Just got a letter from the solicitor dealing with my claim after my crash in October (altercation with a Scooby which decided to u-turn across my path!) saying they had had the report from the third party's assessors who came out to poke and prod the bike (they came out 2 1/2 months ago!) They apparently think the pre-accident value of my bike is, wait for it.... £25!!! WTF!?! I admit its fairly old (1985), is rather high milage for a 125 (41k) and had a bit of surface rust and couple of scratches/dings, (but what do you expect on a bike that old!?!) All the major dents were aquired in the accident - major dent in the tank from the handlebar when the bike fell on it and in the exhaust pipe from where the centre stand foot peg gouged into it when it went over! What about the fact that the bike had 6months MOT, everything worked (apart from the rev counter, but that was just a snapped cable!) and had new tyres. Even the wrecks on Ebay go for at least 4 times that and they don't even run!
What is also rather odd is that this figure is a fraction of what the bloke who finally came out to assess the bike would be worth (even this was laughable when compared to the valuations I found for similar bikes!)
Phone call to the solicitors come monday morning I think!
OK I know it ain't worth a fortune, but £25 for goodness sake, even I am not blond enough to believe it is worth that!

£25, that bollocks isn't it.

Got on the phone to your solicitors Monday and get it all sorted.

Best of luck, Phil.

No offence intended but it doesn't sound like the bike was worth much more

But still.. £25 is a bit of an insult i suppose

23 years old,isnt that classed as a "classic" ? i would be looking for a bit more than £25



.......................Sam

I suspect it'd be worth more in parts at the scrappie...

I've heard from another forum member (Bella I think?) that you should reject the first two offers they make you.

Good luck,

Pete

they always try it on with the first offer. just say no and submit your own estimate for you to replace it. Rember to add in all your damaged kit and that new mobile phone that was smashed in your pocket ..

Maybe the insurance company is trying it on - go get 'um

How long had you had the bike, and what did you pay when you bought it?

Take off road tax and its really worth £10

I've bought bikes for £50 that were crash damaged, stolen recovered non-runners. Always have to reject the first offer and put the question 'can I buy a bike of similar age/mileage/condition for that valuation'. No-one expects to make money on an insurance claim but you shouldn't be excessively out of pocket

They are having a giraffe,

Go price some similar bikes in similar condition if possible and submit that price to them via your solicitor.

Good luck

I remember when my wife's XR4x4 was written off by some *&^%, took a long time to get the money we wanted from the insurance. But got there in the end

tell them if they can find replacement for the same money you will accept, other wise you want the current market value. you need to find as many of the same model and similar year for sale, send them to the ins co and explain that you couldnt replace it for £25.

BTW the value of the tax disc is irrelevant - if the bike's a write-off you should take the tax disc off and send it back to DVLA for a refund!

I know it is irrelevant it was just to emphasise a point about the pitiful valuation; that if he cashed in 12months tax it would have more value than the rest of the bike (similarly if you drained the fuel from the tank, say £8, it wouldn't leave a lot of value). The nature of insurance should be replacing like with like

You need to get adverts for bikes of same age and in same condition as evidence. That's what I did for my daughter's car and the assessor was happy to pay a fair price when he saw that I had done my homework.

i'd give you at least a fiver for the front brake lever provided it fits my bike.

It would be worth more than £25 in parts for sure.

I knew it wouldn't be long til the vultures appeared



He's all heart.... a fiver, I ask you

Point of note, if its written off then the insurance company owns "the remains" unless you buy it back or they decide to give it to you (ie let you dispose of it).

If you sell the lever you can bet they will extract the cost of a brand new lever from the amount they give you (that'll be most of the £25!)

I've been here a while, actually


PM Bella and ask for some advice.
She used to work in this capacity and can offer you some tactical advice on how to handle the swindlers.

ill give you £30 for the lot hehe

seriously though, thats a terrible thing to do, £25 - reject and push for its true value

I have been in 'net and tried to find similar bikes for sale - slim pickings, they all seem to be later years, less miles etc, and of course all the ones on Ebay are on going and about £50 with about a week to go! Found the UBG on net, so have the price guide for the bike for the solicitor to look at, then maybe they will actually get off their fat arriss and do something for a change (no offence to any solicitors on the forum, but they ain't my favourite people at the moment!)
When I phoned the solicitor they said that they couldn't do anything with evidence and they were unqualified to comment as they were not motor engineers! What tripe, I mean even a four year old could tell you that you cannot buy a working motorbike for the price of a rollerskate!
To the vultures, Shoo, it ain't dead yet, in fact it is in the midst of its rebirth - at a mate's garage being repaired with the help of a donor bike! and the brake lever wouldn't fit anyway!
To BikerGran - had it a year in April and it cost me nothing to buy - a mate (not the one repairing it!) let me have it on permanent loan if I got it going again (been sat in his garage for years now he has an ER-5 and he couldn't bring himself to sell it!)
Cheers for the support!
Sam

To the vultures, Shoo, it ain't dead yet, in fact it is in the midst of its rebirth - at a mate's garage being repaired with the help of a donor bike! and the brake lever wouldn't fit anyway!
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Don't touch it until it's settled. The insurers could give you nothing and shirk all responsibility or they could take it away after they pay you what they think it's worth. If they pay you out, it's their's!