A lorry wrote off my disco!

I have only had it three months but a lorry reversed into it when it was parked outside the post office! The driver and his company admitted full liability but I have just found out that it is not going to be repaired and will be written off. I understand that it is possible to buy the car back, it was only insured for its value -£2000 so I am assuming it won't cost much to get it back?
It had two smashed lights and a bent bonnet, I have looked on ebay and can get one for around £75 assuming its only the bonnet and not damaged hinges etc? Has anyone had a bent car back from the insurers and what category is it if it was only bodywork but deemed to expensive to fix? Thanks in advance!

That doesn't seem too bad at all. May have damage to the slam panel and inner wings. YRM are great for panels.

Find a local reputable welder/body shop and get a quote. Keep us updated and include photos.

Good luck.

YRM Metal Solutions - Love it, YRM it

Think it is a cat D. No biggy to be honest

I did email the pic to a couple of local landy repairers, the quotes were both around £800. I can't afford that, I was hoping to get a bonnet for about £100 and the lights for around £80 each. I will have to see what the insurers offer me I suppose and then what I'd have to fork out for the return of the car. Annoyingly, it had a new engine fitted about 40k ago, I have all the receipts - it cost about 2k, so although its quite old, I think it's worth more than another one that age as all the stuff that goes wrong has already been put right.

Buy the bits and find someone willing to fit for a reasonable price.bet someone on here willing.my zafira was written off cat c and put back on the road.needed bonnet bumper,headlights,wing,drivers door.all an easy fix.had to go for a vic test.its marked on log book but no affect to insurance.

You should beable to pick up the bits cheaper than that on ebay or summat- there's loads about being broken up and outer panels aren't worth much- bonnet should be 50 quidish at the most- if you shop about you'll most likely find one in the right colour too-even if its a bit dearer, you'll save £££'s on painting! If the slam panel's too far gone, complete front ends (with inner wings) turn up a lot 2nd had. Lights? £80 for a pair more like- bumpers tend to be a bit dear for these even 2nd hand.. but like has been said, if you can source the bits yourself it should be a relatively cheap fix.
-& dont worry about it being a cat c/d at the end of it- it wont affect the value of a good disco much at all. Get it done!

Well, that's encouraging. I bought it for towing but it looks like my new job needs me to do a bit of driving so I'm hoping to get the landy back and get a little hatchback too. STILL waiting for them to contact me but in the meantime, they have given me a brand new disco with 2k on the clock as a hire car - all paid for by the other side!

Bit of a difference.... cor does it ever go though.

Where is the car?

If it is with you then get a quote from a repairer of your choice.
You can legally have the car repaired at a bodyshop of your choice.

Most insurance companys will be happy to give you a lump of money to get the car repaired yourself and not write off the car if it is cheaper than paying the market value if it costs them less.

Whatever you do dont accept the first offer.

The car got taken away on a lowloader on Friday. I know from Swinton that they have already decided it is a total loss but they haven't seen fit to tell me yet. Considering it was totally the fault of the other side, I would have thought they might have fixed it.. well I suppose I will hear on monday now.

had a van written off, insurers paid out and gave me the van back for nowt. it was on a cat D. no problems unless you want to sell it on as it will be worth alot less.

things seem to work different here in ireland.
i had a car that was crashed and a total write off. insurance company sent somebody out to look at it and said it was worth 1900 as scrap and a before crash value of 12,000. sent me a cheque for 10.100 left the car with me but did tell me of a scrap yard that offered the 1900 for it and i was to ring them myself.

Salvage retention rates vary with different insurance companies but as you're the third party they may work on a "rule of thumb" type thing, so it may be negotiable. Generally the lower the category the higher the percentage to retain. It's not common to give you a cash-in-lieu if the vehicle is a total loss, as they have a duty of care to register the vehicle as a total loss if that's the case.

A Cat D often means the cost of repairs are close but do not exceed the market value. If you really didn't want the vehicle written off you could try providing them with a cheaper estimate and request a cash settlement. If this estimate is seen fair and reasonable they may give you the total repair figure less the VAT, this would be a final settlement though, any further damage upon strip down couldn't be claimed for. Cat C means repairs exceed market value but vehicle can go back on the road once repaired (may be subject to a VIC check, this used to be a random check when you tax the vehicle).

If they offer you a low value send in some examples of vehicles same age and similar mileage selling for higher together with your receipts for the engine etc.

Good luck!

Pamnewlandy said:

The car got taken away on a lowloader on Friday. I know from Swinton that they have already decided it is a total loss but they haven't seen fit to tell me yet. Considering it was totally the fault of the other side, I would have thought they might have fixed it.. well I suppose I will hear on monday now.

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Well I would not have let anyone take it away until I had an offer I was happy with.

If you are claiming off someone else's insurance you should have insisted that it was repaired.

Did you remove all your items and things you wanted to keep.

i'm pretty sure that a 3rd party's insurer cannot write your car off
only your own, especially as they have admitted liabillity,
UKSaabs • View topic - Can my Insurance company write off my car if I say no?
thers a little info on there, may be worth checking out tho, as their contract is to put you right as it goes, where as in your own policy there will b small print relating to monetary value, may b worth speaking to citizens advice etc to make sure so you dont lose your pride and joy, as an example i have seen a 3rd pty insurer re body a saxo even though this cost them far more than the car was worth (worked for citroen a few years ago)

The above is true, if you are not at fault, the other party MUST put you back in the position you were in before the accident and if that means rebuilding your car completely they must do that.

I have got everything out except the tax I don't know all the ins and outs as thankfully this has not happened to me before. I am certainly not prepared to accept less than what I paid for it in May (£2000).
It has been confusing because to start with I rang Ageas insurance, who I had the policy with. They told me that I would have to pay the excess - which I was unhappy with so I rang the broker, Swinton who said I should have rang them (!?) They then told me to stop the claim with Aegis and start one with Swinton. I must say Swinton are better, they are the ones who got me the brand new Disco to drive and won't make me pay the excess. BUT how can I have two policies? Am I insured with Swinton or Aegis? Confused!

Pamnewlandy said:

I have got everything out except the tax I don't know all the ins and outs as thankfully this has not happened to me before. I am certainly not prepared to accept less than what I paid for it in May (£2000).
It has been confusing because to start with I rang Ageas insurance, who I had the policy with. They told me that I would have to pay the excess - which I was unhappy with so I rang the broker, Swinton who said I should have rang them (!?) They then told me to stop the claim with Aegis and start one with Swinton. I must say Swinton are better, they are the ones who got me the brand new Disco to drive and won't make me pay the excess. BUT how can I have two policies? Am I insured with Swinton or Aegis? Confused!

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I assume Swinton are the others insurers which is who you should be dealing with since they have admitted fault

No, Swinton are MY brokers. Definately not the third parties, that why it seems odd to have the choice of using two different sets of people.

I had my micra written off 2 weeks ago.im ins with the green ins co (ageas).the ins who rear ended me was with admiral.i reported the accident to ageas within the hour of happening.10 mins later admiral ring me, asked the cars damage. they decided on the phone because of its age it was a total loss and offered me 3 times what i considered it was worth.they also said i could keep the car but declined.they said the car wouldnt be removed until i received the monies in my account.they supplied a car for 3 days and the money was in my account within 2.all with no loss to me or excess to pay.so unless you been paid tell them to bring the car back.they shouldnt take tax either.