Shafted by State Insurance.

[kave]

I believe that state insurance have given my bike an unfairley low valuation, if I accept it I will only be getting paid $1250 for it (after my excess is taken into account). What would be the best (ie most expensive) bike shop in auckland to get a valuation from? Has to be a registered dealer, and preferably valuation needs to be provided on a letterhead. Please help, if I cant get more than that I will be catching the bus.

[Cajun]

You are best to get vaulations from 2-3 dealers.

So in turn they will work out an average between these prices.

[Sniper]

You are best to get vaulations from 2-3 dealers.

Exactly. No point having 1 estimate when you can get three and produce the most expensive

S

[kave]

Will try to get a quote from as many dealers as possible, thanks for the advice.

[imdying]

Realistically, that's what an SRX250 is worth.. before you excess even.

[kave]

Realistically, that's what an SRX250 is worth.. before you excess even.
I dont believe thats right, especially not for the 1990 (3wp) model, especially one in great condition with only 30k on the clock. If anyone can find a 1990 single cylinder 250cc bike with those k's from a dealer for a similar price I would be amazed (and I would shut up and accept the amount).

[Podo]

Another way to approach it is to ask the insurance company to replace the bike with a similar machine, that way there is no argument.

[Macktheknife]

Realistically, that's what an SRX250 is worth.. before you excess even.

Sorry mate but can't agree, market says 250's are worth heaps if they are in reasonable condition with average mileage.
Go to Boyd Honda, or any other Honda dealer and ask them to provide a valuation for you.
Good luck.

[Black Bandit]

Sorry mate but can't agree, market says 250's are worth heaps if they are in reasonable condition with average mileage.
Go to Boyd Honda, or any other Honda dealer and ask them to provide a valuation for you.
Good luck.

True that! Saw a mint ZXR250 (14000km) at a dealer for $8500 :gob:
It looked like a USA import.

[kro]

The ole SRX is a sweet little bike, and they handle pretty good for their age, I'd pay more than 1250 for it, and I think I know the bike market pretty well.

[FROSTY]

Dude -just simply dont accept their offer.Argue the toss with them.
Go in armed with FACTS though.

[Deviant Esq]

True that! Saw a mint ZXR250 (14000km) at a dealer for $8500 :gob:
Holy shit. Yeah yeah, near 20 year old 250s are inflated in the New Zealand market because people will pay for them, blah blah blah, but an asking price like that is absolutely ridiculous. Imagine paying that kind of money for something like a Honda Civic, even a well looked after one, from that kind of era? You just wouldn't consider it, and the car was worth considerably more as new. You could get a near new SV650 for that kind of money.

250s are worth more in NZ because of our licensing laws, and that's fine. But the stupid profits bike dealers can gouge from learners upon importing a used 250cc sportsbike is unbelievable.

Having said that, simply because this is New Zealand, your SRX should be worth a higher payout than that, even taking your excess into account. What is your excess?

[Swoop]

State...:puke:

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

:bye:

[imdying]

4 cyl 250s might be worth more... the SRX is in the GN250 market, and 1990 is 17 years old now. Hell I paid less than that for my SRX250 11 years ago. Who was selling that gold n black ZXR250 for $3500?

[shafty]

Chat up the Dealers - who would be keen to sell you the replacement bike. MAybe check by doing a search on Trade ME and Bikepoint.co.nz - see if the average supports you. What about where you had the bike serviced?

Good luck.

[Stirts]

State...:puke:

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

:bye:

....STATE SUCK ARSE!!! :shake:

Me? twitter and bistered?....noooooooooo

[Sanx]

Try AMPS. When I went there to get a valuation, all they asked me was "how much do you want it to say?"

[nodrog]

....STATE SUCK ARSE!!! :shake:

and not in a good way.

[Stirts]

and not in a good way.

There's a good way? :innocent: :eek: :bleh: :whistle:

[Harry the Barstard]

State have paid out total right offs twice for me no worries. Granted it wasnt my fault on both occations and they where cars not bikes.

what is your excess if you dont mind me askin

[onearmedbandit]

State convinced me to claim my gloves along with my other gear because it was "all under one excess". They paid within 5 days. I like State.

