View Full Version : Zs written of
What a fecking nightmare this is. For those that don't know, some roof tiles dropped on my car during the high winds last week. The car drives fine, it just has some bodywork damage as below.
http://www.easilydone.co.uk/180/dmg/roof-door.png
http://www.easilydone.co.uk/180/dmg/roof.png
http://www.easilydone.co.uk/180/dmg/rear-passenger-door.png
http://www.easilydone.co.uk/180/dmg/bonnet.png
I let the insurance know, and they told me to take it to one of their repair centres for assessment. Anyway, I took it there last night. Today (while at work with my car) I get an email from my insurance company telling me my insurance is cancelled as of now, and that my car has been written off as a total loss and I must have it collected by a salvage company.
What a total mess. Firstly, I don't even want to claim my insurance on it. I will get it repaired myself for a few quid.
I have managed to get the insurance company to temporarily hold off on cancelling the insurance citing that I believe their repair estimate is wrong.
If anyone's gone through this and has any advice I'd appreciate it. I don't want it written off. I don't want to claim. I just want to keep driving my car and get it repaired. Obviously I shouldn't have spoken to the insurance, but it's a requirement of the policy that you tell them something has happened to the car. Try to do the right thing and you get shafted and tied up with red tape.
Sonic_160zr
11-01-12, 12:37 PM
I would tell them that you are not claiming through the insurance, simple as. Im sure they cannot cancel the insurance for that alone. As long as the structure is still intact, which from the pics it does then I cannot see a legal issue with the car being repaired... (just my opinion though, and you would need to check the small print on your insurance,)
When my car got broken into and vandalised earlier this year I was allowed to take the car to their assessors for a no strings quote, and the damage was far worse than your pictures are showing.
I would get in touch with your insurers and explain that you are not interested in claiming and you want to carry on as before. I would also get in touch with the Citizens Advise if you need any further legal assistance.
Just out of interest, who are you with?
Cheers,
Matt
As Nor said, it is a requirement of the policy to inform them of any damage to the car.
Nor, I think you should contact the insurance again and tell them you are not claiming on the insurance. Could try telling them a specialist garage has quoted you and wont need to have the car written off. That way they should be obliged to continue the policy?
Cheers Matt. That is exactly what I told them, but they said they have already written it off as it's "policy". As with you when I spoke to them insurers previously it was a no strings attached quote I was going to get from their assessors. A more senior person is reviewing the case this afternoon, so hopefully will know more once he calls me back.
It's ridiculous that they would write it off when I have not even said I want to claim the insurance. They're already talking about me having to get a MOT, get new insurance etc etc. Bloody ridiculous.
I'm with Admiral
[edit] Cheers Smokey. I have told the first point of contact I'm not claiming, she was still adament it didn't matter though and they've written it off. I did manage to get them to continue insurance "cash in lieu" (whatever that means) on the basis that I believe their assessers assessment is incorrect.
I CAN get it repaired from a specialist garage (not Parks) for an amount which wouldn't write it off. Can you unwrite off a car they say they have already written off though?
stamford
11-01-12, 12:47 PM
Contact the insurance ombudsman and inform the insurers you are doing so. These companies cannot get away with this level of write-offs for what appears to be minimal damage. If that were me I would be spitting bullets and telling them I was not accepting that whatsoever and would fight them for it.
Contact the insurance ombudsman and inform the insurers you are doing so. These companies cannot get away with this level of write-offs for what appears to be minimal damage. If that were me I would be spitting bullets and telling them I was not accepting that whatsoever and would fight them for it.
Cheers, will mention that when they call back. I'm generally quite placid, but I was fecking raging when I got that email today. It's ridiculous on every level.
stamford
11-01-12, 01:02 PM
Hopefully once a complaint has been logged with the ombudsman this freezes any further action until such time the case has been investigated. It's been a few years since I went down this route, took a while but was worth the pain.
Sonic_160zr
11-01-12, 01:44 PM
Im with Admiral too! and they were nothing but helpful to me. Here are the pics of what happened to the ZR,
http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy276/sonic_160zr/100_1548.jpg
http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy276/sonic_160zr/100_1545.jpg
http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy276/sonic_160zr/100_1539.jpg
http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy276/sonic_160zr/100_1550.jpg
And thats what they threw at the car to break the window after they kicked the rear quarter panel in.
http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy276/sonic_160zr/100_1538.jpg
In the end I went through the insurance and the repair came to £1,149. including the £350 excess. And as much as I love my 160 The car is worth little more than that.
Hope you get it sorted mate, and dont accept anything other than the car not being written off, there is no need for them to have gone to the trouble they have to write this car off when there is nothing wrong with it. good luck!
Cheers,
Matt
Captain Peanut
11-01-12, 02:25 PM
As far as I remember you should have the option to take the car to a repairer of your choice for a quote and do not have to accept their offer. Have they told you what the repair quote was and what valuation they have put on the car?
I'd be inclined to give the ombudsman a call (0800 023 4567
)to see what their advice is.
