Yep, in short as the full story has been here a couple of times (but it's a quiet lockdown time so bear with me), after a cursory look at it at the recovery/storage depot CN emailed me that their assessor had written off my '54 G3LS and required me to send them the V5 and a Destruction Certificate, offering a settlement of £500 pre-accident value.alanjennings wrote:I am being robbed then! Carol Nash charge me over £400 , but I do have 6 bikes, one a vincent. Agree value is a double edged sword, my Vincent was agreed at £20,000, but that was years ago, might be better to argue for market value? The insurance companies will wriggle endlessly, ask Sprid!
The assessor had reported that the frame was bent although I pointed out to CN that the bent frame would have been caused by the crash and was irrelevant to the pre-accident value. I had the bike delivered back to my home and couldn't find anything wrong with the frame so had it checked by an insurance approved specialist who jigged it up and found it undamaged. I appealed. It took nearly two years, 257 emails, several dozen phone calls, about 30 letters, numerous 'For Sale' magazine advert copies and a Marque Specialist valuation of £2,500 (thanks Roy) until I gave in (I was still undergoing surgery) and finally settled on £1000, no accident remarks on the V5 and the only thing that mattered to me was that I could rebuild the bike as we'd travelled 26,000 miles in the previous 4 years camping home and abroad - France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Andorra, Italy etc. . I had all the parts needed in the shed (headlight, forks, wheel, zorst, h/bars, levers, gear lever and shaft), section chum Andy Davis rebuilt it for me (as a result of the crash I only have use of my left arm and hand) and it was back on the road in a month.
It took a further 18 months for my legal team and barrister to finalise my 'no fault' personal injury claim.