Prang

[TDR35]

On 4th December my Yaris was involved in a bit of a accident, my mother was driving it at the time but was not at fault, a young man in a transit van drove into the side of her (fortunatly she is alright) but we have been told the car is a write off. However, a friend has said if I can get it to an independent garage they may be able to fix it. The bumper is hanging off, the left front headlight is also hanging off and the left front tyre is punctured. Other than that it is ok and although it is ten years old its only done 47,000 miles and has been an excellent car and extremely reliable.

At present we are both without a vehicle as are awaiting the insurers to take action, all very inconvenient for both of us, we were told we would get a hire car but as yet nothing! Has anyone else on here had anything similar happen to them and if so what was the outcome?

I will try to post a pic or two to show the damage, if I can figure out how too (not good with computers!!)

[Parts-King]

At the moment you are the one out of pocket. If it was a non fault accident, you should be informing your insurance company to sue the other party and be stamping your feet about the car hire!

You need to be firm but polite, insurance companies are lazy beggers until they find out it's going to cost them money! Get on the phone today and demand some urgent action. This should be very easy for your own company to sort out, it will not cost them anything.

Kingo

[+Steve]

I Agree with Kingo

When i had a prang i had a hire car next day! I did not even scream at them.. tell them to get their finger out :)

[Red Yaris 54]

At the moment you are the one out of pocket. If it was a non fault accident, you should be informing your insurance company to sue the other party and be stamping your feet about the car hire!

You need to be firm but polite, insurance companies are lazy beggers until they find out it's going to cost them money! Get on the phone today and demand some urgent action. This should be very easy for your own company to sort out, it will not cost them anything.

Kingo

If the car has been declared as write off by the insurers then they will not normally provide a hire car once you have agreed a settlement figure

Most insurers will only provide a hire car until the damaged vehicle is declared written off ......If the car is declared as repairable by the insurance company, you should be able to claim a hire car until yours is repaired

[Parts-King]

Doh! Missed the bit about being written off, went straight to the bit where an independant could fix it, sorry, things are different if it is actually written off. You need to get them to agree a settlement figure ASAP otherwise it is going to be the New Year and you are the one being inconvenienced

I'm off my high horse now

[TDR35]

Thanks folks for your replies, this is my third attempt at replying, the others somehow got deleted! The insurers were notified the next day and should be on the case but also a friend of my brothers is a solicitor and he has taken this on free of charge as well. My mother and I share the car and while we didnt use it that much it is still an inconvenience as not being able to do the full weekly shop especially with xmas round the corner and for me not being able to drive over to my boyfriends, luckily he is brilliant and comes over mine a lot :)

I have attempted to attach a couple of pics I took the day after, which was ironically my mothers birthday!!

[Red Yaris 54]

For avoidance of doubt...Have your insurers declared the car a write off? Or are you just assuming it is written off?

If the insurers have written it off you must try to buy it back from them if you want to get it repaired at an independent .....but beware as when an insurer writes off a car there can be a lot of paperwork to complete and inspections to be carried out before putting it back on the road again

Why have you got a solicitor involved in a relatively uncomplicated transaction...... What do you feel there is to be gained from that?

[TDR35]

For avoidance of doubt...Have your insurers declared the car a write off? Or are you just assuming it is written off?

If the insurers have written it off you must try to buy it back from them if you want to get it repaired at an independent .....but beware as when an insurer writes off a car there can be a lot of paperwork to complete and inspections to be carried out before putting it back on the road again

Why have you got a solicitor involved in a relatively uncomplicated transaction...... What do you feel there is to be gained from that?

Had a letter today that confirms it has been written off but they say we will get £2,100 for it, or £2,200, if we can get the excess back. Thought that was a reasonable sum, just such a shame to have to lose a very good car. My partners a mechanic so he'll be able to help with buying a decent replacement in time to come. (The solicitor was advised by my brother as my mother was getting in such a panic!)

