Insurance valuation...

[Ross]

Well, as suspected, the insurance company are stuggling with the valuation of my coupe. The good news is, the engineer has contacted me directly and asked to give him a call back tomorrow to discuss. He even asked me to come up with a figure for the car!

Is it normal to be in touch with the engineer? I figure this can only be a good thing, as I can try to justify it's value before he submits it 'officially'. I figure that they either look for an equivalent un-modded car and add the value of my mods, which I've declared values on, OR a used equivalent-modded car of similar age. Both of which could have their difficulties in proving!! Any BTDT experience or thoughts on this?

Cheers-

[dan_b]

Being in touch with the engineer is definitely a good sign. However, what you will no doubt find is that there will be no, or very little, apparent increase in write-off value for your car with mods vs. no mods.

What you need to prove to him is that your car was in the absolute best A1 of conditions, that mecanically it was completely sound (due to your no-expenses spared approach to S2 maintenance) and that it is of at least equivalent value to other simlilar S2s that have recently sold. Low mileage, good quality photos and an extensive service history will help you there. Talking passionately about how you look after the car to him will help too.

A good thing for you to do is track down and have in your hand to show him some recent examples of S2s on the market that you feel are of equivalent quality, showing their market prices - basically you need to big up your proposition to him as much as you can. Good luck!

[Al Wyn]

Good luck Ross, remember `aim high` because he will be `shooting low`! Its his job.
Have any figures been thrown about at all to date and have you asked to keep it ? whats the latest with the Police matey ?

[topsparky]

Being in touch with the engineer is definitely a good sign. However, what you will no doubt find is that there will be no, or very little, apparent increase in write-off value for your car with mods vs. no mods.

What you need to prove to him is that your car was in the absolute best A1 of conditions, that mecanically it was completely sound (due to your no-expenses spared approach to S2 maintenance) and that it is of at least equivalent value to other simlilar S2s that have recently sold. Low mileage, good quality photos and an extensive service history will help you there. Talking passionately about how you look after the car to him will help too.

A good thing for you to do is track down and have in your hand to show him some recent examples of S2s on the market that you feel are of equivalent quality, showing their market prices - basically you need to big up your proposition to him as much as you can. Good luck!

did n't work for me still fighting the claim
don't use HASTINGS DIRECT guys they're f.u.c.k.i.ng crap
sorry to swear but they just make my blood boil
it's nearly a year since a wrote my s2 off and it's still not sorted

[Ross]

Cheers for the advice... I've told 'em I want to keep the car 3 times now. I think they'll soon start getting suspicious and wanna strip it to find out where the 5kg of cocaine is stashed

I plan on giving them a silly expectation for it, based on the fact they'll gimme a silly offer! 2 can play that game I'll see how the chat with the engineer goes, I plan on being very nice seeing as he could be the key to helping me get this squared away quickly..

@topsparkey - I know you probably don't wanna talk about it lol, but if could could drop me a PM with a brief low-down of the trouble you've had it could be very useful to help me anticipate what I could be up against...

[Jon441cc]

it's nearly a year since a wrote my s2 off and it's still not sorted

Topparky, I have my Avant shell if your interested

[KaraK]

i spoke direct with the engineer re: the write off of my Octy - he was a really reasonably chap actually. I gave him the figure that I'd seen similar cars for, he gave me a lower one and then we haggled around based on a few bits and bobs and I got a decent figure out of them in the end.

Bit different from when my Micra bit the dust and I had to send them adverts for cars that were rust-buckets next to my mint example and were STILL about double the price the offered me before they would budge!

If you are dealing with the engineer most of them are pretty reasonable as its not their money! Obviously the insurance company prefer them to aim low but they arent generally out to screw you personally.

If you have mods declared and valued with them then I would expect to get a decent amount of that money back. The idea of the insurance settlement is to provide you with the funds to get a replacement that is similar in both spec and condition terms. If you can get evidence of S2s for sale in as similar a condition as poss and then point out what it would cost you to get to a similar stage mod-wise then you should have a fair chance of getting a decent figure.