A friend of mine has just has his Ford Puma written off by the other parties insurance company, he's being paid out and has been offered the car back for £88!! Thing is its only the passenger door that needs replacing, everything else is spot on, he's spent loads of money replacing all bushes, brakes, suspension etc and its only done 64k so drives like new. They quoted for brand new door, whole side to be painted etc... Thing is its been classed as a Cat C. How does he go about getting a VIC check done or what does he need to do to make it road legal?

Cheers!

 

repair it and send for vic check

 

you need to take the car to a vosa centre for a vic check (vehicle identity check)
then they will issue you a new V5 then you can re mot the car job jobbed

steve

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...cle/DG_4022107

scrool down to
Applying for a VIC

 

ok cool so fairly straight forward, is it just like an in depth MOT?

 

Has it actually got to have a VIC check done as not all cars need it..

 

Its more of a check to make sure its not a ringer

 

The vic is nothing like an mot, just simply an ID check.

 

ah ok, how will he know if he needs a VIC check? He was only told this morning that they are writing it off, complete joke as its a lovely clean car!

 

Link to my cat c focus project.


https://passionford.com/forum/restor...-comp-ths.html


Might help.

 

just ask the DVLA if the car has a vic marker.

 

Err... Can he not tell them he does not accept the car being written off and he wants it repairing? The insurer is obliged to return you to the same state you were in prior to the accident. They usually declare things a write off as it's easier for them to do so than to have the repairs done and they know that most of the time they can make a pathetic payout and people will just take it as they think they can't do anything else

Had a few rows with insurance companies. Stand your ground and fight your corner and you will get what you want if you're realistic.

My mum had a 50k mile XR2i which a spotty student ran into the back of. Insurer declared it a write off.I dug my heels in and after a few weeks arguing I sourced a 2nd hand bumper which they reimbursed me for and this was then painted at a Ford body shop. There original payout offer was £300 but they ended up paying not much more to have the car sorted properly.

 

I did say that to him but they have quoted £1600 for repairs which exceeds the value of the car? They have said similar cars are £900 on autotrader but offered him £1100... thankfully never been in this situation so not sure what he can do about it?

 

In this case I would be happy that its being written off. Second hand door and a bit of paint sorted and he should walk away with a fair bit of cash in his pocket.

 

Discuss with the insurer and say you are willing to accept a good 2nd hand door and want the car repairing. Go through all the adverts you can and forward them to the insurer stating how they differ, are lesser than your vehicle.

My first offer against my white 2i was 500, after a couple of months arguing I got over 2k from them

 

Go to another repair centre for a quote, offer a used door if it gets price down then submit the quote. You don't have to go with the first quote. At least then it won't be written off. Or just take it on the chin and get it repaired vic checked etc, then pocket the profit knowing that you will get less come sale time. On a car worth that sort of money it shouldn't make a lot of difference, just take a few pics before during and after repair. This will help come resale time

 

Someone crunched my drivers wing on my old s reg st24 last year. His insurance dealt with the lot and I had a newly painted wing, new drivers side shocker, new bottom arm and rack end. They even put two new front tyres on because I was running about for 2-3 weeks while they dealt with it and the damage prematurely wore a tyre down. Thought it was a write-off. They paid £1428 to repair the damage!

 

The repair cost qouted will be based on a brand new door, labour and spraying, then doubled by the repair shop because its an insurance company so repair shops have to overinflate the cost as often they dont get paid properly by insurance companies.

Hence the laughable £1600.

Its even worse on rare cars such as a racing puma, as the parts arent available new in many cases so they try and write them off due to non-availability of parts.

 

you dont even need to repair it unless its got sharp edges or the door doesnt open or hinders the glass

mot it, vic check it and drive it

it it will pass an mot its road legal and they just spend 5 mins looking at the floor number and vintag to make sure its not a dinger on the crashed cars plates, they coudlnt care less if its got a dent or looks ugly

 

Take the money, repair ir, get it VIC checked and job done......Time to sell you will ony get half what its worth but youve all ready had the car price anyway....Cant lose

 

This happened to me recently, some bint bent the front of my E46.

Insurance said the repair was 109% of the car's value (using their bodyshop, brand new BMW bits etc). So they Cat C'd it and paid me out.

