Insurance premiums

[flyingcrocodile46]

this is true before an accident. after an accident the insurance companies seem to know exactly what they think something is worth.

this is my big gripe with insurance companies.

If *I* decide that my 1998 ZX9r is worth 4 million dollars and arrange insurance and an insurance company *agree* to insure it for 4 million dollars and base my premium on that ammount then if I crash it then they should either fix it to the value of 4 million dollars or write it off and pay out the full ammount.

What annoys me is they go, well tell us how much your bike is worth.. Righto.. lets say 8k. then you crash and they go.. market value.. its only worth 4k. here you go.

I am really (not considering this is NZ) surprised that people put up with it.

You can get proper agreed value cover with Swann but you may find you have to prove it's worth what you claim it is. A dealer valuation is sufficient

[cowboyz]

The problem is that an insurer has no idea what your bike is worth when you ring for a quote...condition, mileage etc all unknown...also what you think your bike is worth may not actually be it's market value...

You can have agreed value with say Classic Insurance which allows a 20% leeway...

You can get proper agreed value cover with Swann but you may find you have to prove it's worth what you claim it is. A dealer valuation is sufficient

both missing the point. The bikes value should be imaterial (sp?)

your have 2 senarios (ok.. its frikking 3am so sorry hitcher.. my spelling is going out the window)

1. your insurance company agree to $5000 worth of cover and assign premiums accordingly. You crash and find out your bikes worth $8000. so the insurance company pay the first $5000 towards the damages.

2. your insurance company agree to $8000 worth of cover and assign premiums accordingly. You crash and find out your bikes worth $5000. so the insurance co pay $5000 towards damages, when you have been paying for $8000 worth of risk. It doesnt seem fair


A few years ago we had a little lazer as a runabout car. It was a 1984 and paintwork wasnt really tidy but it never failed a warrent and always started when you turned the key. My wife used it to go to work and back. Some muppet crashed into it and his insurance company decided the car was worth $1000. I argued for ages that I didnt want $1000, I wanted them to replace the car with a car that always starts, was mechanically sound and always passes a warrent. How much was that car worth?....... to us?

[Grahameeboy]

both missing the point. The bikes value should be imaterial (sp?)

your have 2 senarios (ok.. its frikking 3am so sorry hitcher.. my spelling is going out the window)

1. your insurance company agree to $5000 worth of cover and assign premiums accordingly. You crash and find out your bikes worth $8000. so the insurance company pay the first $5000 towards the damages.

2. your insurance company agree to $8000 worth of cover and assign premiums accordingly. You crash and find out your bikes worth $5000. so the insurance co pay $5000 towards damages, when you have been paying for $8000 worth of risk. It doesnt seem fair


A few years ago we had a little lazer as a runabout car. It was a 1984 and paintwork wasnt really tidy but it never failed a warrent and always started when you turned the key. My wife used it to go to work and back. Some muppet crashed into it and his insurance company decided the car was worth $1000. I argued for ages that I didnt want $1000, I wanted them to replace the car with a car that always starts, was mechanically sound and always passes a warrent. How much was that car worth?....... to us?

1. You may find that you get paid $8,000

It's the market value of the car not what it is worth to you.

[wingrider]

When i bought my Goldwing 2 years ago, I went to the company that i have all my other insurance with. ( wife works for this company so thought i would get a good deal). They wont insure bikes!!

Just about every other insurance company wouldn't look at me unless i took other insurance with them AND THEN my premium would have been over $2k for $10k cover.

Got put onto Swann.

1st year
$700 for $14k cover

2nd year
As bike now classified as classic,( 20 year old) $430 for agreed value of $14k, personal gear cover value doubled, also pillion personal gear value doubled.

Had a claim when some idiot in a 4x4 backed into it at service station. he wasnt insured but I forced him into signing a liability statement.

Had to order parts in from the states. Sent swann invoices and visa statement showing all costs and currency conversions. As I was doing the repairs myself they allowed 6 hours labour at $60 per hour credited to me.

Did not pay any excess as liability admitted. Had payment for full cost of parts and labour credited to my account within 4 working days even before the parts arrived.

Have put a lot of people onto Swann and not had a single negative comment about them.

Wife could not believe the customer service in respect to her own company.

Ebike used to be good but now dont insure bikes in NZ. Never let there customers know they were dropping them either.

[Pixie]

both missing the point. The bikes value should be imaterial (sp?)

your have 2 senarios (ok.. its frikking 3am so sorry hitcher.. my spelling is going out the window)

1. your insurance company agree to $5000 worth of cover and assign premiums accordingly. You crash and find out your bikes worth $8000. so the insurance company pay the first $5000 towards the damages.

