HELP WITH INSURANCE COMPANY

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MY GS HAS BEEN WRITTEN OFF DUE TO A NO FAULT ACCIDENT, THE INSURANCE COMPANY ASSESSOR VALUED MY BIKE AT £6000 NOT TOO BAD FOR A 54 PLATE WITH 35000 GOOD NICK MIND, HOWEVER UPON CONTACTING THE INSURANCE COMPANY THEY STATE THAT AS I VALUED MY BIKE AT £5400 ON THE POLICY THIS IS THE MAX THEY WILL PAY OUT. I ARGUED THAT I AM NOT A BIKE PRICING EXPERT UNLIKE THEIR OWN ASSESSOR AND I GOT THE VALUE WRONG, I SHOULD BE PAID THE MARKET RATE OF £6000.
I ALSO SAID THAT NO WHERE IN THE POLICY FACT DOCUMENTS DOES IT STATE THE MAX THEY WILL PAY OUT IS £5400, DO THEY HAVE ME OVER A BARRELL IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO??? ANY HELP IDEAS

 

[FERRET]

Check your policy and certificate, i recently renewed my car insurance and it stated on that that they would pay market value for the vehicle.

 

[autogs]

im sure wapping will be along soon to sort you out on the path of insurance nivarna

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

The prices of used bikes go up as well as down in fact I'm sure there was an article in MCN? recently about this very subject

£6000 to me sounds generous for a bike that old with average mileage

PS ...... TURN YOUR CAPS LOCK BUTTON off

 

[wessie]

Tell them to sling their hook. Read the definition of Agreed Value in the front of your policy. They can only invoke that clause if the process described has been adhered to. This will usually involve an independent valuation from someone like an owner's club.

As you say, you are not a market expert. Although, you may wish to state that the used values of bikes has actually risen in recent months. The weak pound has contributed to this in two ways: a) direct currency conversion has driven up the price of new bikes which has a knock on effect to the used market and b) people from the Euro zone are coming to the UK to buy bikes due to the favourable exchange rate, driving up demand.

Their Assessor, being an expert in this field, is obviously aware of these market conditions and has valued the bike accordingly.

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

What wessie said

 

[Wapping]

A bit light on the nitty-gritty.

Your bike was written off in a no fault accident, you say.

By that, I assume you are making a claim against the insurer of the other vehicle whose fault the accident was, not against your own insurer? This of course assumes that another vehicle was involved and that your bike was not written off in some other way, beyond your control.

An assessor, working on behalf of either your insurer or the other party's insurer (you do not say who they are working for) has apparently valued your bike at £6,000.

Who was the assessor working for?

How do you know the valuation the the assessor put on the vehicle?

Who told you the £6,000 figure?

Do you have it in writing?

Who made you the £5,400 offer? Your insurer or the third party's insurer?

Agreed value policies are not too common, usually issued for vehicles where there is no ready market (very expensive sports cars, one-off specials, vehicles that despite their age may be at the very top end of value). The valuation is often given by an independent 'expert' in writing, frequently backed by photographs, when the policy is first issued. I have one for my RC30. I would be surprised if you have one for a run o' the mill 1200.

Tell them to go poke it. Who knows, it may just be a simple misunderstanding, perhaps?

In the meantime, arm yourself with some simple facts: Get some quotes from recognised dealers in second hand BuMW's for bikes very similar to your own. Or a good cross-section of private sales in MCN, say. This would be quite easy to do, looking at adverts. Take copies of those that suit your case. If they are all at the £6,000 mark or there abuts, that is near enough the value of your bike. If they are closer to £5,000, then take the five four offer and be happy. Maybe have in mind too that 'For sale at....' prices are seldom if ever matched in the final sale price. A 5% to 10% haggle discount probably establishes a truer figure.... Six grand less 10% is five four, if I am not mistaken.

As to the rest? Read Wessie's reply

PS I think the value of my 06 1200GSA was £11,500.... I look forward to getting that.... some bloody hope.

 

[JJH]

Correct mw if I am wrong. An insurence company bases its prices for a policy on the infomoration that the proposer supplies when applying for cover. The insurence company asks a load of questions and assesses the risk on the answers and arrives with a quote based on the bike make model year VALUE ect and the riders age address history ect and then based on a formale only they know arrive with a price for cover. Cover is duly supplyed and the insurence company know their exposure in the event of a claim on the bike.( oviously they cannot know to what extent a 3rd party claim will amount to). How can they be expected to pay out more than their costumer has valued the bike at? Most times they dont pay out the full insured value anyway. Just my thoughts. JJH

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

You must have stated £5400(verbally) when arranging the insurance on day1 and in your policy schedule that is what has been written and thus agreed to by you and your insurers

Now...................the 'underinsured' clause come into effect - you stated and agreed to £5400 on commencement of the policy...................now your bike has been written off and an assessor has valued it @ £6000

The insurance company will only pay out £5400, becuase you've incorrectly valued your bike...........................not a lot you can do, unless your insurers 'waive' their 'underinsurance' clause

A tough £600 lesson

 

[wessie]

Johnny & JJH, I think you are confusing the house insurance market with vehicle insurance. The former relies on the policyholder declaring the amount to be insured for contents and/or buildings. The market value of the property is irrelevant for insurance purposes.

