Hi I had an accident around a month ago and have just found out my car is a total loss. Now in the past I know you could buy your car back in this situation. Apparently this is not the case? What rights do I have here, the car was easily fixable by myself and I was quite happy to do this and have the cost come out of my claim..Im insured with Express Premium insurance and to be honest ive been disgusted with the way they have handled this case. It took them two weeks after the accident to get me a hire car which which caused me endless grief in terms of getting to work etc.. They seem to be wriggling at every turn. And now they are saying I cannot buy somethinbg back which is my property.. wtf?
I think that if they pay out as a total loss (write off) the car then becomes their property & presumably it's up to them if they want to sell it back to you.
Check to see what category they deemed it: Category A The vehicle may not be resold it must be crushed. Severely damaged, total burnout or flood damage with no serviceable parts, or already a stripped out shell. DVLA will require a Notification of Destruction. Category B The vehicle may not be resold. It will have been damaged beyond economical repair, usually with major structural damage. The DVLA will require Notification of Destruction but parts can be removed and sold on. Category C Repairable salvage. Usually applies to vehicles with significant damage and where the cost of repairs exceeds the book value. It can be sold for repair but must have VIC(Vehicle Identity Check) inspection before returning to the road. V5 documents are returned to DVLA and recorded as category C vehicles. You can re-apply for registration on the original identity once the VIC inspection has been done. VIC inspection and re-registration removes the Category C classification, but evidence it was at one time Category C remains on the vehicle's record at the DVLA and so will appear on a vehicle data check. Category D Repairable salvage. Minimal damage, probably not structural, but insurer does not want to repair, even though it might be economic to do so. Often stolen and recovered after claim has been paid. Or it maybe a vehicle where parts are difficult to obtain so a quick repair is unlikely. Does not need VIC inspection to return to road. Notification will appear in your vehicle history check
Its a Cat D and to be honest a very easy fix. New strut, wishbone, wing etc could get it back drivable in a day or two no problem..
Id its CATD i dont think they can refuse to give you the option to buy it back. Try Citizens advise or the FSA ombudsman.
Are you claiming from your insurance or third party insurance? Third party insurance have no rights over your vehicle They can only pay you market value LESS what they feel is salvage value It is then for you to sell the salvage on and so get full market value in total payments (Insurance payout plus sale price of salvage) If its your insurance I think they can do what they like....
From used car expert.com so may not be 100% accurate but does make sense insofar as the car becomes the insurer's property once they have paid out on it as a total loss.
Yea they have declared it a total loss, and I have fully comp insurance. I will give citizens advice a call tommorow and see what they say and I will post the outcome here..
I'm curious about why they won't let you buy it back. I suspect they have some kind of deal going with a salvage company or similar
You have no right to demand that they sell you the car back. If you wanted that option you need a policy which specifies salvage retention.
Unfortunately I think it depends what's in the small print. It's different if someone else's insurance is paying out on your car, because they have no contract with you, and no Ts&Cs in place. If you still have the car, maybe it's time to remove some bits before it goes?
In all honesty the salvage companies are not interested in older cars like the golf's and the like we mainly have they want to turn a profit on the newest cars they can I work in a bodyshop owned by Aviva and we have a deal with a salvage company Every week we have around 5 BER's (beyond economical repair) Most of these are older cars from the 90's or early 2000's . we contact the salvage company and they pick them up, but it takes them weeks to do it and our yard fills up with scrap. But if a newer and generally more desirable car becomes BER they are there pretty fast Last week a 2009 Mercedes E Class was Cat C BER. it had 35,000 miles and was mint, except for the major damage to the L/F corner, including the wheel punching into the bulkhead and splitting the carpet ! The car was registered on the system as BER at 10:30, by 1pm the same day they were picking it up I dont understand why your ins company wont sell the car back to you, most of them cant wait to get rid of the hassle of a BER as it creates loads of extra work for them Steve
Ive bought a 2007 E320 CDI sport this week, was a cat c with flood damage, has 59k on it with no damage apart from engine. Got it at a very good price too. The car I wrapped up was a 2006 Jetta tdi, was high mileage but was still tidy. If I get it back now Ill fix it up and get rid of it to reclaim some of the money for the merc..
Have they paid you a total loss cheque? If so you'll need to return it or speak with whatever garage its in to see where its went or if they still have it. That way you deal with the salvage agents or the garage. If they havent paid you a cheque, then its still your car, if you dont want it total Loss'd then you tell the Ins company, re-imburse them for recovery or any charges.....it stays your property to do with what you want. i done this two years ago with a car i had at the time, also i work in the motor trade doing Insurance claims and total loss's
