When the insurance company has rejected a repair on a vehicle, it usually means that they have decided the repair bill is too high and the car's market value is too low. This usually happens because of damage that is too far gone to be fixed in any cost-effective way.

Weighing up the costs

This decision typically occurs when a mechanic or body shop has deemed that there isn’t enough value left to make repairing your car worth their time and money. If you have been given this diagnosis, it means that whatever damage was done to your car is likely beyond economical repair, which means it is usually best to accept a recommendation for the proper disposal methods for your vehicle.

As mentioned, an insurance company will only pay out if they deem whatever damages were done were not caused by either intentional neglect or theft. Sometimes this is could due to negligence on the part of manufacturers who made faulty parts that caused accidents, other times this can happen because of poor maintenance practices by drivers or even accidents with another driver. Regardless of what caused these damages though, they must be serious enough that they cannot be fixed cheaply enough so as not to cost more than what an insurance company would pay out if they decided upon total loss replacement instead.

Why might my car be rejected for repair?

There are a number of reasons why your car would be rejected for repair. If the cost of repairing a vehicle would exceed its value, then it might be written off by an insurer. This is known as 'rejected repair', and it's usually due to the following:

• The vehicle no longer being roadworthy (as defined by DVLA)

• The vehicle is not safe to drive

• The vehicle not being economically viable to repair (i.e., if you were going to spend £10k on repairs but only £3k on buying another car, that wouldn't make sense.)

Do I have to keep paying my insurance?

The action taken with salvage cars depends on who owns the vehicle and what caused it to be written off. For example, if the driver was responsible for the incident that made their car a write-off, they'll have to keep paying for insurance and road tax until the vehicle is disposed of.

On the other hand, if a third party was at fault for causing an accident that resulted in your car becoming salvageable, then you may receive compensation from them. In this case, your insurance company will claim back what's left of their costs from whoever was responsible for damaging your vehicle (and any associated expenses) and then give you whatever remains after they've paid out all its bills - including any outstanding finance agreements or loans on your car.

For more information on what to do if your repair has been rejected, contact Motorwise today.