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cat N write off


LifeofPhil
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My bike got flipped over when it was parked by a granny taking a turn in a carpark waaaaay to fast.

Got a report back from the insurance saying its a cat N write off. They say the repairs would cost approx £2,300 and the bikes worth £2,700 with a scrap value of £350.

From what I saw it only needed a new windscreen mirror and footpeg everything else is just scratches. I find it hard to believe its a wright off! Not sure what my next move should be.


(Its a 700 transalp)

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Insurance companies will price up the repair based on brand new oem parts, this includes any part that is scratched + labour. If they offer you a good price for the bike buy it back and repair it yourself with parts off eBay.


Don’t forget though the bike value will drop if it has a category N attached to it.


I would buy it back and repair it myself and take the payout from the insurance company.

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I work in insurance and if it were me, I would ask for a copy of that Total Loss report so that you can see how your insurance company has came up with that value (They have to provide you a copy of it).


Have you ever got a quote from your local mechanic/garage to see what they think it would cost? Like Adam says, most insurance company would be pricing the parts at retail prices. It does differ between insurance companies but typically if the repair cost exceeds 70% of the value of your bike, the insurance company would write it off, so if your repairer can get a price that is lower than that, you may be able to stop them from writing it off and they could offer you a cash in lieu settlement; however not all insurance companies offer that option.


What has the Third Party said in all this? Did you catch her in the act? If so, did she admit fault? You may be able to go down the avenue and go through her insurance and see what they say, the Third Party Insurance would probably want to try and repair it for you to mitigate their losses.

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Jackie is on the ball I think.


Has the granny admitted it? are you dealing with her insurance or yours?


Do you want to keep the bike or do you fancy a change?

Where is the bike?


I'd ask to buy it back at scrap value.

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Not sure if I'm missing something here, but given how you describe the damage then having it written off and subsequently buying it back for £350 sounds like a potentially sound move. You just need to get a repair estimate, or decide whether you're happy to ride it as is (assuming it's safe) as a cheap runaround.

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Not sure if I'm missing something here, but given how you describe the damage then having it written off and subsequently buying it back for £350 sounds like a potentially sound move. You just need to get a repair estimate, or decide whether you're happy to ride it as is (assuming it's safe) as a cheap runaround.

 

It will be, it's a Cat N, which is Non-structural damage, this sort of write off doesn't even require you to send the V5 logbook back to DVLA for them to mark it as a write off. I think it's down to what Phil wants to do with it, if he plans to sell the bike in the future, it being a Cat N would affect the selling price, however if he's going to keep it as a spare, I would agree with what others have said here and buy the bike back, he would still get £2,350 as settlement, he could use that as a down payment for another bike. 8-)

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Lucky she did admitted when it happend along with a witness.

I want to keep it and fix it up my self, not sure the value is correct on it tho. Every bike of the same make, moddle and similar millage is on sale for £1,000 more than what they say its worth.

I sent an email back asking a few more questions and examples of the bike price for a new one see if that will help.

Do t need new parts just good parts, as long as I can get it on the road, I'm happy. Found a mechanic who will do the inspection and MOT but recommends I find the parts threw scrappers to save cash.

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Lucky she did admitted when it happend along with a witness.

I want to keep it and fix it up my self, not sure the value is correct on it tho. Every bike of the same make, moddle and similar millage is on sale for £1,000 more than what they say its worth.

I sent an email back asking a few more questions and examples of the bike price for a new one see if that will help.

Do t need new parts just good parts, as long as I can get it on the road, I'm happy. Found a mechanic who will do the inspection and MOT but recommends I find the parts threw scrappers to save cash.

 

I believe most insurance company engineers would base the valuation on various guides, the most commonly used one is the Glass guide which is based on the market value of what your bike is valued at with similar age and mileage. You have done the right thing by doing your own research, I recommend that you always dispute the value they give you as they will reconsider and negotiate if you provide evidence. I was told very early on in my work by my engineers to always dispute the value they give you as it is always lower than what the glass guide is, which I'm told is the minimum you want to walk away with!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well its not going well. I disputed the clame and they ignored my questions and made a settlement.

When I said "why did you not ask for the market value" they said the other insurances said wouldn't accept it. I ended up going to the ladies insurance and asking them directly and they said no such thing. So I sent them my own research and they said they would get there team on it.

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Excuse my ignorance as I dont have a clue about this stuff.


Why do you have to buy your bike back? Its your bike.. why wouldn't it just get returned to you?

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Excuse my ignorance as I dont have a clue about this stuff.


Why do you have to buy your bike back? Its your bike.. why wouldn't it just get returned to you?

 

I dont understand it. They call it salvage value, but then there is hardly enough scrap on a bike to get £100 at a scrap yard

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Scrap is not scrap anson scrap metal scrap is what they sell the parts for .. like my bike is worth £1000 yet the starting motor is £960 so they rest of the bike to sell . .

 

Eh :scratch:

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What insurance company covers you?


Sounds like mce.


If so, very careful. They WILL try their hardest to rip you off. If not, then other insurers are learning from mce's skullduggery.


