Anyone work in the insurance industry able to advise?
Anyone work in the insurance industry able to advise?
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25th QV

Original Poster:

227 posts

81 months

Wednesday 5th June 2024
quotequote all
I took a spill early in March and had to have my 6 month old motorcycle recovered with quite a lot of damage.

The bike was not quite written off, so the insurers eventually after a few weeks approved it for it to be repaired.

They are struggling to get some parts and the weekly updates I keep getting just keep pushing the estimated date of parts arival further and further back.

Its already been 3 months now and the latest update said parts were expected by July before repairs can commence. I have no reason to believe I won't get yet another push back next week etc.

Sadly, I did not elect to have a courtesy bike on the policy as I don't need it for commuting, so the insurer has no liability of mounting hire bike charges to balance against total loss economics as time drags on, so effectively no pressure on them whatsoever to seek resolution.

Meanwhile, my 6 month old bike is enjoying the heaviest part of it's depreciation during biking season and I'm without a bike.

My question is whether there is a threshold of what is considered reasonable to wait for repair or payout? I've paid my premium to be returned to the position I was in at the point of claim - at what point is this beyond reasonable?

Is there a set protocol or industry wide standard that must be met or adhered to that I can leverage to have the bike fully settled?

I'm with Adrian Flux via BikeSure and when I asked what the end game was to the claims handler, they just fobbed me off. Do I have any kind of legal position to leverage?

What can I do, if anything?

Thanks.

BertBert

21,264 posts

240 months

Wednesday 5th June 2024
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Can you change your mind and get a courtesy bike now?

Dynion Araf Uchaf

5,172 posts

252 months

Wednesday 5th June 2024
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Get a list of the part numbers that they are unable to source.

Do your own googling to see if you can find some or all.

Make a decision whether you’d accept 2nd hand parts or recycled parts.

The present locations of these parts to the body shop or insurer.

Dynion Araf Uchaf

5,172 posts

252 months

Wednesday 5th June 2024
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Also I think it is possible to claim for loss of use if you are paying finance on the bike.

darreni

4,527 posts

299 months

Wednesday 5th June 2024
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A mate of mine was waiting many months for Harley Davidson parts from the US after coming off his bike last year. All through insurance co, but if the parts aren’t available, what can they do?

25th QV

Original Poster:

227 posts

81 months

Thursday 6th June 2024
quotequote all
darreni said:
A mate of mine was waiting many months for Harley Davidson parts from the US after coming off his bike last year. All through insurance co, but if the parts aren’t available, what can they do?
I guess they could settle out on the value of the bike, repair when the parts come in and sell it at their leisure?

It was more just to see if there was a time scale or threshold at which point if this was an option, I could push for this.


25th QV

Original Poster:

227 posts

81 months

Thursday 6th June 2024
quotequote all
BertBert said:
Can you change your mind and get a courtesy bike now?
Sadly not, I guess it would be like breaking down then asking for breakdown cover to be added. Courtesy bike was an additional cost.

25th QV

Original Poster:

227 posts

81 months

Thursday 6th June 2024
quotequote all
BertBert said:
Can you change your mind and get a courtesy bike now?
Sadly not, I guess it would be like breaking down then asking for breakdown cover to be added. Courtesy bike was an additional cost.

TwigtheWonderkid

49,056 posts

179 months

Thursday 6th June 2024
quotequote all
25th QV said:
I've paid my premium to be returned to the position I was in at the point of claim
Not quite. You paid your premium as your obligation under the contract you entered into with the insurance co. That contract might have an excess for example, which means you're agreeing not to be returned to the position you were in pre claim, but £250 or £500 worse off.

Does that contract stipulate time limits on repairs etc? If not, then you don't really have much recourse, other than to speak to someone senior in their claims department and explain your concerns. They then may agree to compensate you or do something else outside the contract to assist.

Jader1973

5,138 posts

229 months

Thursday 6th June 2024
quotequote all
You could find out which parts they are waiting on and then contact the manufacturer to ask why they don’t have them.

Although, the timeframes are probably still reasonable if they have to get bits from overseas.


CrippsCorner

3,377 posts

210 months

Thursday 6th June 2024
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Also, as silly as this is, it might be worth checking the part numbers!

I was requiring a part for my Astra and my garage copied me into an email from Vauxhall saying it would be a 4-6 week wait... however, after checking myself, it appeared my garage had got two digits round the wrong way and requested the wrong part!

Therefore, I managed to inform them and have it sorted before the end of the week. Honest mistake, but annoying if not resolved.

25th QV

Original Poster:

227 posts

81 months

Friday 7th June 2024
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies everyone.

darreni

4,527 posts

299 months

Friday 7th June 2024
quotequote all
25th QV said:
darreni said:
A mate of mine was waiting many months for Harley Davidson parts from the US after coming off his bike last year. All through insurance co, but if the parts aren’t available, what can they do?
I guess they could settle out on the value of the bike, repair when the parts come in and sell it at their leisure?

It was more just to see if there was a time scale or threshold at which point if this was an option, I could push for this.
My mate was ok to wait, though a bit pissed off come the end. I dont know what the insurance co would do re settlement due to parts availability? It will be in your policy T&C for sure.

BikeSausage

735 posts

97 months

Friday 7th June 2024
quotequote all
CrippsCorner said:
Also, as silly as this is, it might be worth checking the part numbers!

I was requiring a part for my Astra and my garage copied me into an email from Vauxhall saying it would be a 4-6 week wait... however, after checking myself, it appeared my garage had got two digits round the wrong way and requested the wrong part!

Therefore, I managed to inform them and have it sorted before the end of the week. Honest mistake, but annoying if not resolved.
Yes, this, sort of.

Get a list of parts and numbers and do some searching yourself. Your bike is probably one of many sitting at the repairer’s place and they won’t be proactively searching for these parts - they’ll be waiting for their normal supplier to contact them.

One of may friends had a similar problem with his RRS and phoned around himself. He managed to get a 3-month forecast down to 2 weeks finished.