Avoiding Cat D after being rear ended!!

My lovely H reg 1990 cab has been rear ended by someone in an 08 BMW and insurance company are suggesting that car is likely to be write off given the estimated repair costs.  

How do insurance companies price these cars as they mentioned using the Glass's guide but I believe this doesn't date back far enough.  Really don't want it to be written off so trying to work out the best thing to do…….

Problem is its a cabby, and we don't have a definative price guide, so we can't put a value onto the car. If the insurance company decide to write it off (and you didn't have an agreed value policy) then there's not an awful lot you can do about it…..

I work at a bodyshop and if a car comes in thet is not in the glasses guide then we are told to do a national search on auto trader and get a avarage price thats matches the car.

You could ask your insurer for a cash settlement and the car back and then i think it wont be on the damaged register either

oh and alway turn down their first offer cos they will offer you a better one

I thought as its not your fault you are entitled to your car to be put back into the condition it was before the accident?

If the repair costs exceed the value of the car then it's a write off i'm afraid

Go directly through the third partys insurance company to handle the claim. Ignore yours out all together. As you will have to pay for the salvage back off your own insurance company as you pay them to insure the car. Where as the other persons insurance company has no legal right to the salvage even after paying you out as you pay them nothing. Also will be put down as a claim against your policy even though it aint your fault.

I think later cabbys are listed in glasses guide, unforntunatly don`t think they book at alot though, so your best bet is to find a few on auto trader or where ever that are similar spec, mileage and condition and argue with them if they offer you a very low value.

Also your car will be listed on the register if the repairs come over what they value the car to be worth. There are ways around this by asking the insurance company to settle with a cash in lieu settlement, which means they pay you out X amount to what the cars worth and you have to make the rest of the money up to get the car repaired ( or not ),  hence the car will not have to be put on the register as it never technically got wrote off

Can i ask have you got yours on a classic policy

If it does have to be a write off then it is better it be a CAT D over a CAT C as D`s are not shown on the V5 and also they do not require a vic check to be returned to the rd. So the only way to find out if car has been a cat D is if it is hpi checked, where as a cat C is written on the V5.

Hope this helps

Cheers Kenno

As its none fault get the bodyshop to use an accident management company, such as Kindertons  to sort it all out, you dont need to involve your insurance at all, or pay your excess!!!

It would make no difference using an accident management company in this case, as with companys like kindertons they will only take the claim on if it is a non roadworthy case, as they make money out of supply you with a hire car and then charging the 3rd party insurance company for the pleasure. Plus the car will 100% be a total loss using them as the kindertons let the garage charge full retail rates for the repairs which kindertons then pass on to 3rd party insurance

I'm having issues with my insurance company at the moment as I rear ended someone 3 weeks ago in my almost immaculate '89 GTI cabby.    Luckily there's quite little damage and the car is competely safe and fine to drive (hit someone in a 4x4 at a roundabout doing about 5mph, their spare wheel cover caught my bonnet, front panel etc.).

Was rushing as I was 5 mins late for work then ended up being over an hour late!!

Anyway, I took the car to a friend of a friend's bodyshop the day of the crash and after 2 weeks (Wed just gone) the insurance company wanted to write it off, collect it and send it to salvage.  Luckily as it's in a place where they know the vehicle they immediately said that the car was going nowhere and now they're trying to agree a contract repair so the car doesn't get written off.  I guess if this doesn't go well then I'll have to fork out myself.  It's fair to say I'll not go fully comp again, I even have an agreed value which made no difference…  Grrr.

I guess if you speak to your insurance company and say you want a contract repair then this should be possible, although you may have to top up the money if their offer doesn't cover it…

One thing to make you feel better is at least someone did this to your car, I hurt my own little mk1 cab baby just before all the lovely weather and I was miserable in my stupid courtesy car.

Good luck getting it sorted.  

How did it make no difference if it was an agreed value? Surely they honoured the value for you (- excess)? Otherwise there is ABI, I think.

Well I don't really understand insurance but I've insured the car for ?2500 plus wheels (an extra ?500), the damage is about ?1k using genuine parts etc. but they intended to just write the car off.  Like I say I'm no insurance knowledge base and I'm very angry with what's happened but at the end of the day it's all my own fault and I just want my car back now.  

What's ABI?

(sorry, I've hijacked a thread here…)

ABI was a bit of a red herring. They used to be the regulatory authority for insurers (Association of British Insurers). Basically if you have a dispute with your insurance company and don't get anywhere, you can go to them. I think their role here has now been taken over by FSA (Financial Services Authority) though. They won't intervene until you've made a complaint with your insurance company and given them a chance to sort things out though.

Cat D is a write off for admin (not cost) reasons. Cat C means costs of repair exceed the value of the car; Cat D means the costs of repair don't exceed the value of the car. I'm not sure why an insurance company would want to pay out rather than repair given it would cost more - but it exists….