Buying back your car after write off?

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The V8 man

Well-Known Member
Posts
1,951
Location
Redhill Surrey
Its not a landy but i presume it applies to any car, my daughter had a small accident and the insurance wrote the car off and have paid her out,but i want to get the car back as its still in pretty good nick and is very low mileage, they want £150 for the salvage which is fair enough but now are saying they want another £100 cancellation fee for the salvage yard who now wont get the car because were apparently taking their work away lol they havent done anything regarding the car and it sounds like a ****take to me is this normal practice ?
 
As I understand it you should be able to buy the car back for what it's perceived to be worth in its present state ie scrap + possibly worth of some 2nd hand parts.

It's all made up just like the estimate to repair is which makes it a write off in the first place.

I imagine 'fees' are an attempt to prevent haggling and it might be worth reminding them all costs incurred as the result of an accident are covered by insurance.....including recovery/storage etc until a settlement is agreed in full.

Basically the yard should be able to claim costs from the insurance but it's not yet theirs to make a profit on so how can they charge you for a profit they won't make?

Just haggle
 
At the end of the day the car is your property, It's not a case of buying it back from the insurance company, it's belongs to you. The insurance company will have an arrangement with the salvage company and will expect to recoup as much as they can. I suspect in accepting their offer and then saying you want to buy the car back is where the problem lies, by accepting their offer the small print will say you have surrendered title to the vehicle. In your circumstances you have to pay the insurance company what they ask, or what ever deal you can negotiate to get the car back.
The best way of dealing with the insurance company after a bump is make it clear in the first instance that you will not be surrendering ownership of the car and expect a cash settlement if they do not repair it. you also need to make it clear that if they have the car it is at their expense until the loss adjuster releases it. The insurance company should not in these circumstances record it as a right off either, although this can often be a sticking point as the insurance company will want to cover their backsides legally it is something that can be agreed during the negotiations.
When this happened to me (my son) I insisted the car was recovered to my house and the loss adjuster viewed it there, the company made a sensible financial settlement and I fixed the car myself, not recorded and it cost much less than the payout to repair the car.
 
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