Possible car write off

[lil4civ]

Just has a car accident yesterday, driver of other car smashed me from behind. My car is valued at $12500 and the damage to my back bumper and boot are pretty bad. Is it possible that they will write off my car as i heard its hard to repair damages to the boot. I'm insured with AAMI and if they do write off my car, would that give me time to take all my modifieds off? such as mp3, amps, neons, mags, etc? or is it best that i take everything off before i go get it accessed by them.
I'll try get some pictures up for the damage soon.

[Nismo3oi]

should take all ur mods off

[defect]

yes, better to take everything out.
usually when your not at fault, they give you the option of taking your car back

[Dy_]

x3 take it all out dude

[EZZY]

it is impossible to tell you if AAMI will write off your car or not without seeing the pix of the damage......

there must be a certain amount of damage before an insurance writes off a car (percentage compared to the total amount insured)

[lil4civ]

Would the insurance company wonder or ask about where the mod's have gone? or would they not pay out if its a write off and i've taken all the mod's out?

I'm not sure just heard that its too much work on fixing the damage to the rear especially when the boot is pushed in.

[traumatized]

it really depends how you have insured your car, from what you are saying the car is valued at $12500 including all mods.

if you start taking the parts off prior to the getting the inspection they may void your policy as they may consider you have been lying about what you have on your car.

i guess i need to ask whether you have comprehensive insurance or third part insurance?

as if you have comprehensive then a aami accessor will come out to view the car in which case you should not remove any parts because they will take pictures of the damage to your car and if they notice anything missing or that is difference from your policy they may screw you over on it and void it.

if you are on third party insurance then the other parties insurance company will organise an accessor in which case you can remove parts and so forth, they then will generally ask how much you would want for the car if you were to sell it prior to the accident.

keep in mind the pay out that they give is generally the market value of the car.

[Zilli]

You can take all the mods/accessories off if you want, but if you have noted them on your policy, and the car is deemed a total loss, then they will ask you where all the extras are gone. The reason why they do this is because generally, these extras will add to your sum insured, which is what they will pay you out.

Just a side note, if you haven't noted some of your mods or accessories, i would certainly get rid of them before you go to get it assessed. It is extremely rare that assessors will give you issues on mods and the resulting coverage as a result, but its better to be safe than sorry.

Hope this helps answer your question...

[lil4civ]

Thanks guys. Yeah i have comprehensive insurance and all the mods are listed on the policy and are what i want to take back and keep. Things such as sound system and mags which i just got 2 weeks ago. These things are all on my policy but the thing is when i notified them of the mag wheels, they didn't increase the agreed value of my car, which isn't really fair if they take it away because its written off.

I was going to take my sound system out and put the original stuff back in and also i'm actually going to get quotes myself from my usual panel beater first before i go to the accessment center.

I have a civic 99 sedan and its in really good shape thats why i feel that if they only pay me $12500 and they take all my mods as well, their just ripping me off and all of my mods i got as gifts and wouldn't want to give it away.

[EZZY]

dont think you'd be able to "go to" your preferred panel shop with AAMI....

[Zilli]

you can if you ask for a "driveway" assessment. This requires you to get a quote for at least one AAMI recommended repairer (leaving one from your own place) Go tto the AAMI guy first, get the quote from them, then take it to your own repairer explaining that you want them to get the job and they will usually undercut the few bucks it'll take to get the job.

[lil4civ]

Yeah, I've been through this accident stuff with AAMI before. They let you get the quotes yourself. One has to be a recommend AAMI repairer and another quote either with AAMI or just a random repairer.
The people that I want to get it done with are AAMI repairers so I think they should be able to get something worked out.
Just worried bout my mods.

[Autobitz]

Zilli has it wired.You did the right thing LIL to have the mods on your policy.Dont worry about the mags though as long as they were noted then its ok.Remember that if they are going to repair it then they have to buy any new wheels needed and if they cant then they either have to reimburse you the cost or supply 4 new wheels of a similar style and price.If you went for market value instead of agreed value remember that if they come back to you with a written off $$ figure you dont have to accept that offer.They must be able to offer you the amount you need to replace the vehicle written off with similar condition and kms.I have seen people negotiate back and forward a couple of times to get better amounts.It does depend on the insurance company though.keep ot friendly and they might give you back the wreck to pull out all your cool bits......

[Fo55il]

talkin from experience -
i was allowed to take out what ever i wanted from the car .
BUT
what ever was covered by insurance needed to be in there, so i just simply replaced all the parts wid shit ones.

example:
headunit - Mp3 Jvc blah blah, took it otu n put in a shit box head unit ...

be friendly n they might just let you replace good stuff with shit ...

[lil4civ]

Cool thanks for all your help.

