After having all our bikes nicked over XMas I’m now having the joy of argument with the Insurance company, all while the wife frets in the background.

The Ins.co. have offered me fair deal on mine
Replace G160S with cash for G170S – List price (Wheelies don’t stock Whyte)
Replace “old faithful” a Calibre Bossnut with equivalent cash that a Bossnut costs

Replace Marin Hawkhill2 with Marin Hawkhill2 – via Wheelies vouchers OR reduced cash settlement
Replace Womens Specialized Rumor Comp with Womens StumpJumper FSR comp – via Wheelies vouchers OR reduced cash settlement, because Wheelies stock Specialized and Marin.

On the face of it…that’s all OK apart from
1. I don’t want any bike from Wheelies, I’ve seen the comments about it’s after sales service
2. The SJ Comp has a 5 cm higher standover height than the Rumor, the wife is short (5ft) as well as for personal reasons (a stumpy on a stumpy) doesn’t want a stumpjumper AND she doesn’t like the colour it comes in or indeed many bikes this year, it seems blue is the “in” colour for 2019 and she hates blue.
So, I’m insisting on buying locally because that way the wife and the rest of us can try a bike for size, they can be set up, money back into the local economy, warranty that means something etc.etc.

I’m arguing with the Insurance company that because Wheelies is over 2hrs away and as it doesn’t have an actual shop they can’t do a fitting service anyway, it’s unreasonable to expect me to take a reduced cash settlement, regardless what it says in my policy T&Cs (although there were a bunch of parts/accessories in addition that I have stated I’m willing to accept the reduced valuation for as I could very well get them from Wheelies with no issue)

The ombudsman website says

“Where a reasonable replacement can be obtained from a high-street retailer, insurers often specify which one – because they have a discount arrangement with that particular retailer. We are likely to conclude that this is reasonable if the consumer lives within easy travelling distance of that retailer – and the retailer can provide a reasonable replacement. Similar issues arise if the insurer offers vouchers that can only be exchanged for goods sold by a particular retailer.”

I read that as saying that “if it’s not a reasonable distance, thou shalt not discount”

I’m currently through the assessor BeValued, QuoteMeHappy (not particularly right now I’m not) and we’re now into the complaints procedure. sigh!

Discuss AIBU Coffee and Biscuits available in your kitchens —->

Where a reasonable replacement

A bike that’s too big isn’t a reasonable replacement, I’d be sticking to that line.

high-street retailer

You’ve already pointed out that Wheelies aren’t a high-street retailer, so that doesn’t apply either.

I had this game of silly buggers when I was burgled a couple of decades ago now. My AV gear got stolen and they went “we’ve specced up a replacement for you.” Yeah, no, I’ll have the money, thanks. I dug my heels in, they relented in the end. I might have told them that I was going to add my own money to it and upgrade, I can’t remember now.

They were convinced that Wheelies would be able to offer “expert advice”. Yeah, maybe that’s all very well until the bike arrives and she can’t reach the floor or handlebars and then I have to box the damned thing up again and send it back. Then I get to deal with the Wheelies “returns process”.

I’ve got an online query in with the ombudsman, so I’m waiting to see what the result of that is as well.

It’s so annoying, We’re having to hire bikes to go for a ride never mind wondering how long it’ll take to source replacements should we ever extract the money or having to spend a fortune adding security to the garage/house or the worry the low-life scum will come back again.

Obviously worth digging your heels in if your aren’t happy. Never accept the first offer and all that, but it doesn’t seem that bad to me if I’m reading it right. Cash of full retail for two bikes and reduced retail for two more. Surely with discounts, last year models and bulk buy you should come out of the LBS pretty well stocked.

Yeah, on the face of it. It isn’t a bad deal. If it wasn’t for the vertically challenged nature of the missus I’d have taken it and been in the bike shop happy as kid in a sweetshop.

S and XS bikes are VERY thin on the ground, making sourcing something from last years line-ups very difficult. I’ve already been asking around.

