You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
A month ago tomorrow my garage got broken into by some lowlife scum and they took the following:
Cannondale Rize
Cotic Soul
Orange P7
Genesis IO
Viper 2.0
They also badly damaged my garage door and both mine and my GFs cars getting the bikes out. All the bikes were looked together.
I phoned the police who didnt come out and then i reported it to my insurance company. The following week they sent a cost adjuster to my house as i built the orange P7, cotic soul and the Viper so they were not off the peg bikes. The cost adjuster took all the details of the parts on these bikes and i gave them pictures of all the bikes for thier reference. I week later i had a second conjuster around to do a fprmal interview which was recorded and made me feel like the criminal. Following this meeting i forawrded bank statements, paypal history, what receipts i had (didnt have reciepts for alot of the parts), email correspondsance etc.
Today i received a letter from the cost adjusters stating they were seeking a quotation from Halfords!!!!!! I am beginning to panic a little bit now as Halfords do not sell any of the above bikes or most of the parts and am afraid im going to end up with a voucher for halfords.
Has anybody else had similar experiences or have knowledge on such things?
Cheers
Wait and see what they offer and then argue. Halfords seem to be able to get quite a lot of stuff that they don't 'normally' carry as stock. They may just go back and say 'the nearest equivalent we can do is X', though.
You have a right to the cash not a replacement bike but clearly valuation then becomes key.
Depends on your policy, I had new for old. I was able to take the cash equivalent as well when wheelies couldn't provide a like for like replacement.
Mine too is new for old......so do they offer you cash equivalent?
Good luck with that, sounds like the fun is just beginning 😉
I've had this kind of crap from insurance cos before, with cars too.
I've always ended up buying the replacement bikes from where I choose, doesn't matter what they say, it's your right.
Worth noting that if you get some brands from Halfords you will have no extended warranty on frames.
I kept asking like for like as by stolen bike wasnt off the peg. I kept rejecting their offers of off the peg bikes. After about a month of this I get call from insurer asking if I'll accept cash settlement less excess.
Just stand firm asking like for like/new for old.
Was the cash settlement suitable for your bikes Bruneep?
Indeed, M&S £4k less excess.
Well i shall take the stubborn approach and see if it gets me anywhere i am certainly not excepting vouchers from Halfords 👿
I would point out that if it was a Lotus car that had been stolen would they offer a customer a credit note for a Ford dealer.
I've always done OK financially out of bike insurance claims, and I've had to make a few... The worst experience was having to use Halfords to replace a Rockhopper, but it worked out OK in the end.
In the case of custom bikes, they will often have a specialist who deals with that, eg M&S / AXA use Wheelies who were pretty good and certainly didnt short change me.
You're always entitled to cash, though you might find the settlement is reduced to take account of the discount the insurer will have with the supplier. But, in your benefit, you will also be getting this discount if you take the bike or parts.
I've been interviewed and recorded too, but it was just a formality. Presumably it's obvious that you didnt stage the burglary and you probably have plenty of pictures of you riding the bikes.
To M&S's credit, they have also sent me a customer satisfaction survey to complete, though they havent confirmed that they will insure me again next year.
[i]I've always done OK financially out of bike insurance claims, and I've had to make a few...[/i]
Hate to imagine the cost of your insurance...