Dealing with ICBC (Write off or Repair?)

[a.kozak]

Hey Everyone,

This is my first time posting on Revscene. I'm active on a lot of other car/motorcycle forums but I'm hoping you guys can help me out here. Today I was involved in a car crash in Clayton Heights, Surrey. Heres a quick summary of what happened.

I was going north bound down 192nd and as I was approaching the intersection of 72nd, a driver waiting to turn left decided to go right as I entered the intersection resulting into me crashing into him. Mainly drivers side front corner of my car went into his drivers side front end. Four of my airbags deployed and my front ends pretty banged up. I purchased the car just over a year ago and I'm worried that ICBC might try and repair it rather than write it off. That would be a nightmare for me because I don't want to loose a lot of resale value on the car...

Have any of you guys dealt with ICBC regarding similar situations? Any tips you can give me before dealing with them? My girlfriend and I both have injuries from the accident but nothing too serious thankfully. I will be contacting a lawyer who previously represented me in the morning to see if he can help me out too. I have multiple witnesses and contact numbers of people who saw everything and they all confirmed that it was 100% the other guys fault including the driver behind the guy who took the left into my line of direction.

My car is the red 2012 Chevrolet Cruze LT RS. Here are some pictures of both my car and the guy I hit after the accident. Personal opinions on whether you think my car will be a write off or not will be much appreciated!

Thanks a lot everyone in advance for the help!

[inv4zn]

Since, they're the same car, are you the red Cruze or the white one?

Just from looking, the red looks repairable - white one looks like a write off...but that's my uneducated guesstimate.

It's good to hear you're alright.

[donjalapeno]

^ looks like the red one is his since its a RS model.


From my understanding if the airbags go off then its a high possibility that the car will be written off. The same thing happened to a couple of friends of mine with cars around the same year and value and damage as yours.

[a.kozak]

Ah my apologies for not mentioning that. My cars the red one.. Thanks for your input inv4zn. Dang I really hope that the final outcome doesnt result in repairing the car..

[a.kozak]

Thanks WolfGang! Man I really hope thats how it works out for me too. I know that the airbags raise the repair costs up quite a bit so fingers crossed!

[jpark]

the red one is definitely a write off

[a.kozak]

Good to hear jpark. Hope it comes to that. Thanks!

[dn53]

Looks like a write off to me also. $$$ that the air bags went off.

[meme405]

They are almost certainly both writeoffs.

The used market for those vehicles are so bad that the cars become like disposable razors in ICBC's eyes.

[v_tec]

Hope you and your girlfriend's recovering alright!

[a.kozak]

Thats awesome news meme405! Wasnt aware of that. Thanks for the input dn53 im hoping those airbags will confirm a write off! I appreciate your comment v__tec thanks a ton! We're both taking it easy. We'll see how our bodies feel tomorrow morning.

[Kaolinite]

hope youre alright! I got into the same kind of accident in 2010 and broke my right leg fib/tib =\

[a.kozak]

Dang thats crazy Kaolinite! Hope you made a full recovery from those injuries!

[Nvasion]

red looks gone to me... dash air bag went of.. apron damage and rad support prob needs to be replaced. hope you are ok OP

[dared3vil0]

Just curious; what's ICBC saying regarding fault?


Anyway, both cars look totalled in my opinion.

[thumper]

hm.

what was the the replacement cost of your car? icbc also looks at the percentage of the cost to repair against the replacement value of the car. a base model like that white service loaner may have been very cheap to begin with vs. your model which could be a fully loaded premium model that is more expensive, even though the damaged parts are the same between both cars.

do you have limited depreciation coverage? that may force icbc to use only new OEM parts which can significantly push up the repair cost and work in your favor. if not, icbc could try to use used or non-OEM jobber parts instead to be cheap.

i see a hazmat spill under your car. was it coolant or oil? if oil a damaged engine can also be a potential writeoff factor.

[Traverse]

Its going to be hard for anyone here to give you an accurate answer. Last year my uncles mazda pick-up was rear ended by a f350 and was launched into the car infront of him. there was ~$10k damage to a truck he paid ~12k the year before and they wouldn't right it off. no matter what he said they wanted to fix it.

[kunoman1]

Ask xxsupa about ICBC write offs, his Chrysler sebring was in so many 5000-10000 dollar accidents (I think the count was 4?) and ICBC refused to write it off. So as much as I want to say no worries it looks bad enough to write off, you never know. Good luck and recover soon eh

[white rocket]

Once the body shop has had a look at it you can try to push them for a write-off if it's close to the threshold that ICBC allows. I think it's 80% of current market value.

Do you have new vehicle replacement coverage or limited depreciation coverage?

ninja edit: just read that 4 airbags deployed in your car. That should write the car off.

[Overseas Auto1]

I think you need to get your numbers together in case they write the car off. See what the cars are selling for both privately and at the dealers. Same model etc. You do not want them to rip you off. You need to have paper on this.

I am able to see cars at ICBC salvage and there are cars with less damage as yours that are written off.

[a.kozak]

Wow, thanks a ton for all the replies everyone!

Regarding your question dared3vil0, I haven't spoken with ICBC or made a claim yet. I talked to my lawyer this morning on the phone and he advised me to come in first thing tomorrow morning and he will represent me and do all that. As soon as I hear more from ICBC I will make updates.

Thumper, I do not believe I have limited depreciation coverage but I'll double check. I couldn't get out of the car in time before they put down the hazmat but I did see some coolant dripping down on to it before leaving.

Overseas Auto 1 thanks for the advice! I'll definitely put together some numbers on the going rate for my vehicle on the used and new market and print out all of that incase it becomes an argument.

[tofu1413]

looks like both are write offs.

after the cost of labor and parts.. itll easily be a good portion of what the car is worth.

I am skeptical ICBC will grant repair for both units.

Glad everyone is okay though. Really shows how strong modern cars are nowadays in crashes.

[EvoFire]

If you have new car insurance(limited depreciation, gap insurance, whatever they call it) there's a high chance they will write it off.

Happened to my dad's Genesis coupe when he was sandwiched between two cars. They were going to fix it, but we negotiated a writeoff instead. ICBC generally will listen to what you have to say, if your adjuster is good, will try to accomodate your wishes.

[xXSupa]

Both look like write offs to me.

As Kuno mentioned, my Sebring was never written off because it was a convertible, so it held more value than a regular sedan. And although it was involved in 2 serious accidents ($10,000+ each), the airbags never deployed. If the airbags deployed, there is a much greater chance that it will get written off.

Edit: After searching up the market value of 2012 Chevrolet Cruzes, both are definitely write offs. Repair cost for both cars will be $10,000+ FOR SURE, likely more. After accounting for salvage value, ICBC should save money by writing it off.

Even if they don't end up writing it off, I'm sure you can discuss the situation with them and ask them to write it off for a lesser value. Re-selling that car in the future is going to be impossible if it gets repaired.

[a.kozak]

Great to hear that most of the replies to this thread are leaning towards a write off for both vehicles! Thanks for the info EvoFire and xXsupa. Thats good to know that ICBC is negotiable and willing to consider any requests I have regarding writing off the vehicle if it makes sense value wise.

I met with my lawyer this morning and he called in my claim sometime in the afternoon. He is certain that ICBC will be quick with letting me know whether the cars a write off or not so ill update everyone on the final verdict within the next few days (Monday at the latest).

Big thanks to everyone here who replied to my thread! I learnt a lot of useful information and it definitely put me more at ease to have some hope of a possible write off just on your opinions. Revscenes a great community! Ill definitely continue to post on this forum and become an active member.