Write off - what to do

[chewiesw]

Hello

I have just had an accident and my insurers have told me that the repairs are to expensive and they would rather pay me out. They have offered me a ridiculously low settlement.

What I want to know is what happens if I go the route of taking a lower payment from them and fixing the car myself? By this I mean at a reputable garage. I have heard the the 'repaired' car has a different code and this makes it harder to sell and insure, is this true?

 

[XennoX]

Most insurers have a clause in the contract that states something along the lines of:

"Should you accept the settlement, your vehicle be written off, and the vehicle becomes property of the Insurer, and will be sold for defray costs."

 

[Pitbull]

Hello

I have just had an accident and my insurers have told me that the repairs are to expensive and they would rather pay me out. They have offered me a ridiculously low settlement.

What I want to know is what happens if I go the route of taking a lower payment from them and fixing the car myself? By this I mean at a reputable garage. I have heard the the 'repaired' car has a different code and this makes it harder to sell and insure, is this true?

Ask them for a cash in lieu settlement.

They will pay you I think 70% of the value of your car and the car. Have it fixed yourself. You will know if it's worthwhile or not. Sometimes older vehicles have hardly any damage but gets written off.

 

[Drifter]

If you repair it, it will be a code 3, very difficult to sell down the line.

 

[Pitbull]

If you repair it, it will be a code 3, very difficult to sell down the line.

Nope, only if it's deregistered. If he repairs it himself it will not be deregistered

 

[chewiesw]

Nope, only if it's deregistered. If he repairs it himself it will not be deregistered

according to them the car will remain a code 2, but I only have their word for it.

 

[A3@MBB]

according to them the car will remain a code 2, but I only have their word for it.

Easy, ask them if they will insure it again afterwards. They will say "NO" quite quickly.

They have offered me a ridiculously low settlement.

I don't quite follow what you meant here. You paid a insurance premium each month based on a value. That should be the gross value of which the settlement will be based upon. They can only deduct all the different excess amounts listed in your policy from it.
The insured value and excess amounts was known to you, or are you referring to a settlement after you take the car as well?

 

[Ho3n3r]

Easy, ask them if they will insure it again afterwards. They will say "NO" quite quickly.



I don't quite follow what you meant here. You paid a insurance premium each month based on a value. That should be the gross value of which the settlement will be based upon. They can only deduct all the different excess amounts listed in your policy from it.
The insured value and excess amounts was known to you, or are you referring to a settlement after you take the car as well?

Exactly. They should pay out the insured value. @OP What con are they trying to pull by giving you a lower-than-promised payout?

 

[biometrics]

They should pay out the insured value.

My brokers used to annually lower the insured amount based on book value, as they pay out on book value. No point in insuring it for more than book value, you're just wasting money. E.g. if I was to insure an old City Gold for R1m, do you think they will pay R1m?

 

[chewiesw]

Exactly. They should pay out the insured value. @OP What con are they trying to pull by giving you a lower-than-promised payout?

They not reneging on anything or trying con me out of anything. Say for example I didn't have a prang and I tried to sell the car or trade it in I would get more for it than the insurer is offering, wouldn't I? I just think the settlement amount is less than I would get if I fixed the car and the tried to sell it at a later stage or am I taking a huge gamble?

 

[biometrics]

They not reneging on anything or trying con me out of anything. Say for example I didn't have a prang and I tried to sell the car or trade it in I would get more for it than the insurer is offering, wouldn't I? I just think the settlement amount is less than I would get if I fixed the car and the tried to sell it at a later stage or am I taking a huge gamble?

What car is it? What is the damage?

 

[skeptic_SA]

I had the same schit a few months back. There is a Schoolfees Thread somewhere where some good info on this topic was passed on. If the damage is not serious. Insist on a Self Repair. You may need to fight for it. Do you have the car in your possession?

 

[chewiesw]

A 2009 Merc B170 Class less than 56k on the clock. The right front is damaged, thing is all the airbags deployed. The insurers say it will cost R109K to fix with their approved guys and they would rather write it off and pay out the insured amount of R135K less excesses etc.
If I choose to repair it myself they will pay out R90K.

 

[biometrics]

A 2009 Merc B170 Class less than 56k on the clock. The right front is damaged, thing is all the airbags deployed. The insurers say it will cost R109K to fix with their approved guys and they would rather write it off and pay out the insured amount of R135K less excesses etc.
If I choose to repair it myself they will pay out R90K.

Oh right, from another thread I remember when the airbags deploy the car is written off as the airbags are very expensive iirc.

 

[semisane1987]

Don't know much about cars but I heard if the airbags deploy the insurance write off. If the airbags deployed walk away my friend

 

[SauRoNZA]

My brokers used to annually lower the insured amount based on book value, as they pay out on book value. No point in insuring it for more than book value, you're just wasting money. E.g. if I was to insure an old City Gold for R1m, do you think they will pay R1m?

Some insurers make use of replacement value.

As in the value of the exact same car with similar mileage bought second hand at that point in time.

Others use book value which is usually the same as the trade-in value a dealer would offer you if you were to sell it.

 

[Pitbull]

Oh right, from another thread I remember when the airbags deploy the car is written off as the airbags are very expensive iirc.

Don't know much about cars but I heard if the airbags deploy the insurance write off. If the airbags deployed walk away my friend

You can have it replaced at around R 5 - 10k per airbag. However insurance only deals with factory parts so it's too expensive to fix the factory way.

Sounds like a very good deal I would take the R 90k, fix the car and drive it. Use the balance for something else, maybe a deposit on a new car or something and you have 2