hi guys,

i was involved in a car accident on the 18th of November last year & subsequently my car was written off. The 3rd Party insurance company sent me a settlement cheque which i have accepted but not yet banked. what i want to know is, who responsibilty is it to dispose of the car now that its been written off and i've accepted the settlement? i'm asking as its been 6 weeks since the accident and the car is still sat outside the house with no tax on it & i don't want to get stung with a bill for a car with no TAX. i have contacted the insurance company to ask why they haven't come to remove the car but all i got was , oh, its not my dept blah blah blah i'll pass on a message for someone to call you, which, of course also hasn't happened!

Alex

Alex,

I would SORN it online for now then when it is eventually scrapped you will have to send the scrappers the complete V5.

Strip it of anything that you can flog - then say pikies nicked it all while it was sitting.....

The car belongs to the insurance company as they have effectively purchased it off you, write to the relevant parties giving them 7 days notice that unless removed from your property you will remove it at their expense (been there done that) you will be suprised how things get moving then!

[Edited on 11/1/10 by GMPMotorsport]

It all depends how the insurer dealt with the claim, usually the car is taken to a repairer, examined, and if declared a write off you don't see it again, other than to recover any belongings inside.

Lately they seem to be writing cars off and leaving the owner to dispose of it, happened to us 3 or 4 years ago when my daughters car was declared a write off.

You need to check with the insurer whether or not they expect you to dispose of it, if they do, they havent taken ownership of it, and you are liable for any offences ensuing. If they give you the run around, tell them in writing you are going to dispose of it, and bill them for any expenses.

You should get a few quid from a breaker, or by selling parts yourself.

When someone hit me of mymoped, it was written off. They took it away to examine, then paid me the value.

They then offered i could have the bike back, but it couldnt be put back on the road. I could either have the moped back or extra money of its scrap value.

Mikkel

Same here.

When i had my accident 2 years ago, they took away the car, the inspector declared it as a write off and then gave me the compensation.

It is weird that they declared your car a write off without taking it to an examiner at first.

find somewhere to store it and tell insurance company that it was stolen as they left it too long. then make it into a banger car!!!

I had the same when mine was written off.I wanted to keep mine tho(hence the kitcar!),and it was assumed to be my responsability to get shut of it back then. Incidently I got over £2500 just for bits,and still kept the engine box and diff!

The scrap men are paying for collected cars round here still, just phone somebody if you don't want it. Years ago my friend across the road had an old Nissan and was hit by someone pulling out of a side street. The insurance paid him £700 for his written off car which was nearly double what he paid. He asked if he could buy it back and they delivered it to his house and just dropped it off free. We got the bits off partfinder plus a bit of welding and put it back on the road for £130 and he drove it round for 4 more years.
Result I say.

Well this has been something I’ve wondered

If your car is damaged to the point it can’t be driven away, do you have to let a recovery company collect the car and then put it in their storage center???

In my mind their isn’t any reason you should and so long as you remove it from obstructing the road, say just getting a garage van round and then dumping it at your house. At which point you invite the insurance company round to assess the damage and get quotes. I don’t really see why it automatically becomes property of the insurance company just because it is not quite roadworthy.

For example, cheap cars being written off after say a wheel is pushed in and you could yourself go to a scappy and fix it rather than get it written off and have to buy it back.

Once fixed why can’t you just claim the cost back off the insurance company just the same as a garage or repair shop?

As said if it's written off they've bought it off you. If you've still got the V5 then you still technically own it so liable for any fines it makes. In the same way if you sell a car and dont sent off the V5 for the new owner. While you've still got it, you get the speeding fines and it's a ball ache to get them overturned.
Give them a call and ask them if they want the vehicle. They may have assumed as you have the car with you, you wanted to keep it after you were paid out for it. If they dont, break it and sell the parts on then get the scrappy to collect it. they usually give you around £50 for the weight alone

quote:

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Originally posted by thefreak
As said if it's written off they've bought it off you. If you've still got the V5 then you still technically own it

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Send A recorded delivery letter, informing them that from the end of the week you will be charging £10 per day storage

this is the thing, i don't even know what category write off it is, i think im just going to strip it and sell the parts then flog it to the scrappy

quote:

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Originally posted by Alan M
Send A recorded delivery letter, informing them that from the end of the week you will be charging £25 per day storage

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When we had one written off as soon as I accepted their offer I had to send off the complete V5 and was told in no uncertain terms not to take anything at all off / out of the car other than our own personal effects.

As far as I've always been told when the insurance company pays you for the car they own it and it's their responsibility. If I was in your position I'd tell them to get it shifted sharpish as people are starting to steal bits off it and then advertise on here what bits are left to "steal"

Knowing the way I usually get treated with companies you guys would be able to strip it without the use of tools and carry it home via tortoise before they turn up to collect it, at which point "Told you people were stealing bits off it! Here's your £3000 Ford badge!"