Total Loss Salvage Value process

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M_and_B
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Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by M_and_B »

Hi Folks

Unfortunately after a recent accident our 1971 post production convertible is being treated as a total loss.

We have a Footman James policy insured with Ageas and an agreed value of £7,500. The repair estimates were close to that so I was expecting this answer. I was interested in taking the car back and sorting it out ourselves and for this we need to agree a salvage price. To determine this Ageas have taken the car at their agents (where I'm told it will be treated with care) and have advertised for salvage tenders - I'm waiting to hear the result. However, as part of chasing for a response, it emerged that this may be different to their usual process of a sliding scale of the agreed value - which in this case would be 35% or £2,625.

Obviously I'd like the salvage value to be as low as possible, and if getting tenders achieves this fine, but I am interested to see if others have recent experience of the total loss process with Footman James and Ageas for comparison.

Cheers Mike
philthehill
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by philthehill »

What was the write off category?

You may or may not be able to repair and restore dependent upon the category.

See link for details:-

https://www.gov.uk/scrapped-and-written ... -writeoffs

M_and_B
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by M_and_B »

I'm told it is repairable and won't have a category assigned to it.
irmscher
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by irmscher »

I would of thought it would be at least a class C with that amount of damage :o .What damage was done to the car to cost £7500 ??
philthehill
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by philthehill »

Personally I would get the statement that it is not going to be assigned a 'Category' confirmed in writing.
With what has been described so far the vehicle appears to fall into one of the categories listed in the UK Gov link.
Whilst the link covers 'Write Off's' in the true sense of the words it is also a 'Catch All' as regards serious damage to the vehicle.
Last edited by philthehill on Mon Aug 20, 2018 7:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

ManyMinors
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by ManyMinors »

You seem to be suggesting that the insurance company don't wish to give the salvage a write off category in order to obtain the best possible price for the salvage :o Surely the whole point of these categories is that a subsequent owner is made aware of the car's past history. If a Morris Minor requires repairs approaching £7500.00 is must be pretty badly damaged?
M_and_B
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by M_and_B »

Many thanks for the tips chaps.

I certainly would look to get written confirmation and appreciate the comments on write-off categories and insurance companies position.

As for the damage: it's mainly to the front off-side quarter, bent suspension/steering, raised chassis leg(s), front panels and rad, twisted engine mount, buckling of both doors. I've loaded some pics and I was looking at these thinking it doesn't look that bad!

Anyway, more discussions to be had.

Cheers Mike
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amgrave
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by amgrave »

It looks a bit twisted to me, could end up being a big job. The fact it is a convertible does not help as the lack of roof may have allowed the base to twist beyond the engine bulkhead. I hope it is not the case though and it's the pictures telling porkies especially the first one.

philthehill
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by philthehill »

Looking at the pictures I would say and that said from experience that the repairs required are not suitable for the home mechanic.
That does not mean it cannot be repaired but before doing anything it does needs to be checked for overall straightness against the alignment diagram R17 in the BMC Minor wksp manual. Just because it looks ok it does not mean it is ok.
I wish you well in your endeavours as it would be a shame for the car to be declared beyond repair.
Phil

philthehill
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by philthehill »

As an aside but regarding the fire extinguisher shown in the photo above.
Is it installed or has it just been placed there?
The reason I ask is because installing a fire extinguisher under the bonnet is a bad idea as if there is a fire in the engine bay and you lift the bonnet to access the extinguisher the additional inrush of air could fan the flames and the person lifting the bonnet could be enveloped in flames resulting in serious burns.
If the engine is on fire or there is a fire in the engine bay never lift the bonnet as it could make the situation worse - call the fire brigade.
Fit the fire extinguisher where you can easily grab it when exiting the car.
Phil

M_and_B
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by M_and_B »

It's possible the angle in the first pic is exaggerating the lean but that could just be me using rose-tinted specs!

Current thoughts are to have the car back and take it from there. I'd like to do as much as possible on the car but outsource the dimension and, any adjustments thereof, to a moggy restorer. Should anything found lead to it becoming nonviable then the worst case is I recycle the key components (e.g. 1275 engine, midget gearbox, discs) onto our other moggies BUT I hope it doesn't come to that.

Phil: good point on the fire extinguisher. It was fitted there when I got the car. I'd never thought about the point you raised and probably never would until the time it came to use it. It will be moved inside.

Cheers Mike
kevin s
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by kevin s »

If you strip it down many of the smaller independent body shops will put it on a jig and straighten it out they usually work to +/- 1.5 mm tolerance, lets face it it hasn't got to be perfect, when I measured ours the original spring hangers were 5mm different side to side!
busguy
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by busguy »

FYI - RH insurance actually give you the salvage vehicle back FOC if your classic is written off with them. Doesn't help in this case, but if you are unfortunate to have a write off, it sure saves a lot of hassle and heartache.
IaininTenbury
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by IaininTenbury »

I had my van declared a total loss by Footman James several years ago (fairly heavy head on with a Corsa). I was fortunate enough that it was close to home and my wife came out and towed me the 2 miles home on a rope. (It still steered, rolled and braked). When my knee recovered about a week later I moved it to work on a trailer, stood it up on stands and started stripping it down. The insurance assessor agreed that it was a total loss as it wasn't really insured for its proper value (own silly fault!). I managed to put off Footman James who were very keen to have it collected and taken to a 'salvage yard' for assessment and I insisted that I would be retaining the salvage and there was no point in them paying to have it transported to their yard and then back to me! I even blocked it in at work with no wheels on it so it couldn't be moved even if they did send a truck for it. (Having bought vehicles at salvage auctions in the past I wasn't going to let this happen to my van and to honest, hanging on to it was the most stressful part of the whole saga). In the end they agreed a settlement with a very modest salvage value (about £300 I think), paid up and let me get on with rebuilding it.
cheers
Iain
Fairmile Restorations.

'49 MM, '53 convertible, '55 van, and a '64 van.

Marina p.u., '56 Morris Isis Traveller, a '59 Morris JB van, a'66 J4 van, a '54 Land Rover, Land Rover 130, Renault 5, '36Railton, '35 Hudson, a Mk1 Transit and a Sherpa Camper...

A car can be restored at any time, but is only original once!
IaininTenbury
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Re: Total Loss Salvage Value process

Post by IaininTenbury »

Regarding the convertible, I'd recommend as others have done that you strip it down to rolling shell on the front end, pay for it to be checked and straightened on a jig, then rebuild yourself. Seen a similar convertible done last year which had one bent chassis leg (upwards) and the other cracked more than halfway through with the crack covered by underseal! That car had been 'repaired' years ago and it was only general restoration work that uncovered the previous accident history. Rather than pulling and pushing it around, just fitting two new full chassis legs with the correct alignment cured most of its ills and the new front end panels were built onto those...
cheers
Iain
Fairmile Restorations.

'49 MM, '53 convertible, '55 van, and a '64 van.

Marina p.u., '56 Morris Isis Traveller, a '59 Morris JB van, a'66 J4 van, a '54 Land Rover, Land Rover 130, Renault 5, '36Railton, '35 Hudson, a Mk1 Transit and a Sherpa Camper...

A car can be restored at any time, but is only original once!
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