I had my bikes nicked. The insurance have agreed to pay out. Their agent has agreed a value for a replacement bike but only if I buy it from a bike shop miles from where I live.

This means no test rides, no real post sales support. They won’t let me transfer this credit to any other bike shop and if I want the cash ten they reduce the amount by £625.

Can they do this?

Who do I complain to?
-Bradford and Bingley who I bought the insurance policy through
-Legal and General who are the insurers
-Direct Validation Services who made the payment offer

Can you get like for like replacements from this shop? (Points re test rides and after sales duly noted).

Bradford and Bingley. They took your money, they are the ones to complain to.
Phone them up and tell them you’ve seen section 75/10 here:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/75/75-household-insurance.html

It deals specifically with the case of insurers either dictating where you buy replacement items from or offering a reduced settlement fee, and the Ombudsman took a very dim view of it.

Surely like-for-like? Doubt they sell both Carvers and Pronghorns?!

FCA

It seems a lot of them do this and it’s always Wheelies.

I sucked it up because the bikes on their website were shiny. They let you use the voucher on anything including sale bikes (if it’s wheelies)

I had a similar issue recently

The loss adjusters instructed Wheelies to value my bikes and then they would look at having Wheelies replace them.

As i ride for KTM, I informed the loss adjusters that I had to have KTM bikes and that Wheelies aren’t agents for KTM and therefore wouldn’t be able to obtain them.

They tried to say that they would provide bikes to the same spec but I refused, arguing that if I wanted a different brand, then I’d have bought a different brand.

Perhaps you could argue something similar? Find out what brands they supply as replacements and if they don’t supply exactly the same then surely they have to pay out the market value of the stolen item

Someone is on a bung there WCA.
I was offered vouchers for Tweeks but queried it and as long as I could show that the value and spec were “X” then I got a cheque in my name.
Complaint to Broker then insurers – check T&C’s to see who you call.
DVS are leaches and are almost certainly getting a return on the retail v the buy in value.
They didn’t like it when they got the replacement quotation from Harwoods but it was “like for like” and there wasn’t anything you could buy as it had been built up over several months.

The same as when my Citizen went missing – vouchers for “X” shop, vouchers for use at “A< B< or C” shops.
Told them no as its not available at those shops in any form but it is from “Y”.
Well in that case the cash offer is “M” – SOD OFF was my reply.
Cue cheque for full amount a few days later.

Do check previous threads on Wheelies on here, if it is them you’re being directed to.

I just went to pedalcover on recommendations from here.

The Carver they have agreed to pay out in full.

The Pronghorn is the one they are questioning because I do not have every receipt for the bike. I am okay with the overall payout they are proposing, I just don’t want to be forced to buy from Wheelies when it is simple not practical to look at or test their bikes.

When I had my Yeti and Cotic taken I was directed to Wheelies. They valued both bikes from my spec list, various receipts and photos. They were very fair with valuations. They couldn’t supply like for like so got a cheque.

Play hardball, they WILL cave eventually.

They are trying it on but presenting it as fact.

I sent the agent en email with the link to the FCA ruling and she has just rung me. Apparently they won’t pay the undisputed claim for the Carver until I agree to use Wheelies or lose £700.

I am holding out at the moment but browsing the Wheelies website

So she’s just put in writing that they are happy to blackmail?
Check your T&C’s sharpish – if you agreed that any replacement had to be from their designated provider only then you’re slightly stuffed otherwise she’s make a monumental cock up.

The t&c do state I should use their nominated supplier but they have a duty to nominate a suitable supplier I believe.

Imaging if this was cars:

Me: My Mercedes has been nicked.
Them: Okay – you can have any car you like from the VW garage, in Aberdeen

Doesn’t seem too sensible to me

I pointed out the FCA ruling and she put me on hold for a second while she checked. 6 minutes so far.

…and she returns. She has spoken to Legal and General and they are now dealing with it to try and get me the full amount or at least a local shop.

Thanks for the links, they seemed to swing the deal. 🙂

“Should” isn’t “Must” or “Will” 😉

Do you have their legal cover too?

Ask if it covers you suing them?

I will ask if I am covered

🙂

Your entitled to whatever’s in the t@c’s no more, no less, unusual for there to be confusion but they may cave even if technically correct as a complaint is costly to defend even if they win.

The delightful Sophie from Legal and General thinks that Direct Validation Services are not offering a like for like replacement and has agreed I should be fully compensated with a cheque for the total amount stated on the policy where the bikes were named.

