Buy your car? Insurance Salvage

[Benz Dr.]

After my car was hit two weeks ago the insurance company told me it was a complete write off. They wanted to tow it away to a place to do an appraisal which I refused to agree to, so I likely won't see anything. I said they could appraise it at my place because once it was towed away I would never see it again. They won't let me buy my own car back citing liability reasons. I told them they could brand it but they still want my car.
This is a 1989 300SE sedan so it's not worth that much but it has a lot of new parts in it because it was my work horse and I kept it running properly. Insurance will give you about 1,500 dollars for what they would call basic transportation. I could part out over 4K from this car so I'm not inclinded to give it away.

I asked about my 230SL and I was told that they would tow it away if it was totalled and then it would be sold at auction. I said that I had the wrong insurance -  it's under a regular plan.

My question is, will your insurance company let you buy your car back after a total write off?

[Cees Klumper]

I stopped carrying comprehensive coverage on all my cars many years ago. I only have liability. So if it's stolen or totaled, it's my loss. I have saved many thousands in premiums over the years.

[iftykhan]

I have an agreed value policy which allows me to keep "salvage" in the event of a total loss but I will check again.
Probably needs reviewing every year in light of rate of increase in value.

Nice 600 by the way Dr B.

Ifty

[mdsalemi]

Dan,

I have Hagerty Insurance for the Pagoda, agreed-value.  They specifically plan for a collector to "buy back" the total loss, and provide for this eventuality. If you have a Pagoda valued at $70,000 (agreed value), and it is a "total loss" (which is some formula based on the cost to repair), they give you $70K less deductible and take the car away. You can buy it back for the salvage value; so if the wreck is deemed (my guess is from their adjusters) to be worth $7,500, then they'll add this to the deductible, subtract both from the agreed value, and write you the check.

BTW, for many years we did not own any other car other than the Mercedes; our daily drivers were management lease vehicles only. A letter from the HR department along with paperwork indicating the cars assigned sufficed to convince Hagerty that it is OK to write collector car insurance for me even when we don't own other cars or have other auto insurance.  There are exceptions to the rule that Alfred pointed out. I will say that Hagerty was the only collector car specialty firm that would make this happen; the others couldn't wrap their heads around the concept. Being a Michigan-based company they were familiar with management lease vehicles and a collector car in the garage.

[franjo_66]

Hi Dan

I have a policy with Shannons (here in Australia) that caters specifically for car enthusiasts. One of the best features is that I am able to keep the car (salvage) in the event that it is written off. They also allow you to take your car to repairer of choice in case of damage. Great piece of mnind when it comes to my 230SL

Hope it all works out for you somehow

Best Regards
Franjo

[69280sl]

My experience with a daily driver Hyundai Santa Fe which my wife totaled was that the wreck was put up for internet bids and I had the option to buy it for the high bid. Seems fair but I would bet they don't have many takers except for special interest cars.

Gus

[Garry]

I am the same as Frango, also have Shannons insurance here in Australia with an agreed price and the right to buy back in the event of write off.  Which reminds me I need to up its value now that I have done heaps of work in the engine bay.

Garry

[Bonnyboy]

I just checked with our Insurance Corporation of BC (Britishcolumbia Canada only) and for collectors vehicles, as long as the vehicle wasn't burnt or dumped in the ocean, the owner is given first right of refusal to purchase - the insurer may scrap the VIN so that it can't come back as a vehicle but the rest is offered to the owner first at what they consider market value - bit of wriggle room there.

[pj]

Are you allowed to remove parts off the car before they take it away from you? You could always say they fell off in the collision. . .

[georgem]

I`m with Shannons - luckily. About 3 years ago our car lost an argument with an electricity pole and was written off - the repair quote was well in excess of my insurance - and within a week I had the money and the wreck. No questions asked and a lot of commiserations from the company for our sad loss. GARY - check your policy - there is no buy back of the wreck - its yours. The only deduction from the payout was the excess. The icing on the cake was that as we had been with them for so long (at least 4 cars previously) we kept our no claim bonus

I project managed the repair and did the majority of stripping and assembly myself. I would have had it back on the road for the insurance payout if the repair hadn`t turned into a restore - its called project creep.

Sorry if the above sounds like an add for Shannons but I couldn`t ask for better service.

[Garry]

I have five cars insured with Shannons and was on the phone to them today to discuss a value for the Pagoda.  Sent them some photos of exterior, interior and engine bay and some costs and we have agreed on a value of $125k AUD at this point pending the installation of the new leather seating and interior.  They have confirmed that in the event of a write=off, the remains are mine to keep if I wish without any payment being deducted from the full payout amount.

