Jump to content
Do Not Sell My Personal Information


Crash!


T V O R
 Share

Recommended Posts

No not me :) , just need some advice for a colleague at work.

She has a 6 week old Corsa and was hit from the side due to another driver pulling out from a Give Way. The passenger door and rear panel are badly dented. At first she thought it might be a right off but the dealer has said it is repairable, this has still to be confirmed by the insurance people.

The other driver has admitted liability, what she has asked me and I don’t know is can she refuse a repair and have a new car (as she has only had it 6 weeks from new) or does she have to accept a brand new car which has now been damaged and repaired.

Any legal/insurance types know the answer as I don’t have any experience in this type of thing? She wasn’t injured by the way, also has fully comp with legal stuff etc

Cheers :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does this mean if its not a right off then it wont be reported in its history? I'm sure they would repair it to new standards?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I understand it.... if the car is less than 12 months old and if the repair bill is more than 60% of the purchase price then the car is replaced by the insurance company.

I stand to be corrected but I think I am right :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although not a legal expert, I've had enough crashes to know the basics.... :lol:

I would say she's not entitled to a brand new car, if the car was at fault she could argue her case to have a new one over a repair but the damage sounds fairly minimal, she was not injured and if it can be repaired then there is no chance her insurance will fork out for a new car....

She could perhaps get an estimate percentage of damage and argue her case that way, but again, a sideways hit is never as serious as a bump to the front, where the engine/vital parts may be damaged - literally all that's damaged is metal and as long as no airbags deployed, then all of that is fine.

She'd have to have had some major damage for a 6 week old car to be considered a write off as they do it by comparing estimated cost of repair to the estimated value of the vehicle and some more unknown sums - the value of the car will still be quite high and the damage described doesn't seem to warrant the multiple-thousand-pound mark it would need to be.

If the powers that be say it's fixable.... she will have to have a 6 week old car that's been repaired - it's the law of the sods I'm afraid!

On the bright side at least her no claims will remain unaffected!

Always look on the bright side of life!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I understand it.... if the car is less than 12 months old and if the repair bill is more than 60% of the purchase price then the car is replaced by the insurance company.

I stand to be corrected but I think I am right :unsure:

Yes you are right Steve, as my insurance company offered me that when my Karis was written off after 9 months but they would take about 6 weeks to sort the paperwork out and I needed a new car quick sharpish so took the money option.... :thumbsup:

The car has to be written off though..... this one hasn't been.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Thanks for the replies. I will pass them on.

It was a good whack to the side of the car causing it to spin. From the pictures I’ve seen there is good intrusion to the passenger side.

I think she’s a bit upset at the thought of having a new car which has been ‘badly’ damaged then possibly repaired due to no fault of her own. Saying that she still waiting to hear from the insurance company, hopefully that will be this week, to see what they decide.

Reading between the lines I feel she wants to reject the car and start again and maybe claim any losses through the third party

I’ve suggested that she part exchanges the car for another one and see a solicitor to see if the money lost in the deal can be recouped somehow. She is the victim :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whatever route the lady takes I do wish her the best of luck :yes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

when getting your car repaired isnt it your choice as to where the work is carried out?

if this is the case, get vauxhall to do it as it will look best when it comes to sell the car on.

and hopefully vauxhall will charge so much that it will be cheaper for the insurance to just write the car off.

if not, go give a guy with a garage £50 to give you a rediculous quote for the work and insist the insurance company get it repaired with him :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are not entitled to a new car no matter how old it is, the insurance companies only write off cars that are uneconomical to repair, they will never write one off just because its six weeks old, it has to meet the economic criteria, they will write it off if there will be undue delays (like having to wait 6 weeks for a bodyshell) during which time they are paying for car hire and the costs escalate. A car with a normal run of the mill accident repair does NOT end up on some accident register waiting to bite you on yer butt when selling it. The person who pays the insurance has the right to take the car to any repairer, they insurance will tell you otherwise and make it awkward for you to go anywhere. You pay the premium, you decide where it goes, a Vauxhall dealer would normally be on a list of approved repairers anyway. Some companies say, we will send the repairer and collect your car, next thing, a lorry comes, takes your car away, and it gets repaired in say Scotland, and you live in Devon, hardly practicle if its not a good repair and needs remedial work

