Insurance claim help required.

[t'other half]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and wondered if I could pick your brains?

Four weeks ago the hubby was on his way home from work on his SV when a car driver ran into the side of him. The car driver did not check his blind spot and moved into my hubbys lane not knowing he was there. Obviously it knocked him off his bike, thankfully though it was a low speed contact so no broken bones. The guy admitted liability immediately when the police got there and we have witness statements from the people that stopped to help him, and the car drivers insurance company have admitted full liability. The problem we are having is with our insurance company (not the broker), they have decided his bike is a write-off and have offered him about 800 quid less than what it would cost to replace the bike, claiming that this is the glass price for it, minus £100 for the additional mileage. They are absolutely refusing to improve their offer, despite the fact that they should get all of the money back from the car driver's insurance company. I have pointed out to them that I do not believe it to be a fair like for like value and that I believe my hubby is being penalised despite the fact that he was not at fault in any way. They have told me that if I do not agree, we should get an independent inspection done of the bike, which will cost quite a bit, and then they might not even agree with it anyway and still stick to their original offer. I contacted the solicitor who is dealing with my hubbys injury and clothing claim and they told me that once an offer has been accepted, we cannot claim for the difference between what we were offered and what it would cost to buy a like for like replacement. The insurance company have told us we have 14 days to deal with any appeal, at which point they will destroy the bike. I pointed out to them that until we agree a price the bike legally belongs to my husband and it would be against the law to destroy it, but they just have attitude coming out of their backsides!!

Does anyone have any hints or tips about how to deal with this, or do you think we should just swallow the £800??

Cheers guys.

[bimsb6]

trawl the classifieds in mcn finding examples as close to mileage ,age condition and make a case for the value that way, insurance may be looking at trade prices to value it at .don't forget to claim for everything a new crash helmet at a new price not a reduced rate for it being used ! (they usually try that one ).

[RemaL]

don't got for their first offer.

[kiwi_uk]

As stated go through the classifieds. I would also go to your local Suzuki dealer and explain your situation and ask them to provide something stating the market value of a replacement bike. The more ammo you can get the better. I take it the solicitor is handling the claim for the bike as well? If not I'd also seek some legal advice.

bs

Let us know how you get on.

[amare32]

Hope you get it sorted

This is one of the reason why I have RTI (Return to invoice) GAP insurance on both my car and bike (£200 for my TT and £100 for the GSXR) - in the event of a write off claim **touch wood**, the insurance will pay the difference to the settlement to make up the invoice price of the vehicle.

[black-k1]

As this is a no fault claim, the cost of the repairs/replacement for you hubbies bike will ultimately come from the third parties insurance company, so it may be worth dealing directly with them.

There is a PH member called ‘anniesdad’ who works in this area and has provided a service to many PH members who all appear to be very happy with his service. Contact him and see if he can help but I think you should be able to get some more money for the bike.

(I have no involvement with ‘anniesdad’ other than having read many good reports here in the PH forums.)

[bimsb6]

amare32 said:

Hope you get it sorted

This is one of the reason why I have RTI (Return to invoice) GAP insurance on both my car and bike (£200 for my TT and £100 for the GSXR) - in the event of a write off claim **touch wood**, the insurance will pay the difference to the settlement to make up the invoice price of the vehicle.

i thought gap insurance was to cover the gap between the write off value and what you owed on a finance deal ?

[t'other half]

I've already submitted like for like examples but they still say they are sticking to the glass price for it. Also in the last month he had fitted an undertray, new smoke screen, mini indicators, new tyres and break pads front and back, and a few months ago, new chain and sprockets, so we have spent a fair bit on it, and they refused to allow him to come and take things off the bike, they claim that their assessment includes all of the recent work, which we also sent receipts for. Also they are refusing to include the aftermarket exhausts in the price because they were not informed about them, but we did tell the broker about them as the bike came with them already on. He has already put a deposit down on a new bike, a mille, but we have had to take a loan out to cover the missing excess and the diffence in price, which I think is really unfair since he was not at fault. I really feel like the one that should be blamed is getting away scott free.

[bimsb6]

t'other half said:

I've already submitted like for like examples but they still say they are sticking to the glass price for it. Also in the last month he had fitted an undertray, new smoke screen, mini indicators, new tyres and break pads front and back, and a few months ago, new chain and sprockets, so we have spent a fair bit on it, and they refused to allow him to come and take things off the bike, they claim that their assessment includes all of the recent work, which we also sent receipts for. Also they are refusing to include the aftermarket exhausts in the price because they were not informed about them, but we did tell the broker about them as the bike came with them already on. He has already put a deposit down on a new bike, a mille, but we have had to take a loan out to cover the missing excess and the diffence in price, which I think is really unfair since he was not at fault. I really feel like the one that should be blamed is getting away scott free.

bits you have replaced add no value to the bike as it has to have brakes tyres etc .which glass's price are they looking at trade or retail ? the trade price is irrelevant to you as you are not a trader and therefore are unable to replace it through trade prices ,post up the vehicle details and offer and let the ph masses give their opinion on the deal ,people often have inflated ideas of what something is worth (not necessarily yourself).

