Morris Minor Owners Club

I have tried to insure my newly restored pickup with Footman James. I filled in the condition form, sent photos and sent a valuation from Wildae Restorations Ltd. (Not the company that restored it)
They have indicated that a Value of £25000 for insurance purposes.

The letter from FJ says to resubmit the form, send photos and an indepandant valuation preferably from the Morris Minor Owners Club (Did not know they provide valuations) and the value should reflect market value not restoration costs.

The figure quoted is not far away from what the vehicle cost to buy and restore, so I would not be very happy should it catch fire and I get £5000 from the insurance company.
Any thoughts how to proceed.
My Traveller is insured with FJ with an agreed value of £12500.

ptitterington wrote:The letter from FJ says to resubmit the form, send photos and an indepandant valuation preferably from the Morris Minor Owners Club (Did not know they provide valuations) and the value should reflect market value not restoration costs.

The club can provide a list of approved insurance valuers from within the MMOC or trade. Best thing to do is contact the club office in Derby and see if there is anyone in your area who can do this.

I think you might find it difficult to find an insurance company that will provide cover for more than the market value of a vehicle though.

(ps: thread moved to 'general discussion' as it is a more relevant forum).

It would need to be a VERY exceptional Traveller to attract a sale price of £12,500 - and a Pick-up for £25,000 is highly unlikely...... It's almost impossible to get the cost of professional restoration back when selling a vehicle - and while I appreciate you don't want to sell them - you just want to cover the cost of repair if damaged, the reality is that the Insurance Co don't put any value on sentiment, and will simply tell you to go and buy a similar vehicle on the open market if either of your vehicles was to be destroyed. Hence their risk will only be based on the market worth.

I've heard of a couple of pickups reaching the £10,000 mark on the open market over the last couple of years but nothing over (yet!).
One of those was a very low mileage one, owned by a technical college for letting students dismantle and assemble for many years, so virtually no corrosion repairs as it hadn't been outside much. It had then been rebuilt using as many NOS components as possible so was as close to a new pick up as you're likely to get...

Footman James normally accept a valuation from a specialist as well as the MMOC, but I guess the remarkably high figure quoted must have rang alarm bells. I had someone wanting me to do a valuation on a van a few years back for £18,000 and oddly enough I had to decline. It was restored but not in that league...

We're talking morris minors here, lets get real! A good restoration costs far more than the vehicle is worth, it's usually done for personal reasons and to expect a full return if something unfortunate happens is unrealistic.

Thanks for the replies. My only fear is fire, anything else would be repairable. I just cannot see how I could just go out with £10k and buy another in the same condition.

Anyway I am talking with RH Specialist Insurance and an agreed value is looking better.

Well I have to say I am very impressed with RH, I got a call today to say they have accepted the valuation for £25000 and as soon as I pay, I will be covered with the agreed value. Premium £171 for myself and wife to drive.

Well - it's about double the normal cost of an RH policy......but well done getting it through.

Like ptitterington, I have a valuation that raises eyebrows a bit and at first glance looks hard to justify, but having been through all the hoops I've got enough substantive evidence to back up that figure: independent externals plus an MMOC letter. In my case, its £20,000 rather than £25,000, but my car is fairly modified so I'm in a smaller market for insurer choice.

Two years ago I had a reasonable price from FJ at £150, then last year's renewal was at £205, and now renewal has come round again and they're quoting £275. Now I know costs in general have risen, but my premium's nearly doubled in two years, with no claims! I've rung RH today after seeing good things about them on the forum, but they've come back at £314, so maybe they're better at standard cars with high valuations rather than modded ones? I've rung Liz at the office and asked her to put me in touch with the club's contact within FJ for his opinion on it, but it looks like I might have to resign myself to the extortion

Glad to hear you got a result from RH.

I've been with RH on my Minors for years and it's been brilliant, everything from the low cost to how helpful they are with things such as wedding hire and when my Traveller was damaged three years ago, they were great.

just wish all insurance and finance companies/ banks were as good as this!