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Insurance advice - Car accident


Sam Vimes
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Howdy.... A bit of an insurance/legal question really.

I had agreed to sell my Honda Civic Type-R to someone at work. He'd been round, driven it, and we'd agreed a price which fell within Parker's Good-Bad Private Sale limits for a car of that age and mileage. He kindly agreed to let me hang onto the motor for a couple of weeks while I looked for my replacement.

Today, whilst on the way home from car hunting, having even found a car I was going to put an offer in on... I got rear-ended by a girl in a Ford Ka, who hadn't noticed we'd all slowed down for a car turning right. Her wheels locked, careered straight into the back of my Civic, shunting me into the rear of a Ford Transit.

She's admitted full liability, so whatever happens I won't be paying out for anything. However, should my colleague now decide he doesn't want the car (if it's not written off), or decide to offer me less as a result, do I have any recourse to claim any loss in value or a lost sale?

I'm worried that I will now be left with a car I can't shift because no-one will want to buy a motor that's been in a prang, or if I do sell it will have to accept a substantially lower offer. I shouldn't be out of pocket at all since the accident wasn't my fault, so can I claim for a loss in/of sale...?

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I'd say more of a solicitor question....

It definitely is... but they'll have been in the local since about lunchtime since it's a Friday! :p

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That's karma for trying to shift a really nice car you fool! :new_doh2:

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It depends what category (if any) the insurance company places it in. If it is minor damage It wont be on the HPI report and therefore shouldnt affect the sale.

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If the car is fixed (fully) and it doesn't look like it has been damaged then it should remain at it's current value.

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Depending on the damage and age it will most likely be a right off and the insurance company will give you whatever they value it at. As your still using the vehicle I would say the insurance company wont even entertain any loss of sale / value claim as if they did I'm sure there would untold amounts of claims for this.

I'm afraid it looks like your going to have to swallow this one if your mate doesn't want it after if it gets repaired and notch it up to experience.

You might get lucky and be able to sell it to someone who doesn't know its been repaired though.

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It's not still being driven, it now won't run, it was recovered and I'm making the most of a hire car which resembles a roller-skate.

Fingers crossed it can be repaired, it's a fairly new one so would have to be some serious unknown damage to justify the write-off. That said, a write-off could be a blessing in disguise as an alternative to trying to sell a repaired motor I suppose.

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Insurance company is likely to give you a low settlement figure for it if written off. I spent hours on the phone arguing with mine about the settlement figure last year when mine was written off. They were only prepared to give me trade price but i refused and argued I would end up with a vehicle of a lesser standard because of the figure being offered whereas insurance policy is supposed to provide you with a figure to obtain a vehicle of the same age condition etc. They just hope you cant be bothered with the fight. I just used autotrader and found the vehicle to match mine and eventually they backed down.

On the subject of the loss of value etc, doubt you would get anything

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  • 3 weeks later...

Didn't an insurance company recently lose in court for trying to pay out a price too low for a write off.

Another thought might be to use your legal cover to try and claim the uninsured loses on the sale of the car if it's worth less after the repairs than before it?

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From previously working in personal injury RTC claims for a well known insurance company.

You can claim for the loss of your vehicle, and as the vehicle was up for sale at the time of the accident and a sale was impending you can also claim for the loss of monetary value now your car will be either written off or cat C.

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