[Dougmeister]

Bought myself a lovely MY13 Ampera Electron in Cyber Grey on Wednesday 2nd May, one week later - Wednesday 9th May - got a minute away from home on my way to work and was T-boned on the drivers side by a woman in an Audi Estate who came barrelling out of a junction without giving way.

Send me spinning up the road, minus the rear offside wheel which came off in the impact, and I ended up facing back whence I had came! Driver window came in at me, sliced a hole in the arse of my jeans, and knocked a lens out of my sunglasses! Cool story huh?! Not looking for sympathy or owt, just thought I would share the story of the demise of one of the few Amperas out there, as, needless to say (see avatar), she’s a write-off.

Insurance company (esure btw ) won’t cough up enough to buy any of the handful of those available on the market at the min, so thinking of taking it to the Ombudsman.

Anyone looking at selling in Cyber Grey or Black, gimme a shout

From This:

To This:

 

[proddick]

Oh goodness. So sad to see that, but glad you are OK. In so many cars that could have been a lot worse. Developed for the USA market primarily, it was one of few cars to get five stars in the new (then) side impact test back in 2011

Chevrolet Volt earns top gov't safety rating

BTW did you instruct an accident management company? If not perhaps a bit late now, but this was clearly a no fault accident. Might still be worth checking as it would get you a decent hire car while waiting.

 

[smokie]

T Cut no good then?

Glad you are OK...

 

[Dougmeister]

Oh goodness. So sad to see that, but glad you are OK. In so many cars that could have been a lot worse. Developed for the USA market primarily, it was one of few cars to get five stars in side impact test back in 2011

Chevrolet Volt earns top gov't safety rating

Cheers mate, I didn’t know that, but I did email Vauxhall with the pics to give them positive feedback on what were pretty damn good safety features imo. Didn’t realise the airbags tore the upholstery up so much though! ...and give me a burny on my arm!

 

[Dougmeister]

T Cut no good then?

Glad you are OK...

Funny you should say that- I had my mate show a picture of some pre-crash blemishes to a repair bloke for a quote, and when he said he could do the job all-in for £240, I showed him the crash damage and said what, for all this?!

 

[richtrash]

That must have been a scarey accident, airbags going off pretty much assures it will be written off, she must have hit you quite hard to rip the wheel off.

Insurance companies never seem to replace like for like.

 

[Russ]

Well done with the pics @Dougmeister after such a wallop.

They save a lot of words and the one with the Audi in the road is very telling!

Surely this is a no fault so Esure should at least replace the car like for like at no cost to them.

Give 'em hell. I will when I next get a call from them as they are sorting out my no fault shunted car for the second time and I received an unwanted ambulance chaser a couple of days later who after hearing no a dozen or so times finished by saying "didn't I want my holiday paid for?"

Only Esure could have told them and we all wonder why out insurance is so expensive.

 

[Dougmeister]

That must have been a scarey accident, airbags going off pretty much assures it will be written off, she must have hit you quite hard to rip the wheel off.

Insurance companies never seem to replace like for like.

It was an... interesting... experience, and defo woke me up at 7:30 in the morning!

 

[Dougmeister]

Well done with the pics @Dougmeister after such a wallop.

They save a lot of words and the one with the Audi in the road is very telling!

Surely this is a no fault so Esure should at least replace the car like for like at no cost to them.

Give 'em hell. I will when I next get a call from them as they are sorting out my no fault shunted car for the second time and I received an unwanted ambulance chaser a couple of days later who after hearing no a dozen or so times finished by saying "didn't I want my holiday paid for?"

Only Esure could have told them and we all wonder why out insurance is so expensive.

Thanks mate, I was out of the car pretty sharpish as I was sure the way the Audi had driven into me it must’ve been stolen, and wanted to make sure I was on top of whoever was going to leg it from the scene... but it turned out to be a woman with two kids in the back (who, importantly, were unhurt), and they were being tended to by other witnesses, so I snapped some pics. Like you say- it’s difficult to convey the situation without them.

Interesting what you say about esure too- I have had NO END of unsolicited calls from ambulance chasing companies - some of whom knew my name and details of the vehicle - since the collision, so I don’t doubt esure share that info with all and sundry.

Esure have been dicks. You’d think the money was coming out of their very own pocket, I’ve stuck a complaint in and they’ve budged a little, but it’s not enough to put me back in he position I was immediately before the collision, so I will be out of pocket when I absolutely shouldn’t be. Have seen a sinister side of them which is at odds with the happy friendly sales/renewal people.

I even invited them (3 times) to source me a replacement for what they were offering me, and I would happily take it from them, but they scoffed at the very idea.

 

[donald]

I would say; you entered the shade of that tree at the same time being obscured by her left A pillar. She was visually distracted by the brighter cars behind you.

At least she knocked off those Toyos for you, but perhaps could have been less destructive about it.

The Ampera was the first car ever to pass the side pole crash test. Very tough on that side. It would very possibly have been a different story in another car with more than just broken sunglasses.

Insist on being put back in the situation you were previously in. They cannot merely offer market price and walk away in a fault accident.

.... Have I mentioned 'GAP' insurance before!!

