I signed up to an agreed valuation insurance policy with Sky insurance approximately 6weeks ago. As expected they took payment of the full premium immediately. Only today have I received confirmation of the valuation they are willing to agree - £5k!! After close to 6yrs of ownership, a shed load of receipts and proofs of work completed and a valuation from a recognised car club this feels like a a kick in the teeth!

 

My questions are these:

1. Am I being unreasonable when all the evidence available to me suggests this value is 35% of what I was expecting it to be?

2. Have any of you had this situation? What are my options for recourse? I took the policy solely because it offered an agreed valuation (which the salesmen confirmed would meet my requirements) which now is insufficient to my requirements? Can I cancel my policy with them - it's now out of the cooling off period (due to them taking so long to confirm the value)

 

So annoyed right now. Actually fuming.

Did you tell them what you think it's worth?

Ive got an agreed value on my M3. I put what I value it at and they did their checks and agreed with me.

They will value it at current market rates. Not saying they are right, but doubt you'll get an agreed value of 15k like you were expecting. It might well be worth that if you add all the bits up, but would it sell for that?

I do think you have some recourse to expect to be allowed to cancel with the same costs involved as if you were still in the cooling off period. Shouldn't have taken them longer than 14 days to sort the agreed value.

Insurance is an absolute nightmare!! Hope you get it sorted bud.

I think for me it depends on what happened at close of sale. So did they lead you to believe you could have an agreed value of whatever you wanted or did they tell you they'd look into what they'd be willing to agree etc?

Did you not agree the value before accepting the policy? As said previously, values are based upon market conditions to replace and not based on the max value of expenditure you have invested in the car! especially if it was at 15K

 

Did you pay the policy in a lump sum or by payments as you can cancel any policy at any time (for instance if you sold your car!) it's just easier to keep your money on a payment plan, than to claim back a lump sum, although they might take a small premium to cover early settlement!

 

Good luck with it and hope it gets sorted amicably!

Agreed value should reflect market value and wouldn't cover the cost of any modifications as these generally don't add value to a vehicle.

 

Your bodykit etc might have cost a fortune, but they won't care about that in the event of a total loss claim (theft, write-off, etc). They should have requested a ton of pictures and vehicle details as well. When you were quoting for the policy, did you tell them that you valued the car at £15K...?

ask for the transcripts of the call, that way if they agreed to 15k when you bought it then you have been missold the insuarance and can claim the lot back

Assuming this is a classic car policy with an agreed valuation clause - which from what Vig is saying, it is - then "market value" in the context of a regular policy should be irrelevant.

 

If you stated your opinion of the car's value at the point of quotation; and then supplied evidence to corroborate your figure, they should have taken that into consideration when calculating your premium. So I would say you were within your rights to cancel your policy for a full refund - or challenge their valuation in the hope of having it revised. Again, with no extra cost in premium as you stated the value at the point of quotation.

 

Market value for a tidy 300zx in very good condition on a classic policy should be around £5k anyway - that is what I agreed with Lancasters for mine last year (after a little negotiating). So whilst insurers do not necessarily value modifiations in assessing the car's value - a specialist or classis vehicle insurance provider should be more considerate of that. After all, an agreed value policy is just that - you mutually agree the value of the car!

 

Good luck mate; let us know how you get on.

 

Richard:balloon:

My mate has a 3 door cosworth he uses for hill climbs.

He had an agreed value based on what it would cost to rebuild if he crashed it.

Then he realised if it was stolen, he'd be massively out of pocket so got them to agree to a value to build the car again if he needed to.

 

They had no problem doing that.

Thanks for all the replies guys.

 

I took out the Classic Car policy with Sky and specified Agree Valuation as being my main notivation for seeking new insurance. On the numerous calls I had with the sales and customer services team after intial contact we discussed the value as being £14k as per the valuation given by ZClub which I backed up with several photos, a full list of modifications and details of all work completed.

 

The Sky representative I spoke to said a number of times that the valuation is usually not argued and it should be just a formality even sending in all the documents. The Statement of Fact I was sent out after paying the premium (lump sum) even has the car value as £14k though it doesn't state on this document that this is an agreed valuation.

 

The process was to agree the points of the policy, including my submission that my evidenced valuation was £15k. Once they confirmed the premium I was required to pay it. Only then was my Statement of Fact sent out to me detailing all my submissions (which I had to call up to amend 4/5 times as they just couldn't get all the details right!). It took them approximately 10days to get the Agreed Valuation forms to me, which I duly completed and returned immediately. It's then taken them approximately 2weeks to come back to me with their valaution. At no point was I told what my recourse would be if the valuation did not meet my expecatations.

