Insurance valuations....

[Factorycol]

The spreadsheet idea is a great one, I'll get on that.

On the care thing, I don't need to worry out it, I own the company, and our company insurance covers anything in here, who it belongs to isn't relevant. So if the retro bikes get stolen, my company claims and then they'd pay me personally.

So I think I'll go with the spreadsheet now for all the bikes, and then if they ever do go walkies, I do at least have a full list of what they are, not just the links to the bikes on here etc etc.

 

[Woz]

If you don't have receipts, the 2nd best is at least a print out of the advert - for example if you bought the item with cash
from Gumtree - which was my case for the frame and forks.

 

[Tootyred]

Have you considered adding them to your household policy.....bikes normally cost only a small amount as part of it.

Ive just renewed my household policy. All the bikes are listed, BUT as its " new for old" they wanted the cost of a direct replacement! It took 2 weeks of going back and forward, before the light dawned on them that a 1989 team marin has absolutely nothing in common with a 2021 model?....other than 2 wheels! ( this happens every time i have to change insurer).

In the end i just gave them the build cost, which they didn't argue with on the basis that they also accept " an alternative of a similar quality where a direct replacement is not available".....whatever that would be ( cant think of a quality bike on the market even mildy like a 1980s mountainbike), but given their complete lack of interest, i assume if i asked for the money for a gravel bike, they wouldn't know the difference there either!

In the end, all our bikes are noted on the policy, insured and photographed as evidence all for £68 a year! I looked at bike specific policies, but these were ludicrous expensive.

Lets just hope i never need to use it.

 

[Woz]

While I'm not entirely three sheets to the wind on my daily cultural dose of red, I will allow myself do a little epilogue.

Describing the values with proof is paramount to any insurance claim - that is a given. What cannot be covered is the time
we spend scouting the globe for parts and the time assembling and fettling. In my case, my bike was stolen pretty
much the week after I finished building it. I was gutted. We are talking about NOS Mavic 231 from Holland, NOS 231
from Austria and wheels built by my good self on NOS M730 hubs. Sadly, insurance will not take that into account if
you (stupidly) followed your passion in bike wrenching yourself. You can also expect a mini wrestle with the insurance
company to include the shipping fees in the total item price. Don't expect them to cover for best quality marine grease either.

Another point I want to get across is the spare part stash. It can be horrific in physical volume and value. It's worth
recording, despite the pain. I would recommend at least you adopt a single repository philosophy and throw hard copy
printouts of purchases in one box. Ebay does not keep records forever. If you purchase from Gumtree and alike you should
be covering your own ass anyway and print out the advert in case you are buying stolen goods.

Anyhow, I know for the OP it's not a joyful time having a break in, but time spent in describing your assets will make at least
a better platform to recovery in the case of loss. We know full well replacing all this vintage stuff is a very long road, getting
more and more expensive so it makes complete sense to do so. Do not count on the Police recovering your stolen items either.

In fact, after three months I got a letter from the Police asking ME if I had found and recovered the stolen bike.

 

[hookooekoo]

As others have said, lots of photos, making sure to include the frame number in at least one photo. Take a few photos of it in it's usual display position in the shop too. My bikes aren't worth much, but I have photos of them all. Those I bought new, I took loads of pictures before using it. Those that I rebuilt, I took loads of pictures after the rebuild, before using it. My logic is that it looks best when new or newly rebuilt, and the insurance company would have a harder time knocking the settlement value down.

Proving value is harder. Especially as Ebay doesn't make previous sold prices available indefinitely. Maybe take some screenshots for the really rare stuff, and make sure the item number is included in the screenshot. If necessary, the insurance company could contact Ebay, and ask them to confirm the sold price for a given item number.

 

[pw_pw_la]

I was just about to ask some advice on this very topic, so this thread has already been really useful.

I already made a spreadsheet for my build (and winced when the total came up at the end!) but adding photos of the eBay/online/higher ticket purchases is a good idea too.

I'll get on that.

I'm a renter, so am trying to decide whether to get renters insurance and add the bike/s, or specific insurance for the bikes themselves.

Not much in the house is of any great value, tbh! Just a piece of furniture here or there, which most thieves would leave thinking it's old tat anyway!

 

[Factorycol]

Have you considered adding them to your household policy.....bikes normally cost only a small amount as part of it.

Thanks for the reply, but I do have insurance, that's not the problem. I was simply asking if there is a service for valuing bikes?

I'm going to make sure I now have the spreadsheets set up and all my bikes listed on here, so I can come back to pictures / spec etc etc. The problem as I've said above is that proving the cost is hard, and in my insurance case, its not the cost I paid, its the cost to replace that I can claim.

I'll keep looking, but take on board the advice on here.

 

[Tootyred]

Thanks for the reply, but I do have insurance, that's not the problem. I was simply asking if there is a service for valuing bikes?

Well, in the first few emails, my Insurance company asked for a valuation of the bikes, and so i asked " where would i thet that from?". They said an owners club!

Well if this is not an owners club.......

I tjink they are just so geared to cars and motorbikes, where official owners clubs provide proof of model, specs and values etc.

 

[FluffyChicken]

@Factorycol
Definitely go the spreadsheet and picture route.
Also send the insurance company an email and ask them, it is what they are there for and you then have emails as evidence as to what is needed.
Explain they are display items etc..

I cannot give company experience but for anyone using home insurance.
I had pictures, a spreadsheet (requested by insurers), iirc Wheelies took over the replacement work and valuation.
They knew old bikes and valued them accordingly and had good emails from them, wanting spreadsheets of details and pictures. (this also helped the police).

It was then down to the insurance company (iirc Tesco Insurance at the time) to give money to me as valued from wheelies feedback as they understood a new replacement wasn't viable or probably wanted.

It wasn't a you have it insured at £1000, you get £1000 or £2k you get £2k.
The is the max you will get, if it valued higher tough, if Lower you get lower.

Very fair, very nice valuations.

--
As a side if you do get the bikes back (good police did for me, but that's luck), the insurance are only interested if the bike is complete ;-)


That's my experience a couple of years back.

 

[Tootyred]

The only other thing i think its important for people to be aware of is under valuation. Unless you have an "agreed value" policy, it can be very easy to get caught out.

For example if you say your bike is worth £1000, but after its stolen, the insurance company says "no we believe its worth £2000", you wont get £1000 out of them!

Standard practice now is to reduce your payout by the percentage your under insured.

So in this instance you are 50% under insured, so they give you a cheque for £500.!

Its a very sad, long and taxing tale as to how i know this, but the moral of the story is don't have a major fire!