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Claiming against a third-party.


HughN
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Hello,

 

First post here, so please be gentle with me!

 

I have searched and not quite found the answer I need, so apologies if this is a re-post.

 

Today my car was T-boned by another vehicle exiting a side-road without looking. Both insurers agree it was fault of the other party. However, this is my worst nightmare: my vehicle will be valued at almost nothing but is a much looked-after, reliable, vehicle in which time, money and effort have been instilled with a view to keeping it for many years to come.

 

Since the law requires the other driver to have insurance to indemnify him against my losses, could I sue him for a ground-up re-build of my car to the condition it was in immediately before the accident? Admittedly, this could be a lot of money for his insurance company and I would have to go to County Court...

 

If he had knocked over a wall, the owner of the wall would be entitled to it being rebuilt!

 

Thanks

Hugh

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Hey Hugh welcome to cag

I think it's up to the insures they will only normally pay the market value of the vehicle in it's condition at the time of the accident this is done by the insurers own valuer, the only time I could see your point holding would be if it was a special or classic car :|

This is only my opinion having had a car written off myself maybe someone on here may have a different view.

Take care.

NS :)

:(:confused:Confused, sad,bewildered,befuddled,bemused,disorientated,lonley until I came here, moving forward to :smile::lol: ,trying not to let them drag me down.:cool:
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Basically you have to be put back in the same financial position as you were before the claim happened. I don't quite understand what you mean by a "re-build" though.

If the car is repairable then most insurers will use a reputable body shop who will use high quality parts and will also give a guarantee on the work which is usually 3 or 5 years (depends on the company). This will only cover any work that's required as a direct result of the accident though, so if you have other work that needs doing, then obviously the other insurer wont pay for it.

If, on the other hand, the car was a total loss (write off) then you would need to prove the vehicle is worth what you say it is as most insurers will only offer you the "book price" which is usually either the 'Black book' (which traders use) or the glasses guide. And may not necessarily reflect the true value of the car should it be in a very good condition.

Just wait and see what the engineer says once they've looked at your car and then go from there.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

DA

If you find the advice I give is useful, then please feel free to click the scales :)

 

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt" :)

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The simple answer is NO you cannot sue for a ground-up repair.

 

The Insurers of the responsible party do have a responsibility / liability to put you back in the position that you were in prior to the accident but this does not give you carte blanche to demand anything.

 

Your car will have a 'book value' either Parkers, Glass's Black Book or whatever book they use, these books list the typical values of most common cars. If the cost of the repairs comes to more than the value of the vehicle then that is the limit of their responsibility / liability to you, the car will be a write off (on economic value).

 

If you have a specialist car that is not listed in these guides then you need to show them what it is worth by searching for similar models available in retail, or in Auto Trader etc.

 

Best piece of advice is to wait and see what they initially say, you can choose the repairer you want to use but be prepared to get another estimate from another garage as well.

 

Post back with what they offer and what you think your car is worth (details of your car would help) and what you think to their initial offer.

 

Oh and just because you may have recently spent £x thousand on a rebuild doesn't automatically mean that the car is worth £x thousand than it was before the rebuild (I'll explain that later if I have to)

 

Mossycat

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