[Red Yaris 54]

Sounds a reasonable figure.....Good luck with finding a reasonable replacement

[Cyker]

Yikes! Looks like a job for Haylands

[TDR35]

Yikes! Looks like a job for Haylands

Would he liike another project?! Seriously though he did a couple of superb jobs there, very impressive

[avensisd4d786]

im looking for a yaris but your too far away :(

[TDR35]

We have told the insurers we want to keep the car, they have said if we do that the compensation will go down to £1,748. Is this normal practice and if so would it be worth trying to get it repaired or just take the bigger sum of money and hope to find a decent replacement? The other driver is being difficult, in that he's not answering his phone etc, our solicitor said they are sending someone round to his address to see if they can take a look at the van.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Presumably the insurance settlement for if you want to keep the car, has had the car's value as a write off (352 pounds) deducted. I assume this would be the figure the insurance company would receive if they sold the remains of the car on.

[Red Yaris 54]

We have told the insurers we want to keep the car, they have said if we do that the compensation will go down to £1,748. Is this normal practice and if so would it be worth trying to get it repaired or just take the bigger sum of money and hope to find a decent replacement? The other driver is being difficult, in that he's not answering his phone etc, our solicitor said they are sending someone round to his address to see if they can take a look at the van.

If it is in the hands of your insurers then they will initiate all contact with the other driver through their own legal department .....There should be no need for your solicitor to get involved as his could complicate things and delay settlement of your claim. Your insurers will deal directly with the other drivers insurers......Leave it to them

[TDR35]

Cheers for the advice guys. Its been decided to take the money and run!! The clutch was possibly needing to be replaced which would have cost quite a bit so we're now looking for something else. My brother has suggested a Mazda 2, must admit they do look quite sporty.

[TDR35]

A quick update, with Christmas getting in the way things have been extra slow but finally the car was taken away yesterday and today we received the cheque for compensation. Also we may get a bit back from three months tax and something from my mother's injury. Now to find another car...

[Red Yaris 54]

A quick update, with Christmas getting in the way things have been extra slow but finally the car was taken away yesterday and today we received the cheque for compensation. Also we may get a bit back from three months tax and something from my mother's injury. Now to find another car...

Your Mothers injury???

Your previous posts have not mentioned any injury........In fact your first post said that she was alright = No injury

Have you been talking to your friendly solicitor again?

Sounds like a bit of blame culture ambulance chasing compensation creeping in here :(

Does not look too good!

[TDR35]

A quick update, with Christmas getting in the way things have been extra slow but finally the car was taken away yesterday and today we received the cheque for compensation. Also we may get a bit back from three months tax and something from my mother's injury. Now to find another car...

Your Mothers injury???

Your previous posts have not mentioned any injury........In fact your first post said that she was alright = No injury

Have you been talking to your friendly solicitor again?

Sounds like a bit of blame culture ambulance chasing compensation creeping in here :(

Does not look too good!

Yes, I did say that she was alright, but she did get a bit of bruising to the chest where the steering wheel hit her. I believe it was the insurers who suggested she may be able to claim, as we didnt give that a thought. Seeing as it was entirely the other drivers fault and we have been inconvenienced by having no vehicle (didnt get the courtesy car) and ultimately losing the Yaris which was a lovely little runaround, I think she/we are entitled to get as much back as possible. No doubt the young chap that caused this has been driving around like nothings happened (as is always the way!) In other news I have seen a similar Yaris, more milage and more money but hope to have a look at it tomorrow.

[MikeSh]

You've been done by your insurers I think. If it was the other driver's fault you should have had a replacement loan/hire car at his (insurers) expense until the claim was settled. It's not a 'courtesy', it's reasonable damages/compensation.

[TDR35]

Good news, have got a new Yaris! Viewed and test drove it yesterday with my boyfriend who gave it a thorough check over being an experienced mechanic, hope to pick it up next weekend. Similar to previous but newer, more features, bit more power and bright red!!

[Red Yaris 54]

Good news, have got a new Yaris! Viewed and test drove it yesterday with my boyfriend who gave it a thorough check over being an experienced mechanic, hope to pick it up next weekend. Similar to previous but newer, more features, bit more power and bright red!!

Good colour! ;) :)