Equity Red Star - Insurance advice please

[dowbulldog]

I hope someone, anyone can help me

 

 

Background

 

 

motorcyclist in front of me losses control, drops bike in middle off the road, im behind him and go straight over the top of him, result, both bikes totalled, he had busted back, I had minor injuries.

 

 

He admits total liability to Aviva (his insurers), my bike is 7 weeks old and cost 10k new, insurers offer me 7.5k.. in the meantime my loan bike from my insurance company goes bust, I get pulled by ANPR for no insurance, luckily because BLD have stickers all over the bike I get off with it, that is first issue against insurers......

 

 

Next, I believe as the first registered keeper pf a less than 12 month old bike I should have a new bike because of this non fault accident, I have claimed against my own company with a view that they will then claim on the third party, I am been told this is not how it works(by my insurance) at present the other rider who caused the crash has been paid out for his bike, but because mine is a new bike and I only got offered 7.5l and have refused the whole claim is in deadlock.

 

 

The point I am making with my insurers is that they were quick enough to tell me when I took out the insurance that my bike was not covered while on my driveway ( I stated it would be in a garage) but they failed to inform me that my bike was not covered by a "new for old" policy... any help/advice on this would be real helpful, any questions please ask

 

 

Thanks

 

 

Steve

[angrycrow]

Firstly have Aviva formally admitted liability in writing because with the circumstances you describe you are very lucky if they have as this could well go as a fault or a split liability for not maintaining a safe distance.

 

Check you policy terms regarding the new eplacement less than 12 months old. Whilst this clause is common on cars it is not so common on Motorbikes due to them dropping in value much quicker. If your policy will not cover new for old within the first year you are stuck with market value but that is not the end of the matter.

 

Get copies of adverts for nearly new bikes of the same make, model and mileage as yours and if these are selling for a higher price than you have been offered ask for that price. If the bike is financed do you have gap insurance that would cover any shortfall between the value and the outstanding finance. If you do they will often assist in value disputes as it is in their interest for you to get the highest payout possible to reduce how much they have to pay out.

[unclebulgaria67]

Firstly have Aviva formally admitted liability in writing because with the circumstances you describe you are very lucky if they have as this could well go as a fault or a split liability for not maintaining a safe distance.

 

Check you policy terms regarding the new eplacement less than 12 months old. Whilst this clause is common on cars it is not so common on Motorbikes due to them dropping in value much quicker. If your policy will not cover new for old within the first year you are stuck with market value but that is not the end of the matter.

 

Get copies of adverts for nearly new bikes of the same make, model and mileage as yours and if these are selling for a higher price than you have been offered ask for that price. If the bike is financed do you have gap insurance that would cover any shortfall between the value and the outstanding finance. If you do they will often assist in value disputes as it is in their interest for you to get the highest payout possible to reduce how much they have to pay out.

 

Agree.

 

100% liability by the third party may be disputed normally, but if they admitted total fault, their Insurers may have accepted.

 

Unless stated in the policy, you won't get new replacement value and will have to negotiate market value. Because it is not a usual feature of policies, they would not have to tell you when buying tbe Insurance that it would not cover new replacement, if a total loss happened with 12 months. You should have read the insurance or asked the question, before buying.

[dowbulldog]

Hi Angrycrow,

 

 

Thanks for replying to my problem above, Aviva have only told me verbally that the admit total liability, to clarify what happened I was only traveling slow, about 30mph, the rider in front, waved me past him with his right arm, as I indicated to pass him his front wheel left the tarmac and went into the soft verge and he lost control of his bike, I went over to the other side of the road in an attempt to try and avoid him but he ended up coming over to the other side of the road as well, I had no chance of avoiding him,

 

 

The wording on my policy does not include new for old, I cannot find any 8 week old bikes, my insurance have only offered £7500 which is glasses guide price, even though I have clearly demonstrated that this sum will not get me a similar bike they refuse to offer more, I have now gone down the ombusman route.

