Trophy insurance valuation

[sikora]

As some of you may know, my Trophy was involved in an accident before Christmas, resulting in it being classed as a Cat C.
My problem now lies with the valuation the insurers deem the car to be worth. Which they value at £2770. They're not willing to increase this, so it will have to be referred to the Financial Ombudsman.

I will have to contact them myself and try and prove the car is worth more. I'd already sent various Autotrader and Pistonheads ads to my insurer, but they don't consider the asking price the same as the actually selling price. Although I feel we're not just talking about a few hundred quid here.

Any advice? Anyone gone through this before? Or could anyone who's recently bought or sold a Trophy maybe help me out with evidence of actual selling prices

 

[sikora]

 

[Rik Perry]

Tell them if they can find you a trophy with the same mileage as yours for that money you will gladly accept ...

 

[sikora]

I think I'm going to have to provide evidence now Rik. This letter is my insures final word on the matter. Not sure how much research the FOS will do themselves.
The fault really lies with Parkers, Glass's for not being accurate. We're talking less than 50% of the value in my eyes.

 

[Mikeyjp]

So you want an agreed valuation? What insurance company are you with? How many miles has it done?

 

[sikora]

So you want an agreed valuation? What insurance company are you with? How many miles has it done?

No, I want my insurers to pay out what the car is worth. I don't have an agreed value, just a standard policy with Hastings. I'm sure you'll agree £2770 is way below what these sell for.

The car is on 106k.

 

[Mikeyjp]

So the car is not coming back to you? I could only recommend that you try and see if someone like Neil I think his name is, from Greenlight insurance and see if he can advise you, I had the same problem as you, but after I had sent off 3 adverts they agreed they had got it wrong, and valued my trophy well over 5k, so they repaired it

 

[sikora]

I've bought the car back. It's never even been out of my possession. It's purely cosmetic damage and I'm still driving it.
I sent them 6 adverts when i refused the valuation. The letter above is their response. They recommend i take it up with the Financial Ombudsman.

 

[Saint27]

I think I'm going to have to provide evidence now Rik. This letter is my insures final word on the matter. Not sure how much research the FOS will do themselves.
The fault really lies with Parkers, Glass's for not being accurate. We're talking less than 50% of the value in my eyes.

Thats bad news I am sorry to hear.

Parkers I would take with a pinch of salt, however CAP and Glasses are far more respected. They are very good accurate guides for everyday or more common cars but some cars which are a little rarer and don't see an auction and are generally sold privately have little data.
My Trophy has a CAP retail of approx 3-3.5K and sadly its this the insurance and the motor trade industry uses.

Maybe Greenlights agreed value would be worth investigating as these cars are ones that some would say that you "throw the book away...." its just a shame that insurance companies in general are unable to see the cars true worth or even listen to their customers.

 

[Ashtons99]

It does show the importance of going with a specialist insurer. I've got mine with green light on agreed value of £6500 albeit I think to sell it's prob worth a bit more at least I know should the worst happen I'm not far out.
You are going to have an uphill battle with Hastings to get much more, at the end of the day it's their underwriters who are valuing it.
It's almost worth you not claiming, getting it repaired yourself and standing the cost, at least you will still have the car and it won't end up a catC/D
It is a lesson for anyone else on the forum, don't go with a mainstream insurer, Greenlight are easy to deal with and not that expensive. I've paid £220 fully comp with agreed value

 

[sikora]

You're right. I looked into it when I first bought the car 3 years ago, but have stuck with mainstream insurers. I guess it's not until you have to claim that you find out how much hassle and stress it causes. Hindsight is a wonderful thing eh

 

[Ashtons99]

If all they are paying you is 2700 it's not worth claiming off them, have they taken your excess off at that? Find yourself a good body shop and get it repaired, I'm not convinced by the aforementioned dent man solution though ! What did you pay for the car if you don't mind me asking? Remember if it ends up on the register you're looking at best around 60% value of a straight one
You will get sorted, it may mean swallowing a few big pills.

 

[Claude]

I think you might struggle to prove sold prices, but if a car is advertised for £6k it's unlikely to be sold with a 33% discount, that's ridiculous and surely the Ombudsman would agree that's unreasonable?

If you could also convey that these cars are highly sought after and 'prove' levels of demand, perhaps by way of the regularity cars are advertised and sold, I doubt it could harm your case.

I believe someone posted within the last 12 months about a similar(ish) scenario, if I can find it I'll post the link.

All the best, Dan, hopefully you reach a speedy and satisfactory resolution with minimal fuss.

 

[hoolio]

This seems to be a recurring scenario, time to look at a more comprehensive insurance agreement.

 

[Miller]

Yeah it does, shame the trophy is not noticed and priced by Gap and the rest. I always had an agreed value on mine.

Good luck with the ombudsmen and I hope you manage to resolve the payment offer shortly.

But it's a warning for all Trophy owners to check they insurance or change it come renewal time.

 

[sikora]

Well the letter to the FOS has gone off. I'll keep this updated. Hopefully no one has to go through this, but it may help someone in the future.

 

[SharkyUK]

Good luck mate.

 

[Miller]

Second that

 

[sikora]

Well I've had an update on this today. The Financial Ombudsman agreed the valuation of £2770 was far too low and had instructed Glass’s to do an updated valuation. This now stands at £5100.

This is obviously great news for myself, but should also help anyone else who find themselves in the situation I was.

If anyone has access to Glass’s guide, might be worth a look to see if they've updated that.

 

[Miller]

I am so happy that it worked out for you in the end and definitely glad it could/should help someone else in the future.