While everyone is complaining about insurance price increases...

[er-minio]

Just got this from BeMoto, as my policy is up for renewal:

I live in NW3 for the record, not exactly Baghdad
Well... down to doing quotes I guess...

 

[littleade]

Have you tried here? I use Cornmarket but usually start below to get a feeling of how much I'm going to pay and can usually get Cornmarket to drop the price if they're well off the mark. Martin Lewis recommends you get a quote 28 days before renewal as after that the prices start to rise, the closer you leave it to renewal date before getting a quote the more you'll get rinsed. Good luck!

Making bike insurance easy for 17 years | The Bike Insurer

The Bike Insurer

www.thebikeinsurer.co.uk

 

[er-minio]

Carol Nash quoted me about 1k yesterday – that is fair. Will have to go through it again on the phone as it is three bikes and a lot of details that they usually get wrong the first time, but if they keep that price it will actually be cheaper than what I paid last year (1.3k).
It's not a biggie (the cancellation), just made me laugh.

Bit of a shame because I liked BeMoto, easy, clear, no fuss.

 

[Yarkto]

You think that's bad?
Best I could get is TF&Theft for just under £400 for a 17 year old G650 Xcountry!!

For a 3 year old Honda Africa Twin...£2430....
Why?
Because I had a break for 2.6 years from biking and was considered 'unexperienced'...
Go figure
38 years & no claims.

Bike garaged in brick building, ground anchor with Abus massive chain in cement, 2 disk locks, a tracker but...
No one cares
Just bend over and... pay up.
There is a special place in hell for underwriters and profiters.
Grrrrrrrrrr

 

[wessie]

Martin Lewis recommends you get a quote 28 days before renewal as after that the prices start to rise, the closer you leave it to renewal date before getting a quote the more you'll get rinsed. Good luck!

ML says 21-28 days before renewal, a 7 day window rather than a specific day

https://compare-bikeinsurance.topcashback.co.uk/bike-insurance-ui/?step=1 has been good for me recently - they use the Quotezone comparison tool. Car, home and bike policies sourced via this and cashback has been paid (well still waiting for the car as still in the cooling off period). You need to create an account first.

 

[Oldrat]

My 2 old Italians are understandably an arm and a leg.

The GSA is due in about 25 days time, so taking Martin Lewis’s advice, I’ll be in the dog tomorrow

 

[Toddmeister]

When I got a mad quote for a multibike renewal last month, Doris (of this Parish) recommended BikeSure to me.

They turned out to be extremely good, so I am happy to pass his recommendation on to you Emilio

Hope they can do a good deal for you.

 

[Davey B]

You think that's bad?
Best I could get is TF&Theft for just under £400 for a 17 year old G650 Xcountry!!

For a 3 year old Honda Africa Twin...£2430....
Why?
Because I had a break for 2.6 years from biking and was considered 'unexperienced'...
Go figure
38 years & no claims.

Bike garaged in brick building, ground anchor with Abus massive chain in cement, 2 disk locks, a tracker but...
No one cares
Just bend over and... pay up.
There is a special place in hell for underwriters and profiters.
Grrrrrrrrrr

I believe you lose all NCD after 2 yrs...so their computer screen will have had a fit. Probably one of those instances (you may have done so already) where ringing a proper broker and speaking to someone in the know may prove fruitful.

That there London seems to be the hotbed of vehicle crime at the moment. The Met being busy not locking up JustStopOil bods, chasing knife attackers, Tommy Robinson and any other "journalist" or demonstrator you can think of....

JLR reveals new insurance solution for Range Rover clients struggling to get cover

'Customers of luxury cars and other luxury items are experiencing an increase in thefts due to organised criminal activity in the UK,' says spokesperson

www.insurancetimes.co.uk

 

[er-minio]

Bike garaged in brick building, ground anchor with Abus massive chain in cement, 2 disk locks, a tracker but...
No one cares

My bikes are in a brick and mortar lock-up.

All three have disc locks at all times, GS has an alarm and tracker (it's the bike I use the most and park around and abroad) and the HP2 is chained to a ground anchor via a massive chain and anti-pinch pin that goes through the frame. I have a security camera inside the lock up.

I usually never declare any extra security (apart from the disc locks) "just in case". I'm ok with that. And, yes, usually doesn't make any difference in the premium.
The HP2 has a relatively high price, but the DRZ and the GSA are insured for next to nothing as they have little market value. I think I insure the GS for 3.5k or something like that. 2007 – 80k miles... been extensively offroaded.

Toddy: thanks a lot sir, I will give it a try tomorrow morning.

 

[Neil W]

Half the problem of the huge hike in premiums has to be the insurance companies use of the likes of 4th Dimension for repairs, in three cases I know of personally they have racked up vastly inflated repair bills at the other insurers expense .

Bills that in two cases local dealers reckoned to be in the region of £1000 maximum ended up in one case in excess of £4000 and in the other with loan bike costs of almost £10,000 and both took 3 months to carry out a couple of hours work .

Utter disgrace

 

[timeandtide]

Half the problem of the huge hike in premiums has to be the insurance companies use of the likes of 4th Dimension for repairs, in three cases I know of personally they have racked up vastly inflated repair bills at the other insurers expense .

Bills that in two cases local dealers reckoned to be in the region of £1000 maximum ended up in one case in excess of £4000 and in the other with loan bike costs of almost £10,000 and both took 3 months to carry out a couple of hours work .

Utter disgrace

Too right Neil!
My brother’s 1190R has been off the road for well over a year thanks to shitty 4th Dimension and an alleged shortage of KTM spares!

