Hi all,
I'm in a bit of a pickle and wanted to get some advice / info.
Me: Third party insurance. Car value = approx $10-12k (I know I should have full insurance but was charged a fortune due to my age so dropped this down after 2 years - talk about timing). Parked car hit - bumper, taillight smashed. Two alloy wheels damaged as impact pushed my car towards the kerb.
Other driver: No insurance. Age 60+ with history of hearth condition. Had been working in the sun that day and was dizzy but decided to drive home anyways. Was taken to hospital as he blacked out - couldn't remember whether this was before or due to the crash. Witness says he drove into my car without braking at all, so probably the former. He contacted me as soon as he got out of hospital - said he'd pay for damages + excess if charged by insurance.
Under my 3rd party cover, insurance is willing to pay up to $4k in damages providing other party admits liability - which he did when they called him. We've had 4 quotes now all about $7k. No chassis damage reported but seems that because they're all panelbeaters and a chunk of my bumper is missing (stuck on the other car), it would be loads of work to "build" a new one.
I enquired myself to see how much a new oem bumper + taillight would cost = $2200. Add some panel beating, fitting and painting cost, I would have thought it'd land around the $4k mark, however insurance usually likes to go via way of panelbeaters so they probably will just write it off imo. Still waiting for them to contact me though.
How does the write off work? $4k is not even worth half my car but because I'm only 3rd party I can't get anymore + have heard people say they were only paid x even though their car was insured for x due to market value. Since you don't get to declare the value of your car on 3rd party, anyone know how they'd decide how much to pay out?
Others told me insurance will ask wreckers how much the metal is worth but those places give next to nothing for the metal (which is what I assume I'd get paid) then sell all the parts separate for profit, so could I strip the car and give them just the metal?
What options do I have here? Do I have any grounds to ask the person to pay the rest of the car value? How could we decide a fair value? If they were to write off my vehicle, will the other driver get billed the $4k (or however much) they pay me?
I do feel bad for him but at the same time, I'm now technically out about $6k (assuming they pay me full $4k) / a car as it isn't legally driveable. It's such a hassle (for everyone involved I know) as I'm now borrowing the car from my dad if he's home or getting a lift from my friend to get to work, run errands etc.
Police suggested I take him to Disputes as there's no way to guarantee he pays + he's only been in NZ for 3 months and I don't wanna be stuck with a big bill if he goes back home - I don't know if there's another way around this? He has been very co-operative so far although he thought it'd cost max $2k to fix, + if I go disputes police mentioned he may be charged with careless driving....