 

I wasn't expecting them to match the £14k but I was expecting something closer to £10k. I paid £6k for it when I bought it almost 6yrs ago so £5k is taking the p*ss!

 

What adds insult to injury is the two line letter I received saying very bluntly that the agreed valuation is £5k. No word on appealing or next steps. This isn't an 'agreed' valuation as I've not agreed to it!

 

Out of interest, what sort of values have you guys got as agreed? Am I expecting too much?

 

Think a call is in order to find out my position - I hate it when this happens. Why can't things just 'work' as they should!

Edited September 6, 201312 yr by sumshiftyguy

We have done a few "valuations" in the past and it has usually been based on the estimated value of the 2nd hand parts if the car was broken.

 

If the insurer has really messed you around then threaten them with the Ombudsman.

We have done a few "valuations" in the past and it has usually been based on the estimated value of the 2nd hand parts if the car was broken.

 

If the insurer has really messed you around then threaten them with the Ombudsman.

 

I'm not sure what the valuation was based on but I did provide copies of receipts for everything I've ever had done with photos from every angle. The valution hasn't changed in the last 3 years (I've also not done any work to the car that would materially affect the valuation in this period).

 

I should also add that this policy inlcudes like for like cover on all parts. So I'm confused how they think like for like cover on parts totalling over £15k can equate to an agreed valuation of £5k!

 

(and I have it in writing that the parts cover is like for like! I made sure to get that as it's not specified anywhere in their documentation)

mine is agreed at 15k in writing with Classicline insurance. i have the 15k agreed on the insurance documents and a seprate sheet of paper stating the agreed value that has to be valued every 2 years.

i'm still in argument with sky insurance and groupama who sky are brooking for. i put a value of £9000, and when the engineer visited it he put a market value of £1800, 93 slicktop 30000 miles. fook off u clown! i've sent in all details and and receipts and as there isnt any for sale in this country at moment i sent some for sale adds of cars in america and europe but its still ongoing and i wont b losing.

I hate the whole threaten them with the ombudsman thing. I work in complaints at the final level and everybody is like ill go to the ombudsman. Quite frankly, I would make the same decision whether you want to go to the FOS or not. Ever issue and final company decision I make I give the customers the ombudsman rights anyway.

 

Contact them, ask them the question. You cant actually go to the FOS anyway without giving the company the opportunity to resolve the matter first anyway and they have 8 weeks from when they first receive the complaint/sign of dissatisfaction to issue you with a final decision in writing.

 

I think it's easy to forget one of the main principles of insurance is to put a customer back in the position they were in before the loss. And that would mean fixing the car, or paying out the current market value at the time of the loss. If a claims settlement is low (eg dkboro's case) and you can't actually get a similar car for the money, then the insurer isn't indemnifying you properly for the loss you've suffered. They may then ask you to provide evidence that you are unable to buy a similar car etc.

Flux told me that if I had a receipt for it they would insure it.

 

At the end of the day you are insuring the car on what you think it's worth and they will adjust there prices accordingly.

 

I think the beast is something like 25k agreed.

mine is agreed at 15k in writing with Classicline insurance. i have the 15k agreed on the insurance documents and a seprate sheet of paper stating the agreed value that has to be valued every 2 years.

 

 

Ditto but Adrian Flux

I didn't get a chance today but I'll give them a call on Monday and go from there.

 

Hopefully they will agree to revise their valuation. In the least I would expect some of my premium back as this week have been based on a £14k valuation.

Very annoying for you Vig, who's the underwriter making the decisions?

Very annoying for you Vig, who's the underwriter making the decisions?

 

They're called Markerstudy. Never heard of them before...

That's who I was with on my last insurance policy

That's who I was with on my last insurance policy

 

Did you get an agreed valuation? Any issues?

I'm with marketstudy too I think

No it was my daily insured with them. Only problem I had was the douch from Sky insurance lying to me about the 'accelerated no claims' that I mentioned in your thread a few months ago. I also had loads of the details recorded wrong on the paperwork when it arrived

Google markerstudy reviews.

Google markerstudy reviews.

 

Wow they sound epic. Then again you'll only ever hear the bad reviews on an insurance review site. That said, there's 111 people that positively hate Markerstudy!