[mr_spook]

Man.. I hate people who tailgate and end up hitting the arses of other cars. I mean, insured or not, or whether it's my fault or not, my DC5R is priceless to me. There is no way I can replace it with one newer than mine - I mean I haven't seen an example for sale in Artic Blue 04 with less than 50,000 kms on the clock.

That, and I bought the DC5R mostly for the looks, and to be honest with you, I don't like any other Honda better than the DC5 in looks (except the NSX). I wouldn't be happy with an S replacement either (or any color other than Artic Blue).

So I can undertand how you feel when you say, you hope ur car doesn't get written off. Sometimes, our cars are irreplaceable. For me, I couldn't possibly replace the DC5 with any other Honda.

[lil4civ]

yeah my car isn't all that done up but its my first car so its priceless to me.
I was actually stopped at a red light and can see in the rear view mirror that the lady was taking off too fast. I can see the accident happening, but couldn't do anything to avoid. Her car was a Ford Territory so didn't do much damage to her car but when i saw my car i was cut.

I look after my car really good and it pisses me off that my car de-values cause of accidents caused by others.

I'm glad now as the panel beater said it won't be written off, but still not gona have my car for awhile is a pain.

Thanks for everyones help. It won't be written off this time but might be next time as some people just don't car about other peoples cars.

[akira]

In terms of car valuation for a write off. whatever is stated in your policy regarding modifications must be on the car for it to be valued at that price. Any modifications listed in the policy that is not on the car will be deducted from the total value stated...One more thing, I'm not sure how old you are but drivers less than 25 i think are only allowed to have one modification done to their car. Any more than that, will breach the policy and in turn, they may not pay up or repair your car...so be careful!

The damage must be over 70-75% of the value of the car for it to be declared as a write off. I got this from AAMI insurance

I know from experience that your first car is priceless but if you think about it...if you car is damage pretty badly, having it repaired and not get a write off does not fix your problem in the future. If you plan to sell your car, it would be harder to get rid off because of the accident history. seller's may contact vicroads and ask for the accident history and if they find out that the damage is considerably high, they might have second thoughts buying it therefore you will lose a potential buyer.

Hope it helps and good luck!

[lil4civ]

One thing i don't understand is, if the accident isn't your fault, why do they have to make things so hard? making you get quotes and then accessing it again at the assessment centre and then choose the quote that has a total value less than the other. Its stupid especially when the person at fault is insured with another company. Its not like my insurance company will loss any money as the other company will have to pay for the damages.

[akira]

The thing is lil...because your car has nothing to do with the oppositions insurance...your insurance is responsible for the repair of your vehicle. Therefore it is a good thing for you to choose your repairer cos you want your vehicle to be repaired under a trusted garage. In terms of your insurer choosing your repairer is to make sure that your trusted repairer does not 'jibb' AAMI off even though the opposition is the one paying for your damage.

[Glitta]

If your mods are all listed on your insurance policy and they write the vehicle off you do have the option of buying it back, once you do that you can then take all your mods off either sell the car damaged (with rego) you will get alot more for it. Or cancel the rego and strip it selling in bits you will definately make your money back.

Good luck with whatever they decide to do and for your sake I hope they write it off :)

[lil4civ]

:) yeah had 3 accidents so far. 1 each year. all other peoples fault. but yeah the panel beater said theres no way they will write off my car.
So i'm getting it fixed with some extra's added onto it. Lips.. finally

I'm gona talk to the insurance company after the cars fix and see if they can do a insurance policy to my liking. Something like if the accident is not my fault and the car becomes a write off, then I'm able to take all my mods back, but if the accident is really bad and its my fault then they can take my mods or i have to buy back the mods if i want them. Does anyone know if thats possible??

Oh would you know how much you can get (%) if they write it off but you decide to keep it?

[Glitta]

:) yeah had 3 accidents so far. 1 each year. all other peoples fault. but yeah the panel beater said theres no way they will write off my car.
So i'm getting it fixed with some extra's added onto it. Lips.. finally

I'm gona talk to the insurance company after the cars fix and see if they can do a insurance policy to my liking. Something like if the accident is not my fault and the car becomes a write off, then I'm able to take all my mods back, but if the accident is really bad and its my fault then they can take my mods or i have to buy back the mods if i want them. Does anyone know if thats possible??

Oh would you know how much you can get (%) if they write it off but you decide to keep it?

If they write it off then they will deceide what the car is worth after the accident that's the value that they will ask you to pay although don't always take their first offer as they are negotiable just talk to your case manager as it costs them money to transfer to auction and sell there so if you try to drop them a little they will usually still accept your offer.

It just depends on the car and what damage there is to the vehicle. Say your agreed value or market value is 12,000 and the damage is going to cost more then say 70% of the total to fix naturally they are going to write it off so then they would say the value - quote = what the car is worth now that's pretty much how they work it out with write offs.