Insurance write off

[rosie631]

Hiya. Anyone had experience with having a bike written off? I am waiting for the verdict on mine from the insurance company but it sounds like it's gonna be a write off.
My question is what happens if the bike is 'written off'? I'm presuming you get the money for the value of the bike. But what happens to the bike? Can you buy it back? What is the procedure for doing so? How is the value determined? Do you get to see the bike shops assessment of repairs required?
Repairs to mine have been quoted at 10grand. I'm pretty sure I can get it on the road for less. e.g quoted 1800 for new tank. Seen one on tardme for 550. Quoted 2grand for paintjob. Have a mate who is a professional painter and will do it for me at mates rates etc, etc. I think MOST of the damage is cosmetic and not mechanical i.e. motor is fine.
Any experiences or advice appreciated.

[AllanB]

Bummer.

The bike will be deregistered by the insurance company and put up for sale (tender usually). If you have a good relationship with the insurance rep you may be able to get a buy-back price.

Another option if you are serious about retaining it and fixing it up yourself is to talk to the insurance company. Tell them you want to keep the bike and repair it yourself. If you are lucky and can provide them with a full cost report/estimate etc they may be happy to pay.

[YellowDog]

Which company are you with?

They are supposed to pay you the market value (less your excess).

They determine the market value and not you.

The way it goes is that you should go to dealers and get written quotes for bikes of the same age and K'age in readdinness for the next stage. This will take you ages so start straight away.

They make you an insulting minimal offer and you go ape shit. You state how good your bike was and produce copes of bills etc.

They then up the offer fractionally.

You go ape shit again and produce the written quotes from bike dealers.

They then up the offer to slightly more.

You say "I don't want your offer, I just want my bike back. Either you repair it, or give me enough money to buy one of a similar age/condition/k'age."

They then make you a more reasonable offer.

Should all be settled by Christmas 2011 :)

Good luck.

[rosie631]

Sounds like it's quite a process. Anyone on here bought a bike back from insurance?

[rosie631]

I'm with Vero.
Rolling thunder have given assessor quote for repairs of 10grand. They have also given him a precrash valuation and they know the bike. Spoke to insurance today and I gather assessor now gets 2nd precrash value done. I don't know who by. After that I will get a decision.
I will have trouble getting another bike as good. I gather there is a set formula for write off e.g. if repairs are over 50 percent of value of bike. Can you fight that? Ideally I just want my baby back. RT said they could have repairs done in 3 to 4 weeks if I went with them.

[nosebleed]

What happens to the bike - depends on the insurance co. I know that STAR listed mine on trademe as an auction.

I was paid the amount I purchased the bike for. it depends on the timeframe of the accident in relation to the date the bike was purchased - i.e. within 12 months.
This will vary with insurance co.'s
I got to see the pricing schedule for putting the bike back together, as priced by the workshop.
on the STAR auctions this sheet is readily available.

So if your bike is written-off and you want to buy it back, you'll have to follow up the insurance co. and see which auction house they use (Turners/ Trademe/ etc)

[fireliv]

Pheonixgtr and I brought back his first FXR after it was written off. Wasnt deregistered (this was State) and the gave us a value that we could buy it back at. They were going to pay us out $1200, and said the bike worth $700 so they gave us the $500 and our bike back.

However when his sister wrote her FXR off, they sold it back to her for $500 but she had to deregister it too (also with State)

Just talk to them about it. I have heard some companies just put them up for sale and yor have to bid with the rest.

Good luck and sorry to hear its a write-off :crybaby:

[rosie631]

yeah, will discuss it with vero when they get assessors report back. They seem reasonable so far.
Insured bike for what I paid for it but policy states pay out is 'market value' unless bike less than one year old and then they replace with a new one.
Problem is that altho bike is a 95 it had a new motor and bugger all ks and quite a few goodies. If they take value on a bog standard 95 with mega ks I will be screwed.

[AllanB]

I'm with Vero.
Rolling thunder have given assessor quote for repairs of 10grand. RT said they could have repairs done in 3 to 4 weeks if I went with them.

10k - I'd say that is based on ordering new parts from HD for any damaged bits, waiting 2 weeks for them to arrive and then bolting them on. Standard practice now days.

Get the list from VERO and ask if you can come up with an alternative set of costings for them. For example a stock tank is probably close to $2k but you'll possibly get a new replica from the states for a fraction of that (plus paint) - ditto pipes, bars, mirrors etc.

[rosie631]

10k - I'd say that is based on ordering new parts from HD for any damaged bits, waiting 2 weeks for them to arrive and then bolting them on. Standard practice now days.



Yep, that's what I gathered.

[fireliv]

10k - I'd say that is based on ordering new parts from HD for any damaged bits, waiting 2 weeks for them to arrive and then bolting them on. Standard practice now days.

Get the list from VERO and ask if you can come up with an alternative set of costings for them. For example a stock tank is probably close to $2k but you'll possibly get a new replica from the states for a fraction of that (plus paint) - ditto pipes, bars, mirrors etc.

