Not economic to repair!

Evening everyone, I need advice following an accident that was not my fault. I have an independent witness who is a DCI so I fully expect to be vindicated as 'not at fault' but no guarantees until the f*t lady sings! My insurance company pointed me to Auxillis, a credit hire company, but I object to their business model as these companies are what's wrong with the motor insurance industry and a primary reason why premiums go up every year. I've reverted back to the insurance company to resolve but they have decided that's it not economic to repair. They've classified as Cat N, no structural damage. I don't have a payout value from them yet I need to maximise the payout. I had the engine completely rebuilt 3 years ago by Hartech. Bills to proove cost as £12k. I've also replaced all bushes (another £2k). Whats value can I expect? How can I maximise the payout? What should I do to suport my high valuation of the value? Should I purchase the car myself, typically 20%-25% of the writeoff value and then sell the engine / gearbox separtely before selling the car to scrap / dismantlers? All thoughts and suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks Shahid

Hi Shahid A few basic things people would need to know before giving you advice would be Year, Model of 996, Mileage, before and after photos etc Personally re price, try to find a few of equivalent condition and spec on all the well known sites and use this as your base line. Buying the car back to sell for spares could be quite profitable if you have the space. Good luck Andy

Hi Shahid I’m sorry that your car has been damaged and has been declared Category N. in support of your claim for the pre accident market value of your car, gather together as many current adverts for cars with as near as possible identical specification to yours. Unfortunately the fact that it has an engine rebuilt by Hartech probably won’t make much difference to the value insurers place on it because to them it will simply be a an engine. I doubt if they will recognise the relevance of a Hartech rebuild in the way us in the know do. Especially when one owns a Porsche that for whatever reason has a justifiable value higher than the average market value I would always have a formal valuation such as that provided by PCGB club office and only insure the car on an agreed value basis with the likes of Lockton Performance i certainly agree with your opinion regarding credit hire companies. Their use does cost insurance companies a great deal. I hope you achieve a settlement that is fair. Regards Roger

When my Boxster was T-boned, my insurance company, Admiral, referred the claim to Auxillis but like you, I quickly chose to stop any dealings with them - all they wanted to do was maximise the profits for their partner companies while minimising the value of my car so I resumed dealings with Admiral who weren't much better. Everything changed when the 3rd party admitted 100% responsibility and his own company, LV, contacted me suggesting I deal directly with them which, against the advice of Admiral (I now know why...) I chose to do. They very quickly agreed to pay me exactly what I valued my car at because they knew they would save a small fortune in total costs if the profiteers weren't involved. Good luck with your claim!

I forgot to mention, the car was written off (it doesn't take much on an old 986) and the salvage bought by my Porsche indie who repaired it

Thanks for the guidance Andy. I've started looking but only found 2 that are 996 53 plate, tip, cab and the spec. It's not a great spec but what I wanted. Keep looking I suppose.

Yes, thouht about Lockton last time but they were 3x price of Admiral so I'm probably paying the price now!

Cheers Chris. I've actually contacted the other partys' underwriter to explain that I wanted it resolved quickly and also I didn't want to use Auxillis becuase I don't like their practices. Turns out he agreed with me on that but he also told me that the other party belives I'm at fault, even though he knows there is an independent witness who categorically sated he would go to court to identify him as at fault. He was a young lad so I suppose he's been advised to contest it!