When I dropped the hard top on my 280SL some years ago they paid out for total fix-up without question hence all my cars are with them both old and new.

Garry

[Benz Dr.]

This is why I was so pissed with my insurance company:

I was hit from behind so it wasn't my fault. They wanted to tow my car away and then they would appraise the damages. I was offered a loaner while I looked for a new car or 35 dollars a day - I took the 35 per day. I told them to appraise my car at my place which they refused to do. Apparently, they wanted to take my car so it could be branded irrepairable so there would be no liability on thier part because the car would never see the road again.
I didn't have collision on this car so I wasn't even making a claim.  This made no difference to them and they still wanted my car before they would pay me. I told them to brand the car and they still said no.  Then they told me to remove what I wanted from my car and they would take the rest. This sounds like a good deal but I'm not ready to part the car out. This takes time to do and my hoist is tied up.

I asked about collector insurance for my 230SL and was told there would be driving restrictions and a maximum of 5,000KM per year. If the car got totaled they would take the car.  I don't think so.........

So in the end, they cancelled my insurance,  I kept my car, I saw no pay out for damages, won't see anything for a loaner car, and everyone should be happy, right?

 

[Cees Klumper]

Hey Dan - if you were hit from behind and it was the other driver's fault, why were you even dealing with your own insurance company instead of the other driver's? Maybe that's how it works in Canada, but over here the party at fault has their insurance company take care of both vehicles. Water under the bridge now I take it, but it certainly don't sound fair.

[Flyair]

Cees,

Same here. Generally, for a car with comprehensive cover, in the case of total damage resulting from another party, my insurer would definitely seek compensation from the other insurer. Then, if mine wanted nor to insure the car following totalling, they would cancel the insurance, but only after the claim is fully paid for. Now, that's theory and I didn't check it in real... yet...



 

[pj]

Hi Cees, Stan, everyone.
Ontario has what is called "no fault" insurance. Supposedly it has been demonstrated that this system has lower costs overall than a system that makes the at-fault driver pay for damage to both vehicles. I guess it removes the incentive for unscrupulous drivers to "arrange" a collision in their favour. Fault for the collision does get assigned, but is used only by the insurance company to assess future risk of that driver. I had 3 (thankfully, minor) non-fault collisions a while back and my insurance took care of my car (this was before I got the Pagoda) each time. What I learned then is that fault is (usually?) assigned according to a strict protocol. A collision from behind is (almost always?) 100% the fault of the driver behind. Of course, in Dan's case, he also hit the car in front of him, so I don't know how that is judged. I think there's a website somewhere (but I can't find it right now) that lists every conceivable arrangement in a collision, with fault specified for each.

[Benz Dr.]

Good question Peter. I my case I was not at fault for hitting the guy in front of me because I wasn't moving at the time. It's not uncommon to be moving slowly in city traffic and this where it can get you. If you get hit while moving and hit the car in front of you, you were following too closely. Depending on the damage and speed there is a graduated scale of blame. If anything, the girl walking down the side walk should have been charged with something for walking out in front of a car exiting a roadway.  She stepped right out in front of the guy in front of me, which caused him to have to come to a complete stop, which made me have to do the same thing. She was wearing head phones listening to rap no doubt. She was long gone by the time I got back to the accident scene. 

[Flyair]

Dan,
You have provided some important clues. If the guy in front of you came to a complete stop that means that the girl was worth doing it.

Sadly for you the girl wasn't ugly enough otherwise that driver might have considered other options.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Dan,

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Main thing is you are okay. A similar acident happend to me to one of my former ///M3's I was stoped at a traffic light and when it turned green I started to move wanted to turn right. At this moment a lady (she was texting and paying no attention whatsoever) stepped into the street. I naturally stopped. A van behind me hit my rear bumper. Turned out the fellow was 84 years old and a Veteran. Damage to my rear bumper was very minor we estimated below $1,000- (photo below does not show much damage behind the bumper is a different story).

Long story short, since he was 84 I feared his insurance would give him a hard time or he may even loose his licence, so we agreed to handle this without the insurance companies. The end result was the repair added up to $3,400- once the bumper was removed it became evident that the frame holding the bumper was cracked and needed to be replaced as well. Guess who was left holding the bag … you got it.

Lesson learned … always go to the Police Reporting Centre and let the Insurance Company handle it.

Stan,

I've seen some wild videos from Russia where drivers mow down people in traffic. I hope they do drive different in Poland, I am planning a trip with my Brother in Law to his place of birth next year among other places.