The probem is they wont go for second had bits or not stock bits cos the policy says the bike must be returned to the origional condition. When Phoenix's ZX6R had a lay down and the crash bug ripped out, the had new ones made (even though they are useless and not stock) because it had to be like it was before the crash.

The FXR was written off because 1 fairing cost $1500. No structural or anything. We brought a second hand one for $100, and continued to ride the bike.

[p.dath]

yeah, will discuss it with vero when they get assessors report back. They seem reasonable so far.
Insured bike for what I paid for it but policy states pay out is 'market value' unless bike less than one year old and then they replace with a new one.
Problem is that altho bike is a 95 it had a new motor and bugger all ks and quite a few goodies. If they take value on a bog standard 95 with mega ks I will be screwed.

Alas they are not likely to give you any "credit" for fitting a new motor. They just go on "book" value.

Sometimes you can get pricing from:
http://www.carjam.co.nz/
Just enter your number plate. Pricing info is down the bottom.

[YellowDog]

I have bought a car back before.

It has to be classfied as a writeoff and you then need to put it through compliance to get it back on the road (once the repairs have been done).

If ever you try to sell it, the buyer will know it has been written off and then recovered.

Unless you are going to do the work yourself and make a lot of money, I'd avoid the hastle.

[davebullet]

yeah, will discuss it with vero when they get assessors report back. They seem reasonable so far.
Insured bike for what I paid for it but policy states pay out is 'market value' unless bike less than one year old and then they replace with a new one.
Problem is that altho bike is a 95 it had a new motor and bugger all ks and quite a few goodies. If they take value on a bog standard 95 with mega ks I will be screwed.

Then the insurance company decides what the value is. If your policy said "agreed value" then it would be a sum insured amount set in your policy. The market value comes usually from an external company like Dealers Guide or Redbook.... but they can use an assessor to fine tune this. Your last renewal notice may contain the market value (my car policy depreciates a bit each year... but it may be agreed value - can't remember).

If the market value seems to low to you, you can complain or take it to the insurance ombudsman.

When my car was stolen, converted and written off, I got a full payout (market value though). I then went to turners and bought it back at auction and used the money to fix it up (with cash left over).

Personally - I would always go agreed value... then you know what you have insured for and can choose the amount to appreciate / depreciate each year.

[vifferman]

My 1990 VFR was written off, due to mainly cosmetic dmage totalling $6800 and I was paid the market value (around $7000, IIRC). I wanted to buy it back at auction, but my wife vetoed it ("You're not cluttering up my gargre for months with bike bits!" :mad:)
A KBer bought it, and did many of the repairs himself. His total cost - including buying the 'wreck' - was $2450. The quote the insurance company gets from repairers is for all new parts, at retail cost, as this costs less for labour. In my case, the parts included a new fairing stay ($1300) which was straightened instead, a new muffler to replace the dented one ($1200) which was instead covered with a stainless steel sleeve. Fairing panels were mostly plastic welded and painted, and parts such as indicators replaced with secondhand ones. I don't know whether the bike was deregistered or not; I think this depends whether damage is structural or cosmetic.

[Oscar]

Alas they are not likely to give you any "credit" for fitting a new motor. They just go on "book" value.



If a new motor increases the market value, then they'd have to allow for it.

[rosie631]

If a new motor increases the market value, then they'd have to allow for it.

Yeah, they do seem to be giving the bike a good going over to determine value, so I think that's a good thing.

[PirateJafa]

If you want your bike back:

Insurance companies will write the bike off if the damage is going to cost more than 80% of the insured/market value of the bike. If they say the level of damage is greater than that percentage, then they will write the motorbike off.

However, you can ask for them to instead leave you with the damaged motorbike (still registered) and ask them to pay you that 80% in cash, so that you can repair the motorbike yourself.

Last time a moron hit me, I ended up with a hardly-damaged-but-was-going-to-be-written-off VFR400R in my garage (now my race VFR) AND a absolutely mint new VFR400R next to it, courtesy of the "money for repairs".

The write-off percentages/thresholds will vary from company to company, but the practice remains the same.

[Oscar]

Yeah, they do seem to be giving the bike a good going over to determine value, so I think that's a good thing.

If you're concerned about the process, you should get an independent valuation.

[Oscar]

The write-off percentages/thresholds will vary from company to company, but the practice remains the same.

Yeah, Vero's website says 60%.

[p.dath]

Then the insurance company decides what the value is. If your policy said "agreed value" then it would be a sum insured amount set in your policy. The market value comes usually from an external company like Dealers Guide or Redbook.... but they can use an assessor to fine tune this. Your last renewal notice may contain the market value (my car policy depreciates a bit each year... but it may be agreed value - can't remember).

If the market value seems to low to you, you can complain or take it to the insurance ombudsman.

When my car was stolen, converted and written off, I got a full payout (market value though). I then went to turners and bought it back at auction and used the money to fix it up (with cash left over).

Personally - I would always go agreed value... then you know what you have insured for and can choose the amount to appreciate / depreciate each year.

Just a warning, "agreed value" is usually for the first 12 months of the policy. If you don't re-agree on a new value for the next 12 months then it usually reverts back to market value. I can't remember the percentages (they are big), but if the agreed value is more than a certain percentage above or below the market value, them the entire policy can be voided.

