Postby davelowe » Fri Dec 17, 2010 10:34 pm
Insurers write off cars according to the level of damage. There are categories from 'It will buff up' to 'never allowed back on the road'.
The photo isn't too clear. Parts of the structure are designed to crumple - that is why there is a 10mm gap between the radiator sub-frame and the rest of the car for example. When these areas are inspected and a reduced gap found, but no touching metal, you might get a 'pass'. Other aspects used to be how out of shape the car is when measured in a jig. The aluminium front bar is for pedestrian safety, but given that it is snapped straight through, you may be into a grey area.
Obviously there is an economic angle. To sort that out (at an approved garage) may cost more than it the car is worth - particularly when you take into account all the bits of trim.
One outcome is that the insurance company will write the car off as damaged, but not so much that it is banned from the road. You can then buy it back from them for peanuts using your claim money and fix it yourself (cheaply). I wouldn't have thought it was worth doing though.
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