i dont understand

Someone went into the back of me at one point and my car was said to be unrepairable because the boot had been damaged and the metal had "pleated" and it would cost more to do all the repairs ( this was difficult to repair and would take a lot of time) than the car was worth. When your daughter gets a new car I would have thought the insurance company would transfer the insurance to the new car with an adjustment if it is a different make/engine size etc. My insurance company did this when I changed cars whilst the previous insurance was still valid. If someone goes into the back of you it is their fault not yours and yes I would expect your insurance company to claim from the other persons insurance on your daughters behalf. If you are unhappy I would complain, there are ombudsman to consult if you are not happy or it can't be resolved

If your daughter is paying by direct debit for insurance, yes the insurance Company will take any insurance owed for the rest of the year from any settlement. If she had paid in full when insurance was due they wouldn't have paid her money back. You pay a year's insurance to cover for any accidents so the money is still owed to them - this happened to me took a little time to understand but does actually make sense now. What would have happened if the accident had occurred just after renewal date-would you expect them to sort out without having received any money. If your daughter wasn't at fault her insurance company will recoup write off value from other parties insurance but your daughters insurance cover is not the other parties responsibility

Your daughter needs to see a solicitor as she has been injured. These injuries could cause ongoing problems and she is entitled to claim damages. She also needs to see her GP and keep a diary of what happens. She can claim the costs if any treatment incurred.
Go to a reputable solicitor.

Insurance companies seem to be loathe to investigate claims properly these days, especially if there are no witnesses. I was involved in an accident where a man jumped a red light and ran into me as I was turning right. To my mind, there was no ambiguity about it. There were two lanes of traffic. The car at the side of him stopped at the light and he didn't. By the time we got the vehicles into a position where we were not blocking the road, all the traffic had moved on, so anyone who might have seen the incident had gone. The insurance company insisted on dealing with the claim on a fifty fifty basis and I lost my no claims bonus. I was livid. They didn't get my business the following year. There is now a camera at those lights and not before time. I agree with twice if you are not happy tell your insurance company that your are contacting the ombudsman.

You could also speak to the CAB(Citizen's Advice Bureau). Therwillbe a local one and they do not charge.

Someone went into the back of us once; we exchanged details and the damage didn't seem too bad until we went to open the boot to get out suitcases out at the end of our journey and couldn't open the boot.

We immediately informed the insurance company and, as far as I remember, everything went through quite smoothly.

There is no point in paying insurance if they will not sort it out properly if an accident occurs, so I would get back on to them, keep a log of conversations and if necessary speak to someone higher up in the company and tell them you are not satisfied and will be taking it further if your DD does not receive a satisfactory outcome.

Has she got whiplash? If so, she needs to see the GP and get it diagnosed and she may be entitled to compensation.

The car will be deemed a write-off if the cost of repair is more than the value of the vehicle.

Our car was written off once when someone went into the side of it at speed, shunting it into a concrete bollard. It was so lucky that DH was in the on his own, as a passenger could have been a goner. The other driver was totally at fault, and ended up having to go to driver re-education classes. But a few weeks after the crash, we had a letter from her ambulance-chasing lawyer trying to put the blame at DH's door and claiming that the other driver and her three passengers all had injuries that they needed compensation for.

The position of the cars would probably have given the lie to the, well, lies anyway, and our insurance company dealt with everything. But the fact that two drivers had stopped at the scene and given their details in case he needed a witness helped enormously. We've said we'll do the same if we ever come across a similar situation.

It might be worth getting the car back and getting it repaired privately rather than take the write off money.

The only new car we have ever had was wtitten off when parked at Dover official cruise terminal by a storm while we were away on a cruise. It was 7 years old but in very good condition. Altogether 200 cars were damaged, many written off. It was only then we found that if a car is wtitten off, the insurance company 's only responsibity is to get you home. They paid us a pittance and we lost a lot of money, the payout was poor and we ended up with a replace,ment car 2 years older than the one we lost. Final indignity was that they deemed it a fault claim, ie our fault, despite us being thousands of miles away. Although we changed i nsurer we have been penalised insurance wise ever since. Good luck with your fight.

Does your daughter have insurance for uninsured losses? If not, she needs to add up all her costs and submit them to the other party. If they don't pay, an application through the small claims can be made. Most people think they have to take the first offer made with their insurance company. Check the prices of similar cars in the papers or on the internet and tell the insurance company what you have found. They will usually agree to pay a little more if all the cars advertised are more expensive than the amount you have been offered. As for injuries, you need to notify their insurance company that you are undergoing treatment and tell them you will be making a claim.

suzied has a point, someone we know did that once and it was fine, passed the MOT perfectly well and in fact the repair costs were less than the insurance company offered as a 'write-off' cost because they used a local garage who did an excellent repair. You can also send for parts such as wings, bumpers etc online and paint them, get them sprayed yourself.

