i dont understand

To buy for return of car and scrape value ! Then find a small repairer to fix boot for you !
This way you will still have petrol and the £400 won't have been wasted, insurance company's make big money by using these methods !
We have done this twice in last 15yrs,. each time it was more facial then major damage !

Car insurance needs investigating. Even if it's not your fault the premium goes up. Three members of my family have had their cars damaged through no fault of their own. DD1's car was hit on a residential road by someone coming up her nearside when she was indicating left to turn into a parking area. She agreed to a 50/50 settlement (I wouldn't have).

DD2 was hit when stationary. It was dark and raining and she could not see the damage to her cream coloured mini. The next day all she could see was a faint mark over the rear offside wheel arch, a negligible mark. The other driver (BMW) claimed almost £2000 in repairs, submitted no photographs. DD2 sent a photograph of the damage to her car and a map of where it had happened and a full statement. If his BMW had really sustained all that damage surely her mini would have been a write-off. Again the insurance companies wanted 50/50 settlement (nearly two years ago, not sure if it's settled yet).

This week DD2's husband's car was badly damaged while parked. Again the insurance company is saying 50/50.

It is simply not fair that totally innocent drivers are penalised in this way.

I was sitting at the traffic lights (which were red) when a lorry ran into the back of me. At first he was shouting and swearing at me, asking why I was stopped in the middle of the road. That is until the police pointed out the pelican crossing, I had stopped at.
His insurance company phoned within the hour accepting full liability.
However, when I went to renew my own insurance, my premiums shot up. When I asked why, since the other driver had accepted full responsibility, I was told that I was now more likely to have an accident! This was despite it not being my fault. Yet when my daughter renewed hers, and I am a named driver on hers, she was told that my accident would not affect her premiums in any way. No consistency. That was 6 years ago, I am still a nervous wreck at traffic lights.

Please check travelasfar on the terms of the write off as sometimes the insurance company will pay out for the car but allow your daughter to actually keep the car rather than having it scrapped

We did the same with our write off car, we had it repaired at a far cheaper price than what we have put towards another car. Worh getting an estimate.

When DH was hit by a lady pulling out of a school (she was a teacher) she admitted liability & they exchanged details. Luckily our car was driveable, car had to go into local Ford dealer & DH had a curtersy car for a few days. When we got car back Assessor came out to look & informed us that the repair would cost more than the value of the car, he made us an offer & said if we wanted we could "buy the car back" for £1 & have repairs done ourselves. We agreed to this.

Sorry to hear of your DD experience, hope you get everything sorted out.

She should be able claim for personal injury (doctor's certificate required)if she has fully comp and a courtesy car until the accident claim is settled in full. My daughter has had 3 occasions where a driver has gone into her car at the rear (none her fault) and each time she has claimed compensation for herself and any items damaged. She should also claim for the petrol too- she will have the receipt to show it was bought minutes before the accident. I also advised my daughter to refuse the first sum offered by one of the insurance companies because it was not enough as a lot of money had been spent on the car recently and it could not be replaced with same standard of car (low mileage, minimum owners etc.) with the sum they offered. They suggested sending in copies of local car for sale ads in the paper, and when she did, was offered more money. The insurance company also said they would collect the old damaged car for a fee or she could get rid of it herself (it had been towed home)so she sold it to a local dealer and that was more money she got and she was able to buy a decent replacement car. The question was is: it worth having car insurance? Well, a) it's illegal not to and b) if you are at fault in an accident then you would get nothing if you weren't insured

When I had a minor bump (other party hit my car from behind) the insurance company were useless. In the end I had to chivvy them almost daily to get it sorted out. It's the same old story sadly - you have to jump up and down to get anything done. If your daughter is injured, however slightly, as others have said, see the GP, get a solicitor and claim - her ex gratia costs like the petrol should be included too if she has kept the receipt with the date. It's worth adding everything in - physio costs too obviously - and then keeping on and on - only that way do you seem to get what you are entitled to and let's face it - what you have paid them for!

I understand that your daughter could take her case to the small claims court. This would be on the basis that the other driver would be bound to return your daughter financially to the situation she was in before the accident. CAB should be able to help point her in the right direction.

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?.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!).

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.

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.

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.