Battle with Insurance Company

[David & Ann]

My Motorhome was burnt to the ground/Arson. That's history. I valued it at £18000. The Insurance offerd only £7000. I declined and sent them Bills and receipts of all the improvements I had done in the last 12 months, valued at at£10500.
They came back this morning with another offer of £11000. I am prepared to except £14 to 15000. They refused. Advice please- Do I except or keep fighting. I have been on the net and searced for the equivalent, I keep coming up with around £17 to 18000.

 

[gillr49]

Really sorry to hear about your plight.

I have had no experience, but gut reaction says decline and have another go at them.
If you get nowhere can you then go back and accept the 11000?

All the very best to you both

 

[JohnSandyWhite]

Hi David & Ann. Sorry to hear about your compensation problems with your Insurers? However. The perceived value of the additions and repair/replacements and improvements your have made perhaps do not reflect on the original value and cost of your Motorhome. What value did you place on the Motorhome when you Insured it?

 

[guest]

oh dear i am sorry for you,not good news for you...id be inclined to push for a better offer & maybe get a solicitor involved or at least threaten them with one but saying that im not experienced in this field as iv never had to make a claim..i agree with jsw though that what you have spent on it doesnt reflect the real value (recently my brother was selling his impreza & he wanted a lot for it as he'd spent £7000 with extra's & keeping it in prestine condition..all he got was book price,what it was worth) i hope you get a better offer..keep us posted sammx

 

[Loathecliff]

They are only an insurance company, & most of them have a very adjustable morality.
Reject the offer, they are hoping you are not willing to fight a large org. that is out to intimidate you. Many are not & cave in....& guess who gets the bonuses?

Ask them how they arrived at an offer that is far less than the replacement value, & that you will accept nothing less than that.

Ask around for a lawyer that hates ins. cos. & see what no win-no fee deal you can get

BTW:- Do you want to name & shame?

 

[cas]

Sorry to hear about your van hope they catch who ever did it. Not much help now but maybe for your next one I have an agreed valuation on my van so in the event of the worst happening we have already agreed on the value,

 

[David & Ann]

Insurance

Hi David & Ann. Sorry to hear about your compensation problems with your Insurers? However. The perceived value of the additions and repair/replacements and improvements your have made perhaps do not reflect on the original value and cost of your Motorhome. What value did you place on the Motorhome when you Insured it?

They did take into account of all the improvements and said it was their final offer. The improvements were, fully automated selfseeking digital Sat: dish, Solar panels, Had bunk beds in, took them out and built a full shower room ajoined to the bathroom. All professionally done in Germany. Took of the 3.5m awning and put in a 5m omnistar. lso a fer other things. I was offered on the road in Spain £15000, a couple of times. Said NO. I think I will give it a go. If not, they still have to pay me the £11000, as I have it in writing and they cannot back down on that. Thanks guys for all your advice. I see Samm, Dave and Graham had one ball of a time last weekend. Take care

 

[pappajohn]

They are only an insurance company, & most of them have a very adjustable morality.
Reject the offer, they are hoping you are not willing to fight a large org. that is out to intimidate you. Many are not & cave in....& guess who gets the bonuses?

Ask them how they arrived at an offer that is far less than the replacement value, & that you will accept nothing less than that.

Ask around for a lawyer that hates ins. cos. & see what no win-no fee deal you can get

BTW:- Do you want to name & shame?

HI david and ann,
so sorry to hear your problem. i'm inclined to agree withloathecliff.
whilst i have not had to make a claim before i have heard of people sticking it out and getting damned near the real value.
the point about a no-win no-fee lawyer makes sense as if it costs you a couple of grand you should still get more than they are offering now.
try telling them you dont want a payout but a replacement of the same model, year,milage and equipment standard then see what they do.
good luck, keep fighting.

john.

 

[roland rat]

Insurance claim

They did take into account of all the improvements and said it was their final offer. The improvements were, fully automated selfseeking digital Sat: dish, Solar panels, Had bunk beds in, took them out and built a full shower room ajoined to the bathroom. All professionally done in Germany. Took of the 3.5m awning and put in a 5m omnistar. lso a fer other things. I was offered on the road in Spain £15000, a couple of times. Said NO. I think I will give it a go. If not, they still have to pay me the £11000, as I have it in writing and they cannot back down on that. Thanks guys for all your advice. I see Samm, Dave and Graham had one ball of a time last weekend. Take care

If you are a member of a trade union you can have legal representation free and I am sure that once your insurance realised that they would look at in a different light. They are not to keen to take on union lawyers as they usually go all the way.
Good luck with your claim,
Roland Rat.

