SUMP REQUIRED 2 1/4 Diesel PLEASE!!!!

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My car was a cat 5 write off a couple of years ago, dents in the door and wing plus tyres scrubbed off (I was spun by a Romainian truck..). Settled for car back and money to agreed value for repairs. Did it myself and got it MOTed (a requirement) before getting it back on the road. The car was over 25 years old and neither the insurers nor their garage wanted the bother of trying to get the parts or work out a price. In desperation they offered me the car and the money, I couldn't accept quick enough, pity it took 3 months faffing about before they made it..
 
It hasn’t been wrote off mate, it’s a Cat S which means it can be fixed, they said that the cost to repair her would out cost the value of the car, so offered for me to find a new Ser 3 for the same value or take the money, I took the money and bought the car back.

That is the definition of an insurance write off, when repair cost are greater than the vehicle value,not just that damage is so severe it should not be back on the road, the car has been written off. You are absolutely correct that it can go back on the road (unlike cat A and B). But it will be recorded against your log book as a cat S (structural damage) write off. Personally in your situation I'd buy the vehicle back and use the cash to buy a new chassis/secondhand parts (good score on the sump BTW) to put back on the road but as I'd have no intention of selling the Land Rover the reduced value of having Cat S against the log book would not bother me, others may take a different stance dependent on whether they could have the vehicle off the road for a length of time, had the ability/space/time to do the work or intended to fix and sell.


.....They can offer what they like. You have a legal right to have your car repaired at the other drivers expense......

I'll have to confess to not being fully conversant with the law but my understanding is once repair cost exceed vehicle value an insurance company (yours or theirs) liability is limited to the value of the vehicle. Whilst you can argue about the cost of repair and the value of the vehicle (worth getting an agreed value during insurance?) the premise that you can demand an insurance company to pay more for repairs than your vehicle is worth is new to me. For instance if the vehicle was a cat A or B write off it can never legally go back on the road if you exercised your right to have your vehicle repaired they would hand you a car back that you could not tax, MOT or insure.
 
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That is the definition of an insurance write off, when repair cost are greater than the vehicle value,not just that damage is so severe it should not be back on the road, the car has been written off. You are absolutely correct that it can go back on the road (unlike cat A and B). But it will be recorded against your log book as a cat S (structural damage) write off. Personally in your situation I'd buy the vehicle back and use the cash to buy a new chassis/secondhand parts (good score on the sump BTW) to put back on the road but as I'd have no intention of selling the Land Rover the reduced value of having Cat S against the log book would not bother me, others may take a different stance dependent on whether they could have the vehicle off the road for a length of time, had the ability/space/time to do the work or intended to fix and sell.




I'll have to confess to not being fully conversant with the law but my understanding is once repair cost exceed vehicle value an insurance company (yours or theirs) liability is limited to the value of the vehicle. Whilst you can argue about the cost of repair and the value of the vehicle (worth getting an agreed value during insurance?) the premise that you can demand an insurance company to pay more for repairs than your vehicle is worth is new to me. For instance if the vehicle was a cat A or B write off it can never legally go back on the road if you exercised your right to have your vehicle repaired they would hand you a car back that you could not tax, MOT or insure.

you have hit the nail bang on there my friend. I bought the vehicle back with the view to fix and keep her, it doesn’t worry me that the V5 log book would say Cat S on it. I bought the truck to use both at work and around the farm, so I will be keeping her for a long time. I have used the money to replace all the parts that were damaged, and only have the front prop shaft and front quarter or drivers dumbiron depending on the extent of the damage left to purchase.
 
Cat 5 is an economic write off which means its not economic to repair at body shop labour rates. That leaves a lot of scope (and value) for those who can do the repairs themselves. When my agreed value car was in an accident I got the agreed repair estimate (just below the agreed value) less the excess and the vehicle. They offered to write it off and give me the full agval or take the vehicle and the repair estimate, I chose that as I could see how to fix it and the insurers had already checked the aligments as part of getting a repair estimate so I knew there were no surpises. The other party's insurence paid up the excess about a year later. As the car was deemed repairable (but not economic) they didn't stamp the V5. For example it needed a new rear door, plus painting and labour, estimate £600, indicatror £40 but it glued back together. I had a matching complete door and offered it to the body shop, they said "they could not use it" but never gave a reason. The repair estimate was around £1500 and the DIY cost around £300. One thing i did which I would always reccomend is I got the vehicle transposted to my home for storage while the to-ing and fro-ing over the claim went on. This meant it would not be written off due to storage costs, meant I could charge storage to the claim if it went on too long, and gave me possession which reduced the value if i had to buy it back.
I think the way you are doing it is spot on, Take your time making sure its all lined up and it should be good.
 
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