Right, no beating around the bush i just totalled my altezza : ( id like to say it was doing some hero spec drifting or someone's fault but literally just hit ice on a dual carriageway and the back overtook the front before I even knew what was going on. Car is totalled and im in A+E now car has been recovered. Do I legally have to go through insurance? Or can I just recover it to mine and break it for parts? ive never claimed before so don't know how it works, but thinking if I do claim and they paid me out a few grand, getting insurance again will probably be impossible next year as they'll prob up my premium more than they pay out no? thoughts?
And can I claim for my injuries even if the accident was my fault? Don't want to be one of these people that claim for nothing but I'm pretty beat up and won't be working for a while
And can you claim against the council? As it was a dual carriageway that should of been gritted and was doing the speed limit etc - - - Updated - - - Nah had to tell the police as there was bits of car everywhere, road was closed and I was interviewed etc. they were cool though
Hmmm I would imagine you could claim against the council, a major road like that should be up to sufficient standard for use.
Claiming against the council won't work in my eyes, did you have winter tyres all round for instance? They can quite easily say if you didn't for instance. "sorry sir but your vehicle was not fitted with appropriate tyres for the road conditions / time of year" Don't forget thousands of people crash over winter on ice/snow and I've never once heard of a council being claimed against. There's far too many get out clauses. For instance what's the proof of you obeying the speed limit? Do you have gps recorded speed? Was you in an average speed camera zone? Did any other cars crash? As again. It will be a case of them saying it wasn't road conditions due to over drivers successfully and safely completing their journey. As for injuries afaik (my Mrs works in insurance) you can't claim for your own injuries as there is no one to claim against other than yourself) To me it's a case of suck it up and get on with it, you're going to have to notify your insurance if there is any damage to highway/public property. As in signs, roads, barriers etc.
I am assuming you damaged barriers etc? Usually the council will claim for the repair and cleanup of the road so a claim may go through anyway even if you don't claim but maybe worth checking with the highways agency if they will be claiming and then decide. And as mentioned above you can't claim injuries as the driver, passengers can.
did the police recover your car? im guessing you have a traders policy? my traders policy went from £850 to £2500 when I ran into the back of someone who only got paid out like £700 for his car. personally I would take the damage to the car on the chin and wait to see if the council/police bill you for destroying the road/wasting their time. then see how much they try to rape you for and decide if you want an outstanding claim against you. your insurer will take previous claim amounts into consideration when quoting you for the next few years as they assess how much of a liability you are. I did a stint working in insurance so know a small amount. do you not have health care?
They will claim off your insurance anyway i hit a solid concrete wall in an mr2 in the same circumstances, the wall was all i hit as it was 4 am and there was no damage anywhere else yet they claimed for damaged barriers, so either way your no claims is gone! If your pretty fucked i'd claim what ever you can, do you have employment insurance? I did and i claimed on that too so again thats another option if you have it. The chances are your insurance will go up but hopefully not too much, mine only went up by a few hundred at renewal as i phoned around and got lucky with it.
called it in this afternoon after they let me out of hospital. Im fine, just mega whiplash. Was just worried as never claimed before in my life so no idea how it all works. Would of much rather just got it towed back to my place and broken it for parts as i imagine i could of still sold the engine and box for a fair bit but as the police had to attend etc might as well do it legit. So theyre going to send someone to access the damage. I can say 1000 percent its a write off as took one serious smash. Have told them i want to buy it back, so i guess theyll make me an offer with that in mind. Going to be a struggle no doubt as theres very very few manual RS200 altezzas for sale. Im not going to be one of these greedy fuckers but want to get enough back to buy another one! Even just enough to buy a shit auto one, buy back mine and drop the manual conversion in. As for injuries, not eligible to claim as it was my fault, they confirmed that. Sadly got no health insurance as due to my line of work no fucker will insure me so just going to have to spend a few days on the couch and not working. Pride that hurts more than anything. Ive been driving rwd/drifting for ten years. Tons of drift days, skid pan training, evasive and pursuit driving yadda yadda yadda and manage to bin it in a straight line on a bit of pissy ice. Take note people. Only takes a second of something you cant predict to catch you out and fuck up your day....
Hope you're OK, first and foremost! Once you claim on the insurance the car is effectively owned by the insurance company dude, they then assess it/decide what happens. No doubt it will get written off. But you could, if you wanted, buy it back.
If you're not going to claim, you don't need to tell them. Just take it on the chin if you don't want to screw up your insurance. My Ducati got stolen while on holiday, got it back though with some minor damage. Told the insurance I won't be claiming and they've closed the matter, no claims still intact and still insured with them to ride the bike. Bike thieves on the other hand WILL get a visit
if you do claim then dont accept the first offer, keep talking them up and getting them to up the price then find other good examples worth alot ( one on piston heads at 3.5k) and email them to the insurance and make sure you get what its worth
Same thing with my insurance. I held out for a fair while on valuations and supplied loads of evidence to prove the value of the altezza (£7800 of parts) I just got two cheques totalling about £3500 that I have accepted as I can buy another altezza and transfer the bits over. I didn't want to be one of the people claiming for injury but as I wasn't at fault and I ended up missing work and needing physio I sort of had to just so I didn't end up out of pocket.
Sorry to hear Jack. Hope you get back to fighting fit soon.. Good luck with this insurance stuff, from experience I have had nothing but hassle trying to sort this sorta stuff out after a smash :/ Just be on your guard, as they will try screw ya for it like Admiral and Sky did to me.
I know how you feel - I'm currently recovering from a similar situation, only I went down an embankment rolled over and hit a tree with the roof of my car. Completely totalled the car and shit loads of pain, but not able to claim for any of my injuries (just lucky to still be alive as the roof was pushed down past the rear headrests).
Just had a look at the wreckage. 100 percent cat b write off so won't be allowed to buy it back. Insurance so far have been good. I've been very specific and told them not to waste anyone's time finding automatic examples of my car etc for valuation and that It has to be a manual rs200 altezza and nothing else! I'm not out to take the piss but want a sensible ammount back to buy another one
