- Joined
- May 15, 2013
- Messages
- 55
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Hi guys, how are you? Was back in June if anyone can recall when I said I had an accident on the commando, less than a week after I put it back on the road, and was waiting for the insurance to sort it out.
Anyway, I found out some interesting things about how the insurance worked here in England anyway, that I thought I’d share with you guys if you’re interested. I had a standard comprehensive insurance, not agreed value, with a £400 excess.
Damage to the bike that I could see were bent handlebars, snapped off footpeg, headlamp rim bent, broken offside rear indicator lens, snapped off offside seat knurled knob, the glass had come off the rev counter which I had picked up and that seems about it, with a few scratches. I rode the bike home. Accident was my fault, though obviously I didn’t tell anyone. Only reason I claimed was the damage to the car, a new Merc, was too much for me to pay out of my own pocket, even if it was only broken rear lenses and a few scratches, still came to near thousand pounds!!!
Day after the accident I notified my broker, who arranged for an engineer to take the bike away and that was all very prompt. The engineer was a reputable motorcycle firm.
That was my first mistake, I should have notified the insurance company not the broker. Anyway sorted that out and the insurance company sent its accessor down to see the bike.
Didn’t hear anything from them for a couple of weeks despite heaps of calls from me to a premium rate number. Then they eventually said the accessor had written it off! I said what? For a few scratches and slight damage? So they sent another accessor down, and this one the repair firm knows well. And he too wrote it off! So I asked why? And these were the reasons, which have taught me a bit about how it worked.
Firstly the repair company had put in a bill for £3,750!!!! It turns out not only do they repair what can be seen to be accident damage, but they do a complete job. Includes a new tank, offside exhaust, seat, panels, complete clocks and ignition console plus heaps of cosmetic work. Also the way the accessor worked out the value of the commando was by going on ebay that avo, and the only commandos there were one barn find, and a couple of mint restored commandos. Now my bike I admit was scruffy, I had just got it working after over 9 years stored in the garage, I had worked on it to pass the MOT which it had, and I was just taking it out for a good shakedown ride before next weekend doing the cosmetics in case I need to do more mechanical work on it. And the accessor admits that the bike is worth far more, but not in the condition he saw it in, only after I had cleaned it up and added some polish. And he said the bike will be worth much more to me if I buy it back as salvage than to the wreckers.
So the reason he valued my bike at only £3,000 was it was not mint like ones on ebay, and the barn find only had a £1,000 starting bid on it. Also, and this shocked me, there was a previous write off against it!!! Although he also said according to the records it was against a Yamaha with my reg. Obviously a mistake, but it’s on the records.
I of course said I will buy the bike back, as it was only a Cat C write off, which means the bike was repairable but deemed to expensive.
So I have the bike back, and so far spent less than £100 to fix everything. But it means I have to now reapply for my V5C, the ownership doc, and get a new MOT. Also the bike has a write off recorded against it, which is not important unless I want to sell it, which I am not looking to.
But the reason why I only got the cheque today is there was an outstanding finance on it from a finance company! I said no way, I have owned the bike since the early 90’s, and I brought it from a well known motorcycle firm. The insurance and finance company both accept it was not my bike, was just a typo when the records were entered many years ago, as my reg on their records was against a Yamaha! (This explained the write off the accessor found against my bike reg)
Anyway, I have the cheque, my bike is back in my garage, I am now awaiting for my V5C to come back from the DVLA, and then I can get the bike MOT’ed again and reinsured.
Of course I will be paying more for my bike insurance, as well as my car insurance when it is due for renewal.
I now feel a wee bit cheated after paying insurances for over 30 years with never a claim until now. Why did the bike repair firm quoted such a high figure and the need to replace parts with brand new items that was not damaged in the accident? They can see the few scratches on the tank and exhaust can just be polished off and not needed to be replaced with new items. Why was the only way to value my bike was to look on ebay that day only? And now my future insurance fees will be higher for this.
I know now when I am on the road again to make sure my bike is cleaned and polished up just incase, God forbid, I have to make a claim again!
