When does insurance company legally become the owner of a vehicle?

[Skyro]

My stationary car was hit in the aftermath of an accident between two other vehicles.

Made a claim via my broker/insurance company and the car has been uplifted by them to access damage/repair etc.

 

It is probably touch and go as to it being a write-off, so just interested to know at what point the insurance company becomes the legal owners of my vehicle? Is it when they make an offer and I accept, or before then?

 

Thanks.

[ericsbrother]

when you accept the offer and they then instruct you regarding the DVLA notification. If it was before then all it would take for someone to force you to sell them something at a price they set would be for them to make that offer. Case law goes back about a century and a half so you dont have to accept the first figure they come up with

[unclebulgaria67]

Insurers can become legal owner when the accepted claims payment is cashed in by you. But the Insurers may register ownership, as soon as you confirm acceptance. Either could be the case.

 

Some Insurers for example seem to send out a settlement cheque saying this is the amount they are willing to pay. If you cash the cheque you are really accepting the settlement.

 

You don't have to accept the write off, but the Insurers don't have to repair the car, if they feel it should be written off simply because the work required is too much, there could be unseen problems, costs could exceed write off value etc.

 

Some people opt to take their cars back to sort out minor repairs, if a write off does not work out for them. The problem you have is the settlement would be the cars market value, less the excess, less the salvage value and possibly less any Insurance premium left to pay, if you pay monthly. It won't leave you with much.

 

If you had a responsible third party and their Insurers will accept liability, it can be easier to resolve that way. Then you have no excess deducted, no remaining premium deducted. Claiming on your own Insurance and then trying to claim back afterwards from a third party can take a long time. You end up suffering through no fault of your own making.

[Skyro]

Thanks for the replies, appreciated. As I expected, they have written off as a Cat C. Currently in negotiations regarding their final settlement value.

 

They are very quick to send out cheques etc. and ask for V5C documents before you have even agreed to a settlement! Reasonably confident I can squeeze a little more out of them than they were offering in the first place, but we shall see...

[ericsbrother]

one problem is getting like for like. If you had a low mileage good conditioned car that was quite old it will cost you a damned sight more to replace then what they offer you for your car which will be the bottom end of the trade in value for a banger of the same marque. Ask them to go out and find you the same car for waht they are offering as a cash settlement.

I had that with a clai for a watch. They offered £500 for a £1000 watch so i asked them if they would pay for an identical watch if I could find one. They foolishly said yes I found one in Canada and surprise surprise they wouldnt buy it for me but did increase their cash offer to £800. Persistence pays