ICBC Write Off / Buy Back / Salvage?

[traum]

Hey folks,

A good friend of mine just got into an accident today. His car is an older vehicle with a number of good mods. The vehicle was in excellent condition (prior to the accident), but now is naturally a somewhat banged up. He is concerned a couple of things, so I am hoping I can tap into our collective wisdom and see what kind of options he has.

- Because of the car's age, his no 1 concern is that ICBC will just choose to write it off instead of getting it repaired. My friend suspects the car is probably repairable as he managed to continue driving home on the car's own power, but he is no bodyman, so ultimately it would probably be the ICBC adjuster's call. He is already aware of the usual methods (photos of the car, ads of similar vehicles, etc.) to provide ICBC with evidence of the condition of the vehicle and hence the hopefully higher market value. But should ICBC determined that it would be cheaper to just write the car off, what sort of recourse can he seek?

I seem to vaguely remember that there is a way for the owner to buy their own crashed vehicle back from ICBC. But how does that work in conjunction with his compensation on the vehicle? And if the car is bought back from ICBC and subsequently repaired, does that mean it is going to get a rebuilt/salvage title?

I also know that in certain cases when the vehicle is written off, ICBC will still allow the owner to remove / retrieve non-integral components off the car. Is anyone familiar with the limitations of how far that can be taken?

Your suggestions and experience on these matters will be very much appreciated.

-Lik

[Derek128]

what car is it?

if ICBC adjuster say its a write off, he can tell the adjuster that he wants to tow the car into a bodyshop & return it back to stock .(Stock or better) Like if the car comes w/ alloy wheels stock, put back the stock one, but not steelies. After getting the car back to stock, tow it back to the ICBC wtever center & let the adjuster do the job.

I have done that, so as Eric.

you can call me for more details

[Chickenman]

One thing to remeber is that the car is still "THE REGISTEREDD OWNERS" car. ICBC cannot lay claim to the car unless the owner signs it over to them.

A good friend of mine spent some time in the hospital after an accident ( Drunk driver ran a red light and T- Boned them ). When he recovered he wanted his car back. ICBC had already sent it out for scrap...... but he never signed away the salvage rights.

When ICBC told him they had scrapped his car ( without his consent ), his reply was: " So you stole my car? . ( Remember that line..it's a REALLY good one ). At that point the adjuster knew ICBC was screwed. ICBC asked him what he wanted for the car and sent him a cheque the next day. No hassle, no arguements, and he got TOP dollar for the car. Nothing outrageous...but what it would cost him in the real world to replace his car in that condition. In other words...about 5 times what ICBC originally offerred him.

[Jaker]

I know this is not a "crashed car" story, but my car was stolen from my driveway a bunch of years ago. It was an older car as you mentioned, but the car was recovered and all that was missing was the wheels and tires and some minor damage from the towing of the car rather than the actual theft. ICBC wanted to write the car off, as the wheels and tires were rather expensive.

The car did have a number of other tasteful mods. When they said "write-off", I said OK, but make sure when you write me my cheque that you include extra for... and I listed off all the mods. They decided to repair the car and replace the wheels and tires.

They wanted to repair the front bumper cover, and paint it with black bumper coater paint. I wasn't crazy about that idea, as all my experiences with body shop repairs of front bumpers always lead to chipping, pealing finishes. I looked at the estimate from the body shop and it said about $280 for the repair. I told the ICBC adjuster that I had just bought that cover from the dealer, brand new for $175. I told him I would buy another, replace the cover myself and submit the receipt. They were OK with that. Just remember, most times they will be reasonable if you make reasonable requests/suggestions.

[traum]

Thank you all for the replies. They're great reminders and things to watch out for.

One question I have about mods is their replacement policy. According to the info I picked up over time from my AutoPlan agent, my understanding was that ICBC usually doesn't care too much about upgrades and mods as long as the dollar amount isn't too big. $1000 - $2000 was the range I have been told. Beyond that, the agent suggests that they should probably be declared to ICBC and have an appraiser asset the value of those upgrades if you want them to be covered under the insurance policy. By doing that though, I think the owner may also be subjected to higher insurance premiums.

But based on Jaker's experience, it seems like ICBC was just perfectly willing to reimburse him for the mods once he provided them with a list (and probably some sort of evidence of the purchase).

Is that what usually happens?

-Lik

[crazycanadian]

Thank you all for the replies. They're great reminders and things to watch out for.

One question I have about mods is their replacement policy. According to the info I picked up over time from my AutoPlan agent, my understanding was that ICBC usually doesn't care too much about upgrades and mods as long as the dollar amount isn't too big. $1000 - $2000 was the range I have been told. Beyond that, the agent suggests that they should probably be declared to ICBC and have an appraiser asset the value of those upgrades if you want them to be covered under the insurance policy. By doing that though, I think the owner may also be subjected to higher insurance premiums.

But based on Jaker's experience, it seems like ICBC was just perfectly willing to reimburse him for the mods once he provided them with a list (and probably some sort of evidence of the purchase).

Is that what usually happens?

-Lik

Its all really up to the adjuster.. Some adjusters can be nice about the matter some wont budge at all... Tell your friend no matter what DO NOT sign and release papers...

As for salvage title and weather it'll be a write off or not it all depends on the damage and one again what the adjuster thinks.. it possible that if the damage isn't structural but it is a write off he may be able to keep the car and they may not de-register it.. if thats the case he wont have to worry about a salvage title..

don't expect icbc to be fair when considering upgrades to the car...

If he wants to take the car somewhere and strip the upgrades out of the car icbc may allow that but he will have to replace everything with stock components..

[frizb]

hey guys
quick question about icbc

my car got nailed in a hit and run last week, and icbc wants to write it off.
i want to get my car back while i negotiate with them about writing it off or not, and taking it to get an estimate done at a repair shop i want, but icbc is threatening me that if i take the car off icbc property, they will deregister it.
can they legally do that?

i havent signed any papers transferring ownership to icbc yet, so legally it's still in my name and i still own it.

any answers would be appreciated!