my nova is no more... what do i do?

[chimp007_uk]

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

on my way back from uni last night, car packed to the top with covers comp nova parts etc, and one rat, had a wee accident on the m4...
was in the 3rd lane, and had a 150yard gap between me and the car infront, it was wet and foggy, doing 70mph. and the car in front started braking, so i slowed to 60mph, then they slammed on their brakes, i braked, wheels locked up, tried to get inot the middle lane no go, brought my foot off the brakes, applied them again, skidded, so ended up ploughing into ford mondeo in front of me... :(
my pride and joy and road rally car is now mangled. some might say it's repairable but i don't have the time...

the problem i face, is that it's obviously my fault, and the mondeo driver (who was with family travelling from cornwall to kent for xmas, i felt so guilty, couldn't even look at them) is going to claim off my insurance but do i claim? it will cost me between ?250 - ?350 in excess, i also had to pay a recovery charge of ?380 to get the car towed home... the car is is/was in good nick other than the paint :roll: so i guess it'll be worth around ?600??? i'm gonna lose my 2years ncb as well. don't know once it's sorted if i'll be able to buy the car back and how much they'll charge me. might take engine brakes etc off before they tow it away. then if i go through insurance, it's going to take ages, and i'm back to uni on jan 8th, so need a new car! ahhhhhhhh.... gay yokies with no grip in the wet and lack of abs :(

do i claim? and then poss buy back?
or
not claim and strip the car myself and reshell it?
or
one of the above and get a new car?

need advice on this one guys!

thanks
chris

[craig green]

Gutted! I lost 7 yrs no claims this year....

I would say dont claim. The car will have usefull bits to use or sell. You wont get naff all for it after excess & I expect your next policy would be horrendous if you did. The recovery cost is a shame but one of them things you cant help but get shafted on.

see what happens over the new year etc re parents offering to buy you a skyline out of sympathy etc & take it from there.

Ive rolled a car & had one stolen & in my experience it isnt worth claiming or informing the insurance about either episode.

[chimp007_uk]

prob is other driver is going to claim off my insurance... so i'll have a claim against me anyway, and still be out of pocket ?390 for the recovery and the value of the car... the recovery cost were going to be ?195 + vat to take me to the garage which was 50miles from home, so got them to tow me how so i could get all my clothes comps etc and rat from the car.

[craig green]

I guess you might aswell go the whole hog & drain the insurance for all its worth..

Asi t is you wont pay any excess, subtract that (?350?) from the payout & I seriously doubt its worth it. Keep what you have & a re-shell is easy enough into a clean/cheap car.

[Jack]

You'll have the claim on your record if the Mondeo guy wants to go through insurance (as you'll claim to cover his costs, less your excess). Whats your insurance cover level? If its not Fully Comp they won't pay anything out to your car, although I'm not sure if this is the case if they write it off - however your excess would cover the price of your car so you wouldn't actually get anything.

Does your insurance not offer accident recovery, or a courtesy car? Might be worth thinking about that in the future, or joining RAC, to avoid having to pay massive recovery charges.

How bad was the damage to the other car? It might work out in your favour to pay for the repairs privately. Short term excessive cost, but saves having higher insurance permiums in the long run.

Bear in mind they'll probably want to look at your car as well, so it might be wise to look for any undeclared mods on it. Not sure if you're allowed to remove anything from the car in case they do write it off, they'll want the whole thing (i.e. including engine and brakes). Oh, and make sure your car is actually roadworthy - tyres, brakes etc - as they'll be quite happy to shaft you for those if either are excessively worn.

[chimp007_uk]

i'm fully comp, just looked up my excess, it's ?220. brakes tyres everything is legal, i did have some undeclared bits, nothing engine wise, but they've been removed, bar the sump guard (which saved my manifold). i have recovery (aa), but the police wouldn't let me call them... they have their own recovery service, and the aa wouldn't recovery me from te garage. i do have a courtesy car, but can't claim for that unless i claim for my car...

i'll pay ?220 excess, then claim back the ?390 recovery and the value of the car and courtesy car...

the mondeo i hit would probably be a write off, boot was mangled and front was where they plowed into the central reservation :(

i really want to keep the engine, brakes etc and reshell them, but the car is going to be a cat b, so wont be able to buy them back.

what do i do? do i have to inform my insurance of the accident even tho i might not claim?

thanks guys.

[chimp007_uk]

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e229/chimp007_uk/DSC06416.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e229/chimp007_uk/DSC06417.jpg

[rc]

holy cr*p (cr@p), it wasn't just a tap was it! i feel ur pain, mine just been written off aswel the same way, although it wernt my fault, i was the 1 that got ploughed up the ar$e!

[Lynsey]

Sorry for you,:( hope all gets sorted :thumb:

[Stoo]

Ouch looks like u were shifting!

[Will F]

looks as if your description wasnt quite accurate!

Looks as if you nailed into him!!

[craig green]

Ouch looks like u were shifting!

He was on the motorway FFS !

Rebuild

[Stoo]

He was on the motorway FFS !

Rebuild

I know tht i can read! No need for the FFS is there!! Tool

if he was on the motorway and it caused that damage he must of been doing 70+ or right up his ****!

Could happen to anyone!!

[Adam]

Sorry to hear about that, Yoko's are quite bad for when driving in the wet.

For 60/70mph that damage doesn't look that bad tbh, front wings etc are basically a piece of tin and fold up quite easily, afterall its a nova which is hardly a good car for crashing in.
It looks to have stood up quite well, definently a write-off, bent chassis leg etc looking at the pics.

[craig green]

I know tht i can read! No need for the FFS is there!! Tool

if he was on the motorway and it caused that damage he must of been doing 70+ or right up his ****!

Could happen to anyone!!

'Looks like you were shifting' is hardly a usefull comment tbh.

What did you expect a scratch on the bonnet?

[Stoo]

It was a comment, not a criticism!!

[chimp007_uk]

i said i was doing 70, and then braked to 60, had the sat nav telling be the speed... i had atleast 100-150yards in front. the guy just slammed on his brakes, and i braked and my car locked up, yokies are ****e. i tried to correct it and duck into the moddle lane but no go so thought i'd plant it in the central reservation but just skidded into the back of them. a mondeo with abs, and a nova with no grip...

[chimp007_uk]

anyone know whether i should actually claim or not? dont really want to the loose the car (parts) found a 1.2 nova as a replacement.

but i cant really afford not to claim, i've lost my no claims bonus as the other car is claiming off me..

[draper]

its atricy one, id say your going to have to caim tbh, his car needs fixing and i guess his is pretty bad aswell

and judging by the fact youve already spoke to your insurance they'll have nboted all your details so you need to declare it come renewal time

as for the aa recovery, the police have to remove you asap from a motorway and the aa could take hours where as police recovery firms have to be there in half an hour

[chimp007_uk]

i havent informed my insurance yet... i spent the afternoon in a and e, getting my neck and chest looked at...

the thing is, even if i dont claim, the other driver will! so i think i have to really... otherwise i lose my no claims, have a wrecked car and a ?390 recovery bill.