See Wapping's reply above as well as mine, an Agreed Value motor policy is rare and requires an independent valuation. All other policies are based on market value at the time of claim. That figure may be higher or lower than the figure declared at the policy inception as markets go down and they sometimes go up.

Get your policies out and READ THE WORDS.

 

[Wapping]

You must have stated £5400(verbally) when arranging the insurance on day1 and in your policy schedule that is what has been written and thus agreed to by you and your insurers

Now...................the 'underinsured' clause come into effect - you stated and agreed to £5400 on commencement of the policy...................now your bike has been written off and an assessor has valued it @ £6000

The insurance company will only pay out £5400, becuase you've incorrectly valued your bike...........................not a lot you can do, unless your insurers 'waive' their 'underinsurance' clause

A tough £600 lesson

There is no Condition of Average* in a standard UK motor policy.

* The device by which claims for under insurance are calculated, usually at pro-rata.

=====

In passing, here is quite a good guide as to how basic motor claims appeals to the Ombudsman are handled.

Given the topic of this thread, some parts of the webpage are possibly quite relevant.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html#3

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Johnny & JJH, I think you are confusing the house insurance market with vehicle insurance. The former relies on the policyholder declaring the amount to be insured for contents and/or buildings. The market value of the property is irrelevant for insurance purposes.

See Wapping's reply above as well as mine, an Agreed Value motor policy is rare and requires an independent valuation. All other policies are based on market value at the time of claim. That figure may be higher or lower than the figure declared at the policy inception as markets go down and they sometimes go up.

Get your policies out and READ THE WORDS.

There is no Condition of Average* in a standard UK motor policy.

* The device by which claims for under insurance are calculated, usually at pro-rata.

=====

In passing, here is quite a good guide as to how basic motor claims appeals to the Ombudsman are handled.

Given the topic of this thread, some parts of the webpage are possibly quite relevant.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html#3

Seems like they're applying one though

 

[Wapping]

Seems like they're applying one though

From the story so far, it is hard to tell who is applying what and / or who is proffering the offer and / or why they might be....

......Indeed, it all seems very muddled. But it is the 1200 technical section......

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

From the story so far, it is hard to tell who is applying what and / or who is proffering the offer and / or why they might be....

......Indeed, it all seems very muddled. But it is the 1200 technical section......

Agreed

As many peeps should, but never do.......................read the fecking insurance policy document

Exclusions, specific exclusions and T&C's all seem irrelevant to most ...............until claim time arises

All too late then

Why peeps don't read what they're buying............ fecking makes me despair

 

[wessie]

Agreed

As many peeps should, but never do.......................read the fecking insurance policy document

Exclusions, specific exclusions and T&C's all seem irrelevant to most ...............until claim time arises

All too late then

Why peeps don't read what they're buying............ fecking makes me despair

and never assume that a claims clerk understands their policy. They will be set targets just like any other business, and are just as likely to misrepresent the contract as BT, British Gas or any other service provider.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

and never assume that a claims clerk understands their policy. They will be set targets just like any other business, and are just as likely to misrepresent the contract as BT, British Gas or any other service provider.

Exactly why you should read it, digest it and be better informed than them

 

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accident was

on 6/9/10 was at 2130 at night coming home from work, it was dark and windy as I came off an s bend in a 30 mph zone I hit a 10 ft by 5 ft patch of slurry pellets left all over the road (think small ball bearings and you wont be far wrong) no chance of staying upright, bike went down right hand side as did I, no other vehicle involved, Police attended stated I didnt stand a chance, the person who left the shit on the road is untraceable, there are loads farms around no one saw it being dropped, so left with no choice but to make a claim from my own insurance policy,people are correct maybe I did not fully read the Policy document and from now on I will always vastly overvalue any bike I buy, I suppose its just learning to play the rules of the game, I will try my best to get the full payout but I dont hold out much hope, thanks for all the replies

 

[BBB61]

If a person gives a value that is over what the market value the insurance company will not pay out at that value just because the policyholder declared the value at that level (except when it is an agreed value and evidence has been provided to prove the value). So if the value is declared at a lower level, the insurer should still pay out at market value. If the insurer is not paying ball you will have to exhaust their complaints procedure before taking it to the insurance ombudsman.

 

[JPB]

Some excellent advice here! As the insured you gave your estimate of its value when you took out the policy. Even if that was 100% accurate at the time, as others have said, values change all the time. They're trying it on, hold out for at least their third offer and if you're still not satisifed contact the ombudsman.

Wouldn't it be refreshing to hear of an insurance company that handled a claim sympathetically, efficiently and promptly instead of trying to screw their clients every step of the way!

Good luck & do let us know the outcome.

 

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COMPANY IS

Bennetts but insurance is with NIG and their computers have now been down for 3 days ( wouldnt you just know that would happen) will let you know the outcome