If you are a KingPrice client check the Retail Value of your vehicle otherwise you might be in for a very nasty surprise

When we joined King Price in 2016 we were given the so-called royal treatment and were told that my wife's vehicle would be insured at Retail Value, so that in case of theft or accident writeoff we could find a reasonable replacement for it with the insurance settlement. I was overjoyed and thought that King Price was thoughtful and forward-thinking.

Unfortunately, we had a rude awakening when my wife's 2007 Toyota Avanza was ****** on 1 December 2019 and we had to claim. The settlement figure we received from King Price was for a low R62000. This figure did not reflect reality. There was no way we would be able to replace the Avanza for R62000 because the starting prices for a Toyota Avanza 1.5 SX 2007 in Cape Town is from R80000 upwards, even if it's a private deal.

What King Price did not tell us is that the Retail Value of our vehicle is based on figures that they obtained from one source and that is TransUnion.co.za.

I have since gotten other valuations for the Avanza from WheelsIndex.co.za and TruePrice (which gives you the value of your vehicle from an auctioneer's perspective). WheelsIndex's Average Retail Value was R85500 and TruePrice said the starting bid for the vehicle at an auction would be R60000.

I also requested a valuation from TransUnion.co.za for the vehicle and they valued it between R58067 and R60818 but they also stated the following in the valuation they sent me:

"The values provided by mytransunion.co.za should be seen as a guide to what your vehicle is worth in the market. The values are not insurance settlement values or replacement prices and should not be treated as such. We recommend that you contact your vehicle insurer or broker for confirmation of your vehicle's insured value."

Yes, you read correctly "The values are not insurance settlement values or replacement prices and should not be treated as such".

King Price does not seem to take the above sentence into account when they use TransUnion's figures.

I have tried to point this information out to them together with the fact that if we go out into the real world and try and replace our ****** vehicle that it will not be possible with the settlement they are offering.

King Price, however, is not interested in revising the settlement figure upward to a more realistic amount. They have stated that the settlement figure they are offering us was final.

So where to from here? It seems that King Price does not care about the client's loss. At the inception of your policy you are promised that your vehicle is insured at Retail Value but what you are not told is that Retail Value according to them is based on very low values from only one source of valuation information. If they bothered to do a little more research they would find that data from more sources would provide them with a more accurate Retail Value.

It seems to me that King Price deliberately chooses to use only one source for their Retail Values as it allows them to payout low Retail Values to their clients and thus saves them money.

If you have a vehicle replacement claim with King Price you are definitely going be the loser.

Highly disgusted client.