Well the insurance have said the van is beyond economic repair following a break in at our storage. I was expecting this and frankly, am glad it has been written off as I wouldn't have wanted it repaired, knowing the low life scum had been in my van and trashed it.
Trouble is, we have now had an offer from the insurers, which I think is about £400 short of what I was expecting to get. It's insured for a maximum market value of £6500 and I think a realistic valuation is £6,000.
I have spoken to the insurance, who say we will need to show other vans being sold for a higher price but our van is unusual and I can't find one of the same model/year as ours.
Is there any way of finding out what vans have been sold for in the past? The trade guide apparently values it at £5,600 but this really doesn't seem to take into account it's rarity value and the fact that it is a very popular layout (fixed single beds).
Any suggestions? or should we just settle for what's been offered. I'm in no rush for the cash as if the van is replaced, it won't be happening this side of Christmas.
You can search ebay for completed listings here, probably not an exact match but might help to screw another £400 out of them. Theres always room for negotiations, never accept first offer.
Says we are not to remove "accessories" which I take to mean the fact it was fitted with a Powertorch mover, alarm system and Kojak jacking point/jack...so no, I don't think they have taken account of these extras. It also had a proper alarm system built into the van (which was smashed from its housing by the door).
Based on this alone, I would have thought £6,000 was not an unreasonable expectation. Contents which went missing are not part of the valuation and I've no issue with that but definitely think £5600 is a low offer.
I have found another van like ours for sale for £7,000 but I think those people are basing their price on dealers sales, and that van is older than ours.
Is it normal procedure to reject their first offer? btw insurance is with C&CC so not dealing with cowboys here.
So long as your insurers are aware that all the extras have been fitted and quoted accordingly, I would reject the offer, state why you think it is too low and explain why you think you should receive more. Alternatively say you are going to accept subject to being able to remove certain items such as the mover, jacking points and the like.
I recently had an offer to repair my property from a haulage companies insurer that was 2k short of what I wanted. They listed a load of reasons as to why they thought it a fair offer, I responded contesting every point and concluded by pointing out that they were on my property by mistake and none of the damage was my fault and they replied with the full amount.
They are not going to lower their offer because you decline it.
It is one of the wonders of life that the extras/accessories rarely add any value when selling an article but do increase the price when buying.
When sending adverts/prices for similar vans for sale the insurance company will often counter by asking what they actually sold for, quite clever as you cannot obtain written proof.
It is standard practise in claims not to allow removal of accessories as it may affect the money they receive in salvage.
What you have to do is look at the wording and in this instance it states that your caravan has been insured to a 'MAXIMUM' market value of £6500 which means that the said insurance company can pay up to that figure but they will only pay ever pay out the current value price disregards what extra equipment is fitted. It works basically on the same principal as a vehicle as you will pay more for a top spec car in that specific range but it doesn't add any further value if the vehicle is scrapped but the difference is that you can find out how much your car is worth (depending on the age) by purchasing the 'Parker's Price Guide' or similar but with caravans the general public don't have access to the equivalent so the scrap value becomes debatable. However, regarding the above, the vehicle's added fittings are of standard equipment whereas a caravan they are not which therefore any added equipment belongs to you especially if you have proof if you have kept any receipts. In this instance I would argue the fact that certain equipment has been fitted as extra's which is your property until a deal has been agreed and on that basis you either want the extra equipment valued and taken into account or the opportunity to remove it from the caravan under the proposed pay out. However, if you do have any receipts to the extra equipment fitted (disregarding the date) then this gives you all the ammunition you need in a request for a higher pay out as they should offer a percentage of the said cost on the receipt. Remember, they may not be able to sell the caravan as a whole but the extra equipment such as a removable motor mover they can, so on these grounds I would push for an extra £500 and see what their response is.
Insurance companies do not work out the offer price. Usually it is put with an independent loss adjuster who will earn a percentage based on savings the loss adjuster makes for the insurance company. It's like poker with them so keep haggling. If the only one you can find us 7k use that as ammo. It's up for sale and that's what you would have to pay to replace yours. It's hard work at times but you paid the premiums they asked so get the return you want.
I don't expect, and never did, to receive £6500,even though I think that is what it's going to cost to replace it, private sale, if I can find another van of the same model/year and with the same extras.
You have confirmed what I was thinking though....if they say we cannot remove these extras such as the mover, then that should be taken into account when valuing the van. They will undoubtedly sell it on at auction as a "do up" for someone wanting a cheap van, who will repair it with second hand parts. The assessor's valuation of its current resale price was around £2,000, so the insurance company want to keep the extras on the van, as they will undoubtedly get a better price at auction with these items fitted.
I will stress this in my reply to them and stand my ground for a better price. I have found one or two other vans since writing the above, and they are also being sold for a lot more than we are being offered, and none of them have the accessories that we have on ours.
Quote: Originally posted by Patches on 14/9/2015
Says we are not to remove "accessories" which I take to mean the fact it was fitted with a Powertorch mover, alarm system and Kojak jacking point/jack...
Ours is also getting written off, and everything i have fit to it since buying it is coming off.
I will say though, we had an 'agreed value' on the van that turned out to be £1600 more than they actually valued it at for write-off purposes. So it pays to insure for what you paid from the off.
Insurance companies differ on this issue apparently. Some don't want you to remove the accessories, others don't mind.
The van is insured for market value up to £6500. I think that's fair and am only asking them to pay £6000, if they want me to leave the mover etc. on the van. I have written to them saying just that, and also sent copies of ads for vans similar to ours that are being sold for more.
They will auction it off once we have been paid out and obviously want all the extras left in place, so that it commands a higher auction price. Seems they want it both ways, which is what I am objecting to.
Our Insurer - the C&CC, has already as good as 'sold' our van to a Salvage merchant. The bloke said they get quotes from a few, then let it go to the highest bidder. This 'quote' is then what they use to offer it back to the owner with cash adjustment.
I might have given maybe £1800 for it back, but got to thinking i am never going to get back what i actually paid (less a bit of excess) under any other circs. So its going.
If yours is insured for 6.5k, how come you would accept only 6k for it? Surely, as with my own, you get paid out what its insured for if its 'lost'?
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Topic: Insurance - write off valuation