Here is what she should do

Go to a non fault accident management company. (Britannia offer a good service) Get them to handle EVERYTHING before the insurance companies get involved. Britannia sue the third party, they repair your car, no excess to pay, and they sue the third party for damages (time off work, car hire, stress, whiplash etc) You dont claim off your insurance so your no claims is not affected, you will end with a few quid for yer trouble

Kingo :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been asked to pass on a thank you for everyone’s advice, so thanks from Lou

Another question that has popped up is why didn’t the side airbags go off? Does the car know if there is someone actually sat in the seat or not, like with the seat belt warnings? It would make sense, why have 2 or 3 airbags go off when no one is sat there. Any thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been asked to pass on a thank you for everyone’s advice, so thanks from Lou

Another question that has popped up is why didn’t the side airbags go off? Does the car know if there is someone actually sat in the seat or not, like with the seat belt warnings? It would make sense, why have 2 or 3 airbags go off when no one is sat there. Any thoughts?

Makes sense, BUT, you could have some eejit in the seat without their belt on & then it wouldn't be sensed.

It could even happen that you could be hit when stationary, & nobody with belts on. I reckon that if you are unfortunate enough to get a whack, they should go off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I get lots of questions about "Why didnt my airbags go off" in a bump, the answer is, most bumps are at relatively low speeds. Airbag ECU's measure the amount of deceleration just before you have a bump, and they have to be hit in just the right place for the sensors to work. What might look like a bad bump in the side, was probably quite minor with panels deforming as they should. Airbags dont go off unless they really do need to, and trust me, you don't want it happening just because you think it should. There is a lot of noise, smoke and a type of talcum powder that stops the material of the airbag sticking, going off when the airbag deploys

From the ROSPA website

They need to inflate at an extremely fast rate in order to be fully inflated by the time a person’s body begins to move in reaction to a collision. The bigger the airbag, the faster it has to inflate. In general, European airbags hold 35 litres of gas propellant and fully inflate within 25 milliseconds, which means that they have to expand at anything up to 160 mph. American air bags, usually holding 60 litres of gas, have to inflate even faster. The area of space within the car taken up by the airbag as it inflates is known as the ‘airbag deployment zone’. Sensors within the vehicle monitor the direction and severity of an impact and fire the airbag if the severity and direction warrants it. The impact should be greater than 20mph, and in a frontal direction. Rear end shunts should not fire the airbag. As the airbag module fires, it and the gas it generates are hot, so car occupants may suffer minor burns

One of my colleagues was hit head on by a pickup, the noise of the frontal impact, airbags going off, windows being smashed, was enough to give him the shakes for a day or two :D: but otherwise he was fine

Kingo :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Update...

She still hasn’t got her car back from the bump she had over 8 weeks ago. There’s no update from the insurance company. Is 8 weeks a reasonable amount of time to wait? It was a bad bump, but 8 weeks???

Any advice I could pass on? I’ve suggested just to continue with the hire car :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 weeks seems a long time to me.... give the repair shop and the insurers a bump with phone calls stating that you are not too happy. Remind the insurers that this is adding to the overall costs..... afterall time equals money and they will want to keep costs as low as possible. Good luck.

Its good that you have a hire car though so all is not lost.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I don’t think she’s too bothered to be honest, but I thought it was a long time to wait hence the request for any thoughts on the subject. There must be a good reason for the delays as like you said, its costing the insurance company more money the longer it goes on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It wouldnt suprise me if they were waiting for parts, i have seen situations were newish models have had rarely ordered bits on back order for months especially body panels, as all these will be genuine at this cars age. Glad to see this insurance company are keeping the customer informed with the progress, or maybe not!

The hire car will be being added to the 3rd parties costs, how these things are normally always a pain is beyond me, its not as if car crashes are a new phenomenon. :angry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Update:

Almost a year since a bump from somebody I work with. The insurance company has offered (first offer) £4k (give or take a few quid). Her car has been repaired. I thought the offer is too low seeing as when the time comes to sell/part ex then she may/will lose on it if the history. She is also still receiving treatment in the form of physiotherapy. Anyone had dealings with insurance offers and what would you consider a respectable sum?

I did advise her to say to the insurance that obviously she isn’t out to make a profit but at least to brake even. The £4k offer would leave out of pocket which I didn’t think was reasonable.

Any thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did advise that and she will, I don’t know much on this subject so I’m not sure what an average settlement would be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share




×
×
  • Create New...




Forums


News


Membership