For valuations they will use an average from the "trade values" of CAP & Glass's Guide (both of which are industry only publications so the public can't access them) the actual market value is irrelevant.

You could send them evidence of 100 identical bikes selling for double what they're offering and it will make no difference.


Once they have sent a settlement offer in writing you only have 6 months to register your complaint with the ombudsman. This will be your only course of redress, so start gathering all the evidence you can to show the actual value/ replacement cost of your bike, and every single error or discrepancy the the claim - if they tell you blatant lies that's always good.


Best of luck to you bud

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Guest Richzx6r

For my old zx6r j1 with 38k on the clock was billed at £1341 but it's a cat b write off though I don't know why as I can now see its just the rear subframe that's slightly bent up and that happened years ago when I crashed at Cadwell park but hey I got the bike back and it's now my track bike project

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What insurance company covers you?


Sounds like mce.


If so, very careful. They WILL try their hardest to rip you off. If not, then other insurers are learning from mce's skullduggery.


For valuations they will use an average from the "trade values" of CAP & Glass's Guide (both of which are industry only publications so the public can't access them) the actual market value is irrelevant.

You could send them evidence of 100 identical bikes selling for double what they're offering and it will make no difference.


Once they have sent a settlement offer in writing you only have 6 months to register your complaint with the ombudsman. This will be your only course of redress, so start gathering all the evidence you can to show the actual value/ replacement cost of your bike, and every single error or discrepancy the the claim - if they tell you blatant lies that's always good.


Best of luck to you bud

 

MCE but because it was a third party at fault its going threw Plantech. Who have messed up the paperwork about five times now. I have signed more paper work than I can count.

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What insurance company covers you?


Sounds like mce.


If so, very careful. They WILL try their hardest to rip you off. If not, then other insurers are learning from mce's skullduggery.


For valuations they will use an average from the "trade values" of CAP & Glass's Guide (both of which are industry only publications so the public can't access them) the actual market value is irrelevant.

You could send them evidence of 100 identical bikes selling for double what they're offering and it will make no difference.


Once they have sent a settlement offer in writing you only have 6 months to register your complaint with the ombudsman. This will be your only course of redress, so start gathering all the evidence you can to show the actual value/ replacement cost of your bike, and every single error or discrepancy the the claim - if they tell you blatant lies that's always good.


Best of luck to you bud

 

MCE but because it was a third party at fault its going threw Plantech. Who have messed up the paperwork about five times now. I have signed more paper work than I can count.

 

MCE has one of the worst customer service for consumers as they don't seem to deal with their own claims as they outsource it all to Plantec. I believe Plantec do not have motor engineers so they mainly rely on the other insurance company engineer to provide the valuation for the bike. Who is the TP's insurer? Have they not tried making contact with you?

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Scrap is not scrap anson scrap metal scrap is what they sell the parts for .. like my bike is worth £1000 yet the starting motor is £960 so they rest of the bike to sell . .

 

Eh :scratch:

 


Iv insured my bike for £1000 due to its age and mileage.

But as scrap parts my starting motor is £960 tank £90 .seat£30 so on what they will get if they strip the bike down


Not £20 at the local scrappys .

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I think insurance companys are scum . For the way they RIP you off when you insure your car bike house anything that they charge you top dollar for then do the utter most NOT to pay you out on what you insured.


The bike insurance for one . You see a bike at £5000 2and hand .. so you then have a look and it's about the same as all the others you find but yours is special as its going to be yours . So you pay the £5000 and you call the insurance and they ask how much is it worth what do you want to value it you say £5000 as you just paid that out .



So they say ok that will be £2000 a year .


Bike gets nicked you get what they say it's worth in the class guide which ONLY THEY CAN SEE ..


So they new it was only worth £3000 yet taken your money on £5000 knowing full well you was over valuing your bike .


Now if you try and be smart pay £5000 for the bike and insure the bike for say £1000 they say ok that be £200 a year

Then the bike gets nicked they pay you £1000 NO The Class guide valuation is £3000 yeaa that's right but you only insured it for £1000 AGAIN THEY NEW that you was under valuing your bike said feck all


This is why they are scum .also you been in an accident that was not your fault they STILL put up your premium as they ask have your been in an accident in the last 5 years it used to be 3 years but they put it up


As they are only alowed to feck you over for 5 years to make there money back that they paid out then they worked out you didnt even have to be at fault for them to get extra money out you


I believe that becuse it's a government law you must have insurance then the government must insure you .. why must they make an law and give it to another company to feck you over..


Bit like the BBC government enforce the BBC fines.

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Scrap is not scrap anson scrap metal scrap is what they sell the parts for .. like my bike is worth £1000 yet the starting motor is £960 so they rest of the bike to sell . .

 

Eh :scratch:

 


Iv insured my bike for £1000 due to its age and mileage.

But as scrap parts my starting motor is £960 tank £90 .seat£30 so on what they will get if they strip the bike down


Not £20 at the local scrappys .

 

I believed you can only salvage your bike by selling them off in parts when the bike is written off as Cat B - Breaker. The salvage value they take off your bike is less but you can potentially make a nice sum if there is a market for some of the parts on your bike.


