Need some help guys, insurance company have written my car off

[Daniel B]

Hello all,

I'll keep it brief, but last week I stopped on a motorway, and got shunted into the car in front.

A non fault claim - other party and his insurance have admitted full liability.

My car is a Phase 2 Y reg V70 T5, only 74K on the clock, and had an LPG conversion carried out at 61000 miles, last May.
Car was bought by my gf's parents about 7 years ago, and they gave it to us last year as they were going down to one car.

The letter from muy insurance admiral also states
"Our engineer has now examined your car and it is their initial view that your car is uneconomic to repair. However this assessment may change should further information come to light.

This means that all insurance cover is now cancelled for the vehicle on cover and for you or any other drivers of the vehicle. (This includes the driving other cars extension, if applicable). If you wish to obtain further cover please contact our Customer Services Department."

And more worryingly:

"We have instructed a salvage company to collect your vehicle."

Could someone on here, perhaps a senior forum member or administrator please give me a valuation on the car?

It's a high spec I believe, heated seats, leather, auto, cruise, air con, cd player, self dipping mirror.

I really cannot believe they have done this, especially as it is a no fault claim - can anyone please who has been through this before, arm me with some arguments I can take to them - I'm also fearful that if they do insist on writing it off I will be denied the rights to salvage - is that possible?

And why on earth have they stopped my insurance - the car is perfectly drivable and safe - it's ridiculous.

Really wound up right now, can;t ring them immediately as I am too worked up about it.

Just found this on AT: http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201302205418243/sort/default/usedcars/fuel-type/lpg/model/v70/make/volvo/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/rg146df/radius/1500/page/1?logcode=p

V70 2.4, same year, same LPG conversion, but has almost double the miles, and it's not a T5.
It's on for £3200 - so how do you think I could translate that into value for mine, would the T5 bit increase the value by £300 say - and what about the mileage, that must put another £500 or so onto the value?

[T5frankie]

They will value your car on similar ones for sale on the net

[Daniel B]

Sure thing, however I think the AT ad I found above should be good evidence that my car could be seen to be worth in the region of 4K.

The cost of the repair, about 2K, is that the car 'needs' a new front bumper, and new rear bumper, plus a grille.
However, the back bumper is barely touched, and the front bumper although broken, could probably be repaired, or another one sourced second hand.

I understand that the car can only belong to the insurance company if I accept the total loss decision, which I will not be doing.

This is my first dealing with an insurance company in 17 years of driving, and I am deeply unimpressed - I am paying these people to do what exactly, to make decisions without consulting me, cancel my insurance and get rid of a perfectly good car that means a lot to us - if it wasn't so ridiculous it would be funny.

Would REALLY appreciate feedback from people on here as to the best way to fight it, as I say have never dealt with an insurance claim before, so did not know hot they operated, it's rather the eye opener, and not in a good way.

[V70 Graham]

Hope this helps, and also tell your insurance company you want to buy the car back NOW, and keep telling them !

* Cat A: vehicle must never go back on the road, and no parts of it may be reused.
* Cat B: as Cat A but parts can be reused.
* Cat C: can be repaired and put back on the road but it must be inspected by VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) before being used on the road. VOSA will issue a Certificate if the VIC (Vehicle Identification Check) test is passed.
* Cat D: very light damage but uneconomical to repair as the car is probably worth very little. The car can be put back on the road, and it may not need a VIC test as any damage is usually cosmetic.

If the car is a category C or D write-off you can buy it back from your insurer and get the vehicle fixed; the process will vary according to insurer. However, once your insurer has paid out for a written-off car, it becomes their property, so they're not obliged to sell it back to you. As long as you offer them more money for it than any alternative buyer though, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to secure it.

Bear in mind though that the price you will get for your car when you come to sell it will be affected as previously written-off vehicles are worth less than equivalent vehicles that haven't been involved in a crash.

[stribo]

Hope this helps, and also tell your insurance company you want to buy the car back NOW, and keep telling them !

* Cat A: vehicle must never go back on the road, and no parts of it may be reused.
* Cat B: as Cat A but parts can be reused.
* Cat C: can be repaired and put back on the road but it must be inspected by VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) before being used on the road. VOSA will issue a Certificate if the VIC (Vehicle Identification Check) test is passed.
* Cat D: very light damage but uneconomical to repair as the car is probably worth very little. The car can be put back on the road, and it may not need a VIC test as any damage is usually cosmetic.

If the car is a category C or D write-off you can buy it back from your insurer and get the vehicle fixed; the process will vary according to insurer. However, once your insurer has paid out for a written-off car, it becomes their property, so they're not obliged to sell it back to you. As long as you offer them more money for it than any alternative buyer though, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to secure it.

Bear in mind though that the price you will get for your car when you come to sell it will be affected as previously written-off vehicles are worth less than equivalent vehicles that haven't been involved in a crash.

Insurance is sometimes more as well.

[Daniel B]

Thankyou Graham, my gf will be calling them shortly - I am still fuming too much.

The long term value thing is neither here nor there with me to be honest, we plan to run the car for another 100,000 miles, hence the reason we paid money to get it converted to LPG - it's in superb condition, and we intend to run it until it can't run anymore, or it has major mechanical issues.

I will update with news - insurance company is Admiral by the way.

[jotter22]

Maybe one of the phase 2 v70 boys can advise you more on value!

Tony.

[Rudeyboy18]

Your cars V5, MOT AND TAX are now both voided too. So if you decided to buy it back you will need to fix it, then get it re mot'd , then VIC checked at a VOSA centre Get certificate apply for a v62 in thing , then wait for a new V5 to come through... then you can tax it again. . . .

I just had to do this, never again

[graemewelch]

dont let anyone take it way untill you have agreed a price. ask to speak to some kind of management. no harm in getting some quotes of your own and forwarding the quotes. this is how i got my car repaired in the end. slightly different sercumstances as first repairer cocked it up twice so i decieded to take control. told them i was getting my own assessment done and will seek legal advise. i soon had the regonal manager on the phone and got the car repaired and a few extra bits i wanted doing. stand your ground.

[T5frankie]

no y reg v70 t5 is worth 4k mate, you will be lucky to get 1500 quid

[Daniel B]

Ok, so Admiral have revoked the decision, and have apologised for the way it was handled - ie the first we knew about it was when a salvage company called my gf.

My gf's dad had the car advertised on pistonheads last April for £3200, a dealer came out and offered him £2700 for it - he refused luckily, and gave it to us.
I would say looking at these three ads:
http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201241488067801/sort/default/usedcars/maximum-mileage/up_to_100000_miles/model/v70/make/volvo/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/1500/keywords/t5/page/1/postcode/rg146df?logcode=p
And:
http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201302205418243/sort/default/usedcars/fuel-type/lpg/model/v70/make/volvo/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/rg146df?logcode=p
And
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/volvo/v70/volvo-v70-se/1055510

That it is worth considerably more than £1500 - in fact they have currently valued the car at £2300 - but for me to get a car in the same condition and convert it to LPG, I would need to bag the car in the first link, and convert it again, which would cost me £4900, ok perhaps I could talk them down, still £4000 at the very best case scenario, unless anyone else has links to 2001 T5's with 74K on the clock for less money?

From those three cars above, and using my own calculations to adjust the value to represent our own car, I come up with an average value of £4897 including LPG, or £3697 if they refuse to include that in their decision, as the cost of conversion is £1200.

I appreciate that these are potentially higher than what people would be prepared to pay, but I do not want a payout, I want the car repaired and back on the road, that is my driving force and motivation right now.

So the car is insured again, and not a total loss, they are going back to the other insurers to try and get them to reconsider, and if they do not I will bring out the links above, and also the what car valuations I have found, which value it at around £2500 though without the LPG conversion.
They did say the LPG was not covered as it was an addition, but we pointed out that it was a no fault claim, and we should be effectively put back into the same position as we had been prior to the non fault accident, so the other insurer should be taking this into account.

Additionally he did say we could get a further qoute, so we may get a quote off of someone else - does anyone know, if we go for a insurance repair, I assume it would have to be done with all brand new parts?
This is what is bumping up the price considerably, and unecessarily - I for one would be more than happy for second hand parts to be fitted, it's a 12 year old car after all.
Does anyone know if I were to say I am happy for the rear bumper to stay as is, whether they would allow that repair to go through?

