£500 item limit

My wife and I have both completed the disclosure document form E.
Her solicitor is challenging mine, saying that I have collections exceeding £500 such as:

• Gym equipment
• Music kit (instruments, etc)
• Garage tools

The valuations she has given seem far too high for me for 2nd-hand equipment, and she hasn't provided evidence of these valuations for one thing. And she won't 'let' me in the house to inspect them myself.

But also, should these items be grouped together in the first place? If I own 2 guitars each worth £300 should they be listed as "musical instruments, £600?"

How would you sell them if you were selling them second hand?
I wouldn’t think many people would want to buy a pair of guitars but would just want to buy one.
I would have thought you would need a lot of stuff or some specialised equipment before garage tools and gym equipment became worth more than £500 second hand.
Would anyone interested in buying a specialised piece want to buy all the junk stuff as well?
Some things may increase in value if they are part of a collection but some old socket sets and spanners are unlikely to be in that cetegory.

WYSPECIAL wrote:

How would you sell them if you were selling them second hand?
I wouldn’t think many people would want to buy a pair of guitars but would just want to buy one.
I would have thought you would need a lot of stuff or some specialised equipment before garage tools and gym equipment became worth more than £500 second hand.
Would anyone interested in buying a specialised piece want to buy all the junk stuff as well?
Some things may increase in value if they are part of a collection but some old socket sets and spanners are unlikely to be in that cetegory.

Thanks for the reply. Are you saying that in the context of Form E, a collection would/should be listed as "an item exceeding £500" only if it would be expected to be sold as a collection - e.g. a home-stereo system with several components or a set of high-end Japanese cooking knives?
That would make sense to me, if so.

Certainly, I would not expect to sell either my home gym or my musical instruments/recording equipment in that fashion, but would do so piecemeal - this guitar, that exercise bike, etc.

The reading I have done suggests most of this stuff should fall under the category of personal chattels ad every piece of advice I've read is that these should be sorted out between the spouses as it just ends up costing more than they are worth.

I also have no idea where these valautions have come from. £4200 for "musical kit", £8400 for "garage tools" - they are absurdly high and oddly specific.

Garage tools with a second hand value of £8400 would be some serious kit.