insurance. what to do/ not?

[grumpyfrog]

Looking for a bit of advice here as had to call the insurance company after a problem today.
This being my first dealings with my own vehicle, what should I let them do/ not do?
I would prefer them to do an inspection at mine rather than take the bike away never to be seen again? Can I insist on that?
Anything else I should be doing? Not letting them do?

[agentpineapple]

sadly I believe they will cat c it as an uneconomical repair, if your fully comp they'll pay you the market value, then buy the bike back off of them for about £300 and repair it yourself. you will get a higher premium next year tho

[Wicky]

Firstly check the frame/headstock as if the frame is damaged then it'll definitely be written off. If you're lucky make a list* of what's damaged and tot up the cost of new parts but as Marty said just on cosmetics it'll also be written off - however if you plan on rebuilding it yourself with second-hand parts you can negotiate with your insurance company's engineer assessor to agree a damage limit just below the write off threshold/value and use that to bank roll the project. That way you don't need to buy it back, but only do it if you're sure it can be got back on the road.

* http://www.bike-parts-honda.com/moto-ho ... 11510.html

Get the honda part no from above and get the prices either on that site or on David Silvers

https://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/par ... rt-number/

[MacV2]

Yep get it assesed at yours. Demand that. Be there if you can. From the off demand a copy of the enginerrs report & say you want the salvage if its written off.

If the frame is damaged it will write it off. I have a frame P reg you can have if yours is a scrapper...

At the end of the day, you will be lible for any damage to the car as you hit it from behind, dispite what caused it...an idiot driving it by the sounds.

You don't have to claim for your damage...if you don't want to.

[sirch345]

Hopefully this is not the case for you, but I'm not sure all insurance companies will allow you to buy your bike back from them if it's written off. It might be worth checking that so you know if you don't already,

Chris.

[agentpineapple]

Hopefully this is not the case for you, but I'm not sure all insurance companies will allow you to buy your bike back from them if it's written off. It might be worth checking that so you know if you don't already,

Chris.

they will chris, I've known several people that have done it, the only time they might not allow it is if its a cat b, which normally means someone has died in the accident.

[Duffy1964]

If you can, remove all items you have not told them about and replace with standard parts.
I had hassle with a car policy and they did not want to pay out due to a k&n filter I had not told them about. They recond it was a performance modification but on a 25 year old car I told them that the engine had lost more bhp in those years then an air filter could regain.

[sirch345]

Hopefully this is not the case for you, but I'm not sure all insurance companies will allow you to buy your bike back from them if it's written off. It might be worth checking that so you know if you don't already,

Chris.

they will chris, I've known several people that have done it, the only time they might not allow it is if its a cat b, which normally means someone has died in the accident.

Hi MarTi, I know in many cases you do get the option to buy your bike back, I was just pointing out the possibility from first hand experience of a very good friend of mine. He could not buy his bike back from his insurance company, and believe me he tried everything he could to get it back, but his insurers wouldn't budge, he did not get the opportunity to buy his bike back. Had he realised this when he took out the insurance he would not have gone with them.

Okay this was some years ago, and admittedly things could have changed, but it could be worth the O/P to check this out if he doesn't already know for sure, so he knows where he stands,

Chris.

[grumpyfrog]

Cheers for the words of advice all.
Already had a barnie with them as first contact is for the breakers telling me they have been told to come pick it up. 1 hr on hold before getting told that "my handler" is not working today but will call me tomorrow to go over things. "Going by what you told us on the phone we are going to write your bike off". Hell your not.

I have the full original front end that can go back on, so fairings lights cosmetics is required.


Thanks to all who have said what they have lying around. Once I get the insurance folk sorted out I will start stripping then making a list.
Mac: thanks for the heads up on the eBay thing, blokes already sold it, at that price someone got a bargain.

[Demonic69]

As said, make sure they don't take it away.
I came off my ZX-12R a few years ago, only slow speed but the forks got a little scraped on the kerb, as well as can, fairing etc. Mostly not too bad barbecue of the crash bungs.
They came and took the bike away and I noted my exhaust, scottoiler, alarm and a couple of other bits that I'd want back and would pay the labour as discussed. They wrote the bike off CATD and offered me a decent amount which I accepted, then were cagey about me buying it back, saying it needed further assessment. I called again and asked about the bits I wanted and they passed the info onto their "engineers". After several phone conversations I found out who their recovery company was, got hold of them and was told the bike had ben transported down south and sold they day I accepted the quote!
So I lost a £150 alarm, scottoiler and a £400, one-of-a-kind BlueFlame end can
Spoke to a solicitor who said it was tough, I shouldn't have accepted the payment without first getting written confirmation of the stuff I wanted; the quote for removal and shipping was, apparently, not enough. I'm older and angrier now so I'd fight tooth and nail, back then I'd got other stuff to worry about

[sirch345]

Cheers for the words of advice all.
Already had a barnie with them as first contact is for the breakers telling me they have been told to come pick it up. 1 hr on hold before getting told that "my handler" is not working today but will call me tomorrow to go over things. "Going by what you told us on the phone we are going to write your bike off". Hell your not.

The problem is they will most likely write it off. Say for argument sake your bike is valued at £1500 (this is only a guesstimate so I can explain what will happen), if they need to replace certain parts from damage they will cost in all brand new parts OEM from Honda, no secondhand parts will be used as we would if we were doing the job. I think a new fuel tank is between £400 and £500 to give you an idea, plus they will need to add in the cost of fitting these replacement parts where labour can soon mount up. So you can see that £1500 figure could soon be met and may be passed. It'll be classed as "uneconomical to repair" if it is written off.

Category C or D is not really going to be such a problem, it just means your bike will not be worth quite so much if you wanted to sell it at some point,

Chris.

[grumpyfrog]

So finally got a call from my "handler ".
Now got 3 options.
1 cancel the claim and sort everything out myself.
2 get their inspector to come out and do an assessment. Which will result in it being written off.
3 get a garage to give them a quote for fixing it with all my bits. Still will need fairings etc which means that they will still write it off.

If I go down option 1, can I be bothered as I work away all week. Busy enough as it is at the weekend and will still probably cost £500 for all the bits.
If I go option 2, do I just bite the bullet get the cash- the excess, and go get another one?

[Wicky]

2 get their inspector to come out and do an assessment. Which will result in it being written off.

See my first reply - My bike was simply knocked over when parked and technically the damage to the fairing, engine cover, exhaust would have written it off (Cat C). When the assessor from my insurance company came to my home I explained I wanted to fix it myself he agreed to keep the damage/repair costs just a few quid below the threshold to write it off - a few days later I had my cheque - thus saving the hassle of paperwork + having to buy it back.

However is your frame damaged esp in the headstock area from the impact, as if it is they'll have no no option to write it off as Cat D meaning it can't be returned to the road.

[VTRDark]

Insurance companies are the biggest rip of scamming merchants on the planet. Donald Trump has better morals than insurance companies.