my friends bike has been recovered but the insurance have already paid out and he bought a much cheaper bike and spent the remainder on securing his property but now the bike is back he still wants to keep it what happens
I probably account for several of the views as I am interested in the subject but I have no personal experience of buying back a stolen recovered bike from the insurance company so can't contribute anything helpful - sorry
My limited understanding is that once an insurance company pays out, the bike becomes their property. Presumably your mate had to send them the V5?
This is a really good point. I had a road bike stolen and recovered a few years ago, i was charged for the privilege of the bike being taken to and stored at a yard somewhere, and only after forking out hundreds to get it back and pulling in favours to get a van ride away did i discover it was a complete wreck and well beyond economical repair. Scrotes had forced the ignition and steering lock and ridden it into every solid object they could find by the look of it, had obviously been using it for a while too as they had used a crowbar to get the filler cap off
I would recommend to your mate that he takes a good look at the bike and gets a clear final figure before pursuing getting it back. I would be surprised if they let him, if he doesnt inspect it assume its a parts bike.
Sad to say, but this is not a process where you can afford to be at all optimistic. If it were me i would walk away and start over with the pay out, it will be far simpler and less frustrating.
I got an Almax immobiliser 4 chain after that experience, makes me feel a lot happier when my bike is out of view!
sorry abouth that last comment lads just thought out of all the forum members and trf members more than one person would know somthing . and thankyou nick i have had a nice day . ill let you lot know more once the insurance company have sent someone around his house to see the bike and give him the answers . the police rang my mate and got him to pick the bike up from a street near where it was found and all that seems to of happened it enough abuse to kill a new tyre in 4 weeks and pull every graphic and marking off the bike they were useing it on road as a get away bike from stealing and taxing people
-- Edited by fatbaz on Sunday 18th of May 2014 09:28:47 PM
I refused to send my logbook to my insurers untill they gave me a written asurance that it would be returned to me when I claimed on my insurance after crashing bigtime. Doubt I would ever have seen it again otherwise and the bike would have been theirs and nothing I could do about it.
They took £100 off the £1300 payout for me to keep the wreck.
Bent frame/forks/front wheel/twisted rads/squashed exhaust/smashed clocks etc.
Bargain from my point of view. Not repairable but I bought another of the same model and have been using the wreck for spares ever since. Saved a fortune over 15 years.
If £6000 was paid out the they will very likely want it back. Of course they inspect machines claimed over. Bike isn't likely to be worth that much now. Scumbag thieves are not renowned careful owners.