Vehicle value - What's best when insuring?

[bmw virgin]

Hi Guys

Am due to renew my insurance soon and was wondering if anyone knew what was best/correct when valuing your car for the chosen insurance company?

I can remember valuing an old Hi8 Camcorder for £900....the amount I paid for it....and kept that value when insuring it until it was lost a number of years later and I made a claim. Even though I'd been paying a premium for the £900, the insurance company was only willing to pay out around £600, claiming, compared to up to date models, that was all it was worth.

So, when it comes to YOUR car, do you insure it for it's current value or higher, in the hope you'd get more, should it be written off?

Does anyone know how much the value would affect the premium? How do you get an accurate value on cars like these?

Thanks in advance.

Colin

[Bob]

My understanding was always that, unless you have formally got an "agreed value" policy, the insurance co would always determine market value at the date and time of a claim, so the token value you attribute otherwise is effectively meaningless.

[PhillV8S]

As Bob states, if you don’t want to worry what you would receive if you were to claim a total loss on the policy then get an agreed valuation, although maybe tricky with a newer car.
I found my premium didn’t really increase much with agreed valuation but this of course depends on the value you are insuring versus the normal market value which maybe quite a difference in some cases.

[bmw virgin]

With only 9 sold in the UK (as far as I know), I would think it's going to be pretty hard to value the car accurately?!

[PhillV8S]

Loss adjusters usually just use a a trade price guide like CAP or Glasses to find a price. You can always send copies of adverts you find that might be evidence that their offer is too low and negotiate the offer more in your favour.
If you are worried about being low balled then agreed value policy is your safest option.

[bobbly]

Loss adjusters usually just use a a trade price guide like CAP or Glasses to find a price. You can always send copies of adverts you find that might be evidence that their offer is too low and negotiate the offer more in your favour.
If you are worried about being low balled then agreed value policy is your safest option.

Correct. If you're really concerned, have a chat with A-Plan or similar as they're used to low production cars and cover many of the rarer Alpina's (yes, there are some you can count on the fingers of one hand, never mind two ). Quoting 'what you paid' gets you nowhere but an educated stab at it based on cars for sale/recently sold of a similar type gets you part way in the conversation, and then they go to their underwriters and get that narrowed down. They have underwriters who effectively will replace 'like for like' where possible or payout based on recent sold values.

The value of the car often does not affect the premium as the valuations are in bands, and most cars up to say £50k (I forget the actual cut-off but I cover cars both sides of the demarcation cut-off) valuation are the same risk to the underwrite.

Just NEVER under-insure as they may use your valuation as a cap. Mileage covered, driver history and location and the type of use the car is involved in usually make up the bulk of the premium, but being Alpina does put it in a higher risk group from the starting point

Cheers
Bobbly

[bmw virgin]

Loss adjusters usually just use a a trade price guide like CAP or Glasses to find a price. You can always send copies of adverts you find that might be evidence that their offer is too low and negotiate the offer more in your favour.
If you are worried about being low balled then agreed value policy is your safest option.

Correct. If you're really concerned, have a chat with A-Plan or similar as they're used to low production cars and cover many of the rarer Alpina's (yes, there are some you can count on the fingers of one hand, never mind two ). Quoting 'what you paid' gets you nowhere but an educated stab at it based on cars for sale/recently sold of a similar type gets you part way in the conversation, and then they go to their underwriters and get that narrowed down. They have underwriters who effectively will replace 'like for like' where possible or payout based on recent sold values.

The value of the car often does not affect the premium as the valuations are in bands, and most cars up to say £50k (I forget the actual cut-off but I cover cars both sides of the demarcation cut-off) valuation are the same risk to the underwrite.

Just NEVER under-insure as they may use your valuation as a cap. Mileage covered, driver history and location and the type of use the car is involved in usually make up the bulk of the premium, but being Alpina does put it in a higher risk group from the starting point

Cheers
Bobbly

Thanks for the advice and information.

Am having problems finding an insurer that covers a B4BT! Even Adrian Flux don't have it listed!

Anyone got a good deal recently?

[Sab]

I was initially with A Plan the moved over to Classicline and have been with them ever since.

Not sure if they can help?

[bmw virgin]

I was initially with A Plan the moved over to Classicline and have been with them ever since.

Not sure if they can help?

Thanks!

The Classic Line web site doesn't seem to list the B4, unfortunately. I will give them a call....

As for an agreed value, A Plan state the car has to be at least 20yrs old!

[PhillV8S]

I am with A plan and my car is 12 years old and has an agreed value policy.

[bobbly]

I am with A plan and my car is 12 years old and has an agreed value policy.

I do not currently, but historically have had, an 'agreed value' policy with Aplan for a car under 10 years old. It's down to specific underwriters they have access to. Plus, OP, some of my cars are not listed on website quotes, but a phone call gets quotes. Your car is not that unusual: I know of far rarer ALPINA with insurance in place with no difficulties,

Cheers
Bobbly

[bmw virgin]

Hi,

Classic Line have provided a cheaper quote + Legal & car recovery thrown in. The only thing I'm puzzled by is that they don't give you any discount for your no claims bonus!? When I called, the guy said that Alpina's are classed a secondary cars/future classics so the ncb isn't used....and, even if I asked them to add the 14yrs I have, it wouldn't make a difference to the premium. Plus of course, there's no need to pay to protect the bonus if it's not being used.

I know you can normally only use your ncb on one car but the B4 is my daily driver (not that I cover a lot of miles), so isn't my secondary car.

Anyone heard of this?

[hap]

Am the same but I don’t get it either
I have over 20 years ncb

[Charles]

Sounds like a curiosity of Classic Line policies.

[Wellsy]

Value of cars at total loss is often way below market value. I had a Renault Espace (don't laugh) written off 3 years ago. At the time of the accident here were only 5 for sale of similar spec, condition and mileage and they were all £3k to £3.5K. My insurance valued the car at £1,200. Not matter how hard I pushed they refused to back down or change their mind. Then they just sent me a cheque minus the remaining premium for the year which was £400 so I ended up with a cheque for £800. I got so pissed off with them I bought a £500 Astra 1.3CDTi with 200k on it and didn't give a crap about it. Never washed, parked it anywhere, drove it like a hire car, had muddy mountain bikes in the back, all sorts. Eventually is failed its MOT I didn't want anything to do with it so sold it for £250.

There is a good ending to the story though as my next car was my current 2009 D3 Biturbo. Which I am trying to make as good as I possibly can.