Agreed Value Insurance

[Nick Graves]

Me too.

The reason I do it is, it's very hard to find comparables and Sod's law...

I invariably have a long telephone discussion with the underwriter and to why, no, that's a slushbox, and no, that's a 3.0 pop-up, etc..

They do seem flexible with mid-term adjustments, to be fair.

[Nick Graves]

Replying to oneself is a sure sign of insanity, but where WOULD one go to get an agreed valuation.

Bit of paper with NSXCB written on the top in crayon, or..?

[sorepaws]

I have just renewed and just specified what I thought was the right value, based on a few cars that have sold recently. Obviously age, mileage and condition will have an effect. Check collecting cars website for recently sold examples .

[Nick Graves]

Well, the obvious solution is less obvious when comparables aren't obvious either.

There's a lot of difference between a leggy rebuilt one and a lowish-mileage completely factory one. Especially as late pre-bubbles hardly sold at all.

The only solution is a mid-term adjustment when one eventually pops up on PH or wherever and a long debate...

[sorepaws]

Well, the obvious solution is less obvious when comparables aren't obvious either.

There's a lot of difference between a leggy rebuilt one and a lowish-mileage completely factory one. Especially as late pre-bubbles hardly sold at all.

The only solution is a mid-term adjustment when one eventually pops up on PH or wherever and a long debate...

Maybe Plans Performance could provide at a cost, an assessment of the value, they seem to sell a few cars and would know not only the asking price but the real invoice .... Just a thought

[Papalazarou]

Maybe Plans Performance could provide at a cost, an assessment of the value, they seem to sell a few cars and would know not only the asking price but the real invoice .... Just a thought

I think it’s a tough call. Partly because pricing can be fluid and partly because auctions are very different to a private sale or one from a dealer. I will put my cards on the table and say that I’m not a fan of plans or dealers in general. So this is my biased opinion, but I think one that can be safely attached to most.
Dealer prices without exception seem pretty inconsistent to me. I think there are a few reasons for this; firstly, they are not selling their own cars, so what they retail for is not necessarily the market price. Some sellers will be lead by the dealers opinion, some will have their own ideas. There’s also the quick sale factor. Dealer influencing seller and vice versa.
Another reason is dealers selling questionable stock which is obviously problematic. Finally, there just aren’t enough cars to easily gauge where a particular car should be.
When I was trying to get an agreed valuation from Classic line, I sent in a list of cars that had sold under over and around the valuation I wanted. Then when it sold at auction it made £10K more, go figure.
Just a random point. I Cancelled my insurance with Classic line after three months of a policy and got nothing back! I’m not sure there is a reasonable explanation for why a company can charge you for 12 months when you only receive 3 months cover? Is there another industry that does this?
Their explanation was that it was a classic policy?!?. To me it’s still bloody car insurance. I feel like I’m subsidising other peoples accidents.

[havoc]

Replying to oneself is a sure sign of insanity, but where WOULD one go to get an agreed valuation.

Bit of paper with NSXCB written on the top in crayon, or..?

Most insurers seem to want an Owners Club valuation or one from a specialist retailer*. It was discussed more than once amongst the Owners Club, and there was a nervousness about (a) liability; (b) who could be a reasonable judge; and (c) consistency...there aren't many of us and we're spread about the country.

...so a lot of us have ended up either doing it ourselves (with justifications why - comparables, renovation work, etc.), or asking the insurer for their opinion (which feels like asking the poacher to guard the chickens, but there we go...).

There should be a better method, but the industry don't make it easy...



As for "leggy rebuilt one vs lowish-mile fully-factory", I'm not sure there IS a difference, from an ownership perspective. OK, I'm biased...but I've replaced a lot of worn bits on mine and it drives better than it did when I bought it. And I know of lots of stories (first and second hand) of modern classics with low miles which keep throwing up errors because they're NOT used regularly (admittedly no NSXs in that list, but YSWIM?).
In the investor market, sure...mileage and originality are everything to those guys. But for an enthusiast? Most enthusiasts will buy on condition and history.




* The servicing garage is apparently not suitable, I've been told. Not sure why a retailer would be unbiased ref. valuations yet a garage that knows the car intimately wouldn't be, but that's what underwriters seem to think.