 

[er-minio]

Something something... American health insurance practices

 

[Neil W]

Too right Neil!
My brother’s 1190R has been off the road for well over a year thanks to shitty 4th Dimension and an alleged shortage of KTM spares!

With my mates vstrom they claimed in numerous occasions that parts were not available , yet they were in stock in UK according to local suzuki dealer and Fowlers who I have an account with, similarly other mates XJR where a rear mudguard for a then current model was unavailable according to 4th Dimension, local dealer reckoned a 2 day wait at most.
Thing is every time they have to put it back into storage due to parts unavailability they stick something like £25 per day on the bill

 

[José]

It is a racket from start to finish, it begins with the insurers then through to the re-insurers, repair companies (My bruv works for one), the hirers of vehicles...All designed to fleece you for as much as THEY want...Nearly forgot, the putrid lawyers...All on the make at YOUR expense.
You are a captive audience, as it is a legal compliance.

 

[wessie]

With my mates vstrom they claimed in numerous occasions that parts were not available , yet they were in stock in UK according to local suzuki dealer and Fowlers who I have an account with, similarly other mates XJR where a rear mudguard for a then current model was unavailable according to 4th Dimension, local dealer reckoned a 2 day wait at most.
Thing is every time they have to put it back into storage due to parts unavailability they stick something like £25 per day on the bill

what they meant was that there were not any used parts in breakers or on Ebay. They try not to use actual new parts.

4th Dimension's sister companies including MOTOMINE are one of the biggest buyers of salvage from underwriters. Then they recycle the good parts into the repair system. They all call it environmental corporate social responsibility in their sustainability mission statements as they aren't sending vehicle parts to landfill. Others might see it as a cartel.

 

[Neil W]

Brother in law had an issue when his car was written off due to an non blameworthy accident , claimes company rang him up not once but every couple of days determined to force him into taking a hire car ( he neither wanted nor needed one ), they were such persistent f*ckers that he ended up blocking their number . Why would they do this other than to run up the final bill on the other drivers insurance

 

[er-minio]

Here we go... for the last three/four (since I got my lock-up) years I had a relatively easy life... but apparently new risk profiles are making this a fucking pain up the ass again.

I'm insuring three bikes:

- HP2S (10/11k insured value – I would insure it for less, but apparently it would be misrepresentation and void the contract)
- 2007 GSA (3.5k insured value)
- DRZ (1.5/2k insured value)

The bikes are kept in a lock up (I rent it via a standard commercial 5 year contract) slightly up the road from where I live and apparently this is now a concern despite:

HP2 being locked to the ground via massive chain and pin through the frame + disc lock.
GS alarmed + disc lock + tracker
DRZ disc lock and being a piece of shit
Security camera in the lock up with motion sensor that pings me on the phone and at home if anything happens.

Apparently the area where I live now is very dangerous.

I normally don't declare the extra security apart from the disc locks (I always put it on the bikes as soon as I stop anywhere) but tried to add the lot to the policy to see if it helped to no avail...


Spoke with BeMoto again, no way to insure me.
Bennets (not Carole Nash as previously stated) gave me a (reasonable) 1k quote... now that quote is unavailable after I quoted with other insurers (all of which were unable to provide a quote as well). Fun.

Bikesure said they will call me back, doesn't bode well.

I had 10+ NCB on the bike policy.
Turns out a claim on my previous car (company fleet car) has been logged under my name and I wasn't aware of it. Would have paid myself for the work if I knew it would have affected my other insurance as I normally never claim on fully comp. Anyway, should not be a massive issue.

 

[er-minio]

LOL - bennets no go too... I can see a pattern emerging here...

 

[wessie]

have you tried to see if you can insure one bike at the lock-up? This will let you know if it is the remote lock-up or the combination of bikes being the problem. Each one of your bikes is likely to be near the top of the risk tables. I believe the GS is the most nicked bike as they go overseas, off road bikes of any type have always been at risk and you have an exotic. You might need to take out separate policies so the risk is split between underwriters. I did this when I had two nearly new bikes with a total replacement value of £30k. Halved the cost of a 2 bike policy from C Nash by putting one on Devitt and the other on Bennetts with Ageas & Axa as underwriters

 

[er-minio]

have you tried to see if you can insure one bike at the lock-up?

I do always insure them at the lock-up address.
Even one single bike is refused (at least Devitts).

I rented the lock-up about 5 years ago because insurance companies weren't happy with me keeping the bikes in a communal garage (guarded, closed at night) and wanted me to have something "you only have access to".

So I ended up renting the lock up. It's cool because I can store other stuff in there and do some maintenance work inside.
It is less than 5/400 meters from where I live. I have a security camera in it, so I get warned if something happens and I can check the bikes without having to physically walk there every morning. It's 2024.


I'm just off with Devitts.
No one will insure the bikes in London at a separate address apparently.

The Devitts guy was super nice and tried to run the policy removing the HP and trying to insure only the GS, but all the underwriters refuse on the grounds of the bikes not being at my home address.
Note: the GS was being insured for 3.5k. When you take out the excess we're talking very little money to refund.

The guys suggested to try GoCompare... I usually avoid those... race to the bottom.


As I stated in another thread, I would happily live with 3rd party only... but that is not allowed.

You might need to take out separate policies so the risk is split between underwriters.

This makes sense, and I'll try, thanks.
But as said above: Devitts won't insure the GS alone too... I'll try again though.


Again, I'd be happy to not have fire and theft on the policy at this stage. Would be better than not being able to move the bikes pretty soon...