Just before Christmas, car got rear ended, but still driveable. Taking it in today for inspection at repairer referred by insurer. Rear bumper squashed and split, but also the beam type structure it mounts to at the end of the floorpan is crushed. Car is a 2002 Honda Stream with a PX value of around £2000. How close to the value/bottom book of the car is normal before they would call it a write off?

I RECKON YOU'LL GET MORE THAN THE CARS WORTH FOR WHIPLASH !! 😈

depends what they think they can get for yours as salvage

@£2k value – I reckon they'll write it off

I crashed my motorbike in October and it had very light damage but was still written off. Value was £6000 and repair bill was going to be £4600(everything scratched etc was quoted for new repair). You have to remember that there is a salvage value to the car as well so they will make some money back from that.

From my recent experience i would suggest it will be written off.

It was also gutting that i wasn't allowed to buy back my bike as i could have had it back on the road for around £1500. Eventually sold from the salvage yard for nearly £4000!

Doesn't sound too promising then. I hadn't realised the floorpan was deformed until I got under it this morning, and there's a tyre wrecked as well as the spare is in a cage behind the bumper too. When you add them up it's pretty easy to get well over a grand with work being done at dealer rates.

I'm sure claims for whiplash for four of us would cover the cost of a replacement, but the headrests did their job well and we're all fine, despite it being a fair old bang.

I would say it will be a write off, but, when i was rear-ended by one of those huge mobile cranes a couple of years back i was convinced the car was a right off (the big hook on the front bent the roof!) but they repaired it!! – Needless to say i sold that car on very quickly after that.

Depends on the condition of your insurance policy at what point they write off. Some stipulate 50% repair costs against value of the car, for others it is around 70%.

So yes.

Or no.

Possibly.

Sounds as if it's a write-off. But I guess you'll have to wait for the real 'experts' before the final call 😉

Its nothing to do with the posters insurance, but the ones' they are claiming against. If your car is happily and safely drivable – hold out for a decent amount if written off, don't take the first offer, but also don't take the piss.

That is incorrect b r. No matter the fault, the write-off decision is based on YOUR insurance policy. I know as I have been there two years ago when the repair value came just inside our policy limit (by a couple of hundred £££ on an £8.5k repair). I had long discussions with the claims assessor and insurance company about it and know it to be true first hand to my chagrin. (Wife was rear-ended and the third-party admitted full liability).

m-f dont think thats the case.

I've got a similar scenario on the go at the moment. This will be a non-fault claim if someone went into the back of the OP. There are a few ways to deal with this (as far as I'm aware)but the one thing you must do is inform your insurer of any incident, whether you intend to claim or not.

1. proceed with a claim through your own insurer, who will request you pay your excess and claim every cost back through 3rd party insurer. If this was the case your insurer would decide on the write off or not

2. claim direct through 3rd party yourself, having informed your insurer for info only. Basically this involves you claiming personally off the 3rd party for all damage. In this case the 3rd party would decide it was a write off or not, since they are footing the bill for repairs / replacement.

3. 3rd option is to use an accident management company to claim off the 3rd party (which is what we're attempting)

Options 2 and 3 are apparently only recommended if the 3rd party has admitted full liability for the incident.

I remain unconvinced that any insurer actually has your best interests at heart though after doing a bit of web research on the subject.

It was 100% the case for us. Wife not at fault and I pushed for a write-off but they wouldn't do it due to the terms on OUR policy. I was told at the time it is the standard policy that, irrespective of blame, it is YOUR policy wording that is used as the basis for settling the claim.

After all, if it worked the other way around (your policy was more generous in its write-off policy than the third-party) and you were told your car would be repaired because the other policy said so, you wouldn't be happy would you?

I am only speaking from my experience, but my first-hand experience of it says I am correct.

hmm, fair point, but i wouldn't have thought the third party insurer would be happy paying out more because of someone else's policy wording. I'll need to check mine tonight and see what it says.

Ibuyeco = Ibuycheapo 🙁

Well that is why it is standard policy I assume – if they all agree to do the same, then they all win and all lose at some point.

My Golf GTi Mk2 was rear ended and they initially tried to write it off. However when I insisted that they not do that, they backed me up with the other parties insurer and it got repaired. Then I sold it.

We had a van run into the back of us just before Christmas 08 on the motorway.

Since it was a clear case of the 3rd party at fault (motorway came to a stop, he had been looking in his mirrors to change lane, and didn’t see the traffic stopping quickly) which he admitted at the scene.

We used the accident management option, run by a chap on Pistonheads, this meant we could take the car to the bodyshop we wanted (the car was already booked in at that bodyshop/garage for some other work so it saved the hassle of having to rearrange that work – as the car’s MOT ran out during the period between the accident and the repair work being approved.) so the rust, plus accident damage was fixed in one go and came back with an MOT. We didn’t have to shell out our excess from our own insurance, just had to pay for the work that wasn’t part of the accident damage, had the work done by an MX5 specialist who we trusted, and got a hire car too. The AMC dropped the hire car off, and took our car to the bodyshop, then when the work was complete, brought our car back and picked up the hire car.

I believe the law in a 100% 3rd party fault claim – the one hit should be put back in the position they where before the accident – ie. Their car should be repaired, provided the cost is reasonable (ie the car isn’t a total write off) and they are allowed to claim reasonable costs for a replacement hire car while theirs is being repaired. (I think the figure I was told was about £30 or 40 a day in hire charges – but I can’t remember)

What is this with MX5's? My Euphonic MX5 was rear ended. It was a close call- but there wasnt any deformation- the rear beam was replaced with a new bumper and respray. If there was deformation it would have been a write off.

OP- I think its safe to say yours will be written off. Your car is rare- DONT let the other parties insurance company give you a book offer- look at the cost of the same cars on autotrader and refuse their first offer.

What is this with MX5's? My Euphonic MX5 was rear ended.

It's not personal, they just hate hairdressers so attack any MX5 they see

Or they cant see that far down and trip over you 😆

If it gets written off you may have an option to buy it back.

The repair bill to you as opposed to the insurance company will probably be half the first estimate!!!

Workmate had his Bertone Astra boot lid, floor and rear panel damaged. Ins firm wrote it off due to cost of repair vs value. He bought it back and had it "repaired" for £500, a 1/4 of the original estimate by the same firm!!!!

Someone bothered repairing an Astra? I would be happy to have the piece of shit off my hands. Hateful cars.

If the cost of the repair is 4/5 or more of the value, it will be written off. If the floorpan is buckled, its a gonner!

Someone bothered repairing an Astra? I would be happy to have the piece of shit off my hands. Hateful cars.

+1

Update: it's in getting fixed, dropped it off this morning. Estimates came in at £1105 for the fix, plus about £200 for the hire car. According to the JustCarClinic website where you can track progress, it's in the panel shop now. Due back to me Wednesday.