HAIL DAMAGE - does this render a car unroadworthy in VIC?

nothin suss · 29-01-2007, 11:05 PM

Hey Guys/Girls,

Quick question. Im looking at a car on ebay in NSW that has hail damage to the roof. Nothing disgusting, just noticable. Does anyone know the legalites of this for a VIC RWC inspection? (will have to be re-registered in vic if it is purchased)

Thanks for any help.

GlennBA · 29-01-2007, 11:13 PM

I think it'd be only unroadworthy if it broke a light or window etc..

LUXO_8 · 29-01-2007, 11:14 PM

not sure on the RWC point, but a friend bought a late model verada from auction that had been hail damaged, and couldnt full comp insure it...

pretty sure he could only get third party on it

Scott · 29-01-2007, 11:14 PM

Cosmetic dents have zero impact on road worthiness of a car. Basically, if the glass, lights and mirrors are ok, dents made by hail will have no affect on road worthiness.

nothin suss · 29-01-2007, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MADNC_8

not sure on the RWC point, but a friend bought a late model verada from auction that had been hail damaged, and couldnt full comp insure it...

pretty sure he could only get third party on it

You got me thinking now about that insurance thing. They ask if you have any 'unrepaired damage' on the vehicle when you take out a policy hey? Might just give RACV a call tomorrow and quiz them. Thanks

atec77 · 29-01-2007, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nothin suss

Hey Guys/Girls,

Quick question. Im looking at a car on ebay in NSW that has hail damage to the roof. Nothing disgusting, just noticable. Does anyone know the legalites of this for a VIC RWC inspection? (will have to be re-registered in vic if it is purchased)

Thanks for any help.

unless the hail has broken lenses or torn panels which are hazard to pedestrians I doubt it's a problem

LUXO_8 · 29-01-2007, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atec77

unless the hail has broken lenses or torn panels which are hazard to pedestrians I doubt it's a problem

put it this way... say the car currently has hail damage to the roof, enough to write it off..........he buys it and insures it, telling them it is in a good state of repair.....then after a little while makes a claim to repair it and it gets writen off................ you can see that this if fraudulent..... its the reason they have the "is this vehicle in a good state of repair" clause

this is why the guy i know with the verada couldnt full comp the car....

Dave_au · 29-01-2007, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MADNC_8

put it this way... say the car currently has hail damage to the roof, enough to write it off..........he buys it and insures it, telling them it is in a good state of repair.....then after a little while makes a claim to repair it and it gets writen off................ you can see where this is going...

this is why the guy i know with the verada couldnt full comp the car....

Whats more is that insurance companies share information - they probably know one way or another that this car has hail damage. If you insure it for comprehensive then try and make a claim for hail damage then you'll prob get done for fraud with the intention of making a financial advantage.

botch · 29-01-2007, 11:28 PM

two words VINYL ROOF !

FTGAutosalvage · 29-01-2007, 11:31 PM

if this car is listed as a repairable write off then the hail damage would need to be repaired in order to get a VIV report before the car can be registered.

this is to stop people buying hail damaged cars then stealing the same colour & model car and swapping plates over.

nothin suss · 30-01-2007, 09:37 AM

Well just waiting on a few responses from the seller now, as far as it reads its still registered and driving about. I guess it wouldnt take much of a hail storm to dint a Hyundai Accent's roof hey?
As for the vinyl roof!! Could look interesting.

Vehicle has 4 days left so got a bit of time to wait..

danruss · 30-01-2007, 08:45 PM

Gday mate just in regards to your question , all vehicles that have been deemed a repairable write off are listed on all insurance companies database ( i work for a major one )so even if you brought it you wouldnt be able to get comp insurance and most companies wont even offer third party insurance if damage exceeds $ 500.00 . So just ask the seller if has been deemed a write by an insurance company first .... Hope this helps

blackjack · 30-01-2007, 08:52 PM

Form my experience with buying smashed cars from auctions, danruss's advice is something you really need to find out first (not like me who found out the hard way!) if its just cosmetic damage then it won't be a prob for a roady

Cheers
Steve

arm79 · 31-01-2007, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danruss

Gday mate just in regards to your question , all vehicles that have been deemed a repairable write off are listed on all insurance companies database ( i work for a major one )so even if you brought it you wouldnt be able to get comp insurance and most companies wont even offer third party insurance if damage exceeds $ 500.00 . So just ask the seller if has been deemed a write by an insurance company first .... Hope this helps

Then explain how I managed to have a car that was listed as a repairable write off insured with RACV and AAMI for the 6 years that I owned it.

