lets assume you've bought the car back from insurance, fixed it up to be roadworthy AND to pass the very stringent Swiss version of MOT.
what are you THEN going to do? , run the car into the ground? Because it's going to have '0' resale value ( no one in Switzerland is going to buy a car that was once declared a write off )
There are no demo-derbies in Switzerland ( are there? )
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listen to dodgyken! 21k isn't minor damage!! even with swiss prices your car is f***ed! just patching it up and putting it back on the road on the cheap is really asking for huge trouble!!
take the money, buy (or lease) a new car, and don't risk your and your families (not to mention other road users) lives in a botched repaired car.
In the uk I had a BRAND NEW car written off when someone ran into the back of it at traffic lights, car looked and drove fine, an engineer came to my office to check the damage and it was condemned there and then (the floor was damaged, but you had to take the spare wheel out etc to see it)
I scratched the paintwork on the roof of our swiss car (really badly - low carpark + roofbox = ouch), the main merc dealer here charged 3k to totally respray the roof, blend the paint in and fix a couple of other paintwork blemishes, this was on insurance, just to give you an idea of repair costs.
To add my 'insurance' claims and the cost of them - A tree got in the way of my car (Audi A3) whilst reversing out of a parking spot one night and caught the side of the car, damaging the door and a side-panel. 3000CHF for repairs.
Not long later, the handbrake on my car wasn't fully engaged and the car rolled very slowly back into the garage door of the underground car pak where I used to live. The garage door opened, as it should, but then the car came to rest as the slope ended. Unfortunately, the garage door sensors (the infra-red ones that sense across the entrance) were too low, and didn't detect the presence of the car and the garage door tried to close, hit the car, opened, tried to close, hit the car, opened... Until the garage door mechanism actually broke and someone told me.
The boot lid required a full respray - 1500CHF (plus 400CHF for the broken garage door. I mentioned the fact that the sensors at the sides of the garage door frame were too low down, but that didn't register)
I put both claims in at the same time; wasn't too sure what the insurance company thought of it all after I'd explained everything !
Nonetheless, I agree with the other posters. If the insurance company
declared the car a write-off, I would leave it at that and take the money. It's really just not worth it. I would never sleep easy (not that I sleep when I drive, of course..)
I think it's a fantastic idea to salvage this car and you should get ahead and just do it regardless.
We can then all look forward to a whole pile of new posts along the lines of :-
The Swiss screwed me
It's not fair
Switzerland is expensive
It's cheaper in Germany
It's not the same as US
They failed my MFK test
I mean the list really is endless, so please get ahead and do (you could also burnish your re-cycling credentials at the same time....Oh there's another new post !)
Not long later, the handbrake on my car wasn't fully engaged and the car rolled very slowly back into the garage door of the underground car pak where I used to live. The garage door opened, as it should, but then the car came to rest as the slope ended. Unfortunately, the garage door sensors (the infra-red ones that sense across the entrance) were too low, and didn't detect the presence of the car and the garage door tried to close, hit the car, opened, tried to close, hit the car, opened... Until the garage door mechanism actually broke and someone told me.
The boot lid required a full respray - 1500CHF (plus 400CHF for the broken garage door. I mentioned the fact that the sensors at the sides of the garage door frame were too low down, but that didn't register)
Anyway, I always run my vehicles into the ground (i.e. until the price of fixing/maintaining them becomes excessive)
Tom
Sorry Tom not true...
If a car has been in an accident and repaired it must declared at sale, if a panel is welded, cut out or replaced the car is classed as accident damage and if not declared at sale and the new owners down the line find out they can come after you sue your behind of, demand full repayment of the car and not return it to you. They can legally chase up within a 20 year time frame.
As far as other things are concerned:
Did you go to a Zurich help point to have the damage assessed?
Who gave the estimate?
If it's correct at 21k take the money 28k smile, run and don't look back. In all sense the thread question is moot and totally pointless in all rational thinking unless one is the sort of person who wakes up and truly believes they are an onion.
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If you just imported the car tax free from the US, as a part of your move to Switzerland, in my understanding, you would have to keep it for a year before you could sell it tax free in Switzerland?
So, if the car is totaled, I would make sure you won't have to pay tax on the money for selling the wreck to the insurance company before the year is up.
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If you just imported the car tax free from the US, as a part of your move to Switzerland, in my understanding, you would have to keep it for a year before you could sell it tax free in Switzerland?
So, if the car is totaled, I would make sure you won't have to pay tax on the money for selling the wreck to the insurance company before the year is up.
If a car has been in an accident and repaired it must declared at sale, if a panel is welded, cut out or replaced the car is classed as accident damage and if not declared at sale and the new owners down the line find out they can come after you sue your behind of, demand full repayment of the car and not return it to you. They can legally chase up within a 20 year time frame.
I guessed there must be some sort of register for garages to be able to say a vehicle is accident free.
If you just imported the car tax free from the US, as a part of your move to Switzerland, in my understanding, you would have to keep it for a year before you could sell it tax free in Switzerland?
So, if the car is totaled, I would make sure you won't have to pay tax on the money for selling the wreck to the insurance company before the year is up.
Interesting point, would the Swiss view a total loss settlement as a sale? If they would, even if the insurer pays 21k and you buy back the wreck for 5K would you still be liable.... Ken, saint?
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I guessed there must be some sort of register for garages to be able to say a vehicle is accident free.
Interesting point, would the Swiss view a total loss settlement as a sale? If they would, even if the insurer pays 21k and you buy back the wreck for 5K would you still be liable.... Ken, saint?
