Somewhat embarrassing Insurance-related question

[grpar]

My C180 is approaching its 4th birthday, and indeed the renewal of its fully comp insurance. A colleague of mine recently asked if I had reduced the "insured value" of the car over the years to reflect its current market value. My answer was "no", as I had always just renewed the insurance with the car's brand-new value recorded, i.e £26k.

Should I consider revising this value downwards on renewal (?), or is this already taken into account by the insurance company when they set the renewal premium ?

My colleague reckons I'm over-insuring, because in a write-off situation, I would only get the current market value from the insurer, say £11k. Being a company car driver of many years, I've never had to consider this issue before. Grateful for any pointers.

 

[st4]

I wouldn't undervalue it to save a few bob. On settling insurance pay outs they give market value for your car, so the figre you put in isn't too relevent. Have you got GAP cover? then its an irrelevence what the insurer pays out as the shortfall between that, and the price you paid is made up by the GAP insurer.

 

[100%Bitch]

You'll only get paid out the market value anyway, so what's the use of telling them it's worth the new car price?

 

[Rory]

Be interesting to run an online quote comparison and see if it makes any difference.

 

[toxic]

This is where you have to give it some thought,

with all the options and modifications all information is important that's why you should tell your insurance everything

upgraded alloys ...Brabus £1200
comand retro fit £800.00
and so on
all these bits and bobs make a difference to your cars value, not just a market value + take pictures of proof, and when estimating think about the little add ons, they sure mount up, you can argue your case, A standard C180 at £22,000 can be specked up to around £30k so it's worth it, you may have to pay more insurance but that's the down side,

regards Mark

 

[Rory]

This is where you have to give it some thought,

with all the options and modifications all information is important that's why you should tell your insurance everything

upgraded alloys ...Brabus £1200
comand retro fit £800.00
and so on
all these bits and bobs make a difference to your cars value, not just a market value + take pictures of proof, and when estimating think about the little add ons, they sure mount up, you can argue your case, A standard C180 at £22,000 can be specked up to around £30k so it's worth it, you may have to pay more insurance but that's the down side,

regards Mark

You can load the car with all the options you want - they'll still only pay market value. Some, like Admiral, will only replace even a sub-12mth old car that is written off with a basic version - they don't allow for the options value at all.

If you add the things you've mentioned as specific mods, then the insurance company will likely whack up the premium but chances are they still won't pay out on their value. Even if the COMAND unit on its own was nicked, many companies limit non-factory audio to £500, for example.

 

[Blobcat]

If you have to claim be prepared to fight to get anywhere near a replacement value. No point in insuring it for it's price when new as you will never get that. Have a look at similar cars at dealers on the Internet and use that as the value when you come to re-insure.

 

[Tashman]

I wouldn't say this was incredibly embarassing to be honest - I saw the thread title and thought maybe they asking you if you wet the bed or something hehe

 

[ackers]

Is the original question 'my premium is based on a car valued at £x but after a few years due to depreciation it is only valued at £y, am I still paying a premium for £x value because I haven't told the insurer that the car is now only worth £y'.

 

[grpar]

Is the original question 'my premium is based on a car valued at £x but after a few years due to depreciation it is only valued at £y, am I still paying a premium for £x value because I haven't told the insurer that the car is now only worth £y'.

Yes ackers, should i reduce the insured value to nearer the current market value (?), and would this reduce the premium any (?)

 

[toxic]

You can load the car with all the options you want - they'll still only pay market value. Some, like Admiral, will only replace even a sub-12mth old car that is written off with a basic version - they don't allow for the options value at all.

If you add the things you've mentioned as specific mods, then the insurance company will likely whack up the premium but chances are they still won't pay out on their value. Even if the COMAND unit on its own was nicked, many companies limit non-factory audio to £500, for example.

this only applies to new cars, yes that's why taking pictures is important, as all cars have a value trade, private, or auction sale, this should also apply in insurance, if the car looks a dog they pay you less, if the cars in good nick and has extras you could haggle, but then again it's a lottery