So my bike was vandalized and i brought it into a shop for a quote. The bike is a 2001 cbr600f4i. They quoted it at 3600 dollars and blue book came up to be 2600. I am afraid they will total the bike and i know my bike is worth more than 2600. I have never done anything with insurance before so am looking for some advice in what to do in this situation. On the quote they put a new gas tank which was 622 dollars which is not needed as there is only a tiny tiny chip on it as well as the windscreen and some other misc things. Could i call the shop and get the quote adjusted. The removal of the tank and windscreen would put it back down in range of the kbb value.

Any thoughts appreciated

Thanks

 

Just looking around on craigslist the average price for this bike is much higher than kbb value. Im not sure what the insurance company goes off of but i feel the 3600 is right in that price range where it could go either way.

 

If the shop does the work, they are going to replace anything you say was damaged with new OEM parts. Add in the labor and yeah, your bike is going to be totalled and the insurance is going to offer you kbb value. Btw, the insurance will have a upper limit of a % of the bike's value that they'll pay before totalling it out. Usually 70%-80%. So the shop will have to come under that % for their estimate to avoid getting totalled

Now what you can do is ask the insurance company to have their adjuster come look at the bike and give you an estimate. He'll prolly agree or come near the shop's estimate and want to total it. But now you can negotiate with the adjuster. Ask what is the amount the insurance will pay without totalling the bike and tell them you'll accept that amount, doing the work yourself. Then you can price cheaper parts (eBay and us here on the forums) and skip the labor costs.

 

That is what i had planned on doing all along is taking the money and buying the parts and fixing it myself. I just didnt realize the price would be this high.

If i take off the gas tank windscreen and an hour of labor the price drops down to 2500 which is just below kbb value of the bike (even though private party is much higher than this value). I would like to get the most money i can out of it so its easier on me to fix the bike. I thought of calling the shop back and having them adjust the quote without these two items and submit that one instead. However if the insurance company is willing to give me their max payout amount that works too.

Can i argue with the insurance company on the value of the bike?

 

Soooo....

More pics of the avatar.

 

The settlement amount they quote is is just that, a quote and you can generally negotiate it with them. Try to work it from their angle and save them money, they'll love that but in the same turn you have to keep it all completely up and up and legal. Just try to do it with a civil tongue, every time you give anyone from the insurance company a hard time you get a red flag under your name as a troublesome customer.

 

Should i try to negotiate the shop quote before or after I am contacted by the insurance company? The guy asked me about the tank and the windscreen and then added them to the quote ( such nominal damage i was not even aware of it) Could have very well been there prior to the incident.

Or am I negotiating with the insurance company's claims adjuster?

I have also heard of trying to get a higher value of the bike based upon local for sale ads rather than just kbb as kbb does not accurately represent the value.

This stuff makes me nervous as i dont want to have something happen i cannot undo.

 

Has the shop submitted the quote yet? If not, then maybe you can tell them what the situation is.

If the quote was submitted then you're dealing solely with the insurance company and its adjuster and he might go back to the shop. Ask him if it's possible to make deductions on the quote given and maybe you can tell him about damage that may have been a result of prior incidents and not directly related to the vandalism.

And yes, you can get a higher value of the vehicle based on local for sale ads... although I'm not too sure about this with bikes. When I got rear-ended and my car was totalled my car insurance provider did just that when evaluating the value of my vehicle. A certain firm who has a perky red headed female as a spokesperson is who handled it and they told me that my car's value (2001 Audi A4) was determined based on local ads as opposed to KBB or NADA because of its age and whatnot.

 

Oh, and...

+1

 

just dont let them list it as totaled. the bike will be issued a salvage title and lose value and become an insurance nightmare. unless you dont care.....

and dave, if i may ask...
why is it that you've been a member for almost a year now, and you have only 7 posts? (and 4 of them are today) don't you like us? just wondering........