Insurance Company ....write off my GTI Stage 2

[whogives]

Well its happened, I had an accident Three weeks ago. Went into a Traffic Light    Front end damage. Not happy with the insurance as they said it was repairable. I rang them three days later to find that they had written it off and sent it straight to Co-part without telling me. Asked to see the report last week and told me it hadn't been done.

Damage front bumper, front rad and rad support surround, o/s headlight & wing, & mirror. also n/s door skin (Scratched). 

No airbags went off, and car still driveable.

Rang insurance company today the report has been done, they sent it to me it says 12500.00 off damage ....... WOT A JOKE

[SRGTD]

Sorry yo hear about your misfortune. Presumably £12,500 is what the insurance company is offering you?

Insurers initial write off settlement offer is always low and probably representative of a trade value, rather than a retail price that you’d need to pay to replace your car with one of a similar age, mileage and spec, and IMO there’s always scope to negotiate a higher figure.

If you can find examples of cars similar to yours (similar age, mileage and spec, etc) that are up for sale at higher prices than you’ve been offered, use these in your negotiations with your insurer, but don’t accept their first offer! Hopefully you’d declared your stage2 mods to your insurer; if not then that could influence the way they deal with the settlement of your claim - and not in a good way.

[jaceyboy]

Yep tell them that you want more, you can negotiate its a starting price thats all

[fredgroves]

What does wbac offer for your car? (pre crash!)... Tbh if its a three year plus old golf 12.5k of damage is going to not be its trade value (wbac) but its going to be most of it. Hence them writing it off.

Whether that repair cost is actually what it costs or just the inflated price insurers use with their bizarre double back hander arrangements is moot. I've had some ridiculous prices attached to repairs in the past. Truly baffling.

[king monkey]

When my car was stolen I negotiated with the help of my local VW who sent the insurance company lots of information about its value with examples they were selling too. It did make a difference.

[P6GTD]

If the insurer has already sold the salvage before you have accepted any offer and been paid, then they are in serious trouble.
The vehicle is your property until the claim has been settled.
They have handed you a huge advantage in doing this.
You now have two points of contention, the value they have put on the car and their illegal behaviour in selling your property.
If the above does indeed accurately reflect the position you need to make them aware you will not accept the settlement and that you require their immediate formal written confirmation that the salvage has not been sold on and remains your property.
That’s a good starting point.
Keep in touch with a progress report.

[P6GTD]

I have heard other reports in 2020 of insurers being keener to write cars off due to the general Covid situation regarding inspecting damage and the difficulty of getting cars repaired in any reasonable timescale.