54 plate bmw write off advice needed asap

[andhell69]

Hi all im new to this but here's the story

A friend of mine was selling her 54 reg 19k bmw when it was stolen from outside her house joy riden and crashed. when she tried to claim on her insurance they said that as she failed to notify the dvla that she moved house 2 years ago they cancelled her driving licence (unknown to her) therefore the insurance company refused to pay out, however her arguement was she wasnt driving it when it was crashed, so she got soliciter involved.

In the meantime to get her money back she agreed to sell the car to me for £4500 and cut her losses believing the insurance wouldnt pay out. I got the car priced up for repairs and have been quoted £2500 for full repairs. but now the insurance company have said they will assess the car and see if they are going to write it off or repair it, so it was sent to their chosen garage.

i still want the car so was looking for her to buy it back off the insurance company and sell it to me for less than first agreed. however when i contacted the garage dealing with the insurance company today they have quoted the insurance company £8000 for repairs meaning it will be written off. i explained to the garage and they have told me there is no way if its written off they will let us have the car back as in the garage owners exact words "my mate has the insurance write off's and he wants this one to repair himself"

does anyone know if this is true? if the insurance company do write it off is she able to buy it from them?


can she request a 2nd opinion from another garage as we really believe the garage the insurance company chose are trying to pull a fast one to make a few £££'s

[gwc1000]

If an insurance company write a vehicle off the insurance policy holder does not have an automatic right to request that they have an option to buy the vehicle back. These days the insurance companies are not keen to allow the policy holder to keep the vehicle as they then have no control over the quality of any repairs that may be carried out. They normally dispose of the vehicle to a repairer or dismantler they themselves approve, so that they have safegaurds to what happens to the vehicle in the future.

[revolting peasant]

I'm stumped on 2 counts.

Firstly, under what legislation did DVLA cancel her licence? You can be fined for not updating address details but as far as I can ascertain it is not an offence for which you can have your licence withdrawn. As far as I'm aware, DVLA do not have the authority to withdraw anyones licence on anything other than medical grounds and only then on the advice of the drivers GP or other qualified medical practitioner. A disqualification would be handed down by the courts and notified to DVLA.

Secondly, I do not know of any insurer that would TL a car if the repair costs were less than 50% of it's genuine value.

Call me cynical but i think there is far more to this than your friend is telling you.

Think about it like this. I have lived at my present address for the past 5 years. I have had no cause to contact DVLA since changing the addresses on mine and my wifes licences other than to register my details as owner of the new car I bought 2 years ago (which the dealer actually did for me). Strangely, DVLA have not contacted me to see if I have moved house and as far as I'm aware I still have a driving licence.

Moving house is not a disqualifiable offence. Buying a trashed BMW isn't either but bear in mind that if it goes onto the register as being TL at any point, which it will, you have got no chance of reselling it and you can look forward to spending a lot of time at the roadside with blue flashing lights behind you

[patdavies]

DVLA can't disqualify, but they can revoke.

Road Traffic Offenders Act 1998. S.27

3) If the holder of the licence has not caused it to be delivered, or posted it, in accordance with section 7 of this Act and does not produce it as required then, unless he satisfies the court that he has applied for a new licence and has not received it— (a) he is guilty of an offence, and
(b)the licence shall be suspended from the time when its production was required until it is produced to the court and shall, while suspended, be of no effect.

It is just possible that she got an automated speeding fine or similar and since all letters would have gone to the old address, she may have then been summonsed for not supplying the driver's details, convicted in her absence and then the DVLA revoked the licence as it hadn't been surrendered for the points to be applied.

[patdavies]

Originally Posted by revolting peasant

Buying a trashed BMW isn't either but bear in mind that if it goes onto the register as being TL at any point, which it will, you have got no chance of reselling it and you can look forward to spending a lot of time at the roadside with blue flashing lights behind you

Depends on what grade of TL. Some (Cat A and B) can never be put back on the road and should be crushed. Cat C, D & F can be put back onto the road, but Cat C requires a VIC first from VOSA. From the OP, I would presume that it is Cat C or D

[andhell69]

Thank you all for your responses,
To be honest i have never heard that the dvla can take away a driving licence for not informing them of a change of address, maybe its some other problem with her insurance that she doesnt want to tell me. im not sure what cat the insurance would be if they write it off, but a quick description of the damage

• both wing mirrors missing
• small damage to front bumper and passenger side wing
• drivers side wing would need replacing
• drivers side skirt missing
• drivers side headlight smashed
• both front indicators missing
• front grille missing
• dent on front of bonnet
• small chip out of passengers side alloy wheel
• small dent in passengers side footwell (due to a stone hitting it up)

i have had the car for a week before the insurance company collected it and had a garage look at it to assess the damage, however the insurance companies garage are saying there is also damage to the driving arms, susension and chasis

[Gary29]

Originally Posted by andhell69

Thank you all for your responses,
To be honest i have never heard that the dvla can take away a driving licence for not informing them of a change of address, maybe its some other problem with her insurance that she doesnt want to tell me. im not sure what cat the insurance would be if they write it off, but a quick description of the damage

• both wing mirrors missing
• small damage to front bumper and passenger side wing
• drivers side wing would need replacing
• drivers side skirt missing
• drivers side headlight smashed
• both front indicators missing
• front grille missing
• dent on front of bonnet
• small chip out of passengers side alloy wheel
• small dent in passengers side footwell (due to a stone hitting it up)

i have had the car for a week before the insurance company collected it and had a garage look at it to assess the damage, however the insurance companies garage are saying there is also damage to the driving arms, susension and chasis

One of the things that would have me really worried, is the damage to the chasis, that would be the one thing that would make the car a write off. Once a chasis is damaged that near enough always makes a car a write off, as most times their is no way that, that kind of damage can be repaired and if it is repaired, their is no sure fire way of knowing if the car is still strong body wise and safe, if god forbid you were to have an accident, no way of knowing if the car would still hold together on impact.

Sorry to be so down, but I would be worried about keeping this car and putting it back on the road.

[gwc1000]

Originally Posted by Gary29

One of the things that would have me really worried, is the damage to the chasis, that would be the one thing that would make the car a write off. Once a chasis is damaged that near enough always makes a car a write off, as most times their is no way that, that kind of damage can be repaired and if it is repaired, their is no sure fire way of knowing if the car is still strong body wise and safe, if god forbid you were to have an accident, no way of knowing if the car would still hold together on impact.

Sorry to be so down, but I would be worried about keeping this car and putting it back on the road.

This is the reason that the insurance company would be unwilling to allow the insured to buy back the car. They would rather sell it to a repairer approved by themselves. This way they know that the car would go on a jig and be re-aligned correctly, and not done by some bod in his front garden. If the car is jigged correctly the car would be no more dangerous than the day it left the factory when it was new.

[andhell69]

This is one of my problems, the garage i took it to said that there is nothing wrong with the chasis but the insurance companies garage say there is so if they wont let me take a 2nd opinion before they write it off im assuming they will up the insurance write off catagory and i will have to show proof of this work being repaired before i get vosa to inspect it to re-register it as road legal, although that is good to know that in the off chance my garage missed the chasis damage its repairable and will be safe