A while back I posted about me 2 month old SV getting knocked over on a Petrol Station Forecourt by a 4x4..........badly dented tank and various minor scuffs and scratches.
Had the Quote from the Dealer (and ok'd by the Insurance Assessor) a while back. With VAT would be around £2,900
. Trust me that (tank apart) it doesn't look like £3k of damage! Indeed had a look tonight and needed the quote to remind me of everything that was damaged!
Over the last few weeks have had various conversations with the Dealer, about maybe pushing for a write off and then doing a trade in for something bigger, even if S/h (Blackbird?!) or, cough, doing a deal on the repairs actually completed
I was originally intending to claim against the 4x4's insurance co, but my broker says, no - claim via my own first and if they later recover then they give me back a couple of years no claims (I have loads at the moment
- and being old - 41 - means that it doesn't really matter either way for my next insurance renewal).
Anyway, it turns out I have TWO insurance companies, an extra one that also deals with uninsured losses. My understanding is that this usually applies to recovering the excess (and maybe clothing?) - these guys sent me a letter a while back saying that Mr 4x4 wanted the chance to settle direct, can I send them the insurance quote. Methinks he is gonna have a heart attack when he sees the quote, but worth a stamp.
Just got a letter from insurance company no 2, enclosing a photocopy of a cheque from Mr 4x4
personally for the FULL amount
. Apparently the reason I do not have the original cheque is that he made it payable to Insurance Company no 2 and they say it should be made payable to me direct
so they returned it to him to re-issue. (A little bit more to the story that I can't go into that leads me to suspect that he has good reason to pay direct / make sure this does not develop into legal or otherwise - obviously nearly 2900 of them
).
Obviously I am not counting my chickens quite yet
(yes I am
)........but looks like I am going to be quids in with a slightly damaged motorbike
and the thick end of £2900 in
cash to sort it. Even with the dealer doing the spannering I reckon around £700 will have the bike looking good (at least like a 12 month old bike, instead of a 3 1/2 month old one). and I reckon £2200 covers a lot of depreciation. In fact if I sold the bike (after the repairs), plus the cash I reckon I would be all square on the bike after 4 months of ownership if not a few quid up.
So the dilemma is..........do I keep the SV (slightly worn) for another year and then sell or take the opportunity to effectively get me money back now and either buy a brand spanking new SV (not over keen - I like the SV, but it has never "grabbed me") or "Invest" the cash as part payment on a s/h Litre plus
Wahoo! had to share