Claiming a car is accident free when it's not true is the only issue.
To me any car that has had paint done or been subject to any insurance claim has been in an accident! However such a car can be described legally as accident free, when it's not actually the case, using my definition.
Original paint & rustrpoofing is always better than any repair regardless of who did it. Quite a few cars are damaged before they are sold as 'new' in the first place.
In the UK it's also a joke as only cars 'recorded' on HPI's register count, some insurance companies tend not to record cars as the amount they can get for salvage is reduced.
Wouldn't you have to sell it first to be able to buy it back? And the hypothetical import & sales tax would then be due.
If the insurance company would just compensate one for the devaluation of the car, one would remain the owner whole time, and no tax would be due?
Just guessing.. I'm sure someone here has gone through this process before.
Title never changes, they tell you the full payout price & deduct a nominal value for salvage. I have gone through this it's really not a problem even not speaking any local launguages properly.
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I guessed there must be some sort of register for garages to be able to say a vehicle is accident free.
Interesting point, would the Swiss view a total loss settlement as a sale? If they would, even if the insurer pays 21k and you buy back the wreck for 5K would you still be liable.... Ken, saint?
Hmmm - a tough one to call. You are not technically selling the car so shouldn't be due tax - however - I reckon you'd be better off speaking to the customs guys. If anyone gets an answer it would be worth putting in the import sticky at the top.
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Interesting point, would the Swiss view a total loss settlement as a sale? If they would, even if the insurer pays 21k and you buy back the wreck for 5K would you still be liable.... Ken, saint?
hmmmm... you know what? I don't know I'll ask my US Swiss Tax buddies on Monday... I would guess that if it was liable for tax then the whole amount paid out would be clobbered irrespective if they used some to buy the thing back but....
As far as the figures if I read correctly 21 is the repair cost not what our claims department would pay out, it depends what they have in their contract with connect. Even 'tho they are kind of the web based little brother of us a lot of the policies work in a similar way e.g if the OP has agreed a value for the car at the time of signing then this is the value with the sliding scale.
Usually all insurances are based on new Swiss prices 'tho with the table and I am a little surprised that the 28k figure sprung up, however Connect are not as well versed with imports as we are and they might have based the figures on the OP's information.
Here is the chart:
203.2 Total loss
If the costs of repair reach or exceed – in the first two years of service, 65%
of the indemnity listed in the table
set out hereinafter; – after more than two years of service,
the actual cash value of the vehicle at the time of the accident (cash value);
or if the missing vehicle is not recovered within 30 days of Zurich receiving notification of theft, then Zurich shall pay the following benefits:
Compensation table
Year of service
as a % of the replacement value as new*
during the 1st year 95%–90%
during the 2nd year 90%-85%
during the 3rd year 85%–75%
during the 4th year 75%-65%
during the 5th year 65%–55%
during the 6th year 55%-45%
during the during the 7th year 45%–40%
more than 7 years
replacement value
Also if the OP has HPP then they must have had Zurich do the assessment and garages that are partners in the HPP scheme do not ramp up prices for an "ooooooo we can get paid from the insurance company double bubble" quote. It is because of this that the discount is applied to the policy avoiding high repair quotes and costs.
14.3.1 If Help Point PLUS has been concluded, you must report hull claims by tele- phone or contact one of our Help Points so that Zurich can initiate the claims process and arrange for the necessary repair to be carried out in a repair shop designated by Zurich. In the event that this provision is not complied with, the deductible agreed for the in- sured events of hull insurance shall be increased by CHF 500. This provision shall remain expressly subject to Art. 16 of the GCI.
All that in mind as they are not "trying to make a buck off the foreigner": 21k to repair a Kia, a KIA!!! 21 grand! The thing is totalled and best off the road, heck personally I'd not buy nor want to be driving a Bentley that had had 21 large worth of accident damage.
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However, you have to remember that prices for anything car-related in CH are totally ridiculous. When I had my car still on foreign plates and insured in my home country, the insurance company told me that in case of a serious accident they would rather transport it back there and fix it, then transport it back, 3000+km, and still come at about 1/2 of the repair costs here.
OK... So I spoke with my tax colleagues; it seems:
There is no tax payable in such a case as the car has not been sold but it's replacement value has been given. The "asset" is still tax free as it is over 6 months in possession and simply changed to financial.
In this case as there is no capital gains tax here like the UK and US all that one would be eligible for is wealth tax if one was over the threshold and simply kept the money in the bank, however this would not be the case if the funds had come out again to purchase a replacement when the accounts are audited at year end.
or so they said
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OK... So I spoke with my tax colleagues; it seems:
There is no tax payable in such a case as the car has not been sold but it's replacement value has been given. The "asset" is still tax free as it is over 6 months in possession and simply changed to financial.
In this case as there is no capital gains tax here like the UK and US all that one would be eligible for is wealth tax if one was over the threshold and simply kept the money in the bank, however this would not be the case if the funds had come out again to purchase a replacement when the accounts are audited at year end.
or so they said
I don't see any additional wealth tax liability, the car is worth less than before, so it should be a broadly neutral transaction.
The value of any replacement car less depreciation is added to net worth, unless it's a company that requires 'audited' accounts, audited does not come into it!
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I believe what they mean that perhaps I am not portraying very well is.... If the asset came in tax free lets say a supercar and you totalled it; the insurance pays out half a mill and you decide not to replace it but keep the cash, then your year end bank balance would show an extra 500k and this would be eligible for wealth tax.
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