QP accident woes & poss insurance write off - ADVICE PLEASE!

[Felonious Crud]

Given the choice, would you take the cash and buy a new one, or buy it back and fix it?

 

[jemgee]

Depends on the buy it back price - but a friend of mine is interested

 

[Scaf]

Why will it cost less in the long run?

No claims discounts are applied against the premium calculated, so the claim will ramp up the premium massively, then they apply the discount to that - reality is you will be paying higher premiums for years - not just in this car, but any other car you are issured on.
I would be really tempted to get a quote from a decent body shop like custom exotics
http://www.customexotics.co.uk/
Then decide if it’s worth a claim

 

[Silvercat]

Last year someone decided to open there door hard onto the rear wheel arch of my 2009 QP leaving a big deep vertical dent. I took it to 'HB Panelcraft' in Preston and they repaired and resprayed the whole panel for £800. They did a fantastic job. BMW and Jaguar Landrover main dealers use them as a recommended body shop up in the North West. So I agree with the other comments , find a great body shop and they will do the repair at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Needamaser]

Sorry to hear about this.
Just to clarify a couple of points.
The bad news is whether you decide to claim or not your premium will be affected. Your discount won't be reduced but your base premium will go up as you have been involved in an accident. Yes it isn't your fault and perhaps Aviva don't pay a penny but you have reported the claim and it is now logged on the Claims Underwriting Exchange (CUE) and for the next 5 years this information will automatically be flagged to every insurer when you take out a motor policy or your name features as a driver on any motor policy. if you don't declare it when you take out the policy you will find within a week or so the insurer will be back within a week asking why you didn't declare it and possibly cancelling the new policy. You then have a situation where you then need to declare you have had insurance declined or cancelled and then you are in a real problem area. Yes it isn't fair as it was non fault but it is the way it is.
Good news is Aviva is one of the best insurers when it comes to claim settlement.
It isn't a case they are looking to not pay you the true value of the car. Most claims I see with Aviva they pay MORE than the insured is expecting without any haggling. Your issue is the type of car.
They work from CAP or Glass and as others said the values there will bear no relation to the true value.
Find examples as close as possible to your car and send them that information. Search all the markets you can to get as much info as possible but remember Aviva will look at these markets to make sure you are not just selecting the most expensive. Reality is there won't be that many for sale and finding one close to your car mileage and spec will be your issue.
There is the option no one mentioned of going to the Motor Insurers Bureau who will look at compensating you but it isn't quick. Www.mib.org.uk
If you want any more help pm me.

 

[Pramrod]

Update: driver did have insurance and Zenith have picked it up.
Waiting now for claims assessor at Aviva to contact me.
Chatted online with Aviva - started disputing the PAV they gave me. Said I paid £20K two years ago.
He looked at ads and said "well there's only one other car of your age at £20k but that has 50,000 miles less..."
- then he realised that a 50K mileage adjustment would put the PAV at between £15,000 to £17,500 (£100/per thousand or £50/per thousand extra mileage adjustment) - and he deleted the discussion thread!

Anyone recommend a good bodyshop in the St Albans/Hemel/Luton/Herts area?

 

[2b1ask1]

THat is woeful, you should be able to elevate that to a formal complaint, the thread must be recorded on their system even though he locally deleted it.

 

[Pramrod]

Last year someone decided to open there door hard onto the rear wheel arch of my 2009 QP leaving a big deep vertical dent. I took it to 'HB Panelcraft' in Preston and they repaired and resprayed the whole panel for £800. They did a fantastic job. BMW and Jaguar Landrover main dealers use them as a recommended body shop up in the North West. So I agree with the other comments , find a great body shop and they will do the repair at a fraction of the cost.

Yes definitely the way to go.
Question is whether I can negotiate a "cash in lieu" - and not have the car declared at Cat N (formerly Cat D).
And also my car loan might not allow that apparently?

I did get a quote from doing a good patch up without new parts required from Fast Lane Paint & Body - https://www.fastlanepab.co.uk/
These guys deserve a call out for either being idiots or money grubbers.
They quoted labour at 130% more than M&A Coachworks (who do Lambos/Ferraris etc).
£3,374 labour vs £1462 labour. Does it really take 1.3 times longer in labour to repair existing vs replace with new?

No - they saw the total quote of £10,100 from M&A and decided that I'd bite at £5300!!

Frankly I lot of the work is doing the paint blend - repainting the adjacent areas - bonnet and door
========
Parts / Panels Requiring Renewal
N.S.F PDC SENSOR / N.S.F WING BADGE / CAR CARE KIT

Parts / Panels Requiring Repair
REPAIR F/BUMPER COVER / REPAIR LEFT FRONT WING

Associated Work Required
REMOVE & REFIT F/BUMPER COVER
REMOVE & REFIT LEFT HEADLAMP ASSY
REMOVE & REFIT L/F WING SHIELD
CHECK AND CLEAN CAR / CHECK AND QUALITY CONTROL / CHECK TECHNICAL INFO / CHECK AND REPORT

Parts / Panels Requiring Painting
N/S/F PDC SENSOR NEW PART PAINT
F/BUMPER COVER REPAIR PAINTING
LEFT FRONT WING REPAIR PAINTING
BONNET SURFACE PAINT
FLAT AND POLISH SURFACE PAINT
L/F DOOR SURFACE PAINT
======

Surely this is doable for £2k with a good indie bodyshop?

