Insurance Value?

[s35will]

Hello all,

This is my first time posting...Hi! I've recently bought a 1977 CB550F with 30,000 miles on the clock. I'm not sure how much it is worth when it comes to filling in the insurance forms and wondered if anyone can help? I'll post some pics of it so you can see the general condition. This is my first classic bike that i have owned.

[SteveD CB500K0]

Unless there is something irreplacable about the bike (sentimental value or concourse restoration for example), just use what you paid for it.

The idea of insurance being to enable you to get back to where you were before the "incident"

Steve

[s35will]

Yea I understand what you are saying Steve, I've done that with my other bikes that I have owned in the past. However I won this bike on ebay and the guy I bought it off said I got a real bargain and said it was worth a lot more. If the bike was ever stolen, the idea of insurance is to claim back the amount it would cost to replace the bike, like for like, rather than recoup the original cost. I doubt I would be able to buy the same bike at the same price again, hence asking for a rough valuation. Like I said, I appreciate what you are saying as that is what I have done in the past.
Cheers
Will

[mick]

Hi Will, welcome to the forum  , if your not sure how much your bike is worth why not have a look in some of the classic bike magazines for sale section and maybe some websites with bikes for sale,

may help you gauge the condition of your bike compared to others and give you an idea what yours is worth ?, good luck cheers Mick.

[s35will]

Hi Will, welcome to the forum  , if your not sure how much your bike is worth why not have a look in some of the classic bike magazines for sale section and maybe some websites with bikes for sale,

may help you gauge the condition of your bike compared to others and give you an idea what yours is worth ?, good luck cheers Mick.

Hi Mick, cheers the welcome fella. Yea will give that a go, had a little look last night but only found a fully restored one on the car and classic website. Looks like a litte trip to the newsagents is in order. Need to get this insured before the weekend ha!

[z1100r]

Hmmm..insurance..good point.. I paid

[s35will]

Hmmm..insurance..good point.. I paid

[z1100r]

 I wouldn't put down

[matthewmosse]

with my current insurer when I had a bike good enough to do agreed valuation on they had a detailed form to complete regards condition of each major componenet - right down to the seat base and cover as well as wanting at least 4 shots of the bike in good focus - front rear and each side. on that basis it would be easy to sort outif the vehicle is worth what I thought it was. They also advised collecting adverts for similar machines in terms of condition etc to send off with the veluation- that would be what you'd need in event of a claim and dispute and as the insurance broker points out, means you get any payout faster as there is little wriggle room for low offers from other insurers. They also offer option to buy back salvage and reasonable costs paid for self repair which to me is well worth having as I have pretty well everything needed to rebuild most of my bikes and have a couple I'd always weant to rebuild (my first bike and my 500/4 sidecar outfit) Lynbrooke is who I use.

[K2-K6]

The agreement with your own insurer is usually of a current market value so you can get that from doing a market sweep as suggested above that'll give you a good honest base to proceed with getting a policy and reasonable negotiating start in the event of loss.

If you were to have it damaged by another party, you have no agreement with that insurer (unless it happens to be the same company) and I believe that legally they have to place you in an equivillant position prior to the accident. It's during this process that you would benefit most from accurate documentary evidence as to condition, value etc.

Normally if you have good evidence in making a claim it's much harder to be compromised as that won't exist in such detail for the other side.

It would be reasonable to review and retain any updated valuation prior to each year renewal also, so you'll be able to maintain an accurate value as they do seem to be climbing slowly as less of them are around and to take account of any parts replacement that keep it in good order.

[Bryanj]

You will find that if you have to claim the MAXIMUM that YOUR insurance company will pay is the value you put on the proposal form even if you can prove that the value has increased