MINI Cooper Forum banner

Need help/advice following accident that wasn't my fault!

2K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  NigelK 
#1 ·
Hi all,

So despite being relatively new to this forum I have found everyone very helpful and thought that you could help me following an accident (not my fault) that I had recently. I was driving down the M4 and following a sudden slow down I was rear-ended by the car behind which was driving too fast, tailgating, had 7 people inside etc. He couldn't stop in time and swerved hitting the rear left of my car and also hit another car in the middle lane next to me (at least I have a witness).

The highways agency, police, and a fire car came to move the cars to the hard shoulder and thankfully details were exchanged. Moving forward and today my beloved Mini Cooper has been towed away to a repair shop. However, after doing some research about write off's, I am 99.9% certain the car will be written off! I am gutted because this is my first car which I saved up 3 years for. It was immaculate and I had invested a lot of money into it (new stereo, front rear suspension bushes, remap, detail, new headlight bulbs, new rear wiper motor, 4 new tyres, new remote key).

I want to know what I should do now in terms of moving forward with the insurance company. I know they will write it off and offer me next to nothing for the car and I assume that the costs for the money spent will not be reclaimed too. Would it be worth buying the car back from them and repairing it myself? I have legal cover with my insurance so don't know if that might help?

Any advice is really appreciated and I have attached some photos.

Cheers,
Tom
 

Attachments

See less See more
5
#2 ·
#1 you don't know if it'll be written off

#2 if it is written off, buy it back and do the repairs yourself, By the looks of it she needs a new tail light, bumper, and maybe the ally crash beam.

Any body shop worth its salt will be able to sort the dents in the rear quarter and paint the panel, the bumper will have to be replaced you can source one from the scrappy.

rear lights can also be had from a scrappy or off Ebay for a reasonable price...
 
#3 ·
#1 you don't know if it'll be written off

#2 if it is written off, buy it back and do the repairs yourself, By the looks of it she needs a new tail light, bumper, rear quarter panel and maybe the ally crash beam.
I think I'd have to get a garage to do it but I'd have thought this would be very expensive? I've got no experience so couldn't do it myself!
 
#5 ·
i deal with insurance companies a fair bit, first off if you can get the 3rd party to admit guilt you should be able to get a hire car until insurance claim is settled, ie either a week after the agreed settlement or until car is repaired and given back to you, so very important to try and get proof of fault and get your legal team to push it and hire car, i would not tell them anything about the car ie bushes or work done etc, this will only complicate things as they will see it as a way to avoid paying for claim in some way or stalling etc, getting them to pay up for hire car is a major thing at the start as this will push them to deal with the whole claim faster as hire cars cost them money, EU law does state that non fault parties should have a hire car from the guilty persons insurance company, no win no fee might help you with all of this but push them every day for it.
next bit the car, if damage has dented the shell or chassis then game over for a diy repair, insurance company will write it off because of age for sure, they will offer what they say is market value then its down to you to bluff them argue over the value, best bit of advise is get as many adds for like for like mini's at garages for sale, as like for like is based on replacement car, send them all the adds to prove your willing to go argue it at court if needs be ,insurance companies dont like courts much and dont like to deal with it at court, as it cost them more with legal fees, but if you forced it all way to court and what you were asking for was unrealistic the judge could rule in their favour that no should not have gone to court and will order you to pay the costs ie court cost legal fees for both sides, so getting a fair offer is best option, you can buy the salvage back depending on whether a cat A,B,C,D, has been issued to it A cat is worst can only be used for parts, C cat is least can be used on road off the bat after a mot check is recommended,
for me get the best pay out you can any whiplash injuries as well buy salvage back and break it get £300 for the gearbox
 
#7 ·
Thanks Mike. I already have a courtesy car which is lucky and legal cover which will be attempting to recover all the costs from the third party. I think the fact that this bloke hit me and another individual from behind surely puts him on the back foot. I have not heard from his insurance yet so not sure if I should be worried about that?

The car will be a write off. The man who came to take it away was sure it was and he sees these things daily! I'd like to at least buy it back and fix it really because it's worth doing to me - financially and sentimentally. It seems that it will be a task getting any decent payout but not sure if legal cover will help reclaim costs of new tyres (put on a month ago!) Any ho it's a huge faf for something that I was not to blame for and I am dreading to see how out of pocket I will be.
 
#15 ·
It will be written off financially, you can't expect an insurance company to pay more than a cars value in repair costs. Sentiment doesn't come in to it I'm afraid.

You'll get the market value based on condition, which unfortunately won't cover costs of previous repairs such as bushes. I'd whip the radio out though if you can.

Sad especially as you weren't to blame.

BTW it's easier said than done to get the other party to admit liability. You should never do so at the scene, nor say anything along the lines of "I didn't see them....". In fact say nothing.
 
#16 ·
It will be written off financially, you can't expect an insurance company to pay more than a cars value in repair costs. Sentiment doesn't come in to it I'm afraid.

You'll get the market value based on condition, which unfortunately won't cover costs of previous repairs such as bushes. I'd whip the radio out though if you can.

Sad especially as you weren't to blame.
Not sure which post you are replying to?? As I posted, the insurance company are not writing thn123's car off, financially or otherwise. They are having it repaired.
Here is what thn123 told me:
“Believe it or not they are actually repairing the car! Apparently there was no structural damage and purely cosmetic but even so have decided to fix it instead of writing it off so brilliant news.”

So I posted that outcome. Great, not sad outcome.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top