Stolen Bike Insurance Claim

[Disco]

Hi All,

Just wanted a bit of advise. On 12 June my D Reg Kawasaki AR 125 was stolen and I still haven't received an offer off of my insurance company for how much they are willing to give me.

I'd only purchased the bike in March, Paid £950 for it. The bike was in very good, and I mean very good nick for its age. The kid who sold it to me had basically built it from scratch with brand new parts. The thing I'm worried about is that the insurance company won't take this into consideration.

So I don't get my hopes up thinking I'm going to be getting around £700, as I've got a £200 excess, what do people think a realistic price for me to expect from the ins. co to be?

When I made the claim I sent in all the receipts for all the parts the bloke had brought, coming to around £350 and I also sent the receipt for the purchase of the bike. As it was only three months prior to it being stolen I can't see the price dropping a lot but there again I don't work in the insurance business and don't know how they think.

Any help on this would be helpful.

Thanks

Danny
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Now you see me, Now you don't!

[Shade_BW]

Check your insurance policy. They should have stated whether it is covered for the resale value, or the insured value. It will also depend what you put down as the insured value of the bike.

Shade
Insurance is a minefield if you don't read the small print.

[Disco]

Thanks for the quick reply - Don't have the insurance document to hand but I did insure the bike for the price I brought it at! I have just come off the phone and they basically said that they will go at the book price regardless of the amount of work that has been done on it as it will still be a bike of that age.

Does anyone have a clue of how much a bike like this in good condition is worth?
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Now you see me, Now you don't!

[Robin]

Don't know what the value is, but when they do send you an offer, send it straight back with a polite but firm letter saying that you do not think it is enough. They will then give you a slightly better offer.

They normally wait 6 weeks before paying out on theft claims in the vague hope that the bike might turn up somewhere and be repairable.

[R1stu]

My R6 was insured for £4500. It was stolen in july 2002 and I did not receive my payout until Jan 2003.

In total I receive £3495 this included a £400 excess and other stuff. So basicly I never received what it was insured for.
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Carbon closet tart! https://www.bikepics.com/members/r6stuk/02r6/
Stolen bike. 2000 R1: https://www.bikepics.com/members/r6stuk/00r1/
Current bike 1991 Honda ST1100 Pan European, 1986 Honda cb350sg (Finished)

[G]

I presume you've already claimed as such?

I can see them offering you £500-£700, depending on the peron's mood that day... the sort of money that will buy you a replacement ar in good nick.

Take off your £200 excess and you aren't left with much.

How much did you pay for the insurance?

It might be better as far as money goes to 'cancel' the claim....

Say you get £600 in your pocket (presuming you're lucky):
Your insurance policy is cancelled though, so you can't transfer to a new bike.
So you need to get new insurance, I expect this will be at least £300, don't know your details. This new insurance will be higher than it was before, because of the claim.

So you're now £300 better off than if you didn't claim and have to start a new year's no claims. However next year and for the following four you will have to admit having a claim, which will bump up your insurance a bit. Also you will be a bit behind in your no claims.


So... is it really worth claiming?
You may be financially better off if you don't, if you're insurance is higher and the payout is lower you may actually loose money in the short term as well as the long term.

[hellkat]

G makes a good point.

But ... if you do decide to continue with the claim, chase the company.

I had a similar circumstance. I bought a bike for about £1900, owned it just TEN days and it got nicked. I was gutted (especially seeing as how it was bought as a replacement for a bike that was nicked two weeks earlier and found burnt out two days later - bloody joy riders). MAJOR gutted.

I produced all police records of the theft report, receipts, etc., as proof of how recently I had purchased and insured it, and (despite being a bit funny about the fact I didnt have any keys - cos I had just moved house and lost them en route) ... eventually they agreed in principle to pay out.

But they never got back to me, so after about four months I chased them, and they actually admitted they were sitting on the claim waiting for me to contact them

The guy offered me £1500 (I had a £200 excess) and I said, "Aw come on, I owned it TEN days". So they upped it to £1750 and I agreed.

Bloody bike thieves. Should have their hands and feet crushed so they don't EVER want to think about stealing another bike again
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Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[Disco]