I'll give you some back ground information.
I have a 1998 SW11 Avenir CD20ET diesel.
Its fully speced like a petrol model not a base model at all.
238,000ks.
Car has a brand new WOF (this was checked and issued 3 hours after accident) Thats how little damage there was.
Well about 3 weeks ago i was heading to work and a dog ran out in front of me and stood in my lane in a 100km/h zone, I managed to slow to about 60km/h before i hit the dog. I pulled to the side of the road and got out to move the dog off the road so no one else would hit it.
In the process it latched onto my arm and bit me badly, (invision blood pulsing from my arm) (i don't blame the dog at all for this given the situation)
The farmers who owned the dog and were in there milking shed patched me up so i could drive my self to the hospital.
The car suffered paint damage and a cracked bumper and a damaged AC condenser. I decided seeing as i had full cover for $3000 that i would claim as i really like AC i didn't really care about the bumper etc.
My work does AC as one of its main specialties, So i priced it up and gave the quote to the panel beaters i was also working in conjunction with.
They quoted up there side and it was all handed in. I was told the claim was excepted by the ladies at the insurance brokers and the panel beater said to me that when i get all the parts let them know as we may as well work together so the bumper doesn't have to go on and off twice.
Total cost of repairs came to $2200, The reason for this is the AC condenser has to come from Japan as its a little different to other W11s, And also the panel beaters were not sure that another W11 bumper and grill would fit a SW11 so they priced that up ex Japan as well.
So after being told all was excepted i ordered the AC condenser. Now this was at cost to me of $680+gst +freight from Auckland. Non Returnable.
As of Thursday i found that the insurance company has decided to get my car valued. So a man from a local car dealer came down to pick it up to do the valuation, That day i did not have my car at work so i said id bring it over tomorrow, He then went back to his dealer ship and did the valuation anyway and valued it at $1000
I'll add at this point the car is in tidy condition. A couple of members have seen the car and will attest to its not a rust bucket piece of shit, But it isn't a show car either.
I was pretty dam pissed cos now it means my car is getting written off and i'll receive a pay out of $1000, But keep in mind i now have a $680+gst AC condenser on its way from Japan i have to pay for and can not return.
I have managed to take a whole lot of photos and have the car valued by City Nissan at $3000 but apparently i need to supply more valuations at my own cost and they will take an average.
I'll add in now as well that i also have to pay my excess as even though the farmer has admitted owner ship of the dog and contacted his insurance company etc, Because the dog wasn't chasing my car the owner is not liable for its actions,
So lets do some maths.
If i claim i get paid out $1000 - $250 excess. And i get to pay for and own a AC condenser that i'll have no use for. And my car will be taken away deregistered and parted or crushed.
If i with draw my claim i'll loose the ability to insure my car as apparently its only worth $1000 so i can not get full insurance.
I'll also have to pay for the repairs myself which if i do the labor myself will add to approx $900. Im beginning to loose site of the point of why i have been paying full cover premiums for the last couple years.
I still need to try get 1 more valuation but im trying to see if i can get someone to do it for free so this process doesn't loose me any more money.
If the cost of repairs exceeds 75% of the cars value the car will be written off.
So im at the stage now where im hoping i can with drawn the part of the claim where the panel beaters repair my bumper and grill etc and i just get the AC done. That way im not the one paying 700 odd dollars. If im allowed to resubmit the quote ill remove labor content and do the work myself and the boss at work said he would help for free,
I want to make this clear, I am not trying rip off my insurance company. I just don't want my car written off as its a good car and i will struggle to replace it with anything similar for under $5000 (closest i can find to it would be a Caldina Diesel Wagon and there is only a couple of those on trademe either older or have much higher KS and there prices are high).
I also don't want to be labored with the bill of the AC condenser i can not return.
Remember it has a brand new WOF same day as accident thats how tidy and functional it still is.
If anyone has any ideas on either avenues i can take or anyone who would be able to do a free evaluation for me from photos and info (this is all insurance requires) (other yard that valued it at $1000 have never even laid eyes on it).
Insurance company is NZI and its through a broker
Brett
