Car accident or motorcycle accident – car crash advice and a free replacement vehicle if your
car is a write off *
Car accident and motorcycle accidents can result in major financial costs and a
significant amount of inconvenience. We are able to assist motorists who have been involved in a non fault car accident with all or some of the following:
What is a write-off?
Around 500,000 vehicles that are involved in a car accident
are 'written-off' in the UK each year. If a car is deemed a write-off (or 'total loss') it
means that due to the age and extent of the damage, it is beyond economical repair. A vehicle that has been deemed a
write-off is known as salvage.
There are four categories used to define salvage, from A-D:
- Category A must be crushed.
- Category B salvage is to be broken down for parts only.
- In brief categories D and C are deemed, uneconomical to repair. These are cars which have been involved in
a major car accident and are simply uneconomical for
an insurance company to repair, or have been deemed a write-off by an insurance company to minimise hire car
charges.
How does a car become classified as a write-off?
Insurance assessors and engineers use a calculation to determine whether a car should be deemed a write off. See
below for a simplified example:
Example:
Damaged vehicle with a value before the car accident (pre-accident value PAV) of £5,000.
Estimated repair costs:
| |
Parts |
£2500 |
| |
Paint |
£550 |
| |
Sundries |
£50 |
| |
Labour |
£2100 |
| |
Total |
£5150 |
If the total repair estimate for the vehicle is £5,150 and the vehicle has a value of £5,000 it
clearly makes sense for the insurance company to write the vehicle off; pay the policyholder £5,000 (less the excess -
the first part of any claim the insured must pay) and save the extra £150 repair costs.
If the repair estimate was £4,800, it may appear economical for the insurance company to repair the
vehicle. However there are always the hidden extras to take into account. Additional damage may be discovered once work
commences. For example, the owner may not be happy with the standard of repair work.
These factors can make writing a vehicle off more attractive to an insurance company than undertaking
the repair and it is often easier to agree a cash settlement with the policyholder.
What about the salvage value?
If the car is deemed a write off and the car
insurance company pays the policyholder a cash settlement, the salvage becomes the property of the insurance company
and could be sold. Many car insurance companies have arrangements with salvage agents for the disposal of salvage.
In the above example, if the car insurance company has a fixed fee arrangement with a salvage agent which results
in their obtaining, for example, 20% of the pre-accident value (PAV) of the vehicle, the car insurance company would
receive £1,000 (20% of £5,000). The loss to the car insurance company is therefore reduced to £4,000 by
recovery against the salvage - still more reason to write the car off.
In this example therefore, if the repair exceeds £4,000, it makes economical sense for the car
insurance company to write the vehicle off.
Vehicles can also be written off by adding hire charges to the equation. Whilst the damage to the
vehicle alone may not in itself be sufficient for the car insurance company to write the vehicle off, if they take into
consideration a third party having use of a hire car attracting daily costs that the car insurance company is liable for,
the loss soon mounts up. Courtesy cars can off-set the loss but are not always available. If the car insurance company
makes payment to the policyholder (or third party) that person is now in possession of sufficient funds to purchase a
vehicle, ending the need for them hire a car.
How we can help you following a car accident
If you have been involved in a car accident or motorcycle accident that wasn't your fault, don't worry about the
cost and stress of organising your vehicle repairs, arranging for
a hire car, or pursuing a compensation claim for any injuries you
have suffered. Just make one call to The Car Accident Advice Line and we can take care of everything for you.
Our service is totally cost-free as all vehicle hire costs*, repair costs and/or personal injury solicitor's fees will be recovered from the
person who caused the car accident or motorcycle accident. We can also help you recover other losses such as your
insurance excess (if you decide to claim on your own policy for the damage to your vehicle), loss of earnings, taxi
fares, phone bills or any other costs you have incurred as a result of the accident.
Our service won't cost you a penny. If your
compensation claim
is successful all costs are recovered from the other party. If you lose your case and are unsuccessful in claiming
car accident compensation, then all costs are written off.
More about our
no win, no fee service...
Call us now for free, friendly advice regarding your car accident or motorcycle accident
on
0808 143 43 42 or complete your details opposite and we'll call you back.
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