[black-k1]

anniesdad - http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/profile.asp?m...

[kiwi_uk]

black-k1 said:

anniesdad - http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/profile.asp?m...

Thanks for this. Something to file away for that rainy day ......

[t'other half]

The bike was a 2003 sv1000s fully faired version. The problem we are having is that many of the sv's are unfaired, and to tell you the truth there doesn't seem to be that many around. Another problem is that apparently the colour is quite rare for the 1000, it was grand candy blue (or sommat like that) and they tend to be black, gold or silver. We went to suzuki who said the bike is worth roughly 3695 - 3795 or thats what they would have sold it for. The insurance company says the bike is worth 2000 trade and 3100 retail at 16000 miles, and since he has done just under 20000 miles they have knocked 100 off the price and offered (no told us) we will get £3000 only. Now I know insurance companies are tight, but in a 30 mile radius of where we live, there is only one fully faired sv1000s, its silver and its up for 3495. So like for like, I reckon thats how much (roughly) he would have to pay for a replacement one, we also sent them some that are advertised on the suzuki website which were around the same price as suzuki said they would sell ours for anyway. So we are between £500 and £800 out of pocket, plus theres a £350 excess that we won't get back until we sue the car driver!!

[Rocket Pepper]

black-k1 said:

As this is a no fault claim, the cost of the repairs/replacement for you hubbies bike will ultimately come from the third parties insurance company, so it may be worth dealing directly with them.

That is exactly how I'd want to proceed. Try contacting the person dealing with the claim at the TP's insurance.

If it doesn't work for you consider, seek advice from solicitors specialising in bike matters. MCN has several advertise weekly, and their fees should be recovered from the TP insurers too. Of course, if you follow this route, be very clear to your own insurers you are dissatisfied with their actions on your behalf, and tell them beforehand of your intentions (in writing).

[t'other half]

Also, if as you say, the bits add no value, why won't they let him have them back? The bike was only cosmetically damaged on the left hand side, but they claim that the subframe is slightly damaged, which is why they refused to fix it, so all the bits will be good to sell on.

[amare32]

bimsb6 said:

amare32 said:

Hope you get it sorted

This is one of the reason why I have RTI (Return to invoice) GAP insurance on both my car and bike (£200 for my TT and £100 for the GSXR) - in the event of a write off claim **touch wood**, the insurance will pay the difference to the settlement to make up the invoice price of the vehicle.

i thought gap insurance was to cover the gap between the write off value and what you owed on a finance deal ?

Not sure about covering the shortfall if your vehicle is financed but you effectively get the full value you paid for the car/bike so as your financial obligations will continue, you will get a like-for-like replacement anyway.

[bimsb6]

t'other half said:

Also, if as you say, the bits add no value, why won't they let him have them back? The bike was only cosmetically damaged on the left hand side, but they claim that the subframe is slightly damaged, which is why they refused to fix it, so all the bits will be good to sell on.

the bits are now part of the vehicle ,you can't start stripping it,i include in the bits the tyres brakes etc that you had fitted .personally i would always get a vehicle recovered home as then you have some leverage with what happens to it (bit late now i know).i take it you have the standard bits you could sell on .

[bimsb6]

looking at the ads on mcn that is a very fair offer imo .in fact you could get a newer lower mileage example and cash left over .
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/bikesforsale/sea...

i'm sorry its not what you want to hear .

Edited by bimsb6 on Wednesday 10th September 12:22

[t'other half]

I have lots of odds and ends, we had just bought seat cowl that hadn't been fitted and we have the standard bits and some relentless decals he had just bought. He did manage to get the bike recovered home, problem was he injured the thumb on one hand and fingers on the other in the accident and couldn't manage to get anything off, and they recovered it from us so quickly that once he was able to take bits off it was too late. I reckon we are just gonna have to chalk this up to experience and hope to make some money back from selling the standard bits. I think he feels so strongly about the price simply because we just forked out over £500 on bits, so in essence we are swallowing what feels like a bigger loss than perhaps we would have. Plus, the bike was his baby, he fought for it to be fixed but they just absolutely refused. Its like the hubby said, if he had wanted a new bike, he would have got one, but this has just taken the choice completely away from him.

[t'other half]

bimsb6 said:

looking at the ads on mcn that is a very fair offer imo .in fact you could get a newer lower mileage example and cash left over .
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/bikesforsale/sea...

i'm sorry its not what you want to hear .

Edited by bimsb6 on Wednesday 10th September 12:22

Ya see, I didn't even think about looking on MCN, I think I got a mental block or sommat, we looked on Autotrader, local ads, some SV forums and ebay to try and get a fair price.

[bimsb6]

have you sorted claiming for clothing etc ? the insurance must by law replace his helmet like for like .