 

 

I have posted my problem on here to try and determine what the likely outcome will be, thanks again for you feedback

[dowbulldog]

Thanks for your feedback also unclebulgaria67, I think my previous reply covers your concerns

 

 

Agree.

 

100% liability by the third party may be disputed normally, but if they admitted total fault, their Insurers may have accepted.

 

Unless stated in the policy, you won't get new replacement value and will have to negotiate market value. Because it is not a usual feature of policies, they would not have to tell you when buying tbe Insurance that it would not cover new replacement, if a total loss happened with 12 months. You should have read the insurance or asked the question, before buying.

[Hammy1962]

Did anyone try and sell you gap insurance? A lot of people think it's a waste of time but this is the situation it is designed to cover.

 

H

[dowbulldog]

unfortunately not H, I didn't even know what it was until I got myself into this mess, its all with the ombudsman now as myself and insurers are in deadlock

[dowbulldog]

Hi again folks,

 

 

This is still dragging on so this is where we are now.

 

 

The person who caused the accident is about to be prosecuted, I was found not to be at fault in any way. Ok that bit over, my insurers has offered my £7525 despite me providing evidence that I could not find a 7 week old bike to replace it for that price, in order to be put back to a position I was prior to the accident I would need between £8700 and £9000. There 8 weeks to resolve this have now expired and I have now passed it to the Ombudsman to make a decision on the settlement I have been offered.

 

 

Now as daft as this may sound, the other insurers Aviva have agreed to a price of £8200 following me stating the I was considering taking the third party (The rider of the other motorcycle) to court to claim back my losses in relation to the loss of value of my bike which is in the region of £2500.

 

 

Aviva have said that they will take over this claim from Equity Red Star and also collect my scrapped bike to dispose of it themselves, in the same offer they state (quoted below)

 

 

By accepting £8200 it would not prevent you from pursuing an uninsured loss claim or issuing proceedings, should you decide to do so.

 

Should you decide to issue proceedings against our policyholder and or Aviva insurance we would request that these are served on our nominated Solicitor (address deleted)

 

Now my problem is this, following me sending information to my insurance appointed person dealing with my personal injury claim, he has advised me the following :-

 

 

You can take further action against Aviva but not for the bike. Only if we fail to agree a fair value for your injury and/or other uninsured losses could we take action

I would really appreciate your views on this as I don't know if its a good idea to accept Avivas offer as part settlement, or to leave it with equity red star and let the ombudsman decide my fate.

At present I have been without my bike for 3 months, my bike according to my insurers is with the new owners although I still have the logbook ! :- quote from insurers below, again would appreciate you views on this, I have informed the ombudsman.

Answering your questions below:

 

Your insurance remains active. If you wish to add a borrowed motorcycle, or arrange temporary cover etc, you should speak to Ramasis directly to see if this is possible.

The bike has not been scrapped yet, it remains with the salvage agents HBC pending further instructions.

In respect of the documents, you should fill out and send Section 9 to the DVLA quoting xxx as the new owner. Other parts of the documents should be sent to xxx at the following address: (address deleted)

 

Thanks

 

Steve

 

Edited December 9, 2015 by dowbulldog

[unclebulgaria67]

The personal injury people don't want the bike claim taken to court, when the PI aspect will hopefully be resolved without it needing to go to court. If you start issuing court claims against the third party, it puts a spanner in the works.

 

You are not a miilion miles away on the bike valuation, with it now being about 10% away from what you think it is. You won't get advertised values for the bike, as if you bought one, you would negotiate a discount. The FOS won't agree that insurers pay advertised prices, so if you have been offered £8200, you should think about it. Because it comes from the thirrd party insurers, there is no excess to be deducted.

 

It is your choice, bur in this situation you might ask Aviva to pay say £8500 and that puts you near to being able to replace the bike. Then you withdraw the FOS complain with your own Insurers and it leaves claims for unisured losses and PI outstanding.

 

You need only sort out ownership transfer re DVLA, once you agree to write off value.