Home Car written off, options

Hi my parked car was totally written off by the driver of a car who lost control at the wheel, he has admitted liability and so far his insurance provider has hired me a replacement car, I have to ring them tomorrow to find out what they will offer me in compensation for my car valued at roughly 2000 euro. Am I right in thinking that I can demand they replace my car for me with the exact same model only a year newer so as to save me the hassle of looking for a car myself.

Nope. Where did you get that from? Why would you think they would give you a newer car?

They are not your insurance company so will not be re-instating your vehicle, just giving you what they determine the pre-accident value of the vehicle to be.

How did you determine your car was worth 2000?

replacement car ?

I came up with a value of 2000 euro for my car by searching on donedeal for cars the same make,model,year and similar mileage to my own. A person I know who works in insurance told me I could request that my car be replaced for me and that I could demand that it be a year newer, however I wanted to double check that. Thanks for your reply

No offence but I suggest that person seeks a different career. Sounds like they saw an ad on tv for Liberty Insurance and completely mis-interpreted it.

Indemnity i.e. replacement usually only applies to your own policy where insurers have the option to either re-instate your vehicle for a similar one or give you the equivalent value. If it was your insurers then if they said, the value is €1500 on the basis we have found vehicles for that price, and you can't find anything below 2,500 then you can say "ok if you can get for that price, get it so". However insurers rarely choose to reinstate as its too much trouble. And it just depends on your policy wording. However the obligation or option isn't there when you are a third party in accident and not a party to the contract where the wording applies.

all sorted

Hi I finally got sorted today, the insurance company rang me with a valuation 400 euros more than I expected and when I informed them that I would have to drive around viewing cars at an expense they offered me a further 100 euros to cover the cost.

New car written off

Hi, my car was written-off following incident. The other driver has admitted liability. My car was a 2012-reg, just few months old, 3K miles on clock. I would be insisting on being re-imbursed to the equivalent value of a brand new car, same model, but does anyone know what insurers typically offer in such a case?

Generally a brand new replacement car under your own policy. Best to approach that way and then have your insurers pursue reimbursement of their outlay. However your no claims bonus would be affected until such time as they recovered it.

peteb said:

Generally a brand new replacement car under your own policy. Best to approach that way and then have your insurers pursue reimbursement of their outlay. However your no claims bonus would be affected until such time as they recovered it.

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Thanks peteb. I'll update with how I get on.

What about the salvage value of the old car?. Are the insurance co. giving you say 2500 and taking the old car. You might be better off taking a lower amount from the insurance co. say 2000 and getting your car back. You could then maybe sell your old car to a mechanic for scrap/parts or even though it is written off they maybe able to put in back on the road. You should talk to insurance company and some mechanic you need to see if this is a option.

user name said:

What about the salvage value of the old car?. Are the insurance co. giving you say 2500 and taking the old car. You might be better off taking a lower amount from the insurance co. say 2000 and getting your car back. You could then maybe sell your old car to a mechanic for scrap/parts or even though it is written off they maybe able to put in back on the road. You should talk to insurance company and some mechanic you need to see if this is a option.

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Thanks, I hadn't really thought about that point. Just thought that the insurance co would insist on taking ownership of the old car. I'll look into that option.

I know i worked out about 2000 better off as a result. Insurance company wrote off the car. They mentioned salvage value but i didnt pay much heed as i though it would not be worth the hassle. Meet a mechanic i knew a few days later, told him about the car and he said it would be interested in buying it. He gave me a few grand cash for it. Car was only about 2 years old at the time. Dont know how it would work with an older car.

user name said:

He gave me a few grand cash for it. Car was only about 2 years old at the time. Dont know how it would work with an older car.

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My damaged car is a "new" car (just a few months old; 2012-reg), so not so different from your case. Anyway I will check my options and see how I get on. Thanks.