I kept the car, and got £4kish paid out, spent £1k repairing it and its better now than it was before the incident!

In the paperwork I got for keeping the car they just said I'd have to get a VIC check done before I sell it (as they wont issue a new keeping a V5 until its had one)....sounds a peice of cake and will get around to it soon!

 

Well i saw the car tonight and feel quite sorry for him, the door even closes and shuts ok, its not that bad!! He's spoken to Vosa and it will need a VIC check as his insurance company won't cover him if he doesnt do it. Anyway he's accepted the £1100 and a cheque is in the post, he's buying it back for £88.00, i've sourced him a door supplied and fitted for £90 all in and he's wants me to wrap it (wanted this done anyway). He's chosen matt white (same as my merc) and is going to get black wheels. He's aware that the value is almost nothing now its a cat c but he'll just run it into the ground!

 

get the vic check and a new mot if he crashs again will be as per the first accident value even if not repaired
1st cosworth i owned was rear ended i mot is to get it back fully com before the repair was done another person hit it got paid full value 2x !as i was fuly comp because the mot test !

 

lol blimey thats worth taking into consideration!!

 

What possible difference does it make to Mot it again or not?nothing!!!get the VIC done and straight back on the road,your fully comp insured if your fully comp,re-moting it makes no difference at all,it's an insurance company recommendation,not law.

Also forget this it's only worth 50% in a crash shit after being cat c,the drop is more like 10-15% as remember ins companies signed up to all this VIC shit as well.

Get in it and drive it with 1100 in his pocket,what a result!!!

 

Tbh at the price range of the car it won't matter if it's a cat c or not.

My mums past few cars have been cat c write off's and we have done the before and after photo's, shown them the buyer when it came to selling and none were bothered. If the car is in real good condition and you can see in the photos the damage wasn't too bad then it shouldn't ever matter.

Gavin.

 

Some insurance companies insist that the car is re-MOTd after Cat C repairs before they will reinstate cover. Mine tried to Cat C my 4be, complete with a VIC check and new MOT. I had it re-assessed at my insistence and they removed the Cat C and VIC markers as well. As I had already started repairing the car after buying back the salvage, they settled for a £1300 in lieu payment to cover my repair costs. The first assessor valued the car at £720, the second one said £4000. They will always try to get away with the minimum settlement they can get away with, works for them most of the time because people don't tend to argue.

 

You many have problems taxing the car without a VIC check, have had that recently. VIC checks cost 46quid and there is one at chelmsford and one at Purfleet (but that was closing not sure when)

When a car is wrote off it is meant to invalidate the MOT but in my experince never had that issue, 88quid isnt a bad price at all, as has been said before just get it vic'd and use it as is for the time being

 

He has been told its got to be MOTd again (I presume to make sure its roadworthy after the accident). I think he's got it booked in to be VIC checked at Chelmsford next week, his insurance is up for renewal next week anyway so at least he can tell the current company to go do one if needbe!! Bit of a pain but at least he's got £1100 in the bin and the car still. As said its not worth a lot anyway so worth breaking for parts when he comes to sell it, sure the engine will be worth a few hundred squid, then wheels and weigh it in!

 

Car needs re mot'ing when recorded as cat c.

I insured mine first
Mot'd it
Vic checked it
Tax'd it
When taxing it at local dvla office also had to apply for the V5.


As for a cat c recorded car being worth 50% or less of it's value than a non recorded car.
B*llocks.

Every cat c I've bought and sold I've never struggled to sell and have always got strong money for.
Cat c don't means it's f*cked lol.

 

Any car that is written off must be mot'd prior to it going back on the road regardless of what cat it is issued.

a VIC check is a Vehicle Identity Checker not an MOT in anyway at all.

A insurance company will obtain a quote to repair a vehicle using NEW manufacters parts where available. they can not fit/quote used parts as this is not putting you back into the postion you were in prior to the incident. it also makes warranty issues very difficult to deal with as they can't warrant used parts.

Anyone that thinks a repairer DOUBLES there costs because it's an insurance compnay footing the bill is sadly mistaken!! if some of you knew what insurance companys pay per hour you'd be surprised!! it's nothing near what you pay for mechanical repairs per hour!!

Average garage labour rate is £80-£90 per hour, average bodyshop insurance labour rate £26ph!!