[Matt_TG]

What's your excess mate? It's hard to comment on the valuation without knowing what was taken off ...

State would have reached their settlement figure from more than one valuation, but you would be welcome to supply and pay for another Pre Accident Valuation from a dealer qualified to give a valuation, in writing. The dealer shouldn't inflate the value on your say so, it will be blatently obvious, and there goes his standing in the trade.

It may not seem like it to many, but 99% of claims handlers wish to pay all that you are entitled to. It makes sense to - the process is quicker, there's a happy client and they retain your business. If they are offering lower than you thought then take another look at your idea of value.

Good luck!

[mynameis]

Mate the only thing I can suggest is do your homework properly before you take any step. And after doing some research into the market value of your bike, you still think and feel it's more than what they have assessed and given, then go ahead and get valuation done.

Try TradeMe, Motorcycle Trader ect. Then perhaps try Red Baron, AMPS, and CycleSpot Honda on the shore. But do remember if after your research, you find their valuation to be just a few hundred dollars less than yours, than think about the time, energy, effort and money required to obtain those written valuation and you will be in a very good position to make a wise decision.

You would also probably want to do a quick search on KB about Kiwibike Insurance and gauge the level of satisfied customers.

Either way good luck bud ;)

[Podo]

Also, from my experience with insurance companies, they are sometimes willing to negotiate settlement of claims, it is possible they are not putting their best foot forward initially.

[kave]

The cheapest 250cc bike from a dealer that I can find, looking across the whole of New Zealand is $2300
http://www.motorcycletrader.co.nz/DesktopDefault.aspx?UsedBikeID=2616405&TabID=3553&Alias=motorcycletradernz
and the cheapest 250cc bike I can find from a dealer in Auckland is $2,795 http://www.motorcycletrader.co.nz/DesktopDefault.aspx?UsedBikeID=2685329&TabID=3553&Alias=motorcycletradernz , which is also the price of the cheapest GN250 I found for sale at a dealership. My excess is around the $600 dollar mark (not wanting to be too precise, due to paranoia). If I was to get $1800 after my excess I wouldn't necessarily be overjoyed, but I would consider that a fair sort of number.

[imdying]

Doesn't have to be from a dealer... it's a second hand bike, they consider the whole second hand market.

[kave]

They told me that they would only accept valuations from motor vehicle dealers, which is why I am focusing on that area.
Anyway, for those who dont know, this is what an uncrashed 1990 srx250 (3wp) looks like.

[Nasase]

All i can say is a usual excess for a learner is abuot $600-800,
if your saying your bike is worth more than $2k for example and its that old then the obvious answer is why would yours be worth more than that when one could just buy a reasonable GSX250. You need to be realistic. No offence

[kave]

None taken, If I get a quote and its similar to the state quote I will let you all know that I was in the wrong, and that states offer was fair. If I get a quote thats considerably higher than the quote from State, I will let you know. I guess I find out this weekend if my sense of injustice is misplaced or not.

[imdying]

They told me that they would only accept valuations from motor vehicle dealers, which is why I am focusing on that area.Yep, they will only accept valuations from motor vehicle dealers. You can however get the motor vehicle dealer to do valuations on private vehicles, if you see what I mean?

[avgas]

Rule of thought - dealers pay half of what you pay as joe blow to another joe blow.
SRX was only about $5K new, if you depreciate at say 25% p/a you get zilch.
While the SRX is a fantastic little bike - i still would not buy one for more than $2.5K for a mint one.
In the dealers eyes, they can buy a SRX250 from japan and have it shipped over for less than 2K

[kave]

I thought the quote would be based on what price the dealers would put on the bike if they were selling it, not how much they were willing to pay for it? Am I mistaken?

[imdying]

It's not all about the dealers pricing... they take the entire secondhand market into account. The only reason you have to get the valuations done by them, is they're the ones that know the values.

