I haven't got the time at the moment sadly bur for reference I contacted copart and it's only the chassis they have to crush so they hare happy with the buyer taking the body away if you use the breaker4u service. Madness, new chassis age related number surely...
- Thread starter AdamWilkes
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Kermit4
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Apologies if I am wrong here (I often am!) but I think it is reasonably straightforward.
You own a car and insure it for market value (say £5000). You have a crash and claim off your insurance company. They send an "expert" round who says it is going to cost more than £5000 to repair the car. At this point your insurance company says to you (in effect) we don't want to spend more than £5000 repairing a car which will still end up after repair worth at the most £5000. So instead we will "buy your car off you" for its market value. At this point the ownership transfers to the insurance company who try to mitigate their outlay by selling the crashed car for scrap/parts to one of their contacts. At this point you either pocket the money or buy (or try to!) another similar car for the money they paid you.
I think the problem here is the "expert" has over stated the damage and cost of repair hence the insurance company seeing the easy way out and paying out the minimum they can get away with (shock horror).
I feel for the OP as he would like to put the car back on the road but the rules say it is illegal.
I assume it is the other driver's insurance company which will pay out, as from the photos and description of crash it would appear to be the other driver's fault.
You own a car and insure it for market value (say £5000). You have a crash and claim off your insurance company. They send an "expert" round who says it is going to cost more than £5000 to repair the car. At this point your insurance company says to you (in effect) we don't want to spend more than £5000 repairing a car which will still end up after repair worth at the most £5000. So instead we will "buy your car off you" for its market value. At this point the ownership transfers to the insurance company who try to mitigate their outlay by selling the crashed car for scrap/parts to one of their contacts. At this point you either pocket the money or buy (or try to!) another similar car for the money they paid you.
I think the problem here is the "expert" has over stated the damage and cost of repair hence the insurance company seeing the easy way out and paying out the minimum they can get away with (shock horror).
I feel for the OP as he would like to put the car back on the road but the rules say it is illegal.
I assume it is the other driver's insurance company which will pay out, as from the photos and description of crash it would appear to be the other driver's fault.
AdamWilkes
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It is strange, but probably only if you claim through an insurer, as I did. I don't think it matters whether I had claimed through my own or the other driver's insurance, either way the relevant insurer would have assessed the car for cost and extent of damage, and it then would have been categorised as a Cat B write-off. ie never to return to the road, with DVLA re-registration, MOT and Tax impossible to apply.
If I had not claimed through either insurance company, I assume that they would not have assessed the damage at all. I initially assumed that I could keep the van (considering the damage seemed repairable), so I claimed for the repair bill through my insurer. Unfortunately, and incredibly, they then assessed the damage as a Cat B write off, and I was then never going to put it back on the road.
Legally, they own the car if they pay you for it (as they now have); I could have kept the van but only for spares, and the body would have to have been disposed of at an approved scrapyard - I'm not sure how that works even, as to even remove a Cat B vehicle that you have bought from Copart (the salvage auction company) you have to be licenced to dispose of the Cat B body.
Someone has bought my van, for £80 (plus a million quid of their fees) from Copart today - was it you, Pete Isom?
If I had not claimed through either insurance company, I assume that they would not have assessed the damage at all. I initially assumed that I could keep the van (considering the damage seemed repairable), so I claimed for the repair bill through my insurer. Unfortunately, and incredibly, they then assessed the damage as a Cat B write off, and I was then never going to put it back on the road.
Legally, they own the car if they pay you for it (as they now have); I could have kept the van but only for spares, and the body would have to have been disposed of at an approved scrapyard - I'm not sure how that works even, as to even remove a Cat B vehicle that you have bought from Copart (the salvage auction company) you have to be licenced to dispose of the Cat B body.
Someone has bought my van, for £80 (plus a million quid of their fees) from Copart today - was it you, Pete Isom?
AdamWilkes
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In this post, mr-reno-139 said that chassis number was both on the body and chassis of a Renault 4, so it seems unlikely now that either the body or chassis could leave Copart with a new owner. Everything else that unbolts can of course be salvaged, though - engine, doors, wheels etc etc.
I checked they don't let you take a cat b away but they offer a breaker4u service where they let you turn up and take the bits you want. I asked about the body and they said anything that bolts on the chassis/frame can be taken so you can keep the body I emailed and asked!. It's only the chassis they need to keep and crush. Bizarre!!!
AdamWilkes
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Ironic that one can keep the only part of the car that caused it to be written off !!! Why throw away the perfect good chassis....
duh!
AdamWilkes
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The reserve seemed to have disappeared when I checked on it a few minutes before the end of auction.
If anyone here knows who did buy it, I have some spares etc if they want them.
If anyone here knows who did buy it, I have some spares etc if they want them.