 

[Dougmeister]

Oh goodness. So sad to see that, but glad you are OK. In so many cars that could have been a lot worse. Developed for the USA market primarily, it was one of few cars to get five stars in the new (then) side impact test back in 2011

Chevrolet Volt earns top gov't safety rating

BTW did you instruct an accident management company? If not perhaps a bit late now, but this was clearly a no fault accident. Might still be worth checking as it would get you a decent hire car while waiting.

Oh, yeah, my hire car is a BMW i3 with R-Ex that only had 1990 miles on the clock- I said I had lost electric so I wanted electric in replacement, and the i3 was all they had and apparently nobody else (ICE drivers) wants them!

 

[Dougmeister]

I would say; you entered the shade of that tree at the same time being obscured by her left A pillar. She was visually distracted by the brighter cars behind you.

At least she knocked off those Toyos for you, but perhaps could have been less destructive about it.

The Ampera was the first car ever to pass the side pole crash test. Very tough on that side. It would very possibly have been a different story in another car with more than just broken sunglasses.

Insist on being put back in the situation you were previously in. They cannot merely offer market price and walk away in a fault accident.

.... Have I mentioned 'GAP' insurance before!!

Lol, those tyres no good then? I think the others were Michelins and were in decent nick; I shoulda half-inched them from the wreck, along with my mats and parcel shelf/hammock at the same time as retrieving my charger!

The more I think about it, the more unhappy I am with my insurer- I really did like that car, and they are so few and far between that esure have not done their due diligence in considering how much I need to put me back in the position I was immediately before the crash, which, I’ve tried to drum into them at every opportunity, WASN’T MY BLOODY FAULT!!!

To the Ombudsman it is!

 

[cah197]

I would say; you entered the shade of that tree at the same time being obscured by her left A pillar. She was visually distracted by the brighter cars behind you.

At least she knocked off those Toyos for you, but perhaps could have been less destructive about it.

The Ampera was the first car ever to pass the side pole crash test. Very tough on that side. It would very possibly have been a different story in another car with more than just broken sunglasses.

Insist on being put back in the situation you were previously in. They cannot merely offer market price and walk away in a fault accident.

.... Have I mentioned 'GAP' insurance before!!

He lost a wheel, but you haven’t mentioned about the lack of a recall by GM?

 

[cah197]

Glad to hear the OP is ok, cars can be replaced, etc...

 

[donald]

Lol, those tyres no good then? I think the others were Michelins and were in decent nick; I shoulda half-inched them from the wreck, along with my mats and parcel shelf/hammock at the same time as retrieving my charger!

The more I think about it, the more unhappy I am with my insurer- I really did like that car, and they are so few and far between that esure have not done their due diligence in considering how much I need to put me back in the position I was immediately before the crash, which, I’ve tried to drum into them at every opportunity, WASN’T MY BLOODY FAULT!!!

To the Ombudsman it is!

TBH it is not your own insurer you should be chasing, it is the other party's insurer. You can contact them directly if you want to ask them what their position is, it is not for esure to say otherwise.

I am not convinced it is for your insurer to restore you to the original position. That treat lies with the other party.

I recall a personal injury claim I made against another party's insurer many years ago. It was a clear cut case, much like this. I only told my insurer about it and did not involve them at all. I laid out all the matters, claims and issues, everything got agreed and only then did I even involve a solicitor just to close down the settlement. He said it was the fastest personal injury claim settled he had ever seen.

 

[Andy Briggs]

I agree with Donald, you're not claiming off your insurer are you? You should be claiming off theirs, if esure are doing that for you then don't accept their offer and tell them you're going to the ombudsman. I had a bad motorbike accident several years ago and nearly accepted my insurance dealing with it and a rubbish offer, luckily someone put me onto an accident management company that got exactly what a replacement would have cost plus a very large pay out for personal injuries and compensation. We Brits are too timid when it comes to standing our ground sometimes, remember, your insurance company works for you, not the other party.

 

[Jeffrey Cooper]

I'm not sure about this, but if you claim off your own insurance company, doesn't that pretty much mean you're admitting to a "both at fault" accident ? - I'm also pretty sure you shouldn't have even contacted your own insurers unless the other parties would not play ball ?

If you get to keep the car in some way, I suspect that it could be back on the road tested, as a Cat something but testes, for a couple of grand as well - airbag kit (a grand on ebay), a bit of jigging, and some new doors and rear quarter panel aren't that expensive even for an Ampera

 

[donald]

This parrot is dead. Deceased. It is no more.

 

[Renaissance]

On the bright side... the battery packs from these are highly sought after for EV conversion projects. Due to their excellent peak discharge rate they often paired with Tesla motors in high-performance conversions.

I'm sure some good will come from your misfortune!

 

[Barty]

@Dougmeister - awful to see that there's one less Ampera around now, at least no-one was injured.

I am with Esure and my renewal is next month, I will be bearing your not so happy experience with them in mind, even allowing for the fact they may be dealing with the other insurer for you!

Maybe it's time to give GAP insurance another look as well. I had it on my previous car and never needed it, does anyone know who is the best provider for this?