In the current market, many agreed value policies have been withdrawn by insurance companies. So if you don't have one in place already, you have have trouble finding an insurance company prepared to offer you a new one.

[Suzi Q]

As an insurance person I have a little knowledge of what could happen. If there is frame damage - in a car it would equate to chassis damage - then the bike may need to be deregistered first, then if you want to put it back on the road it would need to go through an expensive process to get it back on the road. if it is just cosmetic then let them know now that you want to get the bike back and they will work with you to do that for you. If you keep them up to date with what you want they will then settle accordingly.

[Suzi Q]

Just a warning, "agreed value" is usually for the first 12 months of the policy. If you don't re-agree on a new value for the next 12 months then it usually reverts back to market value. I can't remember the percentages (they are big), but if the agreed value is more than a certain percentage above or below the market value, them the entire policy can be voided.

In the current market, many agreed value policies have been withdrawn by insurance companies. So if you don't have one in place already, you have have trouble finding an insurance company prepared to offer you a new one.

I work for an insurance company that has changed it's motorbike policies from market value to agreed value. The agreed value is the sum insured, there is depreciation each year and it is up to the owner of the bike to make sure they aare happy with the sum insured. The only time market value is paid is if the bike was in below average condition prior to the incident, a pre accident value would be requested by the assessor and the valuation would need to state that the bike was in below average condition. I think the Vero policy is market value, but I could be wrong.

[unrealone]

Yep, my RS is 'agreed value' and just recently depreciated by $1000. I was advised I would need to get it valued again to bring it back up to my original which is fair.

I have gone through the process in the past of: Crash > Make Claim > Bike gets "Written" off due to cost of bodywork alone > Bike shop value it > Ins co offer to me for that amount > Agreed Value - Excess - buy back = good deal when you can get it done for 1/5 the price.

[rosie631]

OK guys. Have heard from insurance assessor. The bike is a write off. The value they have come up is 14grand, which isn't enough for a totally standard superglide let alone what I had. Have asked him for a buy back price and he is going to get back to me.
The issue to buy back is complicated by the fact that I don't think it has had a complete repair assessment. Total was 10grand but that was pretty much for the cosmetic shit, which I know I can do WAY cheaper. Problem is that apparently there is a 'clicking' noise when it is wheeled backwards but not forwards. They reckon they would need to strip it down to find out what's causing that. Could it be structural?? Also apparently the front forks are bent. Can they be straightened? What cost? Safe? Or would I need a whole front end.
Am now thinking if buy back price is cheap enough I will do it and keep as long term project. Use rest of money to buy something cheaper so I can at least keep riding.
Opinions please??

[rosie631]

As an insurance person I have a little knowledge of what could happen. If there is frame damage - in a car it would equate to chassis damage - then the bike may need to be deregistered first, then if you want to put it back on the road it would need to go through an expensive process to get it back on the road. if it is just cosmetic then let them know now that you want to get the bike back and they will work with you to do that for you. If you keep them up to date with what you want they will then settle accordingly.

Ok, so when assessor gets back to me regarding buy back price I need to check if it will be deregistered? Anyone know cost to put back on road if it does get deregistered??

[YellowDog]

Ok, so when assessor gets back to me regarding buy back price I need to check if it will be deregistered? Anyone know cost to put back on road if it does get deregistered??
It's just a compliance check at about $250ish. Coventry Group or the AA can do this for you once it has been repaired to the original OEM standard.

It may not necessarily get degregisterred. Worth asking them though.

If the loss assessor makes you an offer, make him/her a counter offer of 30% less.

[Squiggles]

Chances are if its bent the forks etc they're going to deregister it, and you're (probably) going to need to get it all checked out to show its straight (some $$ involved) then the usual compliance check. How good are you with tools?

[AllanB]

Forks, a slight bend can be straightened, or search for a US site called 'Forks by Frank" - they will quote you a price for brand spanking new tubes (US$) that will be heaps cheaper than stock ones.

If the forks are bent you'll want to check out the triple clamps too.

Clicking when going backwards..... could be pee all or ........

Do you know anyone who you trust with HD knowledge?

Also - you know what you recently spent on that engine - a fair few $ I suspect - if the buy back is low enough it may pay to keep it as a donor - you can always sell the bikes bits on Trademe.

Also sounds like a good way to get a cheap Harley project with a sweet engine on the go ...... :whistle::whistle::whistle::whistle:

[thepom]

the click could be something as simple as the brake caliper damaged ot the disc slightly bent,no big deal to eliminate the suspect item....

[rosie631]

Also - you know what you recently spent on that engine - a fair few $ I suspect - if the buy back is low enough it may pay to keep it as a donor - you can always sell the bikes bits on Trademe.

Also sounds like a good way to get a cheap Harley project with a sweet engine on the go ...... :whistle::whistle::whistle::whistle:

Thanks for that. Yes, I'm thinking engine is too good to let go. They've given me a shit value for write off so I have asked for a buy back price. I'm thinking that since they obviously think it's such a load of shit the buy back should be pretty low. But knowing insurance companies that won't be the case.