I had 3 bikes stolen last month and only one of them was shop bought new, as you can imagine I like to chop and change frames and components!

The settlement offer is fair on 2 of them, one wasn’t listed on the insurance and they have offered the limit of one item, fair enough cant argue with that. The next they have offered the current price you can get a Kenesis Racelight for £681, again I paid £999 but fair enough.

One in particular I had listed on the insurance for £3,000 as a replacement cost, as a guess really. It actually owed me about £2,300 as the frame was second hand and components new. I listed the retail costs new of every component to the insurer and it came to £2,839. They have offered £2,070

I have now replaced it with something from 2015 I picked up with over 40% off at £1,399.

Would you push back for the full £3k?

I listed the retail costs new of every component to the insurer and it came to £2,839. They have offered £2,070

Is the “retail cost” the RRP or what it costs from CRC/merlin/wiggle etc?

I’d suspect their offer is based on what it would cost to to replace your bike, new for old. So it’ll be the price in the shops. You could always ask to see their working. I suspect they just passed o your list to wheelies who sent them back a quote at actual shop prices rather than RRP.

I’ve got a couple of “custom built” bikes that I’ve no idea of the new for old value, things like a road bike with 10s Dura Ace, a new DA groupset is more than the insurance limit alone, but the bike owes me less than the limit (and like you, I’d probably just pick up an even cheaper bike in the sales). The MTB’s are at least based on current models so I could just say “roughly equivalent to XYZ bike and specification off the shelf, or ABC + upgrades”

In my case when I had two bikes stolen I just got my LBS to write an estimate on replacement costs. The insurance paid up in full after they had sent a claims assessor. If you have already replaced your stolen bikes for a cheaper price I would personally not be kicking up a fuss. They’ll just sting you for more money in the long run.

If you’re out of pocket £230 I’d at least try and chase them for that, they can’t retract their offer of £2070 as far as I’m aware so you’ve nothing to lose.