I was hit on the passenger side this morning, by a drunk driver . damage to the is to the offside rear quarter panel and office rear wheel pushed forward. (suspension arm axle, rear wishbone damage ). I am insured with direct line who tell me the cars a write off. and they need to collect the car to settle the claim. Do I have a right to claim the salvage ?

I would be asking them directly is the obvious route. Some Coopsters have this claim built into their insurance.

You should be able to buy it back, I'd be asking that tomorrow first thing.

Sorry to hear your news.

Good luck with sorting it out

Paul

If an assessor has looked at it they would give a value for the salvage. So you should get a settlement less the salvage value. That way they save money on transport costs and admin.
It's still your property so they can't remove it without your agreement. Bad luck but at least no one's hurt I hope.

not many mainstream insurance policies offer salvage rights, on the basis that most people wouldn't want their car back if it's written off. However, many of the specialist policies will offer it, due to the nature of the cars.

My question is - why would you want it back? That damage sounds like it is pretty terminal for the car - you'll probably find there's far more damage underneath - bent rear subframe, crumpled floorpan - all sorts of problems. However, if you have various mods (and they are declared), I could understand why you might want it back.

I suspect if you're insured with Direct Line, it's a bog-standard policy and you're going to get "market value", which will be a pittance. Note that you don't have to accept their first offer, which will probably be based on the cheapest Coupe they can find in the classifieds. You need to be ready with a selection of adverts for similarly-specc'd cars so that you can counter their low-ball offer.

Was the drunk-driver insured? If so, have you considered claiming directly from their insurance? You might even get a hire car until the claim is settled. This tends to focus the other insurer's mind, as hire car costs can mount up very quickly, so they'll be keen to settle ASAP.

When I was hit by a lorry (no doubt about liability just like you) in my wee Honda Beat Aviva paid out a very high amount (the cheap Honda Beat on eBay had sold days before - relief! The expensive one they based the value on not unsurprisingly was unsold), knowing they'd be getting every penny back from the other insurer. They also let me keep the car but as they'd paid out so much for it I paid relatively more than it was worth. I was very surprised at how well a large company dealt with an obscure car.

Sorry to hear about the accident to you car.

I hope their was no-one injured.

I believe insurers tend to use Parkers as their go to initial word on valuation- then a surveyor to eye the car and try and bring the price they will offer you (its never what you insure it for unless you have agreed the valuation) down.

Parks is suggesting £4.5k at the moment. Obviously, your car may have superior spec/mileage/condition etc to warrant more.

https://www.parkers.co.uk/fiat/coupe/search-results/?_qs=TigoQ2xhc3NpZmljYXRpb25zLCdDb3VwZScpKQ--


I know I could not replace my car for that. Due to the cars rarity nowadays its really important to get an agreed value in my view- in case the worse happens.

Not sure how much that valuation would get you in repairing yours. Its sounds like its beyond that.

Hope this sad story has a good outcome!

Regards

Thanks for all the advice every bit has helped

I spoke to direct line and reported the accident but. When it came to discussion ok the car I all honestly I got a bit stressed so said I will call back

Another thing to remember is the value you've been offered, have you agreed their first offer?

I'm not sure about the legality of the situation but my company wouldn't allow me to buy back my GTV when it was written off by floodwater, something about it never being safe after the water damage. However as Joe says don't accept their initial offer, I queried my mine (nicely!) and they came back with an offer over £1k more than I'd paid for it and above the agreed value.

Cheers

Joe not agreed anything with them not called them back yet ..

I am so upset I spent so much time getting the car

I intend to call them tomorrow.

Any update with the insurers?