For example, take your 2007 GSXR1000 in for a valuation.. it's not coming back at $20k (or whatever RRP is), more like $17-18,000... even though they're $18-19 on the shop floor.

The ticket price isn't the value, it's what they want for the bike, which isn't the same thing.

If you're getting around $1800-$2000 (less your excess) for a 1990 SRX250, you're getting a good deal.

[kave]

I guess the problem is that the bike is still roadworthy even if it has a fair bit of cosmetic damage. To be honest I wouldn't sell the bike in its current state for what I am being offered as insurance. Therefore, my only other options are to cancel the claim and keep the bike (leaving me wondering why the hell I got full cover in the first place), or if possible, accept the offer, buy the wreck back, and use the pittance left over to make some minor repairs, still leaving me with a bike in a much worse state than I bought it, devalued by a considerable amount, and having to pay for the majority of the repairs out of my own pocket.
I guess I have learnt that full insurance is not worth what I am paying for it, If I had just cancelled my insurance and put the payments into a savings fund I would be better off.

[MSTRS]

I guess the problem is that the bike is still roadworthy even if it has a fair bit of cosmetic damage.

So write it off, buy it back (prob $100), then sell the bike as is....

[kave]

I just tried to do that. They valued the wreck at $750 which would leave me $500 to repair and re-register it, as they would not sell it back without it being deregistered. I then told them that I would just cancel the claim and keep the bike, as that would probably work out cheaper then trying to get it revinned and back on the road for $500, especially considering that being without my bike for any period of time means significant hardship (and taxi and bus fares).
They then informed me that if I cancelled the claim, they would still have to advise LTNZ that my bike is not roadworthy (which is untrue), and I would still have to get it revinned anyway. I am well and truely screwed.

[MSTRS]

$750?? Tell'em they're dreamin'
They serious? Sounds like a smidgeon of bullshit there. Who assessed the damage? Bet you it was bike mechanic so what would the dick on the phone know.
I know 'a few' people who have retained their written-off bike and all it cost them was $100 off the payout settlement. Sure, the bikes were deregistered...but less than $400 got them legal again

[kave]

Have cancelled the claim, and convinced state not to inform LTNZ. I am now insured with A.M.I. Third party coverage is setting me back less than $4 a month with $100 excess (and I'm only on my learners). A.M.I have now also got my wifes car insurance and our contents insurance.

State took a month to come to the table with a settlement, which I believe is an excessive amount of time for a claim involving no other parties, and they refused to cover my helmet. They consistently provided estimated timeframes for settlement, and then came nowhere near meeting those timeframes. They underestimated the value of my bike by around $500, and overestimated the value of the wreck by the same. Often, I found that speaking to two different people would leave me with two completely different results, and after being told for a week and a half that the claim would be settled in the next day or two I was informed that the valuers had no record of ever being asked to do a valuation on my bike because the fax from the claims department had been lost (and this was the reason it was taking so long).

My advice to anyone looking at getting bike insurance is steer well clear of State, and if you are getting full insurance- come to an agreement on agreed value when you insure your vehicle, as opposed to waiting till after the crash for your vehicle to be valued (this is what I have done with my car insurance, and it's a big weight off my mind).

[imdying]

So how much did you insure it for, with State?

[Podo]

My life's experience is littered with the scenarios like Kave has gone through, I have found insurance companies to be prickly pears and difficult to deal with and State ranks right up there as the worst in my dealings with insurance companies. I think a lot of it depends on the person who handles your claim.

In my personal and business insurances I will now only deal with Brokers, which has produced an amazing turn around. Firstly my premiums have dropped dramatically, by 50% for the bike and car, and secondly any claims are managed and dealt with swiftly, in house, by the Broker, without any bullshit delays or arguments with assessors.

I also have a feeling that the insurance companies much prefer to deal through Brokers anyway, the feeling is mutual!

[Matt_TG]

Check just what you are insured for with AMI, before you need to claim mate. I recall on here reading someone who found out that cover was less than spectacular, as, being non-specific bike insurers they didn't cover you for many types of claim.

[nodrog]

theres always a good way:innocent: