My Car Is on Finance, Will They write My Car Off?

[TheInQ]

Hi..

 

4 days ago my 61 plate ford fiesta which is on finance was involved in a rear end shunt involving a mini van ( Mercedes Benz Vito), The bumper is crushed right in.. the boot lid is damaged and slightly open at one end and the boot well has been pushed in. i dont know if there is any structural damage to the chassis but what i have been lead to believe is the boot well is structural damage??

 

My car has a value of £8,345.

 

What i am worried about is if they write my car off... which then means they pay the finance company the cash! and im left owing maybe a few thousand to the finance company and have NO car! Is this possible?

 

If there is someone who has had a similar experience much help and advice would be appreciated..

 

Thanks

[citizenB]

Are you insured fully comprehensive?

 

It is my understanding that if the car is written off - it will be written off at "book price".

 

If you are fully comprehensive then your Insurers should then be able to reclaim the difference of the payout and the finance you still have left to pay - from the other idiot who rear ended you.

 

You should be able to claim for all excesses and also the cost of a hire vehicle whilst this is being resolved.

 

Speak to your insurer

[TheInQ]

Yes im fully comp but Believe it or not i called the AA who i am insured with and they told me i had to pay £650 excess or use Claim fast who will charge me £50 to deal with it all.. I called excess gone who told me to contact my insurers and let them know i was only telling them for information purposes only and that i don't want it to be noted as a claim which i done..

 

Upon calling them i was put throw to Provident who said they were my insurers and that the AA just brokered my insurance for them, when i told the girl on the phone i didn't want to claim she asked why and i explained what AA said.... She then told me that was FALSE and because the accident was not my fault i wouldn't pay anything and my insurance wouldn't go up which i was pleased with .. so after speaking to her on the phone for over 25 mins her computer crashed and she put me on hold for 10mins only to come back and say she will contact me once her computer is up and running again.. I got a call from excess to ask how things were going and when i told them of the situation they advised me to let them handle everything which i agreed as i find it disrespectful for an insurance company to not call back someone who has been in a accident..

 

So the next day i get a courtesy car and within an hour of receiving the courtesy car they picked my vehicle up and took it to a bodyshop.. this all happened before 12 in the afternoon.. They said they would call with a estimate but haven't and when i called this morning they said they don't know but will let me know later today..

 

should i just wait and see what the body shop says?

 

Thanks for your reply citizenB much appreciated.

 

Sorry if my reply is a bit out of my question

[citizenB]

Yes, just wait until the Body Shop contacts you - Although under normal circumstances the Body Shop would be contacting your Insurers, not necessarily you.

 

HTH.

 

I have flagged your thread for more input as well

[TheInQ]

Ok thanks for the info.. Excess gone did say that they claim everything back from the 3rd party insurers so my insurance doesn't even get involved??

 

Im confuesd lol!

 

Thanks very much for your help thow... very appreciated.

[citizenB]

Ah righto.. then perhaps the Body Shop will contact Excess Gone.. !!

[MaxxPower]

Someone reversed into me a few years ago, they accepted all responsibility, and I never had to pay out my excess at all, even to get it back later. I was with Admiral at the time rather than AA/Provident but I don't think you should need to worry about having to pay out your excess when the 3rd party accepts liability.

As said, best advice is to wait and see what the body shop says. Most modern cars have bodies that are made to crumple in order to absorb some of the force of impact and reduce risk of injury to people. Chances are the damage looks a lot worse than it actually is.

[TheInQ]

Bodyshop just called and said it is costing £2895 to fix.. Thats replacing the bumper, boot lid and the boot well and alloy wheel and covers costs for picking vehicle up.. they said it will take 2 weeks for 3rd party insurance to usually agree to the price and send someone to inspect the damage then they order the parts and begin the work..

 

will the courtesy car costs not be added to the overall bill?

 

Im just glad she said it wasn't a write off

[jasminedog01]

There will always be a shortfall on an insurance settlement for a car on CP if there is a balloon payment at the end. This is what GAP (guaranteed asset Protection) is for. regardless whether or not if this wasn't offered when you took the car, you will have signed to say you didn't want it, unless it was not available, so unfortunately you will be liable. I know its a bstad and I used to see this all the time.