Insurance valuations....

[Factorycol]

Morning all.

I've had a search but can't find anything on here.

We got broken into at work on Sunday night / Monday morning and the scrotes took 21 bikes (mostly kids ones in boxes) and very very luckily for me, walked past my Yo Eddy and Yeti Arc that were on display close to the door. Clearly no taste

Now we're sorting the insurance claim for the stock that was taken its got me thinking, if they had taken anything from my retro collection how would I prove the value? I should clearly have saved all the purchases for all the components, but in many cases I bought bikes for the bits I wanted and then resold on the bike that I didn't want etc etc. So finding the actual cost.

Is there anyone anywhere on the planet that could professionally so an insurance company would accept it value a vintage bike for insurance purposes?

Any help would be appreciated.

Col.

 

[d8mok]

If you name them as a insured item at a value you choose then you won’t need a valuation.

 

[Factorycol]

If you name them as a insured item at a value you choose then you won’t need a valuation.

It's a commercial policy and we have hundreds of bikes here, I can't name them all. If / when things get stolen i have to prove the value and then they pay out.

 

[d8mok]

Surely not all of them need to be named and agreed values. Just the ones where their value is down to rarity/age etc such as the two mentioned. All the normal stock bikes are easy to value.

Are the bikes owned personally or by the business?

 

[Factorycol]

Sorry, that's what I'm saying, I can't name them on the policy. There isn't scope for us to do that. Its the 10 vintage ones that I'm talking about, all the other commercial stock for our actually company stock is current year, so I have receipts for them, I can prove what we paid and the value is easy to define.

What I'm talking about is how I prove the value, ie the cost to replace of the 10 vintage bikes here that I can't provide receipts for and they aren't simply listed on line anywhere with a price.

 

[d8mok]

So are the 10 vintage bikes your own bikes rather than the companies?

If so , why not insure them like any other owner does privately. My own bikes are all named and agreed values on a insurance policy.

If they are owned by the company then that’s more complicated from what you say

 

[Factorycol]

If they are stored at work, and stolen from work, it'll be the commercial policy that has to pay out no matter who owns them, just like we have to pay out if a customers bike is stolen (as it was on Monday morning).

So I need some way of valuing the retro bikes, that is insurance approved. I of course can just ask the insurance company what they'd like. Because whilst I could do it, I'm guessing they won't take my word for it.

I was hoping someone might have some experience of this, I can't be the first who's had to consider valuation of retro bikes for insurance purposes.

 

[d8mok]

I’ve experience of insuring retro bikes as I’ve said. I asked the insurance companies on each Occasion when I’ve insured them what their process is and have been told that they simply require a value I wish to insure. So in theory I could say a £50 bike is worth £2000 and pay the applicable premium and if stolen id get £2000. Same as a agreed valuation on any other item (watches, cars etc)

Customers bikes at the commercial premises would of course be under the trade insurance as these are connected to the business directly.

What connection is their between the vintage ones and the shop if not owned by the shop?

I can’t understand what’s stopping you from insuring the vintage ones separately as they sound like they are owned privately by you it simply on display at the shop.

 

[Factorycol]

What's stopping me insuring them separately is that then I'll be paying insurance on them twice. When they are stored in our warehouse, they're covering under the total value of our commercial policy which is just a total value for all the stock here, nothing is named. So there is no point me paying twice.

If they are stolen from work, they are insured. There is tonnes of stuff on valuing classic cars, I was just wondering if there is anything for classic bikes yet.

 

[Woz]

Excel sheet of the build, with individual items valued and each item backed up with receipts, serial number recorded and
photographs worked for me. The bike was not specifically insured, but came under my home insurance policy.

You would need to make it crystal clear that they are "one off vintage custom bikes" - perhaps I was lucky, but the insurance
company definitely got the message, I got reimbursed in full with absolutely no hassle or proposal to "go to the bike shop
and buy an equivalent bike" rubbish.

What seems tricky in your case though, you can not demonstrate complete care and custody of your possession; somebody else
has access to them, especially if they are not locked up. Probably best you talk to a few insurance companies.