Accident Problems

[MaFi0s02]

I am in a bad situation with my car at the moment and I am hoping someone can offer any advice.

I was rear ended but thankfully I have full insurance where I am going through a no-fault claim.

My car is valued at $48,000 but that value increased to $52,000 due to an audio system.

The original quote for the damage was $12,000

The assessor said it will likely go up to $20,000.

The workshop ordered in parts which are now at Nissan, such as panels a new rear strut and a crossmember.

Today I had my mechanic look it at from under a hoist which revealed more damage, no-one had used a hoist on it yet, the workshop and assessor just looked underneath it while the car was on the ground.

Well my mechanic said its easily $30,000 in damage and he has no doubt its a write off.

I am very fussy with my car and at this point I have big doubts it will be fixed properly atleast economically.

Now my worry is that because the parts have been ordered does this mean I wont be able to have it written off, or is $30,000 damage of $50,000 value not enough?

[Sklyn]

Sorry to hear your story mate, that really sux u know what!!

The value of your car, Is that $52k the "AGREED" value or did you come up with that yourself?

Sorry I can't be more help but I know that info will be relevant.. Good luck with the outcome.

[__PhaseShiftDown]

What was the extra $30k damage that your mechanic has said about?

I believe if the cost of the repair is more than 60% of the value of the car, then the insurance company consider it a write off.

You should call your insurance company and tell them what your mechanic has told you.

[Duncan]

You need to get the assessor back out and have the mechanic point out the damage they haven't seen. Parts ordered or not they have to return your car to it's original condition or pay you out. That is their issue for not assessing the damage correctly in the first place.

The magic word to use with insurance assessors is "safe". As in "are you sure that crack there will be safe after the repairs and over the following years?" etc. They are in the business of managing risk and if it has been pointed out to them their liability is very clear if they don't repair it and something breaks, they won't take that chance.

[Duncan]

actually I was just reading your post again. Is your mechanic the panel beater who is repairing it? If so that gets a bit trickier.

The panel beater checks the car, gets prices on parts adds labour and provides the quote to the assessor.

The assessor reviews the quote and approves it (well, mostly they knock back 20-50% of the quote as not needing to be done). Shonky but thats how it works. Even worse some of them get paid direct comissions for how much they take off the quote.

Panel beater starts the repair, and if they have missed something they can apply to the insurance company to add it. Not exactly sure how this process works.

Now this process is all transparent to you....you just get your car back after all that. But if the mechanic is the panel beater and a mate of yours, the insurance company might screw him.

BTW you have every right to be fussy. They get away with poor quality repair 80% of the time because the owner doesnt know any better, and assumes that everything is right. NOT TRUE! Get it checked by a third party after the repair and force them to fix anything that comes up in that report.

[MaFi0s02]

$52k is the agreed value on my policy which I negotiated.

Don't know where my mechanic got the extra amount from but he was looking in the suspension saying it seems as though I got hit at 80km/h. Although the impact was about 30-40km/h. There is also undercarriage damage from my car bottoming out on a speed hump when I got hit but to me it looks relatively minor compared to the boot.

The mechanic isn't the panel beater.

It was impossible to do a proper quote without taking apart the car because of all the possible structural damage under the panels.

I had asked the assessor about how a write off would work but I didnt quiet understand it, he said something about the current value of the car and he says at the moment its not even worth $20k, so I am guessing for it to be a write off the damage bill would have to be $35-40k.

Edited October 5, 2008 by MaFi0s02

[GTR-N1]

Are you officially on an "Agreed Value" policy? It seems you are!

Knowing what you've said now and Duncan is correct too with his feedback, I can only assume that you'll get the whole lot back and not have to pay excess either, since you are 'not-at-fault' - so long as you are on "Agreed Value"

To elaborate on Duncan's Q, quite a few panelbeaters are mechanics c.f. not many mechanics are panelbeaters. They interact.

So if your panelbeater is informed of the extra damage underneath, he can annex an extra cost component, which looks like taking your car into a 'write-off' situation.

If so, BTW, would you want to buy the car back from the insurance company at auction?

I know it's 1st things 1st...

Tez

[MaFi0s02]

Are you officially on an "Agreed Value" policy? It seems you are!

Knowing what you've said now and Duncan is correct too with his feedback, I can only assume that you'll get the whole lot back and not have to pay excess either, since you are 'not-at-fault' - so long as you are on "Agreed Value"

To elaborate on Duncan's Q, quite a few panelbeaters are mechanics c.f. not many mechanics are panelbeaters. They interact.

So if your panelbeater is informed of the extra damage underneath, he can annex an extra cost component, which looks like taking your car into a 'write-off' situation.

If so, BTW, would you want to buy the car back from the insurance company at auction?

I know it's 1st things 1st...

Tez

I am on agreed value officially.

They made it clear to me early on that I dont have any excess to pay.

The panel beater at the workshop is a mechanic aswell. I dont think my mechanic is a panel beater.

I wouldnt want to buy my car back but I would like to salvage the audio install components such as dynamat etc

Edited October 5, 2008 by MaFi0s02

[GTR-N1]

I am on agreed value officially.

They made it clear to me early on that I dont have any excess to pay.

The panel beater at the workshop is a mechanic aswell. I dont think my mechanic is a panel beater.

I wouldnt want to buy my car back but I would like to salvage the audio install components such as dynamat etc

Are you dreaming (and only dreaming) of what you'd like to buy next?

Tez

[MaFi0s02]

Are you dreaming (and only dreaming) of what you'd like to buy next?

Tez

Nope, I am still stressing about worst case scenario and how much money I have lost(2-5grand depending on outcome). I didn't even have the car for a month, and I was only taking it out on weekends and I have never made a claim with insurance ever.

[GTR-N1]

Nope, I am still stressing about worst case scenario and how much money I have lost(2-5grand depending on outcome). I didn't even have the car for a month, and I was only taking it out on weekends and I have never made a claim with insurance ever.

Sorry to hear that! You'd still be in the 'thrilled to get it' stage. One month jeez.

You've suffered no neck/spine/head injury?

Can I ask what kind of car it is (-not was) & what hit you? No need to answer if you don't want to... I underrstand eh?

[MaFi0s02]

No injuries.

I have been told even if it needs a new chassis rail it still unlikely to be a write off.

But the car still needs to be stripped down to be properly assessed.

[BAMR33]

Get another quote from somewhere totally different and ask them to be very thorougher and to get all replacement parts costs genuine nissan rrp. I say this because if it is repaired it will never be the same, it's far better to be a write off and get paid out.

Probably do justice to ask people in the know who's the most expensive around your area so it can be classified as a write off. damage 80% and above of agreed value is a write off.

[MaFi0s02]

It is out of my hands, I have tried getting it done at the most expensive place(not to have it written off but just to get a top job done on it), very long story short I couldn't, too much politics(my car isnt a BMW, Merc or Bentley).

All parts are being replaced with new genuine Nissan parts, such quarter panel, part of the chassis rail etc etc.

I know they arnt paying RRP though.

I doubt it will total 80% of the agreed value.

I dont think I have a choice but to keep the car.

All I can do now is make sure everything is done correctly, I wanna get it checked independently once its all done, is there a place that can check the chassis alignment with lasers?

Edited October 7, 2008 by MaFi0s02