Is insurance costs killing bike sales if you don't have a garage?

r1200rt

Well-known member
UKGSer Subscriber
Joined
Apr 19, 2021
Messages
1,537
Reaction score
592
Location
uk
I am getting stupid high quotes for a 2023 vstrom 800 (worth £6,500), as I live in North London and the bike is kept in my front garden

(Full 9 years+ NCD)

eg

£1,000-£4,000 for TPFT
£600 for third party only

A chap I know is struggling to get any insurance for a R1250GSA within the M25

This got me thinking about how the lack of garage may be affecting bike sales?
 
This got me thinking about how the lack of garage may be affecting bike sales?

If you search for my older posts (over the years) in short: yes.
(In larger cities)


On the other hand there is a few other issues at play. Insurances do not consider communal garages a valid alternative and they insist you to have a lock-up or an individual garage where, being London, this is not always feasible money-wise.
Underground/communal garages are the common choice across built up areas in Europe where higher density buildings (flats) are in use and doesnt' seem to be a particular issue over there, but I digress.

In my case renting a lock up was incredibly beneficial insurance-wise, to the point that it paid for almost 50% of itself for the first year or two.

In recent years it became increasingly difficult again, in my very specific case, as lock-up and my address are different and insurers don't like it, but this brings me back to point #1.
I am not a millionaire and, where I live, this is the best solution I can get to.


Given that most (I think all actually) of London new builds are intentionally without underground parking spaces, you'll see where this is going.
I understand we might want to tackle vehicle usage inside the city, and I agree with that, but I'd be happy to be able to own a vehicle for traveling.
 
Last edited:
No. £100 a year full comp with Devitt/Ageas

2025-02-26 13.47.02.jpg
 
I guess Welshpool is considered lower risk than North London
 
A chap I know is struggling to get any insurance for a R1250GSA within the M25
tried to get insurance on a new 1300 GSA. East London post code and underground private parking. No-one was interested. What load of fekkin bollocks is that.....
 
Ungaraged motorbikes in London have been a problem for well over a year, as er-minio has been reporting for quite some time. Multiply this by the challenge of insuring any bike north of £20,000 irrespective of the garage arrangements. The latter has been the case for about three or four years. It has got steadily worse.

Why? Put simply, the loss record has been atrocious, not helped when bods abandon their very expensive bikes to chance all day…. “I was only gone a minute”. Don’t also forget that the dreadful loss record for all two wheeled vehicles is not helped by the mass of scooters, causing havoc and / or scooter theft in general.

Anyone who has missed this news, must have been devoting their waking hours to watching reruns of ‘Come dine with me’.
 
tried to get insurance on a new 1300 GSA. East London post code and underground private parking. No-one was interested. What load of fekkin bollocks is that.....
Have you had to cancel any plans of buying the GSA now, then?
 
What is the definition of a garage .?

"fully enclosed, locked building with a roof, designed for vehicle storage"

You will have to specify if brickwork too.
I do, each time I renew my insurance, and type of door.
 
"fully enclosed, locked building with a roof, designed for vehicle storage"

You will have to specify if brickwork too.
I do, each time I renew my insurance, and type of door.
Must admit I've started looking at bike storage sheds if we buy our next house without a garage. I believe the insurance cos will accept these as long as they're bolted down.
 
It’s everywhere, and all bikes.
I’ve been looking for quotes for a 2025 NT110 DCT-ES.
valued at £16500 including all the bits. Limited the mileage to 10k. Good postcode, concrete garage. 25+ years NCD. no claims ever.
Stupid quotes between £650- £1000.
 
Really not looking forward to my next renewal as the last one in Aug '24 was £360 for a '15 GSA parked outside in a roughish area of Plymouth. This was with a £500 total excess. I suspect that the only thing keeping my premiums down is that the value of the bike is dropping quite significantly now.
 


Back
Top Bottom