As far as I remember you should have the option to take the car to a repairer of your choice for a quote and do not have to accept their offer. Have they told you what the repair quote was and what valuation they have put on the car?
I'd be inclined to give the ombudsman a call (0800 023 4567
)to see what their advice is.
I called them, cheers. Initiated a complaint.
I then phoned Admiral and after going on and on and on and on, a senior manager agreed to unwrite off the car. So, thankfully it's been resolved. I'll still be following through with a complain about my initial contact with Admiral and my insurance being cancelled and my car being written off and having to jump through all these hoops to stop the process.
The estimators assessment of the damage repair was £3800 btw. He was having a f*cking laugh so he was. Offered me £1300 for 'repairs in leui'. Presumably that was what the car's worth minus my excess.
Dan1971
11-01-12, 04:33 PM
Don't understand what the issue is here.
If you're not claiming - how come they got to see the quote for repair and decide to write it off ... ? It wasn't an accident for the purposes of the road traffic act - "If owing to the presence of another motor vehicle an accident occurs .... " so there was no need for any issues to be raised with the insurer at the outset. Now that they know - they will write it off as the repair is more than the value of the car.
If I were you - let them write it off - buy it back and punt around in it with a few quid in your pocket. The damage as far as I see it in terms of the insurance company - has now been done.
Don't understand what the issue is here.
If you're not claiming - how come they got to see the quote for repair and decide to write it off ... ? It wasn't an accident for the purposes of the road traffic act - "If owing to the presence of another motor vehicle an accident occurs .... " so there was no need for any issues to be raised with the insurer at the outset. Now that they know - they will write it off as the repair is more than the value of the car.
If I were you - let them write it off - buy it back and punt around in it with a few quid in your pocket. The damage as far as I see it in terms of the insurance company - has now been done.
I took it to one of Admiral's repair centres as the claims guy suggested it was a good idea, just so I knew my position and what options would be available to me. Then they seemed to skip about 5 steps I expected them to go through and just wrote it off and cancelled the insurance.
They offered me £1300 to get the repairs done myself, but it would obliterate my NCB as they're not protected atm.
So glad you seems to have got it sorted out Nor, what a shower of cretins to be honest. Yes I can understand them writing it off, but for you to jump and shout and chase everythign around to get the reult you want was ridiculous. Surely with this sort of damage they could at least give you the option of repairing it yourself etc without writing it off just like that!??!
Sonic_160zr
11-01-12, 04:40 PM
I took it to one of Admira's repair centre as the claims guy suggested it was a good idea, just so I knew my position and what options would be available to me. Then they seemed to skip about 5 steps I expected them to go through and just wrote it off and cancelled the insurance.
They offered me £1300 to get the repairs done myself, but it would obliterate my NCB as they're not protected atm.
Glad you got it sorted, they had no need to go about it in the way they did, I cant understand how they were so bad about it tbh, very worrying!
At least you have got the car back now, is the insurance continuing as previously or is it now cancelled?
Cheers,
Matt
Could try agmors in south street buddy
Dan1971
11-01-12, 04:41 PM
I took it to one of Admiral's repair centres as the claims guy suggested it was a good idea, just so I knew my position and what options would be available to me. Then they seemed to skip about 5 steps I expected them to go through and just wrote it off and cancelled the insurance.
They offered me £1300 to get the repairs done myself, but it would obliterate my NCB as they're not protected atm.
Bite their hand off .....
So glad you seems to have got it sorted out Nor, what a shower of cretins to be honest. Yes I can understand them writing it off, but for you to jump and shout and chase everythign around to get the reult you want was ridiculous. Surely with this sort of damage they could at least give you the option of repairing it yourself etc without writing it off just like that!??!
Exactly G, was a total disgrace.
Glad you got it sorted, they had no need to go about it in the way they did, I cant understand how they were so bad about it tbh, very worrying!
At least you have got the car back now, is the insurance continuing as previously or is it now cancelled?
Cheers,
Matt
Insurance carrying on as normal, no change to NCB etc. If I did not continue to escalate it and spend the best part of 2 hours today on the phone today the car would have been a Cat D write off, my insurance would have been cancelled and they would have taken away my car. All when I never even said I wanted to make a claim. Total disgrace and why I'm following through with the complain regardless of now getting a satisfactory outcome.
Here's 2 pics I took of the car an hour ago:
http://easilydone.co.uk/admiral/
Bite their hand off .....
Reckon? I was weighing it up against increased premiums. It's not too late for me to take either option. I am kinda siding with not claiming atm though.
Dan1971
11-01-12, 05:18 PM
Reckon? I was weighing it up against increased premiums. It's not too late for me to take either option. I am kinda siding with not claiming atm though.
Like I said - I would. How many years NCB do you have ?
Like I said - I would. How many years NCB do you have ?
I have 3. It gets protected this year in October (at 4 years). Claiming would put it back to 1 years NCB.
Dan1971
11-01-12, 05:40 PM
I have 3. It gets protected this year in October (at 4 years). Claiming would put it back to 1 years NCB.
