Insurance valuation

[Rodbr]

Insurance renewal due and having a tiny crisis. I have attended quite a few shows recently and been a bit shocked by the value placed by some on the face of it quite knowledgeable people. I presently have a value of £24,000 on it which is perhaps under valued in my view but by how much?.

I have been advised by one that a similar car but not as good went for euros 34K at the auction in Essen. Another has suggested it to be the thick end of Condition D from Towergate. I have attached a few pictures already posted after the photoshoot! i WOULD WELCOME SUGGESTIONS (POLITE IF POSSIBBLE)

 

 

 

 

 

It is very difficult and potentially sheer folly to over value what one thinks one's prized possessions are worth.

 

Rgds

Rod

[John Morrison]

What is tower gates scale of values, not at home at the minute.

 

John

[Rodbr]

HI John,

Scale 1-5 band D (Excellent) ranges from £25k to £34,500 RESPECTIVELY

You have seen and been under my car so you advice would be appreciated.

Can talk next week when you are back.

[John Morrison]

Sure Rod we,ll talk after the weekend

 

John

[mleadbeater]

Just insured my TR2 with Heritage, they provisionally accepted my valuation of £30k, saying their valuation guide confirms this, subject to me sending 6 photos.

 

My local dealer selling a TR3, see link to his add:

 

http://www.classicandsportscar.ltd.uk/Triumph-TR3A/classic-cars-for-sale/20654

 

hope this helps

 

Mike

Edited August 8, 2014 by mleadbeater

[Ashley James]

I think you can agree and pay for any valuation within reasonably distance of the "going rate", the higher the value the more you pay.

[Cleo's Dad]

Far too polished and it's not raining, so why on earth is the hood up??

[Alec Pringle]

Scotland . . . . if it's not raining, it's just a break between showers.

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

[Rodbr]

To be more exact, if you can see the horizon it is about to rain and if not it already is.

Reason for the hood up is to have a record of the hood and sidescreen fit. Not sure how correct it is, but reasonably happy with it. The polish is merely that I hate to work on a dirty car and it helps me see the usual sidescreen leaks as they occur.

After the variance in comments on other subjects good and bad, I am surprised that there are no real suggestions of potential valuation.

I do not necessarily agree that you can insure for any value or else the potential for fraudulent claims would push costs up dramatically. The quotation from Towergate is as usual very reasonable in my view and the included benefits seem to be very good.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Rodbr

[rhino_mac]

I'm not sure how much it will affect your own valuation, but I recently bough a left hand drive TR3a from auction that was missing quite a few parts: Hood Sticks, Hood, Tonneau, Sidescreens, front bumper. It is in "tidy" condition having been repainted and trimmed in 1993. I paid £13750 plus buyers premium of 10% + VAT making it £15,400.

 

Since then, I have spent a further £7000 approx on MOT work and missing items and a general mechanical restoration. The chassis etc is still in "grotty" but solid condition (it's an Ex USA car so solid enough, but the waxoy/underseal is ugly). The work I have done should have added value to the car as it was obvious from the condition at auction that it required the missing parts etc (I also did a load of sensible mechanical restoration as all the usual problems were there - overheating etc).

So on the basis yours looks to be in very nice condition indeed, and based on current auction prices and the fact mine has cost circa £22,000 to bring to a reasonable drivable standard, I would say £24,000 is a very conservative insurance value.

 

If it were me, and I had lots of receipts and photos of a recent (ish) body off restoration, I would try for an agreed value of £30,000 based on the fact that it would cost around £20-25k for a good condition car and some dealers are advertising fully restored cars for £35k. On the other hand, since buying mine, some very nice ones have come up for sale that look to be a better deal - but photos on the internet never tell the whole story.

 

Ultimately, agreed insurance values are something you generally pay for (Lancaster charged me £18) so it's almost part of the premium. It depends what you're happy with at the end of the day. Look around, if you can't replace you car with a like for like at £30,000 ask for the value to be increased to a level where you are happy with. They can only say no.

 

Just my thoughts on the matter - I haven't really owned my car 5 minutes so I might be way off, but I did do a reasonable bit of homework before buying mine.

[rhino_mac]

Edited - posted twice

Edited August 11, 2014 by rhino_mac

[Rodbr]

rhino_mac,

I think you are right on the money and I firmly believe I would be hard pressed to find a car completed to the same level of detail for less than £30k. The underside is a good as the visible bits. Few if any non original bits and even those are NOS, weather gear is again NOS. As you say there are some nice cars and then some very nice cars.

I have discussed with Towergate and will probably set at £30k at their suggestion. As you say it is very difficult to judge that which is on sale on the interweb, pictures do necessarily tell the whole story.

I was concerned about overvaluing the car and paying the price at a later stage. Every bit as bad as undervaluing I suppose but you will never recoope the hours and outlay no matter what you do.

 

Rgds

Rod

Edited August 11, 2014 by Rodbr

[Paul Down]

Rod, Having seen your car in the flesh it is every bit if not better than your pics show. This is rarely the case!

 

I am not sure how being an original left hooker affects the value in the UK, more attractive to a wider potential market so maybe it adds value.

 

As you say it is nearly impossible to get back all that you put into the car in terms of cash and effort. Many years ago a restorer told me that is why

 

he concentrated on marques such as Jaguar XK's, rather than TR's the effort expended for both was similar but the returns for the latter made it

 

more worthwhile from a business aspect.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Paul Down

[Rodbr]

Thanks Paul,

Really appreciate someone else's opinion, John said that I underestimated my car and my achievement in a single garage, with no bench other than an old door!!. For me being a left hooker was not a problem as the car had never had the option to have RHD so I made the conscious decision to keep it original. Possibly more expensive premium due to it being LHD but has not been noted on the insurance.

 

Here's an interesting point after discussion with Towergate, Increase of value from £24000 to £29500 no change in premium asked but increase to £30000 the premium increases. I would have thought a round figure more agreeable to them.

 

Started an XK 150S many years ago and if a TR is a money pit, then an XK is a veritable quarry. It was mind blowing the amount of cash sunk into the car. You don't find many cheap project XK though.