Insurance companies and writing off old cars advice wanted

[intexasatthe moment]

two questions

background old Ford Focus bought 4 years ago for ?4000 . Accident ( our fault ) ,no visible damage to other vehicle ,Sainsbury's van .

Insurers advise will be written off and offering ?1200 ( seems reasonable amount ) .

Questions

1 I've heard that if repair is to cost more than 25% of car's value then vehicle written off . So would it sometimes be better to not go through insurance and have car repaired privately ? Can one go down the insurance route only to cover costs of other vehicle ? ( I'm assuming it's not done to start suggesting they have private repaira )

2 Our insurance co are now offering a " free " service of finding us a another car - we indicate price range and type . But nothing is free is it ,won't this involve the insuramce co getting a commission and this cost getting passed on to us in the price of the car that's found for us ?

What do people think ?

[ruffers]

You may be able to buy the car back off them to repair yourself. I've done this with bikes in the past and fixed with second hand parts.

[intexasatthe moment]

Any other words of wisdom desr EDefers ?

[bob]

What Ruffers said

Bob S

[malumbu]

Try here - he does insurance jobs and insurance write-offs. And it will also put 'Sun in the Sands' on your map, ie the place that the traffic jams always seem to start on the A2

http://www.192.com/atoz/business/london-se3/car-body-repairers/blackheath-sun-lane-garage/1dbd4cd4929fb9195c18af582a1e38c4fc19ff98/ml/

[intexasatthe moment]

Thanks malumbu .

Funnily enough The Sun in the Sands is already firmly in my mind. Permanently associated with this song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RutgKhY1Gw

because a chappie I used to know knew another chappie ( Datson by surname I think ) who used to visit this pub and sing it .

Strange thing memory .

[Too Good To Be True]

When my car was written off I sold it on ebay for much more than the insurers offered. You'd be amazed how much they can fetch, as long as you describe it accurately.

[DaveR]

1 I've heard that if repair is to cost more than 25% of car's value then vehicle written off . So would it sometimes be better to not go through insurance and have car repaired privately ? Can one go down the insurance route only to cover costs of other vehicle ? ( I'm assuming it's not done to start suggesting they have private repaira )

There's nothing to stop you getting a quote for a repair to your car before deciding whether to make a claim for it.

2 Our insurance co are now offering a " free " service of finding us a another car - we indicate price range and type . But nothing is free is it ,won't this involve the insuramce co getting a commission and this cost getting passed on to us in the price of the car that's found for us ?

You're right that the insurance co. wil somehow be making money out of it, but not necessarily at your expense - it shouldn't be too difficult to check via Autotrader whether any car you are offered appears to be at the right price.