Would you claim kno...
 

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Would you claim knowing your car would be written off...

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Wife reversed off the drive last night and into a brand new 24 plate Mini, so a claim will be going in to insurance anyway and premiums rising next year.
Our 55 plate Z4, 2.5i E85 variant has paint damage on the bumper and a slight crease in the plastic bumper. It's done >130k miles and has no history prior to my ownership. If I don't claim from the insurance, it won't be repaired the damage is that minor.
I'm wondering whether to claim, let them write the car off, take the payout and buy it back.
I guess it's worth £2k-£2.5k if I'm lucky (just done rocker gasket, water pump, thermostat) but they're pretty worthless currently. I know it'll be worth less as a Cat N but wondering whether money in the pocket now and a scrap bumper/leave it as is would be a better long term strategy. With lack of history it was never going to be worth top dollar in the future despite seemingly being a very clean and looked after car.
So, given they'll be a claim on the insurance anyway, do I claim for my car as well and live with a Cat N car whilst we have it another year or two and keep the title clean?

Thanks


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 11:53 am
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For the amount you'll pocket and then potentially lose when shopping for insurance, I'm not sure I could be arsed.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 12:00 pm
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Yeah, after checking the excess and running some numbers...it's probably not worth the hassle either now and when it comes to shift it.  So I think I'll keep a clean history instead.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 12:30 pm
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So I think I’ll keep a clean history instead.

But you'll have to report the accident to your insurers if the other person is claiming so will affect your history.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 12:45 pm
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You can still ring them to inform and not make a claim. If you don't, might make for some difficult questions next renewal if you have to tell them what the Mini hit.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 12:45 pm
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But you’ll have to report the accident to your insurers if the other person is claiming so will affect your history.

He knows it will affect his history re his future premiums - he just doesn't want his car classed as Cat N for minor damage as it would basically make it worthless.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 12:49 pm
toby and toby reacted
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My van was reared ended.last year - not my fault.  Insurers valued it at £3250.  It was written off as cat N for bumper and dent in rear door. Scrap value was stated as £200. I.bought it back for the scrap value. I now have the van (that I repaired .myself) plus £3k.  I was informed that Cat N is worth 10% less.  Luckily for me, I have protected no claims and have been told the my premiums won't be affected.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 1:31 pm
 irc
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"– he just doesn’t want his car classed as Cat N for minor damage as it would basically make it worthless."

Doesn't matter what it is worth after a claim because he will have the current value minus buy back cost in the bank.

Claim or not future premiums will be affected by an accident to declare.

Meanwhile he has a disposable car which owes nothing. Every future year of use a bonus.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 2:24 pm
steveb and steveb reacted
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Yes, I know I need to tell the insurers and yes I know it'll hit my premiums.

The question was around cost/worthwhile of claiming for my own car as well but given the £250 excess, possible payout of £2k-£2.5k and then a buy back cost of £unknown...feels like hassle and a marker on the car for possibly only £1k in the pocket.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 2:51 pm
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It depends on whether you are planning on selling the car at any point or running it into the ground. If the latter, the cat N.makes no difference.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 3:24 pm
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Someone bumped our car on New Years Day - minor damage to the bumper, a call with their insurance company & they wanted to write it off immediately with out even seeing a picture.

6 months ago, someone else reversed into us while parked outside our house, damaged the same bumper & wing & their insurance were happy to pay for the repairs.

The car is an 04 Celica & we really didn't want it written off as it would potentially complicate things next time we need to insure it.

The moral of the above story is direct line are great, the AA are ****s.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 3:29 pm
steveb and steveb reacted
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You’ll be paying the excess whether you add your car to the claim or not.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 3:58 pm
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You’ll be paying the excess whether you add your car to the claim or not.

this. You’ll be making a claim for the damage to the car you hit to be repaired, so you have nothing to lose telling them about your damage anyway, the total claim will be a touch more but that’ll be irrelevant at renewal.

Tell them, they offer 2.5k, buy back for 1K and your 1.5k better off.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 4:06 pm
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They offer 2.5k, buy back for 1K and your 1.5k better off.

are you guaranteed to be able to buy it back?
otherwise, could you end up needing to find a replacement used car for 2.5k of unknown history that ends up needing a bunch of work?


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 4:17 pm
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I had similar some years ago, a creased boot after being rear-ended on the M40 at a low relative speed difference.  The car was written off, bought back and I continued to use it, insured on the same policy.  The difficult bits were:

The insurance company wanted an 'engineer's report' to say it was safe to be on the road. I offered to get it MOT'd, but they wouldn't accept that and were unhelpful as to what they would accept. In the end, I wrote the report and got a local MOT guy to sign it for £10 cash (this was his suggestion after seeing the damage).

I moved house some months later, sent the V5 off for the address change, and got a letter back saying that this was a typical 'clone' type scam. I needed to take the car to be inspected to verify its ID. The nearest location to do this was a two-hour drive away and only open two days a week.  I ran the car for several months without arranging this check then it failed an MOT and I decided that was enough and scrapped it.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 4:26 pm
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You’ll be paying the excess whether you add your car to the claim or not.

No I won't.  If I don't claim, I don't pay the excess.

Have spoken to them and they've asked for no money. Just said if I decide to claim for mine then I'd owe it.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 4:32 pm
fazzini and fazzini reacted
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Surely you'll have to pay the excess if the mini owner claims against you.

Edit, just re read the above post and it seems not.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 4:36 pm
fazzini and fazzini reacted
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pay the excess if the mini owner claims against you

No. That's what your insurance is actually for. Covers your legal liability to third parties for causing damage to their property, injury or death. Excesses are your contribution to your claim, not claims against you. Normally, anyway.


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 4:39 pm
 5lab
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you can sometimes take cash in leiu of repair - so they pay out the approx same amount that they would in a writeoff but the car isn't written off. I had it on a £2500 porsche with a £3000 repair bill, they just gave me £2000, and no write-off, which I was happy with


 
Posted : 30/01/2025 5:35 pm

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