With the implintaion of Thatchams Escribe repair methods and ATA VDA qualification it removes the chances of vehicles being repaired incorrectly, coupled with manufactors raising parts prices through the roof as well as crippling oil prices putting paint costs up repairing a vehicle is becoming a joke.

for instance how much do you think it costs to put a pair of rear doors on a 07 plated transit these days? nearly £1900 plus vat!!! and that was before they put the cost of the doors up again!!

I authorise over £1.5m of repairs a year and have noticed it, Trust me it's going to get worse!!!

the best bet is just to except the pay out and bang a 2nd hand door on it, VIC and MOT and drive it till it dies

 

As above really. I got a signum for £600 which needed a wing, bumper and headlight and a repair to the bonnet. I'm getting the Vic check done tomorrow but I've already mot'd it so I can tax it straight after the Vic check.

A question I do have though is do I need to take any paperwork with me to the Vic check ? The parts to repair it came off Ebay but I picked it all up so don't have a receipt.

 

When you book a vic check they send you a list of what docs are needed.
If you vic check it before a mot it needs to be trailered there.
If it's mot'd and insured it can be driven to a pre booked vic check.

 

Correct make it full value again !

 

it doesn't even have to have been repaired as long as it's safe.

i did one years ago on a 106 quicksilver which a vitara had reversed into. popped the bonnet, pulled the slam panel up, chucked a headlamp in. mot'd it and then to the VIC check. went straight through with the bonnet still dented and bumper cracked (taped up)

there not checking to see if it's been repaired correctly they want to check it's still the right vehicle for the ID.

 

seller has both doors, check his other items, and local ish

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Puma-...item3f15e0c956

 

yes many moons a go i bought a mk3 astra 1.6i diamond that had a light tap on the rear corner, boot lid wouldn't shut, removed bumper, light unit and whacked the corner just behind the o/s/r light and the boot opening with a sledge and a block of wood, it came out a treat, used a very long srewdriver to get the kink out of the bump and refitted, didnt need to repaint bumper and just touched up bodywork, it was very hard to see any sign of damage, flew through vic check, fitted some 15" cavailer 1.8i expression alloys that i had hanging about, it looked the dogs doo-daahs

 

Check because my insurance dropped to third party only until it was MoT'd and VIC'd.

They also stated that if it's written off again it will only be worth its Cat C value. Possibly because the crash was my fault?

Yours could well be different though.

 

A lot of wrong info on this thread:
You do NOT ALWAYS have to re-Mot it,I never have
You can retax it with no issues whatsoever at any post office,Dvla office or even online,my mothers corolla has never been vic'd after a crash 5 years ago and is taxed online every year,tax is sent to her no probs,only an issue when you send off for a new logbook.still works on the green slip though.
You don't have to trailer a car for a VIC with no Mot/tax,same rules as an mot.
You shouldn't have to pay a fee for the v5,your VIC cert @ £40 odd includes the price of a new logbook.
In the real world selling write offs can be a pain but some people can overlook it some can't,generally a cat c motor worth say a grand straight would IMO fetch £ 7-750.

AS FOR THE ABOVE BODYSHOP INFO.

Bang on,what a shit game to be in,I quoted at £40 plus twat for ins company repairs and I was told by one prick it was only being paid at £17p/h.
Told him to fuck off,dreamer.
Agreed on £30+vat in the end and he tried to say a full front paint,sides,repairs,refit,cut/polish/clean was 17.2 hrs on a voyager.
Wanker.
He tried to get away with repairing a plastic grille after it had been paint strippered.
We fucked it off then until to be fair the client insisted we repaired it and he eventually agreed to all our terms,stupid prick still wanted copies of invoices,what the fucks that to do with him?
We later found out he gets all his work done through an ex Vauxhall main dealer for £22 p/h!!!
They must be fucking insane,still the staff only make £7-8 an hour doing bodywork.

Glad I'm out of it!!!!

 

Apologies,seems I was wrong regarding the non mot'ed bit,but it doesnt need to be taxed.

Some useful info here:http://m.direct.gov.uk/syndicationCo...14201204270019

You'll see I'm right about the non paying v5 bit,although I must confess the Dvla will take your £25 if you offer it to them,this happenned to me on an astra estate as I didn't know the facts,arseholes!!!