Insurance write off

Reallygarlicky · Jul 20, 2014

Dear All I would appreciate an opinion on my awkward position I find myself in. Sadly last week we had a car pull in to the side of us while we were overtaking, luckily nobody was hurt however the boxsters rear wheel took the brunt of the impact wrecking the wheel and alloy and just slightly denting the rear wing.
Our boxster is a 2001 2.7 with 55k miles on the clock, we have had her for 3 years and have really enjoyed summer drives when the weather is good and the workload not too high. The Insurers look like they want to write her off, reason being that they would have to fork out £850 to fit a new wheel before they could check alignment etc.
My question(s) are what likelyhood is there of suspension/chassis damage( drives ok on the spare at 50mph) in that sort of accident and would members either accept the highest offer from the insurers and walk away or try to buy back the car and repair.regards from a bereaved boxster owner .

dereksharpuk · Jul 20, 2014

Does not look bad to me... if the repairs are less than what the car is worth to you, you know the answer.

Moreover, it is amazing what they can do with alloy wheels these days. A few years ago I was forced off the road by a lorry which resulted in very badly mangled offside couple of wheels. They were fixed to a high standard by Platinum Wheels in Swindon.

colin944 · Jul 20, 2014

Daft question..... But is it too late to un-involve the insurance company? If you could then I would buy a secondhand wheel , put it on and then take the car to a good alignment place and get it checked.A couple of hundred quid and it'll be back on the road or you will know that it's toast.

Also I noticed that you have a Bulldog Derek. I live in Prestwick where it was made and my uncle was the chief designer at SAL for a long time. I haven't seen a Bulldog for years, so if your ever up this way give us a shout as I could probably get a few of the guys who built your plane to come out and have a look at it. I know a few old boys who would love that.

Ivor · Jul 20, 2014

Sorry to hear about your predicament. I agree with the advice given so far but if you do choose to go down the insurance route I suggest that you do not accept their first offer which is likely to be low. Good luck!

Reallygarlicky · Jul 20, 2014

Thanks for the advice so far I certainly would have un-involved the insurance company but the other driver has admitted liability which makes it difficult . Interesting what you say Derek re the alloys I will investigate.
During the accident the two wheels made contact which did put us airborne which must have put fair pressure on the drive train. It just a shame that with these older cars which are less of a tool and more of a pleasure that you cant insure for an actual set value rather than having to negoiate replacement value, I am sure we are going to have abit of a battle and may be I should look at salvage

majorporsche · Jul 21, 2014

But to be fair, if the insurance company either put you in a similiar Boxster or pay you the amount to do so then that should be that?

paul kelley · Jul 21, 2014

Hi

If the other driver admitted it was their fault your company should assist you to get full compensation rather than write your car off IMO. This will depend on the conditions set out in your policy. Are you with a Club approved scheme?
You should also check that you have the claim settled on a no fault basis to protect any NCB that you may have.

Hope it all works out for you

Paul Kelley
PS I am sure a local specialist would be only too pleased to have a look at the car and give you an idea of the cost of repairing the damage.

David JAMES · Jul 21, 2014

I suspect the insurance company is being lazy and looking for a quick solution to get the matter off their books.

If the car drives OK on the spare take it to an indy and get an estimate for the repairs. If it turns out to be just wheel and tyre damage you can probably get it sorted through one of the many alloy wheel repairers - just type in "badly damaged alloy wheels" and your location into Google and it will probably come up with someone in your area who can sort you out! If there's damage in-board of the wheel then that might pose another problem.

If the accident was not your fault press hard for full recovery, get your excess back and make sure it's recorded as a "no fault" claim on your insurance record.

If the insurer still plays difficult get some comparative values off a few websites, Piston Heads and so on, to get as near a match as possible to your Boxster and use those as bargaining tool.

Good luck

DJ

Reallygarlicky · Jul 23, 2014

Many thanks all for your advice I will certainly be keen to keep this Boxster as it has been tremendous fun over the last 3 years

Boxstercol · Jul 23, 2014

I've read somewhere that if it's a non fault accident, you can push to have your car repaired rather than written off. Not sure how true it is but may be worth asking the question.

I also had some numpty drive into me when I had a 986, however the damage was that bad there was no way I wanted the car back & it was written off. I did negotiate with the insurance company & provided evidence of the condition of the car. 9 days prior to the accident the car had a 2 day detail, wheel refurbishment & 2 new tyres. Thankfully I had some photos taken by the detailer who was planning to put them on his website, I took copies of those which showed the car in immaculate condition & sent them to the insurance company. In the end I accepted an offer which was circa 20% higher than their initial offer value for the written off car.

If they do write the car off, dig your heals in & don't settle for their first offer.

Good luck, hope you get the outcome you want.

Reallygarlicky · Jul 24, 2014

Thank you Boxstercol
I have declined their first offer and looking to get at least a 10% lift see how it goes

Boxstercol · Jul 26, 2014

ORIGINAL: Reallygarlicky

Thank you Boxstercol
I have declined their first offer and looking to get at least a 10% lift see how it goes

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Then, let the search begin for a replacement, you may find you get a good deal on another if you're prepared to wait until Sept / Oct. I drove my Mrs mad after mine was written off as I spent practically the whole week abroad on holiday looking at PistonHeads / Autotrader for a replacement!!

andy watson · Jul 26, 2014

Hi sorry to read about your predicament, and hope it gets sorted to your satisfaction.

If the car is special to you and you don't want to loose it, you can and are entitled to press for repairs being made, I had a CLK hit whilst unattended, the repair bill was just short of £1400 and the insurance co. First wanted to write off the car and then when I didn't accept that they wanted to use their own repairer that would carry out the work by not replacing panels.

I had the car repaired correctly at my bodyshop choice, it was not recorded and the claim was written as non fault.

Persue the claim how you want it to go, it's your right if the car is not unsafe.

Would it possible to "borrow" a wheel?