Anyway, that was my whinge over with. I feel heaps better now!! am going to get back in the garage and get the commando ready again and also finish that Matchless I started on again when the Commando was in the repair shop.
cheers guys!!!
Anyway, I found out some interesting things about how the insurance worked here in England anyway, that I thought I’d share with you guys if you’re interested. I had a standard comprehensive insurance, not agreed value, with a £400 excess.
Damage to the bike that I could see were bent handlebars, snapped off footpeg, headlamp rim bent, broken offside rear indicator lens, snapped off offside seat knurled knob, the glass had come off the rev counter which I had picked up and that seems about it, with a few scratches. I rode the bike home. Accident was my fault, though obviously I didn’t tell anyone. Only reason I claimed was the damage to the car, a new Merc, was too much for me to pay out of my own pocket, even if it was only broken rear lenses and a few scratches, still came to near thousand pounds!!!
Day after the accident I notified my broker, who arranged for an engineer to take the bike away and that was all very prompt. The engineer was a reputable motorcycle firm.
That was my first mistake, I should have notified the insurance company not the broker. Anyway sorted that out and the insurance company sent its accessor down to see the bike.
Didn’t hear anything from them for a couple of weeks despite heaps of calls from me to a premium rate number. Then they eventually said the accessor had written it off! I said what? For a few scratches and slight damage? So they sent another accessor down, and this one the repair firm knows well. And he too wrote it off! So I asked why? And these were the reasons, which have taught me a bit about how it worked.
Firstly the repair company had put in a bill for £3,750!!!! It turns out not only do they repair what can be seen to be accident damage, but they do a complete job. Includes a new tank, offside exhaust, seat, panels, complete clocks and ignition console plus heaps of cosmetic work. Also the way the accessor worked out the value of the commando was by going on ebay that avo, and the only commandos there were one barn find, and a couple of mint restored commandos. Now my bike I admit was scruffy, I had just got it working after over 9 years stored in the garage, I had worked on it to pass the MOT which it had, and I was just taking it out for a good shakedown ride before next weekend doing the cosmetics in case I need to do more mechanical work on it. And the accessor admits that the bike is worth far more, but not in the condition he saw it in, only after I had cleaned it up and added some polish. And he said the bike will be worth much more to me if I buy it back as salvage than to the wreckers.
So the reason he valued my bike at only £3,000 was it was not mint like ones on ebay, and the barn find only had a £1,000 starting bid on it. Also, and this shocked me, there was a previous write off against it!!! Although he also said according to the records it was against a Yamaha with my reg. Obviously a mistake, but it’s on the records.
I of course said I will buy the bike back, as it was only a Cat C write off, which means the bike was repairable but deemed to expensive.
So I have the bike back, and so far spent less than £100 to fix everything. But it means I have to now reapply for my V5C, the ownership doc, and get a new MOT. Also the bike has a write off recorded against it, which is not important unless I want to sell it, which I am not looking to.
But the reason why I only got the cheque today is there was an outstanding finance on it from a finance company! I said no way, I have owned the bike since the early 90’s, and I brought it from a well known motorcycle firm. The insurance and finance company both accept it was not my bike, was just a typo when the records were entered many years ago, as my reg on their records was against a Yamaha! (This explained the write off the accessor found against my bike reg)
Anyway, I have the cheque, my bike is back in my garage, I am now awaiting for my V5C to come back from the DVLA, and then I can get the bike MOT’ed again and reinsured.
Of course I will be paying more for my bike insurance, as well as my car insurance when it is due for renewal.
I now feel a wee bit cheated after paying insurances for over 30 years with never a claim until now. Why did the bike repair firm quoted such a high figure and the need to replace parts with brand new items that was not damaged in the accident? They can see the few scratches on the tank and exhaust can just be polished off and not needed to be replaced with new items. Why was the only way to value my bike was to look on ebay that day only? And now my future insurance fees will be higher for this.
I know now when I am on the road again to make sure my bike is cleaned and polished up just incase, God forbid, I have to make a claim again!
Anyway, that was my whinge over with. I feel heaps better now!! am going to get back in the garage and get the commando ready again and also finish that Matchless I started on again when the Commando was in the repair shop.
cheers guys!!!