Scooter stolen - any advice gratefully received

[konifer]

A few weeks ago my scooter was stolen from outside my house - they cut right through the security chain, busted the ignition, had a jolly and dumped it a few streets away. Police recovered it and my insurance company arranged for their authorised repairer to collect it. I had been told that the only real damage was to the ignition so it should be repaired; however, I have just had a call from the estimator saying the repair will be too expensive for the value of the scooter, so I am now waiting for my insurance to get in touch regarding a pay out. There's a number of issues I am wondering about and I'd really appreciate any advice you can give.

 

1) I had only owned the scooter for one week when it was taken.This means I was still in the initial period of temporary insurance (1 month) while they sent me a direct debit mandate to sign and return with a copy of my CBT. With the upset of the theft I have not yet sent these; the deadline for them receiving these documents is next week, at which point my insurance would be cancelled instead of continuing for the year. I have currently paid just under £70; the full year cost would be £330. Can I just let this expire rather than shelling out for the remainder of the policy when I effectively have no vehicle to insure at this time?

 

2) Does anyone have any experience of how long it would normally take to receive a payout? I am currently unemployed and cannot get work until I have transport again - in the last couple of weeks I have actually had to turn down jobs because I simply cannot get to them, and I am reluctant to apply for things as I don't know how long I will be without transport (public transport facilities in my area are extremely limited and not a reliable option - in fact I have been told several times that employers just will not consider me without my own transport because it is so bad!)

 

3) Given the extremely short time I owned the scooter can I expect to get back what I paid for it (minus the excess) or will it be subject to the insurer's valuation?

 

Thanks for your help.

[citizenkain]

i know someone this happened to,similar story,he had to keep paying the insurance as it was a finance plan,they told him if he stopped it they could chase him for the money,read the small print,they should pay you out a payment for the scooter,write off value,you might be cheaper getting it back and fixing it if you can?

[eeyorebob]

Hi

I used to work in insurance so i can answer your questions.

 

1) if you are wanting them to pay out, you will HAVE to pay the premium for the year, the reason for this is, if they "reimburse" you the cost of the scooter, and you dont pay the full premium for the policy, you will then effectively be in a "better off" situation at the time of payout than you should be (ie you will have gained a replacement cost for the scooter, AND only paid £70 insurance) - this is NOT the purpose of insurance, it is to "reinstate" you to the same level you were at before the claim occured. So, they can either take the remaining premium for the year from the payout (so you receive a much smaller payout), or they will pay you the replacement amount and you still pay the DD to them, or if you do neither of these, they can persue you for the remaining premium.

 

2) This depends on who the insurance company is i'm afraid, some are quicker at paying than others.

 

3) depends on the type of policy - was it a "new for old" policy (and did you buy the scooter as new?) or when you took the policy out did you have to give a "value" of the 2nd hand scooter? If it was a new for old and you are within the "limits" of this, you SHOULD recieve the full replacement costs less the excess. If its NOT a new for old or you are outside the limits then you will be subject to a valuation by the insurance company.