UK & EU insurance

Since then went back to original insurers and they declined to be of assistance

Ebikes used to offer 365 days in EU pre-Brexit. They were a dodgy bunch issuing Southern Rock policies from Gibraltar. SR is owned by Arron Banks, **** extraordinaire. Ebikes doesn't seem to exist anymore and Banks was booted out of the parent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brightside_Group in 2012. Sadly, he still seems to have companies in the UK
 
easier to get away with the insurance debacle as there is no effective border crossing from Lux to DK as both in Schengen. A Lux insurer would have to try hard to prove the bike had been in DK for 6 months when it was stolen assuming there was no tracker data to betray it. UK to NL involves ferry or tunnel which can be easily checked.

You misunderstand, innocently, Wessie. I was suggesting to the OP that he do what the Danes do, to reduce the cost of buying a car in Denmark.

It wasn’t to do with insurance. The Danes, resident in Luxembourg, buy and run a Luxembourg registered car, as they are much cheaper than in Denmark. Then, three or whatever years later, they legitimately import it into Denmark, re-register it onto Danish plates and make a significant saving.

Many Danish registered Mercedes taxis, ploughing around Copenhagen, started their lives in Luxembourg.

In a way we see the same thing here. There is a company in north London, which does nothing but import Japanese pre-owned VW’s, I think they are something like three years old and in tip-top condition. The reason? Apparently the Japanese MOT is eye wateringly expensive, so they chop the vehicles in. The mileages are incredibly low.
 
You misunderstand, innocently, Wessie. I was suggesting to the OP that he do what the Danes do, to reduce the cost of buying a car in Denmark.
I understand the concept re. duty, but he does not want to park the bike in London.

I bet your mates have the vehicle at their homes in Denmark for periods that might be longer than they are supposed to for insurance purposes. They will get away with it as already explained.
 
I understand the concept re. duty, but he does not want to park the bike in London.
Bingo..... :beerjug:
....but anyway, i think we agree that its a lost cause and no way around........although still curious about Er-minio's experience. Will reach out to him separately...
thks all!
 
…. but he does not want to park the bike in London

I am very sure he doesn’t. I was simply offering up a possible alternative way to save money, the purchase price difference being the single driving incentive behind trying to find a legitimate insurance solution.

:beerjug:
 
so.....going back to this thread. I am now going to be stationed for the coming 5 years at least in London.....good or bad...but this does give me the option of buying a bike in London, keeping it in London, insuring it in London and using it when in the UK.
Occasionally then riding it or to the continent for a holiday but primarily based in London.

so my question now is:

1. I only have a Dutch driving license - is that an issue for insurers even though I ''live'' in UK ?
2. if so, can i get an international driving license or a UK one on top of my NL one? Issues??
3. If the bike is permanently garaged in London at my London address I am sure I can get insurance

Based on this i might consider a second machine.....
I have about 6K cash and then would look for financing. Any experts out them feel free to DM me with ideas. ....
Bike - fully loaded 1300 GSA
 
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Insurance/garage-wise: yes. You're ok.

You can insure on the dutch license (might cost a tad more from experience). They'll ask to convert to UK license after a while. I forgot what's the threshold now.

I converted my license pre-brexit. So the Italian one was cancelled and moved to a new UK one. Not sure of it's still the same now.

Beware, some UK insurers will consider the license "length" from the conversion date.
So you might end up riding a high powered bike on what seems like 1 year license. Double check when shopping around.
 
thanks Ermilio, , I must keep my Dutch license so trading in is not an option. So a second one is necessary by the sounds of it.
Reference financing -BMW finance or bank loan?
Any tips on dealers? Happy to travel for a good deal..... i guess this could be a ''how long is a piece of string'' discussion....
...and insurance recommendations for Laaahdun...
 
If the bike is permanently garaged in London at my London address I am sure I can get insurance

Insurance for British registered / owned motorcycles in London, valued at anything north of say, £20,000 may well be very pricey and / or (possibly) impossible if the ‘expensive’ vehicle is not garaged. There might also be a requirement (depending on the value of the vehicle) to fit a recognised tracker.

Then you might encounter a problem as to what some insurers might consider to be a garage. For example, there is anecdotal evidence that some insurers do not consider a private ‘garage / parking area’ (under for instance a block in Canary Wharf) to be a garage at all, irrespective of entry gates / barriers etc etc. Similarly, some insurers might not grant cover if the vehicle is ‘garaged’ away from home, for example in a rented lock-up.

Everyone’s circumstances (and, not least, post codes) are different though. Your only solution is to shop around a lot, to find something that suits you. For instance, I have a multi-vehicle (multi-vehicle value) policy, which is pretty flexible as regards garaging / on and off road / at home or away from home in storage, including storage in the open…….but it costs money……. In other words, well north of a thousand a year. But, you don’t need a multi-vehicle / multi-value policy and don’t have an E1 post code, so your solution will probably be different to mine.

:beerjug:
 
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I'd get some quotes before committing to a purchase for the reasons just pointed out by R

Assuming you retain residency in NL, I don't think you will need a UK licence as one of those non-dom pariah types.
 
So a second one is necessary by the sounds of it.
Reference financing -BMW finance or bank loan?

Let me know if you can get a "second" license. Not sure if that is now possible, but curious.
You'll be able to keep insuring on your dutch license, so no issues there.

Finance is hard to say, very unique to your situation I guess. Last July I purchased my car from the company I work for. HSBC on paper had slightly lower interest rates than what I could get from my company as an employee (we have specific financing options).

On paper, because when when they sent over the loan proposal it grew by a fair amount of percentage points, so didn't use them at the end. :)

I think the manufacturer will most probably give a better deal than the bank.
 
One thought.

Does the motorcycle have to be an ‘expensive’ or ‘new’ one at all? Reducing the value and / or even the make / model, might help you considerably. There are some very good ‘low value’ machines available today, just as capable of hooning to the south of Spain or bumbling to Tesco, as something costing well over twenty grand.
 
…… ,I am now going to be stationed for the coming 5 years at least in London , …I must keep my Dutch license so trading in is not an option. So a second one is necessary…..

Then I would look very carefully at what you can and / or cannot do (vis-a-vis your licence) if you are indeed becoming resident in the UK for five years.

Why do you need to keep your Dutch licence? Can’t you drive in Holland under a UK licence, just as I do?
 
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Would it not be cheaper to have 2 sets of insurance rather than buy another bike?
 
Would it not be cheaper to have 2 sets of insurance rather than buy another bike?

I think you need to consider the OP’s somewhat unique position…. Dutch licence, seemingly moving to London for five years, valuable bike….. and that’s just for starters.

:beerjug:
 


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