Re: VIC, repair on not?

T i m <news@xxxxxxxxxxxx> gurgled happily, sounding much like they were
saying:

After you've done that, would you expect the insurance to pay out the
amount you've spent on it, or the value?

Have you been drinking again? ;-)

I have now. But at 10am...?

Sure. But it's now a "perfectly functional" vehicle with damage that
exceeds the market value.

Irrelevant, I have no intention of selling it so just want it fixed.

Ok, for the hard of understanding ... someone borrows your wheelbarrow
and brings it back broken. You lent it to them on the understanding they
will 'do the right thing' if it get's lost, stolen or broken. They hand
you a fiver and say "sorry about breaking your wheelbarrow but it was
old and worn so here's a fiver, that should cover it". I would guess
(although from your answers so far I'm not putting any money on it) you
might say "erm, that was a perfectly functional wheelbarrow so I'd like
you to replace it with something similar please". If that means buying a
second hand one for a tenner (rather than a new one for 15) then so be
it, but a fiver is no use to you when any second hand one is £10 to buy
or cost to get yours repaired.

If a similar replacement will cost you a tenner, then the market value is
a tenner. And a tenner is what your mate should pay you. Congratulations.
I knew you'd get there in the end...

Your Belmont is worth £250. A similar condition-and-quality replacement -
ignoring the sentimental value - would cost you about £250.

Which makes it a write-off, as far as the
insurance is concerned.

I know. However it isn't a write of AFA we are concerned

Because we're back to the sentimental value.

Sentimental value is _irrelevant_ to anybody but you.

I'm not sure where you got that idea from but it wasn't me. I mentioned
knowing it's full history because that has a value (or people wouldn't
be interested in something having a FSH).

On a 15yo car? It wouldn't make a jot of difference. Current condition is
all.

Or is it just possible they 'came along', probably quite cheap

Odd. I thought it'd been in your family since new. I don't recall new
cars ever just "coming along" in my family.

Bad mates *and* family then! ;-)

So tell me, Tim, how DO you get a new car for free?

People have always gone out
to look for them and handed over money for them.

Shame, ours have all been known pre purchase and delivered. ;-)

Blimey, you knew the blokes in the factory?

Sierra, Ex Co car bought off them at 10 years old for 25 quid and run
for next to nowt for another 13.

Astra bought off Niece 5 years ago for £350 and still running fine with
little attention.

Rover bought off mate 5 years ago for £100 and still running fine with
little attention.

Ah, we're back to old bangers, not new cars... You move those goalposts
almost as quickly as Duhg.

But d'you see my point? For a ton, you can get a 15yo shed that'll do you
fine for five years with little attention. So why moan when you get given
£250 for the one that's just been stuffed? That's what it's WORTH. Market
value.

But you don't pay for their sentimental value - only their market value
- and that's what their premiums are set by, the value of the vehicle
and driver risk...

I know. But you were asking why I should expect others to carry the
cheap repair of some good functional transport. I'm not, I have paid out
far more in premiums over the 35 years I've been driving than the claim
cost of all our vehicles, ever. So because I have never written off
anything 'valuable' I haven't cost the system anything.

I'm sure the shareholders of your insurers will be very happy to know
that they have zero administrative costs, and they'll be pleased to know
their staff are all volunteers.

And what about the other 9 years (that they count) I haven't claimed
or the several years before that?

<shrug> What about 'em?

See above.

Quite.

As an experiment I phoned the InsCo and told them what happened. They
gave me a new laptop, probably worth 'on the market' 5 x the old one.
No questions, no hassles, because that's what my policy said they
would do

And you were paying for that "new for old" cover in the premium. It's
the basis on which the premium had been set.

Yes, and a premium many hundred times LESS than the value of stuff
covered, not equal or several times more than?

The concept of "risk" a novelty, is it? I don't need to ask whether you
work in insurance - it's quite obvious you probably can't even spell
"actuarial".

I'll bet you'd moan like buggery at the level a car insurance premium
would have to be to include that.

No, I would like to see a system that is real world, like I think you
will find exists in many other countries where they don't automatically
use new parts to repair an old car?

You'd rather be paying £50/hr labour for somebody to trawl eBay and
scrappies for a used wing? You'd be happy if the car came back from the
bodyshop with an inch of pudding in it, rattlecanned over? No, you
wouldn't. You'd have a paddy at 'em. "I could do better" - yes, you
probably could. By spending several hours filling-sanding-filling-sanding-
filling-sanding. At £50/hr? Don't think so.

And if you don't think a workshop costs £50/hr to run, you ought to try
talking to somebody who runs one...

The cost of the repair of our car had no bearing on the fact it was
repaired or not. It was the fact that it was old and 'worthless' (in
their opinion). Why did they have to write it off? Why did THEY
determine the cost of the repair would exceed X value when I could have
/ can / will repair it for a fraction of that?

Because the cost of a professional, quality repair IS massively in excess
of the value of the car.

If you want to DIY it, fine.
Take the insurance money, less a small percentage to retain the car, and
DIY it. You might even make a couple of quid to be worth your time and
effort.

Oh, wait, that's _exactly_ what you're doing...

All I was hoping for was a fair solution to our situation.

Fairer than the solution you just suggested?

Ok, what they actually paid us out will more than cover the actual cost
of the repair, the VIC test and probably the increase in premium (the 9
years NCB was protected). I just wish they had sorted out the repair
themselves.

D'you not see the inherent contradiction in that? You want the cost of
the repair to be calculated based on you DIYing it, yet you want somebody
else to do it for you. Don't work like that.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: VIC, repair on not?
    ... If a similar replacement will cost you a tenner, ... If I was spending 'good money' on a car, ... That's what it's WORTH. ... cheap repair of some good functional transport. ...
    (uk.rec.cars.maintenance)
  • Re: Repair or replace?
    ... The cost of repair exceeds the cost of an equal-or- ... better vehicle readily available. ... choice for a family car. ...
    (rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled)
  • Re: Valuing a modified car...
    ... >>> Well it would be with the third parties' insurance company, ... >> cost to replace or repair the car as is. ...
    (uk.rec.cars.modifications)
  • Re: Mazda MX5 - Crash damage repair costs and write-off
    ... pay the cost of the repairs myself. ... The crash has done the following:- ... to determine if the car is economically viable for repair. ...
    (uk.rec.cars.maintenance)
  • Re: Windshield Repair
    ... over the 14 years of owning this car might very well have cost much more ... reimbursed repairs what one paid for premiums. ...
    (rec.autos.makers.honda)