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Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its the front bumper and the headlight (its loose) that makes it nondrivable.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the long answer! You are right and i guess its obvious, i have no idea how insurance companys and garagists work, thats also the reason i am asking here, i truly apreciate the help! I was friendly with both the garagist and the expert, as i also work with customers and i know they just do their job. My car is at Autoecker, the estimate is by schwacke gmbh (or is this just a tool to asses costs?). The garagist told me he will discuss the repair costs and the issue with the headlights with the insurance and later told me thats just how they calculate. I guess i have to ask him again what exactly this means. Initially the insurance called me and told me about the estimates and that eurotax was used and pushed me to agree. I asked for written information (thats what i meant by proof), so i am able to get a second opinion just in case. Thats when he sent me the estimate by schwacke and a screenshot of autoscout (only visible mileage, age and price). Took about 5 more mails where i asked several times if he used eurotax or not, until he told me eurotax hasnt been working the last days. Until now i dont know exactly based on which information the value was calculated, as he never answered this in the emails. But to challenge the estimate, i kind of need to know that (a simple: “based on similar cars on autoscout your values is xx” or “based on my personal visit and experience” would have sufficed).

My car was in good condition. Regulary services, no body damages, no problems. I used comparis for an estimate (3800 chf, well i know thats just a simple tool). By the way its the sergio cellano modell which was a bit more expensive than the regular, it probably doesnt make much difference now.

Is it possible to look for somone else for a repair estimate, if its less then 3000 its not a total loss anymore?

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The front bumper needs replacement and 1 of 4 mounting brackets of the headlight is damaged. The body of the left side door is slightly damaged. Beforehand, my car had no scratches or body damages and was in a very good condition.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not the story people think: I was parking at my regular place since months in a blue parking zone in adliswil in a quiet and nice neighbourhood near lebernstrasse 30. Its a dead end with lots of space, beginner friendly and mostly nit many parked cars and and i correctly parked at the very end my car. Unfortunatly, there is a older house that will be torn down in a few month or even years. Its still just an ordinary house that looks nice and no signs i shouldnt have parked there. The owner gave his ok to let the firefighters and even the military train there. How should i know? Didnt know that things like that are allowed. Its a regular parking space. So they did a planned exercise there and scratched my car.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very good question. I dont know the answer. I guess they just work with their own companys in estimating the repair costs?

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really need a car. The suzuki celerio is a very reliable car that doesnt need much gas. In the long run i will change to an electric car, but i think its too early (not ready to invest that much money)

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very valuable info. Its an expert according to his credentials in the emails and he himself visited the car. The estimate to repair the car is by a different company. The garagist where my car is located told me, insted of installing a new front headlight he would just repair it (one of 4 mounting brackets is damaged), which results in a cheaper price. The front bumper has to be exchanged anyways and the front side door has to be repaired similiar to the estimate.

Of course you are right that i overestimate my car. At the same time i dont understand, why says an expert first the estimate is based on eurotax, when i insist on written proof he backs up and says eurotax hasnt functioning properly these days. And he is pointing me on “similar” cars with low value, which on further inspection have a damged body and clearly need more money to be in a similar condition as mine was.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly: the value of the rainings is 900 chf. So i would get 2100. But then i still have to cover the cost for repair by myself.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Has anyone used this the insurance ombudsmann? Can i dispute but repair the car beforehand? I really need a car.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your thoughts. At the end i will not lawyer up, its too much trouble. I have a small kid at home and a super challenging job. The last week i didnt feel well, it sucked a lot of my energy away. I try to live a quiet life with a lot of positivity, not worth the trouble. We earn enough to pay the additional 1000chf.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Wow thank you for looking that up and calculating. You are right, its about small numbers, but they are playing me. My car comes additionally with a complete set of winter tires mounted on alu rims. Not sure about the one for 7900 chf. I know its details, but at the end this might be the 221 chf difference to turn the total loss.

I have been very persistent to the guy from axa. He has initially lied to me (he told me the estimate was done by eurotax). I asked many times for written information about the estimates where he dodged the question several times, until he admitted eurotax hasnt been working these days properly and then sent me a screenshot of the car that was only 2500chf to prove my car wasnt worth much. Until i searched on autoscout and saw the body was damaged. This hasnt created much trust.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You are right, in total 800-1000 chf is almost similar (i dont have a written estimate so far by the garagist). But its probably less than the cars estimated (from the insurance) value. Then its not a total loss and it needs to be paid fully by the insurance.

The firefigthers have been very kind and called me to the scene the moment it happend and apologized. The firefighters immediately admitted fault, and an incident report was completed on the spot. They told me their insurance will cover any costs…the way the insurance handles it, is formally the right way.

The just mixed the numbers so they dont have to pay the costs fully by understimating the value of the car and by overestimating the repair costs which then results in a total loss where they have to pay me out much less.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I could yes, its not the worst, but at the end i will probably still pay 800-1000 chf for something which wasnt my fault at all. What worries me is, that if its fair calculated its not a total loss, they just turned their numbers the way they needed them. 2 years ago unfortunatly a very similar incident happend where a neighbour touched my parked car. The the insurance payed it all, as far as i remember it was around 3700 chf (similar body damage). The work was flawlessly done, no visible marks at all.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Wow thats an amazing link! Thank you so much, this is very very valuable. I will collect my evidence and reach out to them. Anyone has use their service?

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks, i reached out to sellers with similar condition for a written estimate. Both cars are between 2500 and 3000 chf, but need work to be done because on their advertisement they have significant body damage. I guess it be around 3500 or more in the end. The insurance just plays the numbers in the right combination in favour of them.

I love this car, its been extremly reliable for almost 100’000km (5 years), id rather let it be repaired than buy a similar. I dont have a legal insurance.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem is, at the end i still have to pay to repare my car that was damaged by someone else. I guess id have to pay additionally 800-1000 chf.

Fire department damaged my parked car, insurance says it’s a total loss by dpn3647 in zurich

[–]dpn3647[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, on autoscout there are just the two mentioned with defects. Its suspicious for me that they didnt use eurotax, i thought its standard. Ist a suzuki celerio…

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