Q about write-off's

[SS_Fury]

Hey all just had a quick question-
My brother in laws misses had an accident in her hyundai elantra (2004) and during the accident, although not sever, the chassis was twisted, the airbags deployed and the front is basically a mess - radiators gone etc.
Now i was under the assumption that based on the above simple description, the car would be classed as a write-off. The car is insured for 15k and is at a panel beater who said the car can be fixed (chassis straighetend etc) for a couple of thousand bucks less it is to pay her out. Are my spidey senses tingling for no reason or is this legitamate dodgy stuff going on here? I thought that once the airbags deployed and the chassis was bent, that would be it. The insurer is SGIO and it sounds as though that since a panel beater said its fixable for a cheaper than pay out price, they are giving it the go ahead. Does anyone know the law with what constitutes a write-off or what her options are? Sorry not well versed on this side of car stuff :teach:

[spank]

as far as i know it depends on the maket value of the car pre crash Vs the cost of repair as a calculated percentage, do you know what the quote was to repair and what was the market value of the car or was it agreed value?
theres bent and then there's bent

[SS_Fury]

ah ok---car to be paid out if written-off was 15k...cost to fix is 13k - im not sure how bent it is, i thought once it was slightly bent that was it, but i guess i must be wrong.

[spank]

if car is worth 15k but repair bill is 13k then it will be a write off as far as i know

[SS_Fury]

sorry just called her to confirm - price to fix is just over 11k, paid out is 15,750...so yeah, a bigger descrepency.

[spank]

i will bet that they write it off, let us know the outcome

[SS_Fury]

i hope they do for her, she wants to buy a holden with the 15k lol

[Toddler78]

from what I was tld from the accesor and a panel beater when I wote my car off if the repair bill is more than 75% of the payout value or there has been 4 or more penitratons in the safty cell the car is instanty written off mine got written off the assor spent hardly any time looking at the car and said at least 23000 to repair and if it wasnt so high it would have been repaired even though the wheels had been ripped off the thing.I would say that on a little 4 cycinder import car as soon as the chassis would require attention it would be written off straight away due to te high costs.

[planetdavo]

Quite often, parts of the car are "twisted" after the accident, but once some of the damaged sections are removed, much of the "twist" actually springs out again, and requires fairly minimal work on the car-o-liner to get it back to original spec.
As said above, it's more about HOW it's twisted or bent, not whether it's twisted somewhere.

[Boom]

That does seem a high repair cost to be not written off. Percentage depends on insurance company, type of vehicle among other things. My bike had 12500 damage on 28000 value and was close to being written off according to the shop. The assessor may make a decision to write it once its looked at. I dont think id be too happy getting it back.

[SPJ]

You have to remember that once the car is stripped and they start to repair (if so), they will find more damage (pretty hard to quote EVERYTHING first time around), bringing the price further up. Its all up to the assessor from the insurance company. Get his number from your insurer and he will talk you through it. Also depends on what kind of salvage tender they can get for the wreck, that also plays a big part in total lossing a vehicle. Check with your insurer, each company is different!

[SSBarney]

My missus's AU Falcon was insured for $8,500 and was repaired at a cost of $5,500.

[Alister]

Dads 96 Camry at the time was insured for about $7000 and was repaired at a cost of about $5000 from memory.
He hit a VS Commodore hard in the rear, which couldn't drive away from it due to the back end being pushed up against the rear wheels.

[dan_the_man]

Ive had a lot of dealings with various insurance companies over the years. They all seem to have differing %'s that they automatically decale a car a write off at, but most seem to be between 60 and 70% (have seen as low as 55 and as high as 80), but all of them will declare certain types of damage as an automatic write off.

You are perfectly within your rights to ask your insurer to clarify where they stand on this matter, as you are paying them for a service and they are legally obliged to give it to you.

You can of course also contest the repairs if you deem that the car is knackered and would prefer a cash payout, but you would need a lawyer to assist you at this point, as its a pain in the backside to pursue it through the courts

[BadMac]

I crashed one of my Subies. The insurance company allowed me to choose my repairer so I did. The guy, who is one of the best around looked at it and said bent chassis rail can't be straightened will need a half cut. The insurer took it to their own "trusted" repairer who said he could heat it up and straighten it. Insured for $8500. My repairer $8000. Insurance company repairer $3500. They argued that my guy was over the top and that their guy knew what he was saying and would warrenty it. I wasn't having a bar of it, you are a long time dead if it fails to protect you in a crash and the warrenty won't stop you dying, so I engaged (at my cost) an engineer to inspect the car and give a written report. He concluded the rail needed to be replaced and stated that even the manufacturer recommended not to straighten bent chassis rails. Sent the report to the insurer and received a cheque for the full value, car was written off. Still with that insurer and am very happy with their service.

Short and sweet advice, if you aren't happy seek professional advice. A lawyer would only recommend you get an engineering report (unless they were able to attack based on the contract (unlikely)).

[blwnhr]

I got $1600 of repairs to an old XF Falcon I used to own after someone ran into me. Purchase price was $1000, but I didn't tell them that, lol.

A mates girlfriends Echo got some fairly major hail damage in Hobart a month ago. Redbook on the car is $13,000-15,000, repair costs are $13,700. This is for new front guards, new bonnet, new boot, new roof and new mirrors. Needless to say we were VERY surprised when they said they'd repair it.

[EddieVE06]

I would say every repairer has different ways of judging a write off. My missus lancer was sandwiched by two cars, both air bags deployed. Total cost of repair was $15,000, but becuase she had the car insured agreed value which was around the $23,000 they repaired it.

We wern't happy with the repairs and took it back to the repairers several times then to Mitsubshi to have a regular service and asked them to check it over. They came back with 14 items that were either not repaired properly or were a hazard on the car.

We argued that the car did not drive as it did prior to the accident nor did we feel safe in such a car after it being repaired and more items were found that needed repairing and it was not returned to us as the car was prior to the accident. I think if you argue the personal safety issue it may help coz no insurer wants a death on their hands due to a dodgy repair.

We went to the insurance ombudsman also. In the end they not only paid to repair it but wrote it off.

My 2 cents worth is if they are ademant that they want to repair it and wont write it off, get an engineers report afterwards, take it to your service dept to get checked out. You might be surprised how many other things come out once they start to repair it.
Keep records of who you speak to, dates and times and be willing for a long fight.
Good luck with it