The assessor has called.

[timwilky]

Well he has been today. spent all of 5 minutes inspecting the damage.

Now he knows I spent 20 years as an assessor and we chatted more about how the job had changed in recent years, than him looking at the damage.

I said how surprised I was that he was happy to home visit as I preferred to inspect at the repairers as that way you could if necessary agree labour/parts.

I had prepared my own list of parts required in which he was not at all interested and had failed to observe that the lowers bracket was bent, the instrument cluster mounting was snapped, and that the fairing lowers had "cut into" the clutch cover. I additionally had to point out that the brake master cylinder had "Blown" the seals as the lever had failed to snap and excessive pressure had built in the front braking system. I therefore questioned the seals in the front calipers and integrity of the brake lines.

Doesn't bode well, with only half the parts required on his list it looks like he would cost a repair and get a nasty shock when a the complete parts list was compiled. Otherwise he had already a value in mind. So low that only the fairing, tank, seat shroud, mirrors, indicators and foot peg being enough to write it off.

[Kylie]

After I was knocked off I had superficial scratches to the fairing lowers and exhaust (plus broken gear + rear brake levers + footrest hanger). Assessor included replacement of these in the cost of repairs (using full price OE parts) and that was enough to write the bike off (a K3 in ok nick). Unless yours is new sounds like yours will be written off too, apparently salvage companies pay 45% of assessed value and that makes all but the smallest damage a write-off.

Hopefully I'll do ok out of it (if they ever pay up and if the guy that hit me gets what he deserves). I bought the bike back at salvage price and had in back on the road within a day after £80 worth of parts. Write-off my ****.

[timwilky]

Just had the letter to advise they are moving it to free storage as it is beyond economical repair.

So lets wait for the first insult aka valuation.

this is what i'm still waiting for how long did it take timwilky from your accident to the assessor calling?

[timwilky]

It took longer than it should, simply because I was out of the country the week after my little accident.

The accident happened on Sunday 22nd October and I reported it to the insurance company on Tuesday 24th. Once I knew that a third party was claiming against me. The assessors phoned me on Thursday 26 to advice me they were inspecting the bike on Monday 30th.

Apart from the fact that I wasn't in the country to give the insurance company's nominated repairers access to my garage to collect the bike.

I got back to the UK on Tuesday 31st October and phoned the assessors the following day (1st Nov) they said their guy was in my area tomorrow and would it be OK to inspect at my home address.

To be honest the system has worked very well for me. I delayed it just over a week as I was working away. but once I made contact with the assessors they inspected next day and advised the following day that in their opinion my bike was beyond economical repair and that I should remove any personal items to enable the bike to be recovered by the salvage buyer.

Universal salvage have also been very efficient. They have phoned me to arrange collection. Again I have slightly stalled to give me time to remove my after market stuff.

The bike was insured through E-bike. so far the claim procedure has been trouble free. All forms filled in by telephone. So we just await the valuation.


The only iffy thing I foresee is that I renewed my policy that was due to expire on the 26th 3 hours before I dropped the bike. So technically the bike was written off before the new policy was in effect. So I guess they should refund that payment in full. Otherwise I would guess I can transfer it to my replacement bike whatever/whenever. When they ask for return of the certificate. I will of course return the certificate that was in effect at the time of the accident and not the new one I received the day after

i take it you dont let them have the bike until you have your cheque?

[timwilky]

TBH, it doesn't really matter and can play into your hands.

Normally your bike would be at a repairers and attract a storage charge. The assessor would arrange removal to free storage (Normally the salvage buyer) until such time as the claim has been settled and the salvage can be disposed of.

What normally then happens is a dispute over valuation. This can get dragged out. If the salvage buyer has been silly enough as to dispose of my property, how can I then get an independent valuation, and suddenly they are no longer in a position to dispute my valuation.

A decent insurance company would make an offer and present you with a cheque to that value less any excess. You can then pay that into your account whilst you haggle for the rest.

In my case the inspecting engineer knows I worked for 20 years as an assessor for my family business and I therefore do not expect there will be any problem with valuation. The last time I went through a valuation argument it was with Equity Red Star and I ended up playing my ace with their claims department when I informed them that I had previously been one of their independent engineers and they were happy to accept my valuations in the past, so what was so different now. Result then being a settlement £900 greater than the initial offer.

[Kylie]

I have a claim with e-bike at the moment for my off back in July. The bike was taken to a repairers and assessed there, assessor wrote it off and e-bike's claims service (which is subcontracted to a division of Endsleigh) arranged for it to go to a salvage company. I wasn't told Luckily the repairers called me to let me know, I was able to make some calls and buy it back for salvage myself. If there is a next time I will do like you did and get the bike moved home, not to a repairer.

As for the the valuation, well its been 5 months and no sign of that. The assessor wrote "poor condition" down for my K3, largely I suspect because it was a bit dirty and had a dented tank, most of the poor condition was due to the Peugeot driver who tried to go through it. I was offered a low price based on the "poor condition" which I queried, they went back to query the assessor (a company called Motorcare) and the assessor has not responded. Possibly they are trying to force me in to accepting a lower price. I make a monthly call to chase up......

I hope you do better than me!

I had an accident several years ago, severe front damage, forks snapped and other major damage. The assessor had a quick look and wrote it off, he valued my bike at £3150 (which was a touch lower than I wanted) and then valued it at £184 salvage! The salvage value was deducted from the settlement, I then sold the scrap bike for £850. I was very confused about Cat A, B etc there was no paper work given to me to say it was a Cat A or B, I sold it as a Cat A or B. What I didn't understand was how would any purchaser know if it had been written off? Do you have to pay HPI or is there a free access database to say which bikes have been written off or damage repaired, the whole system seems open to abuse. Did I miss something in my dealings with the assessor or is this the norm?

[Biker Biggles]

You should add to your monthly call that unless they sort it within a specified reasonable time they will be dealing with your lawyer.They are just fobbing you off.