Victim of bad driving

[Philip Chidlow]

Ring on door bell. 'Sorry mate hit your car'. (At this point I seriously questioned the status of 'mate' being applied - even at this stage of the conversation)...

There's my BX sitting parked where it always is, outside my house with the driver's door stoved in. No smashed window, luckily, but a broken wing mirror. His company insurance will deal with it on Monday. Great. Well, at least the door closes and locks. And the sill's OK. Offending vehicle = 4x4 (Warrior or Animal pick up) = bad driving for the conditions. Anyway, no-one was hurt and at least I wasn't to blame.

BUT it's left me wondering what to do next. I can sort of guess that his insurers will tell me to take the car to so-and-so bodyshop. There will be much sucking of teeth and sardonic sniggering (accompanied by scowls from yours truly). It will be 'written off' and I will be offered a few quid for it.

I suppose that's when the game continues with me getting an official valuation from the Chairman of the Citroen Car Club (UK) then (eventually) we settle on a figure. This is where as far as I'm concerned, it gets a little fuzzy: If say I am offered £600 (which might be considered reasonable by most ) can I accept on the condition that I buy back the car to repair at my expense and in my time? How does all that work???

And once repaired does the car need to be re-registered or something?

Does anyone have any experience of this sort of thing (I'm sure some of you do), and, in the end, is it worthwhile?

Worst case scenario: If for whatever reason the car is to be scrapped, how much can I remove from the car before it is collected?

NOT A HAPPY BUNNY

[Tim Leech]

Phil if it were me, I would try and avoid going through insurance as they WILL Write it off and it will get awkward, get another drivers door (there's bound to be plenty on here) and get it painted up to match, which will probably be less money than his excess. Is it worth asking him to pay you the excess in cash and leave it at that?

I fitted a new drivers door to my TZI a few weeks ago and it took about an hour as we had to swop the electrics but is a two man job and the door was only £10. Stick a new mirror on for now and push as much of it out as possible so you can at least use it.

Remember the garage will quote for a brand new door (probably a genuine one at that) or at least a skin, plus painting, labour to swop all the bits over and all new scraper seals and rubbing strip etc which will mean an automatic write off bearing in mind the mileage on your car and its value in the "trade"

[Aerodynamica]

Insurance is ridiculous - I thought you had a right to have your car returned to the same condition?

My CX is on 'Classic' insurance because I grudge paying for something that gives me nothing but doubt.

[Dollywobbler]

I have to agree with Tim. Keep the insurance out of it if you can. All you want is your car sorted again really so if he'll pay for a new door and the paint job, you'll be back where you started and as Tim says, he might end up paying less than his excess.

[Philip Chidlow]

Drawback is it's his employer's company insurance, so not exactly negotiable.

Let's see what happens. If the company wants to keep the insurance company out of it (unlikely) they can pay me a couple of hundred quid I guess.

What is more likely is they insist on getting the insurers involved who will write the car off. If I can negotiate a deal of a decent amount and agree/secure salvage (keep the car) that's an OK result, I suppose. Alternatively, if I do get to talk with their approved bodyshop, I imagine I could point them in the direction of a replacement door and offer my new replacement wing mirror... and then they just quote on painting the replacement door and switching it over. Even then though, it'd probably come in at loads as they are unlikely to want the job!

In the end if the insurers get difficult and don't want me to keep the car, I'll have to tell them to go forth and multiply, and deal with the damage myself. After all I can find a door and I have a mirror... And give the guy who crashed into my car the 'opportunity to contribute'...

FFS

[Tim Leech]

Good plan Phil, insurance companies arent interested in old bangers so best try and keep um out of it as much as possible. Im happy to help you fit the new door mate if needs be as Ive done one myself with alot of help from RXBX and its fiddly but easy.

[Defender110]

Phil
There is every probability the company may wish to pay you directly and not involve the insurance as many company excess's are a lot higher than private policy excesses so the cost of repair may not even exceed the excess and they will certainly want to protect their premiums if it did. Our fleet insurance excess for instance is £500 on any claim so if the damage was less than that we would certainly be settling without involving the insurance. I suggest you take the car to a body repair shop that you would want to use and ask them for a none insurance quote to have your car repaired with you supplying the door and them supplying the labour and materials. If they know it is a private job not involving the insurance they shouldn't get gready and the cost should be reasonable as they will want the work. Armed with this genuine cost quote approach the company and let them know verbally how much it is going to cost to repair your car to your satisfaction and ask how they wish to proceed. You can show them the quote but it isn't advisable to let them keep it or coppy it untill they accept. If you are lucky they will want to settle. Most of the time for small incidents like this it is only when people get gready that companies are forced to hand it to their insurance. Try not to sound angry with the person you are dealing with as they were not driving the car and there is more chance they will want to help you.