It's a little damaged, but nothing that would bother me, so I would be happy just to get the front end fixed and carry on driving it.

What a load of stress this is causing, and for a non fault accident, I would hate to see what would happen if it was an accident I had actually caused myself, I dread to think.

[jotter22]

I think your valuation based on something that is added and not everyone wants (LPG) might differ greatly to what your insurer would value it at and frankie is a Volvo god!

Tony.

[claymore]

I paid £630 for a 52 plate 2.4t s60 with fsh. it might have twice the milage of your v70, but imo, there is no way a y plate v70 is worth £4000, not even on a forecourt.

[Daniel B]

I'm not disputing peoples knowledge at all, I'm merely going with the links above, and the fact my gf's dad was offered £2700 by a dealer last year - if he offered that, he thought he could sell it on for at least a £200 profit, so that valued it at £2900 minimum, as of 11 months ago, so even being a year older, and another 13K on the clock, I can't see it being less than £2500 - it is a very good example - condition, spec trim etc.

And the fact that the insurance company have already valued it at £2300 with no arguments from myself also seems to suggest that it is worth a reasonable amount.

I agree completely that a Y reg T5 can not be worth 4K, so no argument from me there.
I'm not suggesting that these values are all what people will pay, but I am trying to amass enough evidence and figures to push them towards a repair rather than writing off a perfectly good car :cussing:

Anyway, so far I am feeling positive, thanks for the helpful comments, the car is insured again, and was only written off as a Cat D originally, though I am now more hopeful that with the added value of the LPG being taken into consideration, the other insurer will authorise the repair.
I also agree that the LPG may not technically add market value, BUT I put it on, and I would want to get it or a new car back to the same state, and that would have meant me putting my hand in my pocket for another £1200 - had the accident been my fault I would have taken the hit and not expected my insurer to cover me for it (As it is a mod), but this is not the case, as it is not my insurer who is paying, and I can't see why I should be disadvantaged for something that was not of my own making.

The LPG conversion has a certificate, has been noted on the V5 and was notified to the insurer when I insured it, so all well above board.

We put it to them that if they got their way we would be massively disadvantaged financially, and they agreed that as it is a no fault claim, and both the insurer and the driver have admitted full liability, that it is worth a discussion, so they will be speaking to them in due course, and we will see where it goes.

Cheers gents, I will have a better evening than my afternoon! :B_thumb:

[jotter22]

fair play thats all that matters mate.......

Tony.

[Harvey]

Insurance is sometimes more as well.

Also some insurance company's wont insure a car that's been a write off,which can put off buyers when you want to sell it.

[Slomo]

amazing.... I got rear ended by a porsche in Sept 2011 I was in my old N reg 850 T5... Not much damage to my car as the poor porsche hit my tow bar OOPS.... I didnt think anything of it but a few days later got a call from his insurance company, said they would like to replace the rear bumper, fit a new tow bar to it and give me a rental.... They had the car for 5 weeks, replaced everything with brand new volvo parts... Was surprised... Poor porsche was written off though...

[stevmo]

I had someone reverse in to my 91 corolla a few years ago now. dented n/side rear door but because of car value they wanted to write it off. I spoke with my insurer saying I dont want the car written off, it has no affected anything structural and (they didnt even want proof of this) told them I was quoted £450 to fix it and they sent me a cheque for £450 and I knicked dent out with block of wood and a hammer :D
As its your car and not structural you can insist on car being repaired (being my understanding from about 4 years ago) or pay out to get car repaired with no insurance write off marker

[Daniel B]

Hello all,

fabulous result today, I had a vm from the third party insurers, we checked with Admiral, and they said to speak to them to see what they had to say/offer.

Rang them this evening, and they have agreed to repair the car fully, and no payments of any excess at all required from myself :rainfro:

SO happy right now, and also first day at a new job today too, awesome result, and such a relief, just a shame so much stress had to happen to get there.

Admiral have made the mistake of sending me a 'Comments' form as well.......

All being well, she will be repaired and fully up and running by the end of the month - repair shop we got the qoute from have a 3 week backlog, so I do hope that means they are good!

Will update with pics at a later date - cheers for all the tips guys, REALLY appreciated. :hail:

[V70 Graham]

Glad things are looking up mate, what a difference a day makes eh lol