 

[David & Ann]

Insurance Claim

Hi Graham
How did your w/e go with Samm & Dave? I should have been on the road in Portugal at the moment, but alas, no MH. Back to insurance. It was not extras but improvements, like Sat dish and solar panels. They DID take it into account but still offered me peanuts. Looks like I may be fighting a losing battle. The Insurance co: is Norwich Union Direct. I will put this down to experience. Next time, I will have bazookas, bouncing bombs, radar, video camera, and above all, an undestructable MH. Need it with the yobs about

 

[pappajohn]

Hi Graham
The Insurance co: is Norwich Union Direct.

well done for naming them!!!!!

john.

 

[Biker Jeff]

Hi David & Anne
I would definitely fight them for a better offer, see a solicitor if need be, and claim the costs off them.
Insurance companys always offer the lowest they can get away with. But be prepared to have the claim dragged out, insurance co's know that you want to settle as quick as possible, so they use this as another tactic to make you settle on their low offer.

I know this wont help your present situation, but i insure with Caravan Guard. They give me a new for old policy. If my Trigano is written off, they give me the cost of a brand new model of Trigano at RRP at the time of the claim. They also throw in breakdown cover. The cost of fully comp on a 28K van is £229.
I thought this may be of interest to you in the future, as i would imagine that you wont be insuring with Norwich Union again.

 

[Nosha]

Value

I used to be an insurance assessor for GRE many years ago, you need to PROVE the valuation, collect as many adverts for VERY similar motorhomes the SAME age as yours as possible - remember what an advertiser asks... and what he gets is another thing, when you have proof of some vehicles the same age, type and size as yours present your case and inform them that if you are not given a more realistic offer then you will take the claim to the insurance ombudsman. That should speed things up, but it IS down to you to prove that you cannot replace it like-for-like at the figure they are offering. Good luck!

 

[Dee]

My Motorhome was burnt to the ground/Arson. That's history. I valued it at £18000. The Insurance offerd only £7000. I declined and sent them Bills and receipts of all the improvements I had done in the last 12 months, valued at at£10500.
They came back this morning with another offer of £11000. I am prepared to except £14 to 15000. They refused. Advice please- Do I except or keep fighting. I have been on the net and searced for the equivalent, I keep coming up with around £17 to 18000.

Sorry that you have lost your motorhome and hope the culprit is found.
Pity you can't name or shame the insurance company in here.
I do hope you get what you are entitled to and good luck.

 

[Dee]

Ah!! sorry...I missed reading with the nameing and shaming...Glad you did it

 

[peterandbetty]

Hi there David & Ann .Sorry to hear you bad news .Having had a problem with insurance company last year when we we hit from behind in our car & caravan by a continental lorry who did'nt stop and he wrote both off .We were lucky not to be killed .Insurance company were willing to pay up for the caravan at the price they could replace it for ,our problem was contents that we thought were covered in the vans insurance were'nt .luckly we were covered on our house insurance ,the moral of this tale is keep all paper work to do with your vans down to the last penny and fight for your rights ,but i think that you will only get trade valueas my husband was in the motor trade for over 40 years and this was always the case ,but good luck and keep trying.

 

[roifromnwales]

I suggest you contact and join which legal quickly and then aske them to deal
which seems to frighten the big companies more than an individual does

 

[Deleted member 967]

My Motorhome was burnt to the ground/Arson. That's history. I valued it at £18000. The Insurance offerd only £7000. I declined and sent them Bills and receipts of all the improvements I had done in the last 12 months, valued at at£10500.
They came back this morning with another offer of £11000. I am prepared to except £14 to 15000. They refused. Advice please- Do I except or keep fighting. I have been on the net and searced for the equivalent, I keep coming up with around £17 to 18000.

I had a similar problem with the old CF Autosleeper that took fire. I got adds from MMM and the local papers to back my valuation. They got a loss adjuster on the job and he agreed with my valuation. I got the same as I had paid for it 12 months earlier.

 

[Deleted member 967]

My Motorhome was burnt to the ground/Arson. That's history. I valued it at £18000. The Insurance offerd only £7000. I declined and sent them Bills and receipts of all the improvements I had done in the last 12 months, valued at at£10500.
They came back this morning with another offer of £11000. I am prepared to except £14 to 15000. They refused. Advice please- Do I except or keep fighting. I have been on the net and searced for the equivalent, I keep coming up with around £17 to 18000.

I had a similar problem with the old CF Autosleeper that took fire. I got adds from MMM and the local papers to back my valuation. They got a loss adjuster on the job and he agreed with my valuation. I got the same as I had paid for it 12 months earlier.

 

[Dee]

Hi Graham
How did your w/e go with Samm & Dave? I should have been on the road in Portugal at the moment, but alas, no MH. Back to insurance. It was not extras but improvements, like Sat dish and solar panels. They DID take it into account but still offered me peanuts. Looks like I may be fighting a losing battle. The Insurance co: is Norwich Union Direct. I will put this down to experience. Next time, I will have bazookas, bouncing bombs, radar, video camera, and above all, an undestructable MH. Need it with the yobs about

Are you still battling with the insurance company?