[RxBX]

Hi Tim

Ive done one myself with alot of help from RXBX and its fiddly but easy.

I hope you've still got my Special BX Door Pin remover which I left in your TZi after fitting the door ? If you can remember

[Vanny]

Surely someone elses insurance company can't decide to scrap your car? Whats the bloody point in having insurance if your car just gets written off if someone in a suite and a BMW decides your car is worth less than a grand and scraps it?

On the company insurance, our company policy has a service contract with the lease company meaning al incidents are registered through them so there is no question of not reporting. When i started it used to be anything under £200 our company paid for to avoid the excess.

[docchevron]

Make it plain from the outset that under no circumstances is your car to be c=scrapped. AFAIK they have no legal right to take your car. Only if you accept a pay out does it become their property.
Certainly in the three cases where my car has been written off I've never let them touch the car let alone take it away.

They will right it off for a door, and you cannot get new ones anymore anyway.
That said, I'm sure one can be found, most likely in the correct colour (whats the paint code of the car?).

Be firm from the outset and insist the car is repaired, or, get a cash settlement if able.
But, if you want to keep the car then do not under any circumstances allow any insurance company to take your car.

[Tim Leech]

I had a similar incident many years ago, someone reversed into my old metro, damaging the rear quater, the repair cost was far more than the cars value so they paid out for the car and I agreed a value for the salvage which was deducted off the price and repaired it myself' I ended up about £400 in profit.

But the car was then listed as a write off which wasnt a problem as it was on its "last legs" but in this instance I would try and avoid having your car written off even if you end up keeping it.

[Aerodynamica]

Well my GSA Pallas SE was a Cat C write off, after a business insured van ran into the back of me while stationary it was an easy case of admission, further, being a business fleet insurance, they 'always' pay out in a 'blame' situation.

Anyway, after the quote from an 'approved' garage the inspection engin eer from 'their' insurance came along to inspect the G to asses whether it was repairable or a wright off. He declared it a Cat C write off and offered me £800. Since this was exactly £200 more than I paid for the car I obviously accepted (on the day of the assessor's arrival I was armed with screeds of 'proof' that my G was worth at least £700 by various for sale ads and a classic car price guide showing £750 etc) so I asked about buying back the car. £100 was the thing so I obliged. Essentially I 'made' £100 from this (though not really since I'd spent at least that on new bits on it in my time)

Anyway, if you're going thru insurance make sure you hear what the assessor has to say upon inspection before you settle for anything.

Maybe I was lucky but you never know.

[macplaxton]

Sometimes a company will be happy to deal direct, as their excesses may be high.

If there's nothing wrong with the sill, just the door. Make sure the assessor marks it down as no more than a Category D , not C.

A category D write off is where the cost of repair (with new OEM parts) exceeds x % of the market value (around 60%). In the case of an older / low value vehicle this can be as little as light unit or a bumper.

A category C is best avoided as it's supposed to have a Vehicle Identity Check before returning to the road, this is another hassle and 50-odd quid. Assessors seem to put vehicles in this category far too readily.

[kiwi]

They will right it off for a door, and you cannot get new ones anymore anyway.

I got the same problem with a damaged drivers door except mine was self inflicted a first for many many years for me. My mistake was deciding to pull the car out of the garage rather than drive out.

I forgot one key thing and that was the drivers door was open soon realised as the door hit the centre piller between the two doors. Although had I had the other door open I would have seen this mistake.
The damage was to bend the window frame back lucky enough before the door was bent back on the hinges. Unfortuantely it is not flush any longer and has a crease in the frame. So sounds like the door is not closed when your driving.

Got a quote of NZ$570 to repair the door which I was surprised to hear them say it could be repaired. However thats not enough to write of the car as the agreed value is put at NZ$2200.

Im on the hunt for another white door the one I can get easy enough the wife is objecting to its removal so debating to get it fixed given the impact of $250 excess plus reduced No Claims and increased premium no doubt over the next couple of years. Because we got two cars the insurance will only protect one NCD and not on this car

So easy thuogh to have a older Car written off especially in the UK.

[Philip Chidlow]

Some pics: