Is there an industry standard calculation for financial write off?

% repair cost to PAV?

I always thought it was 50%, but some insurance companies will go up to 60%.

If you ask an insurance company they will tell you what figure they use.

edit: ooops, just noticed this was posted in the Sky Insurance section.

Cheers Fox,

I thought the same but just trying to gauge if that's standard...

My mums car got hit over the weekend so needs a new door skin and back quarter popping out / replacing... Just wondering if it's likely to be written off due to value etc...

A mate of mine has just had a £2.6K repair on his Alfa 147 53 plate - that must almost be the value of the car

I have seen cars scrapped for a wing before and others restored costing over £8k for a £6k car. Really don't know how they gauge it sometimes.

To give you an example....

Mums MG ZT, damaged wing = scrapped

Mates TVR V8S, dunked it in a puddle and shot the engine and they spent loads fixing it.

There is no logic to insurance. Just have to see what they say and fight it where you think necessary!

My mate has received £3.5k cash in lieu of repair for a £1400 car. Then fixed it for £150?! Didn't ask for it, he expected it to be written off for 2 bumpers and a wing (2 separate car park incidents in a week!) Tis a joke when everyone's premiums are sky-rocketing by the hour...

My m8 got given a clio by his sister, a few weeks later a witness said someone bumped into him and drove off. He went though the insurance company and the police and was told the car was a write off then his sister told him that the damage had been there for years so he told the insurance company who still gave him a grand plus the car back although he just wanted the car back! Cost him £80 quid to repair the car and mot it!

There is no standard calculation, but:

Category D: Constructive write-off, the value of the salvage + the cost of repairs is more than the PAV

Category C: The value of repairs exceeds the PAV of the car.

Category B: Break only, shell must be crushed

Category A: Not suitable for parts, entire car must be crushed

It's 60% of the vehicle value for the company I work for

My m8 got given a clio by his sister, a few weeks later a witness said someone bumped into him and drove off. He went though the insurance company and the police and was told the car was a write off then his sister told him that the damage had been there for years so he told the insurance company who still gave him a grand plus the car back although he just wanted the car back! Cost him £80 quid to repair the car and mot it!

One thing you need to be careful of though. My girlfriend had her Nissan Almera written off after a deer headbutted it. She bought the car back and had it repaired by a motor mechanic friend so it is as good as new. However it now has a motor insurance marker on it as has been written off, bought back and repaired. That means that she has to remember to tax it every year as the DVLA do not send her a reminder, the marker can be removed but that costs money which is not a good investment on a car that's approaching 12 years old, just to get a renewal form for the tax each year.

Ian

Cheers Fox,

I thought the same but just trying to gauge if that's standard...

My mums car got hit over the weekend so needs a new door skin and back quarter popping out / replacing... Just wondering if it's likely to be written off due to value etc...

If its someone else's fault and the damage sounds cosmetic rather than serious, can't you insist the 3rd party's insurer repairs to as before condition? Another insurer can't just write off her car because they can't be arsed getting the work done.

There's definitely a boundary to writing off in there somewhere to challenge the insurer about.

Was speaking to a insurance loss adjuster from RBS a few weeks about, they own a repair company called uk assistance and have started replacing parts/panels with secondhand items & just repainting them. Also been using cheap " aftermarket " copy's to keep costs down. All in their small print too. I certainly wouldn't be happy getting my car back with non genuine items.

My ex had an old T reg Peugeot 206 that had a close encounter with a big 4x4 - repair bill came to way more than the value of the car and yet they still decided to pay for the repair. No idea how they worked that one out!

Whatever they initially offer you, it's probably going to be at the lower end of the scale, so make sure you push them. I did when my last car was written off and I got an extra few hundred quid. If you can find similar spec/age cars to yours for sale for more than they're offering you for yours then that will help your cause no end.

I used to work for a recovery company that was contracted to the police. When we did accident recoveries, the insurance company would just ring our office and ask if it was a write off or whether it was repairable. They just took our word for it and very seldom sent an assesor in to have a look.

If they write it off, always reject the first offer they make as they willimprove it if you push them

Edited 17 January, 201214 yr by bigmick9445

Recovery company lied about my bike to insurance saying it was only a few scratches (was written off big time) luckily I had my mate take lots of pics of it before it was recovered. They were total tools and kept the car for MONTHS able to charge the world for leaving it uncovered in rain at back of their Mazda main dealers. Then made me pay to send a currier to collect some personal things from it wouldn't send it to me and let me pay (locks camera etc) But as said never accept first offer I got mine up from 4500 to 6000 over the phone after about 4 minutes of haggling cost me 3695 in first place and I had to declare that but not my problem I got a bargain it was worth more!