Result. Three cheers for Sophie

Now off to browse bikes and bits.

When our bikes were stolen, I was happy for replacements from Wheelies for the relatively straightforward bikes (tiagra/105 road bikes and some SLX hard tail and a Marin FS). When it came to my custom Merlin and Airnimal Rhino, they paid full independent valuation for the Merlin and list price for the Airnimal.

Are the bikes unique/have very rare qualities that make them very hard to replace?

FWIW, I was impressed with Wheelies, and had quite a few calls with them. They know how to build and post a bike.

wilburt – Member

Your entitled to whatever’s in the t@c’s no more, no less, unusual for there to be confusion but they may cave even if technically correct as a complaint is costly to defend even if they win.
Not in my experience. A few things trump T&Cs, especially when the terms are non-negotiated (as is the case here).

Are the bikes unique/have very rare qualities that make them very hard to replace?

One was a customer built Carver Ti frame with lots of shiny bits, the other not unique but certainly unusual.

Only wording in the T&C that I can see about them nominating the replacement :

Your insurer’s rights following a claim.
If you make a claim or possible claim under this policy, your insurer will at their option:
i) Repair, reinstate or replace the lost, damaged or stolen property or pay the cost of reinstatement through a repair or replacement network nominated by your insurer

I’d take one standard bike from Wheelies and go back for full retail with a quoted source for replacement for the Carver. Which is pretty much what I did in your case.

For my most recent replacement Propel, I negotiated a 20% discount for the new bike (club discount) and they again paid retail for what was a custom build.

“They” is Royal Sun Alliance in this case.

Not if the t&cs contain terms which are unreasonable – which is often the case with stuff like this.

the principle of indemnity in insurance means that you must be restored to the position you enjoyed immediately before the loss. if the insurance companies approved supplier isn’t able to supply the sames bikes / brand that you had nicked, you are not being restored to that position. Equally reducing your payment isn’t indemnifying you. you can push for a cash settlement at any point, but if they can’t provide the same bike they don’t have much option.

went through the same thing with direct line a few years ago wanting me to use wheelies when i had my heckler nicked. Wheelies don’t do SC and as long as i could explain why a different bike wasn’t the same (eg geometry or some such) they paid out

I just mentioned I had posted something on STW and that they would drown from the ‘wee in their shoes’ if they didn’t pay up pronto.

Full cash settlement

If you’d mentioned bombers, you would have got even moar money back.

Now, what bikes are you gonna buy?

You need a massive gnarpoon.

Ben – check your email. I am crowd sourcing the concept

You need a massive gnarpoon.

with which he’d just shoot himself in the ankle…

I gather Sophie gets an open invite to use the famous WCA sexpond?

Depends which type of Sophie she – only ever two IME.
Seriously cute, sexy and will melt your Grans heart when she batters her lashes.
Or hot on the phone – add two four LOTS stone…

A quick Google ; https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-jackson-56a76a65

The lady did have a Brummy accent…

…you decide

Brummy accent…..that’ll be a no then!
😀

OP i had the same issue that my insurer also wanted me to get my replacement from Wheelies.
i refused for a couple of reasons, firstly due to the distance i was not prepared to pay in excess of £2k for a bike that i had not test ridden first to make sure it was right for me and it would fit me
also again due to distance if there were any issues i would have to send the bike off fr warranty work and i would be left bikeless for indefinite periods of time and the postage would have to come out of my pocket
my bike was a custom build and i made a big deal of pointing this out to the insurer and stated that none of the bikes sold by wheelies matched the exact spec of what i had and therefore due to its custom nature none of the replacement bikes would put me in a position of indemnity
they eventually agreed and sent me the cash. you have to dig your heels in with them and demand the money up front and tell them that you can replace your bikes yourself and put yourself back in the position you were pre-theft much better than wheelies can do
if that fails then you could threaten them with the FOS….even if you lose a case with the FOS it still costs the insurer IIRC well over a grand to do the paperwork etc for an FOS complaint so they’re more likely to pay you the cash payment to get you off their backs

Had the same issue with M&S but because wheelies couldn’t replace like for like (some niche stuff like your carver) they gave me cash with no deductions.

From my POV, Wheelies appear to bump up the valuation in order to get your juices flowing and maximise their own profits from their insurance company customers.

Customer service for bike owners was something they didn’t seem to be interested in.

Damn, sorry to hear about your bikes