Another Broken up car??

[Dave Wortley]

Martin,
I agree with you. The insurance company “expert “ obviously knows very little about our cars. What a sad and needless way that this car’s been removed from existence after a life of 84 years. I hope by some means this body is fitted to another chassis and ends up back on the road.
Dave.

[David.H]

Were this a modern car with similar damage, it would undoubtedly be a write-off.  However, this car would appear to have become a total loss because the insurance company didn't understand what they were dealing with.

The sad thing is that anyone who knows anything about Austin Sevens would recognise that while the damage to the bodywork may look grim, it is not safety-critical.   As long as the chassis hadn't been distorted, repairs would be quite simple and would certainly cost far less than the value of the car.  Frustratingly, I actually have the secondhand panels to do the job if the originals were beyond straightening. 

This would make me think very seriously about the implications of making a claim for "mid range" accidental damage to any of my cars.

Many insurers give the option of the owner retaining the "salvage" for (usually) a fairly nominal sum, but I suppose it then depends on the "category" , but if the chassis is not distorted, I think you could make a case for , what?, Cat B
An expert will know I am sure.
David

[Hedd Jones]

Dont worry. Insurance experts know nothing about modern cars either.

I had a radio stolen out of a Pug 106 once. And it wouldnt start after.

I suspected wiring damage so got the insurance company involved. The clown they sent toldme it wouldnt start because the cambelt was broken. 

I took the oil filler cap off and showed him that the cam was turning with the starter.

His boss wasnt best pleased when I rang the insurance company and suggested that their man was incompetent. 

Needless to say the car was repaired. They had damaged the wiring to the immobiliser.

[Zetomagneto]

Dont worry. Insurance experts know nothing about modern cars either.

I had a radio stolen out of a Pug 106 once. And it wouldnt start after.

I suspected wiring damage so got the insurance company involved. The clown they sent toldme it wouldnt start because the cambelt was broken. 

I took the oil filler cap off and showed him that the cam was turning with the starter.

His boss wasnt best pleased when I rang the insurance company and suggested that their man was incompetent. 

Needless to say the car was repaired. They had damaged the wiring to the immobiliser.

Hedd, most Insurance Engineers are well qualified, the trouble is insurance companies being such cheapscates instead of sending a qualified engineer, they will send someone from one of their approved Bodyshops who is trained to repair bodywork and knows little about electrics or mechanical components

---

Martin,
I agree with you. The insurance company “expert “ obviously knows very little about our cars. What a sad and needless way that this car’s been removed from existence after a life of 84 years. I hope by some means this body is fitted to another chassis and ends up back on the road.
Dave.

Dave,it is not so much that insurance engineers know very little about vintage cars, indeed many of them own classic and vintage cars.What you must remember is that insurers are not your friends, they are a business, they are a supplier,we are customers.When a claim is submitted the insurer looks at the most cost effective way of dealing with the claim.If it is cheaper to write it off than to repair this is what they will do.
Say a car would cost £5000 to repair,it is worth say £7000 a layman would think that's a repairable vehicle it would be £2000 cheaper to repair it.Hang on, the damaged car still has a value, many insurers have a contract with salvage yards to buy damaged cars for up to 40% of their market value.
The claim cost then becomes £4200, not £5000 so a saving of £800 on just one claim.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

All the more reason to remember that RH Insurance comes with salvage rights and agreed value - the above does not apply to them.

The Association is working closely with RH to provide these (and many other) excellent benefits to owners who belong to member clubs - I advocate supporting them and not dumping them in the same boat as the general insurance firm.

[Zetomagneto]

All the more reason to remember that RH Insurance comes with salvage rights and agreed value - the above does not apply to them.

The Association is working closely with RH to provide these (and many other) excellent benefits to owners who belong to member clubs - I advocate supporting them and not dumping them in the same boat as the general insurance firm.

Hi Ruairidh, you are spot on, and state the very reason my little collection are with RH.
If you have agreed value policy there is no wrangling over value, if I am reading my policy correctly,in the event of a total loss I keep the salvage free of charge.
All the best
Gene

[Ruairidh Dunford]

That is correct.

My own experience of using them for nearly 30 years now is that they are, by far, the fairest insurance company I have ever dealt with.

Their charges represent extraordinarily good value.