2. your insurance company agree to $8000 worth of cover and assign premiums accordingly. You crash and find out your bikes worth $5000. so the insurance co pay $5000 towards damages, when you have been paying for $8000 worth of risk. It doesnt seem fair


A few years ago we had a little lazer as a runabout car. It was a 1984 and paintwork wasnt really tidy but it never failed a warrent and always started when you turned the key. My wife used it to go to work and back. Some muppet crashed into it and his insurance company decided the car was worth $1000. I argued for ages that I didnt want $1000, I wanted them to replace the car with a car that always starts, was mechanically sound and always passes a warrent. How much was that car worth?....... to us?

Think about it.
Some lowlife insures a piece of crap for 1 million and arranges for it to be "stolen" and claims the full amount?
How long do you think there would be an insurance industry available to insure anything?
If you want to make money from insurance claims,there is only one way.
Insure your wife and kill her.
But don't get caught.

[cowboyz]

Think about it.
Some lowlife insures a piece of crap for 1 million and arranges for it to be "stolen" and claims the full amount?
How long do you think there would be an insurance industry available to insure anything?
If you want to make money from insurance claims,there is only one way.
Insure your wife and kill her.
But don't get caught.

oh FFS! The key here. - cause your missing the entire point! is the insurance companies seem to be able to get a accurate "market" value of things after the fact but not before. If an insurance co wants to (and they do have the right of refusual) insure some POS for a million then they should honour that contract if something goes wrong. Its not about making money off insurance companies. Its about them doing what they say that would do.

[flyingcrocodile46]

both missing the point.

Not really

A few years ago we had a little lazer as a runabout car. It was a 1984 and paintwork wasnt really tidy but it never failed a warrent and always started when you turned the key. My wife used it to go to work and back. Some muppet crashed into it and his insurance company decided the car was worth $1000. I argued for ages that I didnt want $1000, I wanted them to replace the car with a car that always starts, was mechanically sound and always passes a warrent. How much was that car worth?....... to us?

See. If you had have taken an agreed value policy you could have assigned a value (possibly supported by a friendly valuation) and you would have got exactly what you expected.

[yachtie10]

Thanks guys for bumping my thread
now (if you havent already) could you put your details into the spreadsheet as i would like some more data.

Cheers

[quackquack]

You can get proper agreed value cover with Swann but you may find you have to prove it's worth what you claim it is. A dealer valuation is sufficient

I think you need to read the policy wording as Swann has the worst agreed value with the agreed value vehicle needing to be in good condition in there opinion, this leaves you totally open as they don't need to listen to any experts it is totally in there opinion whether your bike is in good condition or not and if you will get the agreed value, so be very careful with the swan wording.

I believe this is worst agreed value policies in the market and if far to weighted in the insurance companies favor. Get to independant valuations of you bike and most will agree to that value for you.

[cowboyz]

I think you need to read the policy wording as Swann has the worst agreed value with the agreed value vehicle needing to be in good condition in there opinion, this leaves you totally open as they don't need to listen to any experts it is totally in there opinion whether your bike is in good condition or not and if you will get the agreed value, so be very careful with the swan wording.

.

of course, after it gets stolen and some muppet breaks your ignition and thrashs the crap out of your bike its not exactly in good condition anymore is it?

[flyingcrocodile46]

I think you need to read the policy wording as Swann has the worst agreed value with the agreed value vehicle needing to be in good condition in there opinion, this leaves you totally open as they don't need to listen to any experts it is totally in there opinion whether your bike is in good condition or not and if you will get the agreed value, so be very careful with the swan wording.

I believe this is worst agreed value policies in the market and if far to weighted in the insurance companies favor. Get to independant valuations of you bike and most will agree to that value for you.

Which is exactly what I did

[geoffm]

SV1000 - new November 2007. Just renewed the insurance for $763.09 with Kiwibike (Star as insurerer). Age 42, ful NCB, 2 claims in 14 months (blind drivers fault in both cases), last at fault MC claim in 1992.
ACC claims - first in 1991, other circa 1995 - total value less than $100.
ACC doesn't work out for me...

[jetboy]

There are policies out there for modern bikes with agreed value extensions, with some offering:

- NEW replacement motorcycle following a total loss claim if your bike is less than x years old and has travelled less than x kilometers
- If you buy a secondhand bike and you insure it for the same amount you paid for it, that sum insured will be the basis of a total loss claims settlement for a whole year

Just keep in mind:

The underlying principle of any insurance contract is to enable you to be in the same position you were in before a loss. This is because if you were in a better position after an insurance claim there would be a financial incentive to make claims.

So if your bike is really worth $10k instead of the $15k it's been insured for over the past 3 years expect your claim to be settled on $10K.

Then there are classic motorcycle insurance policies for bikes over a certain age which are based on an agreed value.

In every agreed value policy wording I have read there is a clause that states that if the market value is x% less than the agreed value, then the basis of settlement changes to market value. Or like the one mentioned before where someone thought "proper agreed value" will be paid - this is only if the vehicle is in good condition in the insurers opinion.

All policies are not the same, so do your homework or better still ask someone in the know for advice - that's what brokers are for!