colesl4w Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Hi all, This may be a bit of a strange question but as I seem to be pouring money into my Z to fix all the typical things that go wrong with them, its something that has come to mind. Basically I have put probably about £2k into fixing things on my Z which are typical issues - banana arms, exhaust, clutch line, boot struts, and many more. Say I was to write off my car, or it was stolen tomorrow. Should an insurance company take into account the fact that I am fixing up all these standard issues when giving a value for the car? Or would they just give the lowest book value for a car of the same year and miles? It would seem unfair that I would only be given the value of a bog standard, potentially neglected car, as opposed to something that has been well maintained and had the common issues fixed. Any opinions would be interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis_UK Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 (edited) Simply claiming your car had that stuff is irrevelant. There's only 2 things you can do to guarentee the value to addons which you have done: If it is a "true" addon, you should inform insurance, ie: turbo, decat, cai, plenum spacer etc stuff like that. What you have mentioned are original parts replaced just cause there worn. BUT, IF you want to, you can simply add in the extra value you beileve. So if you saying you have spent around £2k on replacing worn parts. Then add £2k onto the estmated car value when you first setup your insurance, so if you said originally £6500 for value, put it to £8.5k. This should secure what you are looking to do. Be warned, you might incur maybe £30-£50 premium for increaing cars estimated valvue. Edited March 6, 2016 by Lewis_UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colesl4w Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 Simply claiming your car had that stuff is irrevelant. There's only 2 things you can do to guarentee the value to addons which you have done: If it is a "true" addon, you should inform insurance, ie: turbo, decat, cai, plenum spacer etc stuff like that. What you have mentioned are original parts replaced just cause there worn. BUT, IF you want to, you can simply add in the extra value you beileve. So if you saying you have spent around £2k on replacing worn parts. Then add £2k onto the estmated car value when you first setup your insurance, so if you said originally £6500 for value, put it to £8.5k. This should secure what you are looking to do. Be warned, you might incur maybe £30-£50 premium for increaing cars estimated valvue. Thanks for the response Lewis! Ah I hadn't realised they actually take into account your estimated value! I always assumed coming to a claim they just look at the 'book price' for a car with the same year and miles. My estimated value is quite high already so hopefully that would cover me if the worst did happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richf Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 No stuff like that is expected , you are required to keep a car maintained. A car with shot bushes, blowing exhaust, clutch issues would be worth less than one in good working order Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GappySmeg Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 As far as I am aware, should your car be written off, the company will pay out the book price... that "Estimated Value" when you get an insurance quote means nothing when it comes to a claim. Know a few people who have been caught out like that. Obviously each insurance company is different, so best bet is to give them a ring (or try deciphering the intelligible garbage in the policy booklet!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colesl4w Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 My fear though is that many of the Zs for sale nowadays have many of the common parts failing, and those who aren't truly in love with them will put them up for sale. Maybe I've just been very unlucky with my Z but I can go through the checklist of common faults and mine has had the majority. I guess if I was to buy another I'd be better educated about what to look for though. How on earth do people drive show cars about the place, when they'll get bugger all of the real value should it be hit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GappySmeg Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 You can get "guaranteed value" policies... might be worth looking in to. The big con with most insurance policies is, if you're written off, you get what you could've sold it for to a trader... which is bugger all use when you now need to BUY a replacement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne370Z Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 (edited) I think the only time that your estimate of a cars value would be taken into consideration is on an agreed value policy or if you had already notified them of expensive modifications which they had agreed to cover, otherwise, as above, they will only pay out market value regardless of what you thought or had declared it was worth. I dare say, though, that if you ring them they will happily charge you an admin fee for noting your call whilst not providing any extra cover .... Edited March 6, 2016 by Wayne370Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colesl4w Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 You can get "guaranteed value" policies... might be worth looking in to. The big con with most insurance policies is, if you're written off, you get what you could've sold it for to a trader... which is bugger all use when you now need to BUY a replacement! That's what I thought! If my car was nicked I probably couldn't afford to replace it, despite being 100% covered. Scary! Though I suppose this is the same issue everyone has. A fixed value policy is something I'll read into! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 that "Estimated Value" when you get an insurance quote means nothing when it comes to a claim. This. Unless it's an agreed value policy, the purpose of that question goes only so far as to determine the perceived risk and thus your premium. It'll have no bearing on any payout. As for "adding value" by doing essential maintenance; you're replacing warn consumables at worst and modifying at best - banana arm bushes will be consumables, exhaust would be a modification. They'll take the modification into account (unless you're with the Admiral group, then they wont) when paying out provided it was correctly declared, but consumables are an expected cost of ownership. You wouldn't expect the insurance company to chuck in another £70 because you filled the petrol tank the day before it was stolen would you?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggalo Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 (edited) Worth a read. I had an agreed policy on my Series Land Rover with Lancaster Ins. Worth it for the piece of mind. http://www.gocompare...value-policies/ Edited March 6, 2016 by Juggalo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teejay Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Can someone list the common faults so I know what to look for as im after my first zed. sorry about hikacking the thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martybhoy Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 I would say no and that's purely from my best friends experience. He, like ourselves, maintained his car at a high level but when he had an accident and car was a write off his estimated value was completely irrelevant as the insurance based it on the cheapest similar mileage model on autotrader. He argued extensively but in the end got nowhere. I believe their loophole on that aspect is the fact it's an estimated value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GranTurismoEra Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 (edited) Can someone list the common faults so I know what to look for as im after my first zed. sorry about hikacking the thread search the forum youll find it both cars flip, all that matters is whos at fault and are there any injuries or deaths or claims to be made. maintenance is your job lol, insurance never cared as long as you drive safe so they dont have to lose money on more claims Edited March 7, 2016 by GranTurismoEra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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