S15 crashed during import - insurance claim help needed!

Hi everyone,

I hope someone can help me/point me in the right direction. I am currently in the process of making a claim against a shipping company who crashed my S15 Spec R which I was importing from Japan and I have been told I need reputable sources to evidence my claim for funds for a replacement car.

I believe the car should be replaced by the guilty party rather than repaired as the chassis will never again be in the condition in which I bought it, not to mention the stress, risk and time involved in undertaking a repair.

Would it be possible for any senior members of the SXOC who are familiar with the rarity and value of Spec Rs with this to assist me in any way with my claim by writing a short report regarding the damage, value and rarity of the car?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am just an individual up against a huge company.

Kind regards,
Ollie Redick

https://i.imgur.com/7j6pwmK.jpg

It's worth what you paid for it in Japan, should be pretty straight forward to just send them the auction details?

Hi chap, we spoke on FB, I administer one of the groups that you asked for help in and said I'd be forgetting about a repair and getting a refund.

Did you buy the car from a service provider (I.e. sold and shipped) or did you source the car yourself and arrange your own shipping?

Edit - if it came from an importer who sorted their shipping, just request your money back. As Ben says, the value hasn't increased.

If you sourced it yourself and paid a shipping company solo, I would imagine that's a whole different kettle of fish and all you can do is pursue for damages.

I’d ask for my money back if I was you

That's what I said originally, but that's only going to be possible if he bought it from a service provider who found the car and shipped it themselves.

Hi everyone, thanks for the responses.

I paid an exporter and bought the car through the auctions after waiting months for a good example.

The exporter organised everything until the car left Japan, then I was on my own for sorting customs, NOVA, delivery etc.

I am trying my best to get a fair outcome and funds towards a replacement, I do not want the stress, time investment and risk involved with organising a repair of this magnitude.

When I say 'organised everything', I mean de-registration, handling the Japan-side paperwork and organising shipping.

Ok matey, I'm not an expert but that might change things.

You've not got a contract with someone to supply a car in a condition like with a total service provider. At that point you could probably (someone correct me if I'm wrong) have said that the car isn't in the condition agreed so you want no more of it and get your money back.

But as it stands, IMO, it's your car now and regardless of whether the shipping contract is between you and the shipping company or the shipping company and the exporter, all I think you can try for is the cost of a repair. They've damaged your car in transit, it needs fixing, that's on them.

You don't need an SXOC member, you need a bodyshop quote. We can help you price parts, but your only strategy I believe is to get it repaired at their cost. You were talking about a full respray which I don't think will be likely.

Understood. I have contacted lawyers and magazines and they have all pointed me in the direction of an owner's club, so I thought it would be benficial to see if someone here could attest to the damage and at least confirm that the car is written off.

At this point I am just gathering as much evidence as possible, since the claim hasn't officially started yet.

Was it i sured whilst shipping? If not then you are dealing with maritime laws which give you no cover. The shipping company would then be only placed to repair at good will which is unlikely.
If it was insured then straight to a body shop for a quote, second hand parts looking at he photo, slam panel, radiator, light brackets, bumper, bonnet, maybe wings, maybe undertray. As these larts are all now discontinued from manufacturer you would have to source new old stock or second hand. Second hand in parts along for all the above is circa £2k in current market, new old stock parts circa £4k, Garage-D can assist with both. Then labour and painting on top, looking at sub £10k repair either way. If it was insured that would be a write off against the value of the car, uninsured unfortunately either sell to recoup and cut loses or break for parts if you don’t want to repair. Or drift repair that for sub £1k easy.

The car was insured, yes. However the insured value was less than I have into the car once VAT and import duty are considered. Thanks for the info, I'll probably hit up Garage D.

Good news its insured, straight for quotes at Garage-D or local bodyshop to present to insurance company, the insurance company are the only ones that can decide if its written off or not against value, then they will only pay out agreed value of cover applied. 20%VAT and 10%duty is gonna sting, see what Garage-D can help you with, but talk direct to Julian and don’t discuss your future conversations had with him online, he may be able to help.

Well, I would argue that the taxes paid should be covered. I paid them before I even learned that the car was damaged. I'll see if I can talk to Julian then - not sure which conversations you're referring to though?