As long as the mechanics etc pass the test and it has no damage to the chassis etc it should be fine.

Or you can go to somewhere that sells recycled car parts - DD drove round for quite some time with a car which was one colour and bonnet another (she could not afford a respray and quite liked it like that!).

Following an accident my insurance company wanted to write off my car. A car is written off if the repairs cost more that a "certain percentage" of the value of the car.

My mechanic had a conversation with the assessor who had represented my insurance company.
My mechanic suggested that the car be repaired by using generic parts, and not the more expensive brand name parts. e.g. Replace the front sports headlights with standard headlights..... Use a generic standard bonnet lid and not the specific brand.

The mechanic was able to bring the costs down to below the required % and the assessor agreed. So my car was repaired and returned to me rather than being written off.

DS's car was a write off when someone drove into one of the doors on a roundabout. He took the car back a nd got a door from a breaker's.

If the accident was 2 weeks ago and your DD has not yet visited a GP she needs to go asap! If she has suffered an injury as a result of the accident it really needs to be diagnosed. If too long lapses between accident and diagnosis there can be a challenge as to the cause of the injury as sadly there are people who do cheat on insurance.

It is always worthwhile getting an independent quote for repair as insurance company view on what is/is not worth repairing can be different to a mechanics!

many thanks for replies. My daughter has been to her gp and got the injury recorded. I thought i was going to have to go myself as my back hurt for 48hrs after the bash as well, but then it was fine so no need. Daughter has an appointment with an independant dr next week as well this arranged through insurance company. She has accepted the offer made for the payout, mostly because the whole thing has been so stressful and she just wants to move on and she desperately needed another car so she could go to work. Luckily her dad has given her enough money to purchase another car and she will then give him the money from the payout and then repay him each month. She did admitt to me the whole thing has left her feeling a bit paranoid now when driving in case it ever happens again!!!! Once again thanks to those of you who replied to my post.

My son works on behalf of the insurance companies in cases like these, can I say for the benefit of anyone else in this situation......... NEVER, never accept the first offer.

I suggest your daughter changes her insurance company. My car was written off by an elderly lady just driving straight into the area around the front wheel arch at a bend; I took photos on my phone to prove it was her fault, and I had insurance money for an agreed value of the car in my account within 10 days.

I hope your ready for phone calls travelsafar about 'your recent accident' and whiplash - I got them fairly regularly for many months after!

Our car was termed a write off by the insurance company; our insurance was such that we paid the first £1000 of any damage - the damage was our own fault! We found someone who would repair our car for a little over this, wrote to the insurance company and they agreed to pay the balance. Might be worth a try, if the chassis is not damaged. Do claim for personal injury, plenty of people out there will help with that.

check what your insurance covers and compare like for like when chosing, I had 2 accidents, not my fault, one (a lorry driver, I think, fell asleep and hit the side of the car dragging us down the motorway, admitted liability but then denied it) both times my insurance company said whatever happened I would have nothing to pay, they paid over £1000 for my physio and it took 2 years before they could get the money back.

I have long thought that the insurance business needs a dam good shake up it penalises the people who don't claim and loyalty is not rewarded. They want your money but balk at paying out when something happens

It can have that effect on you, travelsafar. I was very nervous at traffic lights for ages after my bash, and a friend who found herself in the same situation recently said the same thing. She has been driving most of her adult life and never had an accident until recently (not her fault) but she said it has made her very jumpy. Your DD will get past it.

Your DD has all my sympathy having to deal with car insurance companies.
In December a woman overtook me as I was turning right (???). My car needed expensive repairs which have just been done as the car is just over a year old. It turned out I had made 3 claims in 3 years so my insurers have declined me for renewal The first one was my faulf as I caught the door handle while reversing. The second was when someone scraped the side of the car when I'd left it in a car park (witness didn't get the number of the miscreant) and the 3rd current one which is "pending". I have no idea when it will be resolved despite my having a witness who verified I was not at fault. I have now found another company to insure me and despite having 20 years protected no claims my premium has gone up from £240 to £667, because of my 3 claims! It seems you can't win whether guilty or innocent.

We cannot afford to leave any stone unturned where car or house insurance is concerned.
We do have options whether we keep the same insurer year in year out.
Providing we have not gone OTT in our claims which will not only push up excess but will prevent us from obtaining the cheapest insurer. Regardless if the other party was to blame this will have a knock on effect.ie have you been in involved in any RTA's?.