 

[Pramrod]

Given the choice, would you take the cash and buy a new one, or buy it back and fix it?

That's a really good question!
Hopefully I can actually negotiate a better payout then I could get on a private sale.
Either cash in lieu and fixup or take the payout buy back the Cat N and fix up.

Will I keep her?

Frankly the running costs have been more than I'd expected and with a Brexit inspired business down turn - it's a little painful filling her up, servicing, new tyres nearly every year + wear and tear.
But if I have enough from the payout to cover the some good-enough repairs, put in a new clutch and fix really squeaky springs/coils/suspension - I might keep her two more years and then let her go.

I wouldn't get another QP right now because my aim is/was a Granturismo for a couple of years and then a 612 Scag.
But business has not been great. (I think it's a matter of hanging in and then catching the wind again when confidence picks up).

Plus I'm getting the "environment-friendly" thing going on a bit more in my head. And average 16mpg with the QP (or 12 mpg with a 612) might not let me sleep at night. (These have to be daily runners, not garage queens).

If I let her go then I'd be toying around with about £10K-£12K for another car (yeah business has been that bad and I need to be cash careful right now).
So not sure what I'd get.
Where do you go after a QP?
I think you have to offset the loss with some amazing fuel economy hybrid so you aren't any longer getting so friendly with young lady at the local BP!

 

[CatmanV2]

Update: driver did have insurance and Zenith have picked it up.

Anyone recommend a good bodyshop in the St Albans/Hemel/Luton/Herts area?

Has the other driver admitted liability? If so, my experience would be deal with Zenith

C

 

[Pramrod]

Has the other driver admitted liability? If so, my experience would be deal with Zenith

C

Liability is indisputable (CCTV footage) - that's why Zenith is accepting the claim.

Why do say it would be better dealing direct with Zenith than with the claims handler at Aviva?

 

[CatmanV2]

Because Zenith will be desperate to avoid paying Aviva's bill (which will be Aviva's costs plus screaming great mark up on everything they do). As an example when mine was hit, my insurance company (bearing in mind I'm their customer paying them money) were talking about a like for like car being something like a Vauxhall Astra because of the age. The other party's insurer gave me a 911 turbo (first) then an A8.

Now it my just be because my insco were **** poor, but Aviva want to lower their costs and then make as much profit from claiming back from Zenith. At least that's my understanding and experience of a couple of other liability claims we've had.

C

 

[Pramrod]

Because Zenith will be desperate to avoid paying Aviva's bill (which will be Aviva's costs plus screaming great mark up on everything they do). As an example when mine was hit, my insurance company (bearing in mind I'm their customer paying them money) were talking about a like for like car being something like a Vauxhall Astra because of the age. The other party's insurer gave me a 911 turbo (first) then an A8.

Now it my just be because my insco were **** poor, but Aviva want to lower their costs and then make as much profit from claiming back from Zenith. At least that's my understanding and experience of a couple of other liability claims we've had.

C

Interesting. How do you go about that? Just call up Zenith and quote the claim ref - and both the car registration numbers?

 

[CatmanV2]

I'm a little surprised that Zenith haven't called you, actually. You have no details of the driver etc?

C

 

[Pramrod]

Don't have details of the driver. BTP urgently want my statement for their case against the driver (for leaving the scene of an accident).
Zenith haven't been in touch - just hasn't worked its way through the system yet.
I'm just trying to get as much information, advice and angles on this so I'm ahead of the curve.

- and I REALLY appreciate everyone's input here!

 

[mjheathcote]

Liability is indisputable (CCTV footage) - that's why Zenith is accepting the claim.

Why do say it would be better dealing direct with Zenith than with the claims handler at Aviva?

When my works company car was damaged by a truck when parked up, with indisputable liability, we dealt direct with the trucks insurance company for the repair and the cars fleet insurance company was not even contacted.

 

[CatmanV2]

Don't have details of the driver. BTP urgently want my statement for their case against the driver (for leaving the scene of an accident).
Zenith haven't been in touch - just hasn't worked its way through the system yet.
I'm just trying to get as much information, advice and angles on this so I'm ahead of the curve.

- and I REALLY appreciate everyone's input here!

Might be worth calling them direct then

C

 

[allandwf]

Buy back cost of car will be around 20% of valuation I think. So you will get the difference in payout minus any excess.

 

[Pramrod]

Buy back cost of car will be around 20% of valuation I think. So you will get the difference in payout minus any excess.

How much of an issue is at having a Cat N declared (that's the new Cat D - non-structural damage write off).
Even if I can show it's superficial cosmetic and it's been properly fixed up - doesn't that take at least £2k-£3k off the resale?

 

[allandwf]

On a normal car it would knock off around 25% . On Maserati it will be different, possibly not so much if shown to be well repaired. People will always use it as a bargaining point, so factor this in when getting repair costs.