The bin men dented my wheel arch whilst my car was parked outside my house and they have admitted blame. My 2004 TT roadster which does have other minor damage has now been deemed a right off cat N by Sedgwick who acts on behalf of serco. My car only has 55972 miles on the clock. It’s completely driveable. They have offered me £1800 to write it off or £1620 as a settlement to keep my car?? What should I do and should I accept there first offer ?? As they are acting on behalf of the bin company who have admitted liability? Any advice who be appreciated

Hi, If I'm reading this correctly & otherwise it was a good TT, If it was mine I'd accept the £1620 & get it repaired to my satisfaction even if it cost a little more. It probably won't.
Hoggy

If it happened to be my car , I’d pay to get that dint repaired and not claim on insurance, if you accept either offer it’s going to forever be on the insurance register as a write-off.
Perhaps fine if you’re keeping the car forever, but having that marker on the cars history could cause hassle come resale time .....
If you do take the £1620 and keep the car , you could easily get it repaired , but just be aware it’ll be worth buttons should you come to sell it .

As you’re not at fault you can push for the 3rd party insurance to repair it and not write it off.

If you’re happy to write it off don’t accept first offer - I’d be looking at similar aged TT’s and higher priced ones to push up the payout

silverbug wrote:If it happened to be my car , I’d pay to get that dint repaired and not claim on insurance, if you accept either offer it’s going to forever be on the insurance register as a write-off.
Perhaps fine if you’re keeping the car forever, but having that marker on the cars history could cause hassle come resale time .....

Hi, Would it still be classed as a write off if £1620 was accepted??
If it was mine it would never be sold so a write off wouldn't be a concern, otherwise don't claim & pay to get it repaired.
What else are you going to get for £1800.
2nd thoughts it is Silver & not Red so perhaps I wouldn't bother.
Hoggy.

A front wing on eBay in good condition is under £150 and silver (LY7W which I think your is?) is a very common colour. Removing wings is not that hard, apparently. link.

I’d take the money and replace it myself (I’ve done my front bumper after an unfortunate badger incident). Going to be way cheaper than a new wing and re-spray.

Edit: But as others have said I’d make absolutely sure it won’t get classed as a writeoff before accepting any offer (hence why I fixed my badger issue myself).

I was always told to never accept the first offer refuse and chances are they will come back with a better offer also look for similar TTs with similar mileage to back up your case

I agree too that you should never accept the first offer .
I think a payment of £1620 to keep the car is rather generous , many people wouldn’t bother to repair it , but I’m sure it would then be recorded as a write-off.
I suspect the trouble is that since the vehicle was a bin lorry ,it has to go through insurance .
If it had been a private individual , I’d have asked for a cash settlement and just bought/fitted a new or secondhand wing.

Hoggy wrote:
Hi, Would it still be classed as a write off if £1620 was accepted??

Hoggy.

I think it would Hoggy .

Is it just a wing? Maybe find similar cars if they are more than 1800 then show them the ads.

Is it a 180?

As Hoggy asked, I think it's classed as cat D if you buy it back. Although, I thought they changed some of the displayed details of wrote offs

I wouldn't except their first offer, go back to them and ask them to revise their offer to pay you out and you keep the car. My guess is you will get 1800 to 2k. It wasn't your fault. You can always throw in the line you are happy to get a financial ombudsman involved, which they won't want, it will most likely cost them more.
Once you get an offer your happy with get it fixed yourself and pocket the remainder.
Any future financial loss for your car being registered cat n will be more than covered by the extra cash you pocket from the deal.
It's an 04 mk1, it's never going to be worth a fortune, any one looking to buy it in the future won't give a hoot if its cat n or not, if its repaired professionally to a good standard.

Cat n means it's suffered accidental damage but not structural

Insurers always ask if a car has been written off.
I wouldn’t touch a written off/repaired car with a bargepole, simply for the hassle it causes .

If they can hold off classing it as a writeoff I'd accept the 1620. Then post in the facebook TT group / marketplace that you offer 200 for a pristine silver wing delivered and you will have loads of offers getting a part to your door. Maybe add one wheel as I see it may have been scratched.

Otherwise don't accept first offer and ask for more if its going to be classed as writeoff and keep it. Even in the UK, no £1000 TTs are to be found, prices have gone up in the last year.

Take the £1620 and repair it (probably less than £500), leaves you £1120. You won't lose £1120 off the future resale value especially if you plan on keeping it a few year and putting more miles on it.
Better still as mentioned, refuse the first offer and be even more quids in.

Hoggy wrote:Hi, If I'm reading this correctly & otherwise it was a good TT, If it was mine I'd accept the £1620 & get it repaired to my satisfaction even if it cost a little more. It probably won't.
Hoggy

As you know hoggy from my previous questions..I do have electronic problems after paying for a new ECU!! I think I will except £1620 but it feels like I’m selling my child after 16yrs