairs would take 4 days, during which time they would give me a courtesy car to use. He also gave me some sound advice regarding contacting the insurance company and claims and questions to ask, etc. Things I knew absolutely nothing about.

Now here's where things get tricky. When I contacted Highway last week and explained that I had spent nearly an hour "reporting" the accident and thinking that I was talking to Highway only to find that I was talking to a solicitor's office, the lady said that she understood, this had happened before and that if they contacted me again I was to say that my insurers were dealing with the damage and repairs and that they (the solicitors) could deal with any injury claims. Indeed, the no-win people had themselves suggested that I contact my insurers regarding the damage, stating that they would deal with any injury claims.

A woman from the solicitors called today to talk about my injuries. I figured that the man who proposed a write-off yesterday had spoken with them and told them that I refused to have the car written off, so they were sticking with injuries. But in the process of the questions about my neck and shoulder she mentioned that my car "had been written off". I said what, how can that be?! I have not made any decisions regarding the report your assessor discussed with me yesterday and I distinctly told him that I did not want the car to be written off. The woman became very - how shall we say - stern. She said it is not a choice of whether my car is written off or not, the fact that it is too expensive to repair dictates that it will be. They will recover the costs from the third party and pay me what they think the car is worth at that point. When I mentioned to her that the gentleman had furthermore told me to go ahead and take the car to my insurer's assessor to see what he would say, and that this assessor is currently submitting an estimate for repair to the insurance company and is NOT recommending a write-off, she cut me off mid-sentence. She said that they have already had the car assessed and their recommendation is that it should be written off and that she will need to speak with Chris Knott and get back to me. So no more questions about injury, whether I have had to pay for any medication (that was the last question she asked before she was distracted by the non-write-off news). She said goodbye and hung up.

I returned home happy and optimistic after the assessor's report and now I am just totally confused and stressed out. Sitting here quietly cursing every living soul who has ever smashed into other people's vehicles without due cause.

[lillia]

Originally Posted by Chris_Rogers

Your other option is to find out if they will let you buy the car back from them if they write it off.

If this is the case, take the write off money having haggled to the last penny, less the buy back cost.

Then get the car repaired privately or just drive it with the damage so long as it's safe.

If the car is written off, do I need to go through certain procedures with the DVLA, etc. to have it be declared safe/road-worthy before I am allowed to drive it? How much is that likely to cost?

[Brendan W]

A few comments.
Health warning
Real world repairs tend to be 50-60% of what Insurers say.
Legal eagles or rather buzzards tend to operate on a percentage of the volume of business so a write off is more attractive then a sensible repair.
The incident could have been so much worse. Some would readily swap their experience for yours.
There is no way that car is a write off - it would be a sin.
Don't let it stress you. You've been exposed to the underbelly of the fear industry.
In spite of their earnest assurances, insurance and legals are not there to protect you. Your life experiences are raw material for their grinders. Any compensation you get is after their cut.
My wife's first car was a six month old company car that was 'written off'. The company accepted the decision and I bought the hulk from them for 10% of the purchase price. When I went to the repairer to collect it he offered me 50% of the new price of the car he had helped to write off. Go figure.