Advice Please From Seasoned 205 Gti Scene

[Projectuno 7]

Hi,

 

On the 17th of April my car was driven into whilst stationary. It is likely to be written off, which in many ways is a real shame due to the condition and mileage of the car.

 

If the insurers do write it off, I have a couple of questions for you.

 

1. What would you expect to pay to buy it off the insurers (32,000 mile car, immaculate prior to rear end)?

 

2. Would you eBay it in one piece or break it and list all parts for sale on here/eBay?

 

3. Is a low mileage 1.6 engine and gearbox worth any more than a knackered high mileage engine and gearbox?

 

I am just trying to determine what my best course of action is ahead of the insurers deciding the cars fate.

 

Thanks.

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Insurance buy back will be 10% of whatever they pay you for the claim.

[Leon 24]

My ex's 200SX was written off a few years ago. The insurance value payout was £3500, the insurance buy back was £2,000 so she didn't bother.

[welshpug 1,657]

How bad is it?

 

I had mine written off two years ago, kept it for £60 iirc.

 

Was valued at £1250, 145k g reg 1.9 in fair condition.

Edited May 2, 2014 by welshpug

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

I think you should maybe PM a guy called AMS on here.

 

He has just went through similar, and he has worked in insurance.

[hexhamstu 9]

I've kept mine for scrap value in the past.

Edited May 2, 2014 by hexhamstu

[Projectuno 7]

Thanks for the comments. Sounds like it is more hassle than it is worth.

 

I will be sure to tip you all off as to which breakers it ends up at as there are many parts that you simply cannot get in the condition they are on this car...

 

http://s868.photobucket.com/user/projectuno/library/205%20GTi

Edited May 2, 2014 by Projectuno

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Link not working mate might be cos its private and not public and take some parts off it before it goes, if it goes

Edited May 2, 2014 by Slo

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Could you put some photos up? (Of the damage) That link hasn't worked for me.

 

A car of that mileage and by the sounds of the condition has a high market value. I was in the same situation as you except my rallye wasn't worth much but I still managed to get it repaired to the tune of twice the value of the car.

 

You need to send adverts of other similar car, pref over priced ones to the insurers and stress the rare factor and you could have it repaired.

[deathbringer929 49 1 Cars]

buy back price will be dependant upon agreed pre accident value and category. pav will be determined by condition, mileage, mot length, service history, any recent expenditure. all of these will be taken into account along with current market trends of sold or for sale values.

 

an insurer would normally try to deter you from retaining salvage and would normally charge you more to retain than the contracted figure from their nominated salvage agent.

 

dont remove anything from it or this will reduce the pav. ie, if supplied with stereo from factory they would expect there to be a stereo fitted at time of value agreement. they dont normally have a problem with people removing a nice cd player they had fitted as long as its replaced with its original tape player for example. hth.

 

get some pics up.

[Ams 23 1 Cars]

It's likely the insurer will attempt to write off the car but only pay you a pittance. However seeing as it's a non-fault claim it is possible for you to negotiate a cash settlement 'in lieu of repairs'. This simply means that you will receive a cash payout as compensation and your car won't be listed as a total loss, which would be an injustice if the car is a clean example and damage is light. In my case the damage was light and easily repairable. However due to the age of our cars they can easily fall into write-off territory since the price guides that insurers use are pretty much stating that mint Phase 2 examples are circa £750.

 

If you are currently going through the at-fault parties insurer you can wait and see what their conclusion is first after they view the car - if you don't like their conclusion i.e. 'we're writing it off, take £300 and bugger off' you can always halt proceedings with them and switch to yours. Just be sure to communicate the switch to their claims departments and your own.

 

Make sure you backup the value of your car by pointing the loss adjuster to a marketplace for 205s such as Pistonheads, since it's currently the largest database of overpriced 205s. They will cross reference this with pattern parts availability and OEM parts and calculate a final figure. It helps if you personally get prices for pattern/OEM replacement parts (including eBay), proving attainability and a quote of paint and fitting from a decent bodyshop. It essentially shows it's possible to privately arrange repairing the vehicle yourself. If all goes well you receive a cheque that reflects repair costs for up to 60% of the negotiated value of the car, your car will not be registered unfairly as a write-off and you can choose to repair or break. Bear in mind this depends on how badly your car is damaged, if it's light you should be ok.