She’s found a bike, it’s within a couple of mm standover, she likes the colour, she likes the design, it’s decent and a direct equivalent to the robbed one, it’s the same price as the Stumpy Comp offered by the insurance, it’s a Trek, Wheelies don’t do Trek *facepalm*

I’ve dug my heels in with the insurance company (QuoteMeHappy, yeah right!) as I want to buy all the bikes at the same shop where I bought the originals. They’ve dug their heels in saying the T&C’s of the contract say they can offer a reduced cash settlement if their preferred supplier can provide a replacement.
I’ve pointed out that Wheelies cannot offer a fitting service or a local warranty and that they don’t actually have a womens bike that a. fits the missus and b. she likes the look and colour of (everything is blue this year and she HATES blue). Therefore we would not be back in our “original position”.
My argument being if you had a red leather jacket stolen and were offered a replacement through a shop that only sold blue suede jackets or reduced cash, you wouldn’t be QuoteMebleedinghappy.

So, any suggestions for a new insurer without these crap condition in the contract? I’m ready to take the hit on moving early to someone else coz they’ve pissed me off.

I’ve already told them that if they gave me vouchers for LeisureLakes the conversation would have been over as they do have a local store and I spend a fortune in there anyway.

You’re putting far too much effort into the colour thing imo. The sizing is fair, but your missus getting the hump because she doesn’t like the current colour scheme is getting daft. It’s not a fashion accessory like a jacket. It’s probably also diluting all the sensible parts of your arguement

All seems fair apart from the Stumpy, I would just focus on that saying the geometry is too different for it to be a suitable replacement (I take it there’s not a 2019 Rumour or equivalent model?). Colour I’m not sure you have much leverage with, whilst colour is important to a lot of us if the insurance co. is replacing bikes with latter year models colour is always going to be an issue so you’d probably need to seek a policy that offered a full cash replacement value rather than one tied into an online retailer.

your missus getting the hump because she doesn’t like the current colour scheme is getting daft

I assume you’re not married?

If the Stumpy if the issue then concentrate your efforts there and, as has been said, forget using colour as an argument against. You’d be better off pointing out that, say, had it been a Ford Focus stolen, they wouldn’t be offering a Vauxhall Astra replacement. The fact that it won’t actually fit your wife properly is the strongest argument you have.

There is also an issue simply comparing the RRP on a bike they can supply & one they can’t Quote Me Happy are part of Aviva & they will have BIG discounts available to them from their suppliers, in this instance Wheelies.

If you are happy with the other offers why not speak to your LBS & ask them what kind of deal they can do you on all the replacement bikes as this might get you to somewhere near what the total offer is. Either way, you’ll know where you need to get to.

mashr
To me it’s not that important, to you it’s not important, to my wife if it’s the wrong colour that’s it it’d just sit in the garage. We had all these issues when finding the Rumor in the first place.
The choice for the smaller woman is very limited. She had a bike she liked, now she’s faced with being forced to have one she doesn’t, this is not resulting in a calm home environment.
Many people I think would also disagree on the “it’s not a fashion accessory” statement, most bike reviews mention how the bike looks, talk about it’s colours etc.. Just look at how that Marin with the weird looking swingarm/chainstay was slated and complaints about the “look” of unconventional forks. Or the “boxiness” of an Orange bike. Or everyone tarting about in their matchy-matchy gear. It’s a very personal thing. A concept that I agree with you the insurer may not understand or care about.

FuzzyWuzzy
Nope, Unfortunately the Rumor was discontinued. I think she’d be happy with one of the Liv bikes but they’re ALL blue, Cube, looks bad and it’s blue and white, Scott of some description is blue or battleship green oh and they’re too big anyway.

I’m stuck between a rock (QuoteMeHappy/BeValued/Wheelies) and a hard place (the wife). I can understand how she feels, There’s no way I’d want to be forced to choose a bike I hated the colour of just because that’s all that was available at a supplier I’d been told I had to use. I’m just less choosey about that colour.

To me it’s not that important, to you it’s not important, to my wife if it’s the wrong colour that’s it it’d just sit in the garage. We had all these issues when finding the Rumor in the first place.

You’ve missed out an important one, to the Insurance Company it is not important.
You’ve got a good argument against the Stumpy – sizing. That’s the approach to stick with, mentioning colour schemes just take attention away from your sizing point

Update : They’ve agreed that they can’t do a like for like match for the wife’s bike so full cash for that and I’ve agreed to take the reduced cash sum for the boys bike as they could have matched that with this years version but I just didn’t want anything from wheelies.

Not the best deal I could have hoped for and not as bad as I had feared (which could have meant the difference between replacing all 3 bikes and only replacing 2).

So after a bit of a negotiation “Insurance company in reasonable decision shock :-o”