James
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 06:30 PM |
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Insurance Q... wrote off bike
My Girlfriend crashed her bike on a roundabout last Wed. No one else was involved but she was carted off to hospital for spinal x-rays etc.
Fortunately apart from bruising to back, ribs, shoulder she's ok.
The bike's a 1996 600cc GSXR. Bought for £1500
I collected the bike from the crash and took it to ours and then to a good bike garage the next day who reckoned approx. £1000 to fix. (Assuming new
headlight/forks etc. etc.).
Garage said the forks are bent and potentially the frame beneath. Needs new headlight and front fairing and screen. The side fairings are pretty
scratched too and the gearlever was snapped off. The fairings and front are repairable potentially.
After a bit of debate about what to do she called the insurance company who sent an assessor. He's declared it a write-off.
Someone else has now called her saying they'll take away the write-off on Friday to assess the value.
She's still not really sure what best to do and the bike has sentimental value so is considering repairing it. Can she theoretically cancel the
insurance claim and all will go back to how it was? She just repairs it and gets back on the road?
Or is it too late now and she should just look forward to saving for a new one?
Will writing it off affect her car insurance for future renewals?
If she cancels the whole thing now is it now recorded as written off etc?
Thoughts? 
Thanks!
James
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"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
- Muhammad Ali
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r1_pete
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 06:45 PM |
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1st thing, glad she's ok and no serious injury, rolling round ashphalt hurts!!
2nd thing, no one has the right to remove the bike from your premises, until you have accepted a payout, and been paid, so don't let the bike
go, getting it back will be a pain and at your own expense.
Make the assessor do his job at your premises.
You have informed your insurance company of the accident, so now they know, and future premiums will be hit.
But yes, if you want to cancel the claim, just do it, I'd guess they'll be more than happy not to pay out and increase your next premium,
would have been better not involving them until you were sure, but you are where you are.
Now you are on record as having an accident it needs declaring on any request for vehicle insurance, probably for the next 5 years.
[Edited on 23/6/10 by r1_pete]
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Dangle_kt
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 06:46 PM |
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dont let them take it!
As soon as they do its the insurance companies and getting it back involves an admin and storage fee!
It will effect all insurance policies for the next 5 years IF YOU CLAIM - you dont have to declare accidents on policy documents, just claims in the
last 5 years.
I'd tell them it was a mistake and the bike is fine and fix it up - or take the payout and buy it back on salvage retention.
if the frame is damaged though it will be a cat B and cant be repaired.
[Edited on 23/6/10 by Dangle_kt]
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mark chandler
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 07:16 PM |
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There's someone localish you can take it to who may be able to sort
linky
They mount frames, forks etc in big jig and use cnc hydraulics to sort things out.
Very clever!
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 07:32 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Dangle_kt
It will effect all insurance policies for the next 5 years IF YOU CLAIM - you dont have to declare accidents on policy documents, just claims in the
last 5 years.
As Pete says, now they know about the accident (which you are supposed to declare anyway), it's quite possible her premiums will be
"adjusted" and not in a good way, even with no claims made against the policy.
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 07:38 PM |
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Yeah you'll have to find out the category of write off...
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bmseven
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 07:56 PM |
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The bikes probably got a resale value of less than a grand minus her excess you are looking at probably £700 in her pocket. I would cancel the claim
and fix it up yourself. If she just fell off on the roundabout unlikely to have bent the forks and certainly shouldnt have bent the frame. The
Insurance company will write it off just for the damage to the plastics 
Worst case scenario a frame and forks can be had on ebay for a couple of hundred £
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Fozzie
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 08:00 PM |
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Oh dear 
Can't help you with your insurance question James, but so very glad she is ok.......which is the main thing.......
Wednesday and Thursday wasn't good for you and me was it? ....
I hope she gets the bike business sorted especially as it has 'meaning' for her.....
ATB
Fozzie
'Racing is Life!...anything before or after is just waiting'....Steve McQueen
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jambojeef
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 08:47 PM |
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Glad she's ok James....
I know the predicament, I knackered the car 2 years ago when I hydrauliced it in a puddle and phoned the ins company to see what they would do - they
took I could claim and took all my details and then told me it needed it to be towed away and assessed but in the end I decided to repair myself - bit
sneaky since all I wanted was an answer to my "what if?"
I told the insurer that Id changed my mind and wouldnt claim, ok they said and theyd put it down as a notification instead.
Hasnt affected my premium since so I should think the better half will be ok if you want to go down the same route.
Im pretty sure with a bit of ebaying and patience you can fix the bike up for less than your excess.
Geoff
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kipper
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 09:06 PM |
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last wednesday must have been a bad omen for bikers.
I was just leaving work ,going really slow down the access road when the front wheel of my fireblade dropped into the biggest pothole and threw me
off.
Only doing about 20mph but the fairing down the rhs was trashed.
Good job I had my brand new ,never before worn leathers on, GRRRRRRRR.
All in all about a grands worth of damage to bike and riding gear.
I won't be making a claim as it will efect my premiums for years to come.
Oh well more work to do in the workshop. 
Denis.
Glad she was ok btw.
[Edited on 23/6/10 by kipper]
Where did that go?
<<<<
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Humbug
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 09:46 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Dangle_kt
dont let them take it!
As soon as they do its the insurance companies and getting it back involves an admin and storage fee!
It will effect all insurance policies for the next 5 years IF YOU CLAIM - you dont have to declare accidents on policy documents, just claims in
the last 5 years.
I'd tell them it was a mistake and the bike is fine and fix it up - or take the payout and buy it back on salvage retention.
if the frame is damaged though it will be a cat B and cant be repaired.
[Edited on 23/6/10 by Dangle_kt]
??? Whenever I have got an insurance quote in the past few years the form has said that you are supposed to declare incidents whether or not a claim
was made...
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James
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| posted on 23/6/10 at 10:58 PM |
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I'm slightly confused as they've already sent an assessor over to the house who declared it a write-off.
Now, they want to take it away so they can see what it's actually worth to offer a value on it!
Why this couldn't have been done in one go I don't know.
They want to come get it Friday so still time to decide one way or another.
If you think she'll only get £700 for it after excess (plus the helmet cover?) then more worthwhile to fix it.
As for the accident she basically rode into the roundabout which is a high wall type- like riding into a 4' high brick wall!
The wheel is out relative to the handlebars so pretty much 100% the forks are bent. It's just a case of is the frame bent underneath!
The link Mark gave looks interesting to see if the chassis is bent. PResumably a right PITA to strip everything off it to check!
Cheers,
James
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"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
- Muhammad Ali
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