 

Discuss the above with your insurer for more info on this route, they will advise you according to your specific circumstances.

 

 

 

[jeremy 70]

Basically what Ams describes was what happened to me. However when my wifes Kia was written off the only option to buy back was to go to the scrap yard and buy it back in their monthly auction, so we didn't bother.

[Edp 67 3 Cars]

I kept my fire damaged 1.9. Cost me about £250 but I made that back and more when breaking the car. You should try and keep it!

[Projectuno 7]

Hi,

On the 17th of April my car was driven into whilst stationary. It is likely to be written off, which in many ways is a real shame due to the condition and mileage of the car.

If the insurers do write it off, I have a couple of questions for you.

1. What would you expect to pay to buy it off the insurers (32,000 mile car, immaculate prior to rear end)?

2. Would you eBay it in one piece or break it and list all parts for sale on here/eBay?

3. Is a low mileage 1.6 engine and gearbox worth any more than a knackered high mileage engine and gearbox?

I am just trying to determine what my best course of action is ahead of the insurers deciding the cars fate.

Thanks.

 

Thank you for your replies.

 

So in answer to my original questions:

 

1. 10% - 20% of payout

2. Dependent on buy back price

3. No one has commented, so I'll assume not

 

In terms of where things are, the insurance company has:-

- had a body shop assess the car, the result was that it was declared a write off

- I was then asked to provide copies of all service history from day 1. This took me almost 8 hours to date order, scan and compile into one PDF document for them.

-I was asked to provide like for like examples currently for sale and sold examples to demonstrate 'real' market values. I supplemented this with the how many left site info on 205 GTis to demonstrate rarity.

- upon reviewing all of the above and now realising it was worth more than a few hundred, they sent an assessor round to take a look. By the way, agreed values are not worth the paper they are written on, I have checked this with the financial ombudsman.

- now, the insurers are reviewing the assesors assessment report, hence my earlier questions.

[Projectuno 7]

In summary, I have learned a lot from this experience, namely that you are effectively self insuring a car if it's value exceeds that listed in the typical trade guides...glasses etc.

 

So the lesson here is own a car that sits exactly in the guide value price point and not a pound above. Seriously though, I would strongly recommend anyone thinking they want to own an immaculate, low mile car to think twice. In essence, if you are not comfortable with a car showing a typical amount of wear and mileage, to look elsewhere. This may sound very negative or defeatist but I share these words of caution for any marque, not just a Peugeot 205 GTi.

[Ams 23 1 Cars]

Was it your own insurer that wrote it off or the other drivers?

Edited May 4, 2014 by Ams

[2-Pugs 57]

Sorry to hear of your experience.

 

When you say that agreed value is not worth the paper it is written on, can you expand?

Edited May 4, 2014 by 2-Pugs

[Simes 248 2 Cars]

I had agreed value on my last 205.

I got £4500 when it was written off.

Bought it back for £400, reshelled it.

[Projectuno 7]

Was it your own insurer that wrote it off or the other drivers?

Initially, the body shop assessors instructed by the insurance company deemed it a write off. Then this was thrown into question once the insurance company took on board the evidence I had provided (vehicle condition, history, like for like examples and sold for market prices).

It was upon this realisation they instructed a third party firm to assess the car and give an independent verdict on the matter.

 

Am I write in thinking, on this basis, if I am not happy with the offer my insurer puts forward, I deal directly with the third party's insurer car?

[stufarri 98 3 Cars]

You can deal direct with the TP insurers but once they realise your own are involved they will more than likely refer you back to them.

 

If you car had an agreed value then your Insurer pays that agreed sum, it carries no weight if you claim from the Third Party's Insurer though so in that way they are useless. I presume that your car did not have an agreed value as it is not clear from the above unless I have missed it.

