Insurer undervaluing vehicle

Bikeexplorer85

Hello, I am new here, thanks in advance for any help.
I have been to court once and won and it has been a straight forward process. To get my deposit back from a rental with no agreement and dangerous living conditions.

Now, I had my motorbike stolen. Cut long story short,
The insurer offered me £1000, then 5 mins later rang back and offered £1130. Then after I further complained and provided research they said no more increases, £1130 was last offer.
The bike is worth in the region of £1700-1900. A model one year newer is on autotrader for £1900, I've sent them this and they completely outright ignored and said contact FOS..Financial ombudsman, no discussion or reasoning.

Ive found this website which is pretty helpful, although it wont let me post it as I'm new but if you google the quote youll probably find it from Motorguru website.
Quote "So its very very important we deal with your complaint after this point,as of this year, should you not be happy with the FOS decision, you cannot now take to court. click here to read what the telegraph says."

Now as they say the FOS will likely use the book prices too and probably just agree with the insurer..

Question: So I want to start the court proceedings however, from what I understand a court/judge requires you to use the ADR in the first instance,which is the FOS, so will my claim be thrown out as I dont want to use them? I do not want risk the FOS agreeing with the insurer as they will likely go on book prices too rather than market prices, then I will not be able to use the court...
I asked them this question:

*Can you show me what market research you have done to come your offer please as so far you have not provided any reference material?

As described above, we calculate the valuation of a vehicle by using the same guides as the Financial Ombudsman Service. These guides use real transaction values instead of advertised prices which are inevitably subject to negotiations. The engineers will then have a look on websites such as Auto-trader to check that the valuation is still inline with what’s being offered for the vehicle in question. In your case, the engineers were unable to find any vehicle for the same specification, year and mileage so was unable to compare.

And also This

*Provide the legalese, from the policy stating how you value the scooter and any information detailing like for like replacement, valuation. If you cannot provide the paragraphs please send me all document relating to my policy at the time of purchase and I will scrutinise them.

On page 22 of your policy booklet, under ‘Meaning of words’ it states: ‘Market Value The cost of replacing your motorcycle in the United Kingdom at the time the loss or damage occurred with one of a similar make, model, age and condition. Publications may be used which refer to vehicle values such as Glass's Guide to assess the market value, with an allowance being made for the

mileage, condition and circumstances of purchase by you.’

So the answer to the second question... The policy wording clearly defines market value as Market Value The cost of replacing your motorcycle in the United Kingdom at the time the loss or damage occurred with one of a similar make, model, age and condition. Therefore they must take into account the market reseach I have done where I have found the closest match being one year newer for £1900, therefor making mine approximately 17-1900, not £1100!

Do I have a good case for court and would I be wise to go ahead without the FOS as they're notoriously not helpful. And in the bigger picture what do I actually have to loose by giving it a go? they cant counter sue me or even if I loose claim costs as its for such a small claim in county court, right? Plus would an insurer really entertain the hassle to defend a case worth this amount?

Thank you.

Clive_Woody

You will need more evidence than one newer bike on autotrader listed at £1900. There is no guarantee it would sell for that price and that is not the Market Value, that is simply a starting point for negotiation when selling the bike.

Are there no other for sale listings for your bike? 

Car_54

You quote an example one year newer, advertised for £1,900, and say yours is therefore worth £1,700 to £1,900.

First, the £1,900 is an asking price. Very few people pay the asking price. Glass's etc use actual selling prices.

Second, even if £1,900 was realistic, how does that make your older vehcile worth £1,700, let alone £1,900?

Bikeexplorer85

Thanks for your reply,
mine was a 2009 model,
And there is only 2010 11,12,13 models for sale starting at £1900 to 2400 receptively, therefore even if I accepted their £1100 I would not be able to rebuy..

I'm interested to know about the court situation.. FOS ADR etc

Car_54

The insurer's obligation is to pay you the market value of the bike. The fact that you can't buy a direct replacement is not their concern.

Clive_Woody

At 11 yrs old depreciation will be slowing down, but still happening every year. You might get another £100 out of them, but I don't think you will get anywhere near £1900 given what you have told us. Have you tried their complaints process as a first option?

As already mentioned, the figures you are quoting are list price, and a starting point for negotiation, not what the bike will sell for. I would imagine you need a lot more evidence to convince a judge that your bike is undervalued.

KimJongUn88

The longer you spend !!!!!! about arguing about a few hundred quid, the more market values will drop further given that nobody is buying at the moment.  To be fair, that won’t have any overall effect on you because you’ll be able
to buy a newer bike with less money.

AdrianC

They've told you to escalate to the FOS... So take them up on that.

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/insurance/motor-insurance/vehicle-valuations-write-offs

What bike is/was it?

dannyrst

If you map the value of the 2012, 2011 and 2010 bikes, what does that suggest yours is worth list price? If it is indeed £1700, perhaps realistically that would be a cost of £1500 after negotiation. Personally, I'd go to the FOS with as much evidence as you can and see if you can get them to agree to £1400-1500. If not, just take the money and worry about more important things in life.

Manxman_in_exile

It's an 11 year old scooter and you think it's worth £1500 - £1700?  I got that for an 11 year old car a few years ago and was happy with it.

What is it?

KimJongUn88

We need the make, model and mileage to be able to make a fair assessment on the value.