Hmmm .... I don't then then mate .... I guess it depends on what your premiums are etc £1300 is a lot of money.... Your call.
Maxxed_Ross
11-01-12, 05:47 PM
if you want I'll forward you the number of the guys that rebuilt the touring car for me, they have since done alot of work on my other halfs Astra at very reasonable rates
talkingcars
11-01-12, 06:00 PM
Glad it's sorted but I would question the £3800 quote, the damage doesn't require new panels or welding, even with a full respray of the whole car you should be looking at well under half of that. I would be tempted to go to a couple of other places and get quotes.
At the end of the day it is over the top quotes that is causing everones insurance premiums to go up, if it was a £10k car the insurance company would have paid out!
Hambo-180
11-01-12, 06:17 PM
Sorry to read about all your hassle with your insurance and here's me txting you about VIS testers! Sorry mate...
BUCKYDEVIL
11-01-12, 06:59 PM
Sorry to hear of all your Hastles Nor, sounds like a nightmare.
andys1981
11-01-12, 07:03 PM
a canny believe they were gonna write it off its got a couple of dings in it,totally shocking tbh,hope you can get it all ironed out nor,as the car was stunning,looks good even with the wee dents in it
peterzs
11-01-12, 07:33 PM
Bit late Nor, but I saw this a few months back, dont if it will help??
Xpart Close call scheme
In the MGCC Sept. Safety Fast mag. was a leaflet from Xpart, said:-
A bodywork and mechanical Write Off avoidance programme for all MG Rover vehicles.
Call 0845 603 4451
The way it works, if you have an accident:-
1) MG Rover vehicle taken to nominated Repairer
2) The Insurance Co./ Vehicle owner receives the estimate from the repairer.
3) The Repairer contacts the Close Call team.
4) The Close Call team review and return revised pricing to the repairer.
5) The Insurer/Vehicle owner decides whether the vehicle is now economical to repair.
6) The Close Call team process the parts order, with agreed pricing.
Thats a quick look at the Xpart idea, says also "There are clear benefits to all parties involved if we can reduce the number of MG Rovers being declared write offs or scrapped. Body or mechanical repairs.
Might help someone if they are hit up the rear.
Hope you get it sorted.
stamford
12-01-12, 08:10 AM
Make sure this is not logged as a claim and affects your history. It has been known that a telephone call to enquire about something has been logged as a claim and this can have a knock-on effect if changing insurers as you think you have not claimed and the new insurers see this as withholding information etc.
Still push this along with the ombudsman as this level of practice must be stopped. BTW Admiral are nothing but sharks, have had my fingers burned by them, nice when all's going smooth but when things need actioning they are a bunch of morons.
Make sure this is not logged as a claim and affects your history. It has been known that a telephone call to enquire about something has been logged as a claim and this can have a knock-on effect if changing insurers as you think you have not claimed and the new insurers see this as withholding information etc.
Still push this along with the ombudsman as this level of practice must be stopped. BTW Admiral are nothing but sharks, have had my fingers burned by them, nice when all's going smooth but when things need actioning they are a bunch of morons.
+1 on that one and also make sure they don't log it as an accident either.
Insurance companies can be really hardwork sometimes they make it so difficult to claim or in this case not to claim.
Hope you get it all sorted.
Boot Hill Bandit
12-01-12, 08:49 AM
Make sure this is not logged as a claim and affects your history. It has been known that a telephone call to enquire about something has been logged as a claim and this can have a knock-on effect if changing insurers as you think you have not claimed and the new insurers see this as withholding information etc.
Still push this along with the ombudsman as this level of practice must be stopped. BTW Admiral are nothing but sharks, have had my fingers burned by them, nice when all's going smooth but when things need actioning they are a bunch of morons.
I have used Admiral on and off for ages! Who are you with now Mick? My insurance is up for renewal in March.
stamford
12-01-12, 01:06 PM
Hi Jim
LV for the Landy, Churchill for the MGF and Adrian Flux for the ZS. All three were miles cheaper than the so-called 'multi-car' policy with Admiral!
Captain Peanut
12-01-12, 01:32 PM
Make sure this is not logged as a claim and affects your history. It has been known that a telephone call to enquire about something has been logged as a claim and this can have a knock-on effect if changing insurers as you think you have not claimed and the new insurers see this as withholding information etc.
Still push this along with the ombudsman as this level of practice must be stopped. BTW Admiral are nothing but sharks, have had my fingers burned by them, nice when all's going smooth but when things need actioning they are a bunch of morons.
^^^^^ This is worth doing, seen loads of horror stories around insurers using seemingly innocent enquiries as part of their overall risk assesment. The mbudsman takes a fairly dim view of it IIRC.
I'm guessing the massive repair quote was down to them wanting to replace panels, I'm sure a reputable body shop will do it for much much less and with a better result.
What about getting a quote from Rab at Harkness bodyworks Nor? Sure he couild sort you out a half decent quote:)
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