As you say [mention]BIKERDAD[/mention], unless you work in the industry, it’s quite difficult to find out what the true value of your bike is for mere consumers, everyone is just guessing the value based on age/mileage/mods when insuring our bikes.


I should add you can salvage when it’s cat S and N but most folk opt to repair rather than salvage!

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What insurance company covers you?


Sounds like mce.


If so, very careful. They WILL try their hardest to rip you off. If not, then other insurers are learning from mce's skullduggery.


For valuations they will use an average from the "trade values" of CAP & Glass's Guide (both of which are industry only publications so the public can't access them) the actual market value is irrelevant.

You could send them evidence of 100 identical bikes selling for double what they're offering and it will make no difference.


Once they have sent a settlement offer in writing you only have 6 months to register your complaint with the ombudsman. This will be your only course of redress, so start gathering all the evidence you can to show the actual value/ replacement cost of your bike, and every single error or discrepancy the the claim - if they tell you blatant lies that's always good.


Best of luck to you bud

 

MCE but because it was a third party at fault its going threw Plantech. Who have messed up the paperwork about five times now. I have signed more paper work than I can count.

 

I don't know plantech, but I expect they are as bad as mce and their associates - don't underestimate how dodgy these guys are.

For my claim mce used a examworks investigations for initial paperwork - they are a subsidiary of a huge American medical fraud investigation firm with a shocking reputation.

They used jp Morris engineers to assess the damage/repair costs. Morris's damaged my bike in transit, then massively overestimated the repairs required (while refusing to give a breakdown of prices) to guarantee the bike would be a write-off.

Based on big standard bikes for sale at similar age/mileage/condition my bike's replacement cost would have been £3000-£3500. mce refused to budge on the guide prices, offering £1500 ( after several attempts to reduce the payment for fictional discrepancies). After the excess I got £1100. Their salvage/buyback amount was about £800 so I didn't bother going that route. They later sold my written off bike for around£1000 on eBay.

So when you add in my £300 policy cost you can see why they treat their customers like shit and do their best to screw them over.


Can't speak for other countries, but uk insurance is a rip off and in some cases it's legalised fraud.


As said, be careful, gather as much evidence of their incompetence or dirty tricks, and go to the ombudsman within 6 months.

  • Like 1
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What insurance company covers you?


Sounds like mce.


If so, very careful. They WILL try their hardest to rip you off. If not, then other insurers are learning from mce's skullduggery.


For valuations they will use an average from the "trade values" of CAP & Glass's Guide (both of which are industry only publications so the public can't access them) the actual market value is irrelevant.

You could send them evidence of 100 identical bikes selling for double what they're offering and it will make no difference.


Once they have sent a settlement offer in writing you only have 6 months to register your complaint with the ombudsman. This will be your only course of redress, so start gathering all the evidence you can to show the actual value/ replacement cost of your bike, and every single error or discrepancy the the claim - if they tell you blatant lies that's always good.


Best of luck to you bud

 

MCE but because it was a third party at fault its going threw Plantech. Who have messed up the paperwork about five times now. I have signed more paper work than I can count.

 

I don't know plantech, but I expect they are as bad as mce and their associates - don't underestimate how dodgy these guys are.

For my claim mce used a examworks investigations for initial paperwork - they are a subsidiary of a huge American medical fraud investigation firm with a shocking reputation.

They used jp Morris engineers to assess the damage/repair costs. Morris's damaged my bike in transit, then massively overestimated the repairs required (while refusing to give a breakdown of prices) to guarantee the bike would be a write-off.

Based on big standard bikes for sale at similar age/mileage/condition my bike's replacement cost would have been £3000-£3500. mce refused to budge on the guide prices, offering £1500 ( after several attempts to reduce the payment for fictional discrepancies). After the excess I got £1100. Their salvage/buyback amount was about £800 so I didn't bother going that route. They later sold my written off bike for around£1000 on eBay.

So when you add in my £300 policy cost you can see why they treat their customers like shit and do their best to screw them over.


Can't speak for other countries, but uk insurance is a rip off and in some cases it's legalised fraud.


As said, be careful, gather as much evidence of their incompetence or dirty tricks, and go to the ombudsman within 6 months.

 

I have seen engineer use that practice to overestimate repair costs for parts when they are trying to write off a bike, they tend to do it more when the bike is over 10 years old as they believe it is not safe to put them back on the road.


I think the best thing to do in an event of an accident would be to have the bike moved to your repairers for them to get an estimate done, they tend to have had more time inspecting all the damage so the estimate would reflect that over the insurance engineer who would spend around 30-45mins looking over the bike. You would be able to challenge the engineer's assessment further down the line.

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  • 2 years later...

I have a Yamaha YZFR125 2020 I was in a crash a couple weeks ago someone hit me from behind and the only damage is the right peg and the forks and the front wheel where the paints been chipped off they’re writing it off as a cat N Apparently it’s Wifey ❤️Apparently it’s worth four grand If I buy it back how much do you think I can get it for can anyone tell me

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