There was never a question as to it being a repairable write off, and when the car was written off last September, AAMI paid out the $12.5k 2 days later without a question.

nothin suss · 31-01-2007, 10:17 AM

Well i have a bit of clarification. Apparantly the vehicle was not a write-off and has been repaired all bar the roof.

Called RACV and they will insure it full comp but at a lower market value and the damage noted down on the policy. Interesting....

Thanks again guys for all your feedback

arm79 · 31-01-2007, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nothin suss

Well i have a bit of clarification. Apparantly the vehicle was not a write-off and has been repaired all bar the roof.

Called RACV and they will insure it full comp but at a lower market value and the damage noted down on the policy. Interesting....

Thanks again guys for all your feedback

If you have the VIN number of the car, you can call Vic Roads or NSW RTA and they can immediately tell you over the phone if it was a repairable write off or not. The seller can tell you anything and hide the fact. If you ring for a financial interest check, neither road authority will give you the write off status unless you ask.

There are a number of dent repairers in Victoria that can report that damage as if it was never there. Might cost a couple of hundred to get done, but in the end you wil have a damage free car an no hassles with a reduced market value. I can recommend one in the western suburbs that did fantastic work with my EL. He's repaired roofs covered in hail damage. The day before my car, he repaired 3 4WD roofs where some morons had run over each roof and left shoe sized dents in the roof.

blackjack · 31-01-2007, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Then explain how I managed to have a car that was listed as a repairable write off insured with RACV and AAMI for the 6 years that I owned it.

There was never a question as to it being a repairable write off, and when the car was written off last September, AAMI paid out the $12.5k 2 days later without a question.

Well I had an experience that danruss is talking about when I tried to get insurance for a repairable write off car through just cars. When they found this out they didn't want to provide any insurance on the car! In the end I went with RACV, which was a spew as they weren't going to insure me for a blower that I wanted to put on the car (and already had!)

So yeah that was my experience

Yaw · 01-02-2007, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nothin suss

Well i have a bit of clarification. Apparantly the vehicle was not a write-off and has been repaired all bar the roof.

Called RACV and they will insure it full comp but at a lower market value and the damage noted down on the policy. Interesting....

Thanks again guys for all your feedback

Be very careful, even with this instance. If you have an accident and they have the damage noted, any repairs on that part of the vehicle will require a contribution from you as the unrepaired damage was not caused by your claim at that time. Also, if your just waiting for the next hail storm to put your car out in, assessors and panel beaters can tell the difference between old and new damage.

Yaw · 01-02-2007, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arm79

Then explain how I managed to have a car that was listed as a repairable write off insured with RACV and AAMI for the 6 years that I owned it.

There was never a question as to it being a repairable write off, and when the car was written off last September, AAMI paid out the $12.5k 2 days later without a question.

Was it repaired properly and sighted or reregistered prior to getting the insurance?
A repairable write off can be repaired and reregistered providing the repairs are correctly attended to. If you made the companies aware of it prior to getting the insurance they usually would want to sight the vehicle to make sure the repairs had been done.

arm79 · 01-02-2007, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yaw

Was it repaired properly and sighted or reregistered prior to getting the insurance?
A repairable write off can be repaired and reregistered providing the repairs are correctly attended to. If you made the companies aware of it prior to getting the insurance they usually would want to sight the vehicle to make sure the repairs had been done.

Yes it was repaired properly... It was registered when I bought it and insured it, and there was never a request to sight the car. It was always insured for market value.

I wasn't the one who repaired the car. I bought it from the person who had it repaired, and at the time of purchase I wasnt aware it was a repairable write off, that came up later. I didn't as the question of Vic Roads when I bought it, and it was never ever questioned by the insurance company, even when I stacked it.

But, I can say that its not worth buying a repairable write off after seeing what happened to the chassis of my car after the stack. I bought the wreck back from auctions to salvage parts.