Written Off Car

[jackthehat]

My dad's car was hit by another. His insurance company have decided to write it off and they have reached a settlement figure.

As Dad has not yet received the payment and is still in possession of the car, can he still drive it for a day, or two?

He's agreed to buy another car and anticipates that the insurance money will arrive by the middle of next week, so he'll be able to pay for and collect this new vehicle then.

So, can he legally drive the damaged car until then?

 

Thanks.

[ToraToraTora]

If it's a Cat N write off, yes.

[ToraToraTora]

I'm guessing it's cosmetic damage that's not economically worth repairing so yes it probably is a CAT N.

If Cat A or B it's illegal to even repair it and go back on the road.

Cat S can be repaired but it must be re certified as safe.

[bednobs]

It seems to me He would be better off asking the insurance company. I know that's not a very helpful answer but only they will know whether they are still covering the car

[Buenchico]

Start by checking whether the vehicle is showing as insured here:
https://enquiry.navigate.mib.org.uk/checkyourvehicle

(If it is, it might still be best to check directly with the insurer).

Then consider whether the vehicle is fully roadworthy.  (If it isn't then, irrespective of the insurance and/or MOT situation, it'll be illegal to drive it).  e.g. if it's got a smashed headlamp, even if it's not going to be driven in darkness, it'll be illegal to drive it.

[ToraToraTora]

Same thing happened with err indoors a few months back, we had a CAT N write off and continued driving it until it was settled. In our case we kept the car and had a reduced payout.

[ToraToraTora]

12:36 yes it must be road legal in all other aspects.

[jackthehat]

Thanks all.

An eejit opened their car door as Dad edged passed - badly dented the front nearside wing, scraped all the way down the side and removed his wing mirror. 

It has been written of as a category N.

He's probably already sounded out his insurance company but I  thought I'd ask you knowledgeable peeps.

[ToraToraTora]

Yep he can drive it then. Patch up the mirror if poss.

[jackthehat]

No chance of doing that. It's in a thousand little pieces.

It's a lovely car - VW Passat - but the prices dad got for parts, repair, respraying, etc. were startling; coming in about £6000! I'm having trouble understanding that. Lol.

[ToraToraTora]

13:28 ok well it's the passenger side that's busted right? He'll be fine with the drivers side one.

The price is what they'll charge the insurance ompany, all new everything but you could get it done for a quarter of that with a bit of effort.

[Gizmonster]

Have you asked about buying it back and getting it repaired at a cheaper rate - they've probably quoted for brand new original parts, but you could probably get some cheaper parts and possibly visit a scrap yard?

My car was written off quite a few years ago.

The car was worth less than £2000 at the time and the repair quote was over £2000, so the insurance company wrote it off.

I asked if I could buy it back as I have a friend who has a garage who does all my repairs, MOT's etc and he said he could repair it at roughly half the original repair quote.  They sold me the car back for £200, which they deducted from my original pay out and I had to get a fresh MOT and an inspector came out to check the car over as well.  After everything was completed I was £50 in pocket .... the figures were something like:

£1300 paid out for the car; £200 to buy it back and £1050 to get it repaired and MOT'd = £50 extra for me  :)

[davebro3]

Not sure about the damage here - if it was all down the side - front & rear quarters & 2 doors I'm not surprised it would be a write off. I had one rear quarter damaged & the quote was £1600 whether it was on insurance or not. I didn't claim, had a partial repair for £200, and still drive the car.