[TamSV]

All policies are designed to pay out the market value of your bike. The ombudsman's guideline for write-off value is basically a dealers retail price for that vehicle, modified for it's mileage and pre-accident condition. This is commonly arrived at using the usual trade guides.

Your problem is that the trade guides make allowance for the expected condition of a vehicle of that age - and that will be far from "showroom". As your bike has been fully restored you would reasonably expect it to command a higher price than even the average "top-book" example.

In the event of a claim you might therefore have to endure a bit of negotiation to establish the correct pre-accident value of your bike - this can be particularly difficult when it's very badly damaged, burnt out or nicked. Also the lack of similar condition bikes on the market makes it difficult to establish a price.

You'll have a big pile of receipts plus lots of detailed photos of the restoration process and the finished result. That would go a long way towards establishing the correct market value for your particular bike, so you might decide you can live with a regular policy and go into negotiations with a strong argument (albeit with an uncertain outcome).

With an agreed value, you basically get that negotiation out of the way now and, in the event of a total loss, you already know you'll get the agreed value. This is still going to be based on market value.

Agreed value is very useful for rare or historically important vehicles where a dispute on value can be difficult to resolve. The benefit for you would mainly be convenience in the event of a claim (and possibly a better result).

Bear in mind agreed values are usually a cap, not a collar. If your bike is appreciating in value you need to keep reviewing it or you could end up with an agreed value that's less than the bike's worth.