 

AMS has given some good advice above too regarding C-I-L settlements from the TPI.

[GLPoomobile 958]

This is what pisses me off about car insurance. When your car is written off in a non-fault claim, and the f***ers try and weasel out of it and try to fob you off with out of touch market values, or some such BS. To my mind, you should be awarded a suitable amount to either repair the car back to pre-accident condition, plus an additional amount to account for lost re-sale value in the future, or be awarded a suitable amount to source another car that matches up in terms of age, spec, condition etc (good luck with that!). But the slimey s*its make you crawl over broken glass to get an outcome like that.

 

Stand your ground, stomp your feet, make life as difficult for them as you can bear. Don't let them fob you off. Why the hell should you accept them writing the car off? Was it your fault? NO! That's your pride and joy (presumably). Some other daft twat ruined your day, you didn't ask for any of this! Make the wankers repair the car!

 

Rant over, and breath

[Bogsye 22]

My take on the 'agreed value'. When I wrote off my S2000 they offered something like £12,250 for it. However when I took out the insurance they asked me to give an idea of the car's value, which I indicated was £13,000. If, in a bid to get my premium down I had said £10,000 pounds then I felt it fair that that would be the limit. It wasn't an agreed value policy in the way a classic car policy could be termed, but it was a reasonable counterpoint to them levering the payout down.

 

In defence of trying to get £13,000 I argued that I had paid a premium commensurate with a value of £13,000. In the end I got my money or very close to it IIRC.

 

Hope you get it sorted out as best as possible!! It ain't much fun - I know that much!

[Ams 23 1 Cars]

Initially, the body shop assessors instructed by the insurance company deemed it a write off. Then this was thrown into question once the insurance company took on board the evidence I had provided (vehicle condition, history, like for like examples and sold for market prices).

It was upon this realisation they instructed a third party firm to assess the car and give an independent verdict on the matter.

 

Am I write in thinking, on this basis, if I am not happy with the offer my insurer puts forward, I deal directly with the third party's insurer car?

 

That is unfortunate, as stated by stufarri, since you're your own insurer is handling the claim and they've stated it's a total loss then it does not benefit you to go through the third party insurer. I mentioned switching only if you were going direct through the TP insurer and they were fobbing you off. In non-fault claims the TP insurer has the greatest incentive to low ball you since they are taking the hit financially.

 

Another suggestion to prop up the value of your car is to get in touch with classic car sales companies e.g. http://www.kgfclassiccars.co.uk/. You can even pass the details to the loss adjusters so they can speak to them and discuss the pre-accident condition of your car and verify a guide price which removes uncertainty about its true market value. My brother did something similar with a claim on an import car a few years ago that was destroyed by a lorry. There were non for sale in the UK as it was a rare example so the insurer had no reference point thus they low balled him (claim was currently in dispute as the lorry driver ran away, he was caught and arrested eventually thanks to witnesses). I informed him to get in touch with respectable import specialists with the ability to provide examples being sold at Japanese auctions, they provided a guide price for the loss adjuster and the offer increased from £2000 to £7000 (which was accurate).

 

Remember your insurance company is not fighting you since they are not losing out financially here, they just need solid proof to justify the payout prior to billing the TP insurer else they'll get into bother with them.

 

[gruffa 7]

always reject the 1st offer, they will give you a crap one to start with in the hope they don't have to pay out to much, when my Scooby was written off they offered me $4k, I told them where to stick it and they came back with an offer of £4800, even though it was valued at £4500.

[Projectuno 7]

Again thanks all for the moral support.

 

Whether I get a fair resolution on this or not, only time will tell. What I do know is that it has taken at least 12hrs of my time; on the phone, preparing documents, market research, reaching out to a respected trader for sold prices, time off work to allow body shop then assessor to inspect the car and caused a lot of hassle amid a house purchase/renovation and manic job.

 

I've also got a rather damaged 205 sat in the garage taking up valuable space, plus I'm a car down.

 

7 weeks in so far, remember the third party admitted full liability for accident to his and my insurer the very same day.