Should the club have a valuation service

[Norman Verona]

Surely the problem, which prompted this post, is that some members don't know the replacement value of their cars.

 

The problem the insurers have is protecting themselves from fraud. Wouldn't be the first time (or last) that an owner gives evidence that his car has a spec which makes it worth, say, £25,000 when it's only worth, say, £6,000 and it gets stolen 3 weeks after the policy is taken out.

 

There are ways of protecting the insurer of this and my feeling is that the club should offer this service, even if it's at arms length. It will increase membership and give a better service to members. No cost or risk to the club, it's normal for the club to charge about £25 to cover costs.

[XTR2Turbo]

Perhaps it could be offered annually at Stoneleigh, Curborough or Blyton  by a third party but coordinated by the club.

 

I see the biggest cost visiting people so if they came to an event instead ...

[User0083]

Yes, I agree with parts only being cheaper. I've been through that situation a few times!!! If I did the work myself the parts would be £2,800 but with Westfield doing it, £5,500. That's at a reduced rate. However my car was recovered to there, they know what they are doing, I don't have the space really and at the moment I'm unable to drive due to shoulder op. so I couldn't do the work anyway because I can't even lift a cup of tea!!!

But if insurance paid it then they would have £5,500 for a car worth a minimum of £7,500 and just write it off as uneconomical to repair.

On my first incident the car was recovered to a storage field... Yes, outside in the rain! The guy that collected it was grinning like a cat that got the cream! Clearly knew he could repair it and make a decent profit. I had help from Mark (Westfield Tech Dept) to get car recovered to Westfield factory and repaired by them. Second incident they third party wanted to stay out of insurance and said he'd foot the bill and compensate me £500 (shiny bits!!!). Again went to factory as it was 8 miles away!

I do know there's other people able to do full repairs, SteveD is Manchester area, so if up north, I'd get it recovered to him and he would be able to argue the value if the car and the cost of repair, as mark has at Westfield.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Surely the problem, which prompted this post, is that some members don't know the replacement value of their cars.

 

I think that's part of it, Norman.  The other part of the equation is that even if you do know, it's a right royal PITA arguing with insurance companies at the best of times... it's very easy to imagine them playing dumb at (or outright disagreeing with) the notion that a 20y/o engine might be worth £15k+ and that it's that specific engine type that was part of the essence of your vehicle.

 

Hell, I remember the fun and games when my daily (a special edition with all the toys) was written off by a trucker and they tried claiming that the wheels/leather etc were insignificant. 

[Norman Verona]

The vast majority will not need an actual viewing. Photo's of the car, a copy of the V5c, a picture of the chassis plate and any, if it's a hike in valuation, invoices for work done to substantiate the increase.

[Norman Verona]

Wile, the insurers are not bothered about the value, they are charging you so much per £1000 value. What they are concerned about with classic type limited mileage second car policies is overvaluation and fraud.

 

I spent years negotiating our medium sized dealer group policies. We had a conveyor car wash in St John Wood (richest area in the UK). Every year they wanted me to give a value of the cars that could be in the building queuing and going through the wash if the building caught fire and they were all destroyed. As a typical que consisted of some Rolls Royce/Bentleys (new), a couple of Ferraris, a few 911's and string of Jaguars I had long discussions about over insuring and taking a typical value for 30 cars. Whilst it was great fun it was very tiring. Then we would move on to average values of cars in workshops, then the road risks, then the consequential losses, then.... OK, you get the picture.

[Captain Colonial]

Perhaps it could be offered annually at Stoneleigh, Curborough or Blyton  by a third party but coordinated by the club.

 

I see the biggest cost visiting people so if they came to an event instead ...

 

That's quite a sensible compromise idea if someone can be found who offers it - I like that.

[dombanks]

ha how funny, all this talk of insurance and valuations made me remember to give A plan a ring about changing the adress on the westy insurance. turns out its up for renewal at the end of next month.

 

anyway new policy has a guarnateed value as part of the poilicy. a service to value the car would be most useful to me 1.for insurance and 2.as i want to sell it and am about to put an advert up.

[Darrell O'Neill]

I'd love to see a club organised or co-ordinated service. Its always worried me how, in the event of a claim, I could prove that it was'nt a standard car of its age and spec. Alot of the parts, engine rebuild, CNChead, gearbox suspension etc are secondhand parts Ive bought and proving they increase the value would be difficult.

[Norman Verona]

Dom, insurance values will not reflect, accurately enough, a value for selling a car.

[Norman Verona]

Darrel, you can't do this after the event. Agreed valuations are charged at so much per thousand by the insurers, You can't argue after a total loss that the car is worth more, you have to get the valuation and agree the value at policy renewal or start time.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Scope creep...

 

One of the very, very few management type expressions I like and shock horror, have even been known to use!

 

Here we see a classic example though, members, (no sleight intended to Darrell or Dom, by the way, this isn't targeted at them!), will want to take the figures and use them in unintended ways. And when that goes wrong, people get upset.

 

FWIW, and these are my own personal thoughts, it's something that would be handy to have an agreed value service, strictly for setting up agreed valuation insurance policies. But, personally speaking, I don't think we are a big enough club to truly take something like that on internally. So, it would need to be in partnership with a third party. But who? And with a business head on, what's in it for them?

 

The (Westfield) factory has looked into providing this as a service, several years ago, nothing came of it. Perhaps it's worth looking to them again? Or maybe the reasons they decided against it are still valid.

[Darrell O'Neill]

Scope creep...

 

One of the very, very few management type expressions I like and shock horror, have even been known to use!

 

Here we see a classic example though, members, (no sleight intended to Darrell or Dom, by the way, this isn't targeted at them!), will want to take the figures and use them in unintended ways. And when that goes wrong, people get upset.

 

 

 

 

Not sure what you mean?

What Im saying is that I dont have an agreed valuation as it stands, I would have trouble proving that my car is a devoped 240bhp car with rebuild engine, HD gearbox, etc, etc and not just a standard XE from 2001.

If I had to replace my car with one of a similar spec, the engine and gearbox alone would cost more than the value of a standard 12 yr old car.

Thats where an agreed value would benifet the likes of myself

[Norman Verona]

Darell, I read you post in the same was as Dave, Sorry. You will need invoices to prove to the insurer that the work on the engine, which raises the value of the car, has been done.

 

There are some, not in this club, hopefully, who would say I've had £15,000 worth of engine work done so my car was worth £6,000 but now it's worth £21,000. Insurer accepts valuation and charges premium accordingly. 3 weeks later the car is stolen and found minus engine and gearbox. Insure pays out £21,000 for a car that was worth £6,000, if that. It's called fraud.

[Darrell O'Neill]

I know exactly what you mean Norn. No offense taken.