Frequently asked questions

A pre-accident valuation (PAV) is an independent assessment of what your vehicle was worth immediately before the accident or loss. It gives your insurer an evidence-based dollar figure to work from when settling a total-loss claim.

If your insurer’s offer feels too low, or your vehicle has been written off, a pre-accident valuation gives you an independent number backed by market evidence. It isn’t compulsory, but it’s the simplest way to push back on an under-valuation.

Our pre-accident valuations are a flat NZ$95 including GST, regardless of the vehicle. No hidden extras and no per-report variation.

Our reports are written for the New Zealand insurance market and built to meet New Zealand insurance requirements, with comparable-market evidence attached.

Reply to the report and tell us what you think we’ve missed. If you can show evidence we haven’t considered; a comparable sale, an option we missed; we’ll revisit the valuation at no extra cost.

A dealer quote is a trade-in offer: it’s what a dealer will pay today, not what your car is actually worth. A pre-accident valuation is the fair market value an insurer should pay to replace the vehicle. Those are two very different numbers.

No. The whole process is online. You upload photos and answer a few questions. If we need more information, we’ll email you.

Most valuations are digitally sighted, using the photos you provide. If you’d prefer an in-person inspection, we can arrange that for an additional fee. We’re based in the Western Bay of Plenty and can travel anywhere in New Zealand by arrangement. To organise a physically sighted valuation, email admin@svv.nz.

Twelve hours is our turnaround target. Most reports are delivered well within that window of submission.

No, there’s no minimum. Whether you have a couple of vehicles or a large fleet, get in touch and we’ll walk you through the process from there.

Fleet valuations are quoted individually rather than at a fixed per-vehicle rate, because fleet size and complexity vary. Send us an enquiry and we’ll come back with a quote and an estimated timeframe within one business day.

We invoice in two stages. Once you accept the quote, we send a deposit invoice to begin the work. The remaining balance is invoiced once the valuations are complete and your reports are delivered.

A current market valuation is what your vehicles are worth right now, used for insurance schedule updates. A pre-accident valuation is what they were worth before a loss event such as hail, flooding or a multi-vehicle incident. We provide both.

Yes. Our valuations have been accepted by a range of New Zealand insurers. Each one is independent and based on current New Zealand market evidence, and we work with your insurer to provide any additional evidence they need.

For each vehicle we need the registration, odometer reading and photos. Most fleet valuations are completed from photos, so there’s no need to gather the vehicles in one place. If you’d prefer an on-site inspection, we can arrange that as part of the quote.

Yes. Because the whole process runs on photos, your vehicles don’t need to be in one place: we can value a fleet spread across multiple locations.