This was contributed by Johnnie Phatt after hearing a tale of woe about a very low insurance appraisal
The Ins Co is not required to give you the money needed to replace your bike. Which they know but do not tell you when you buy Collision and then they base it on what your bike cost you But the apprasers word is not Law, and you should never accept their first apprasal to start with. That quote the one they hope to get away with. The easiest way to establish value would be to go to any bike Dealer. Ask them to look it up on the blue book and tell you what it says in there. If they will write it down on letter head so much the better. Tell them honestly what condition it was in, Be it Mint, Good, or Rough. There will be a Wholesale price and a retail price listed, and you want the retail price. Then go to www.autotrader.ca and do the price search. This will give you a high low and average for the asking of the bikes like your they are currently listing. Print the Autotrader page out. This is not as useful as the blue book value but if the two are reasonably close it will help. If the difference is significant phone you Ins Co and politely point out the discrepancy. This may cause them to move the quote more in your direction. Many Apprasers that Ins Co use are independant contractors and are paid based on how much they save the Co. You should NEVER accept the first offer unless you feel it is reasonable. You could perhaps send them or hand deliver a letter stateing your disappointment with the appraisal and asking for an second Independant quote. Get their responce in writing and see if it changes. If it is the same you can report the poor service to the Ins Bureau of Canada which is the watch dog group they may be helpful also in finding an independant appraiser.
Good luck
Johnnie phatt
