Brentacre asked me to value my van - am I going mad?

[Timpo]

That would be a disaster. I whacked my new van through a buying site and it's tens of thousands out and that's a stock vehicle.

Valuation should be by comparisons with like vehicles, additions/ommisions noted, maybe depreciated a bit but not much atm.

If it's a house, the definition of fair market value is "what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller." I'd also look at the cost of replacement and note comparables as evidence.

I did try to reason with them and pushed it as far up the ladder as possible. Bearing in mind the accident happened on 28th Feb. Their final answer came today.
I sent a complete list of mods, and similar vehicles. They just aren't having it at all

 

[sparkywig]

Just for your info, my new 6.1 Sportline is insured for £75k.

 

[Petezum]

Oh my!

 

[Captain Quick]

I always understood that unless you have an agreed value policy, if you’re unlucky enough to have your vehicle written off by your insurer then the settlement amount will usually be based on a current Glass’s Guide valuation. Options fitted to the vehicle when new will influence the valuation, but the value attributed will be very much less than the original cost of those options.

 

[Bav]

I always understood that unless you have an agreed value policy, if you’re unlucky enough to have your vehicle written off by your insurer then the settlement amount will usually be based on a current Glass’s Guide valuation. Options fitted to the vehicle when new will influence the valuation, but the value attributed will be very much less than the original cost of those options.

^^^ This is spot on.

If you've made serious investment in your van in terms of additions and mods, don't touch a market-value policy - especially with the current market conditions for T6/T6.1s. Get an agreed-value policy and ensure you review that value every renewal. When push comes to shove, if your insurer won't honour that agreed value (which is very rare in my experience) then the insurance ombudsman will wipe the floor with them.

 

[Bav]

So am I better reducing the value a bit to keep the premium down.

Absolutely not. A premium increase is a small price to pay for getting the full replacement value of your van back, should the worst happen.

 

[Jay586]

If someone is modifying a van a lot, definitely look at specialist insurers/brokers. So A-Plan Thatcham, Brentacre, etc. for example. Plus declare all modifications, however minor. You don't want to be "underinsured".

Edited for clarity. I used to be a Cab advisor, so helped people with insurance issues quite often.

 

[Skyliner33]

If you've modified it a lot, definitely look at specialist insurers/brokers. So A-Plan Thatcham for example. Plus declare all modifications, however minor. You don't want to be "underinsured".

Thanks. Brentacre are specialists. A-plan Thatcham were double the price.

 

[Jay586]

Thanks. Brentacre are specialists. A-plan Thatcham were double the price.

Yep, I was more speaking generally about people modding vans & not adjusting the insurance appropriately. Not specifically, only mentioned A-Plan as I used them during the conversion process on my 1st van. After the conversion was finished, I used NFU declaring the changes & they were fine until they inexplicably doubled the premium for the stock T6 kombi when I changed vans.

 

[Bav]

A-plan Thatcham were double the price.

That's a different sort of specialism