Insurance Issues

[RachaelEllen]

I contacted my current insurers today to look at how much it would cost to change my bike to a 600 bike. I was told that my insurers wont insure me for the particular bike i asked about (suzuki bandit) and i have a horrible feeling this will apply for all 600cc bikes.

I have had the policy for 9 months so i am very reluctant to lose this as it's not too far off giving me a years no claims bonus which makes a huge difference to the price of insurance.

So, do I:

A). keep my 125 and maintain it's insurance until the end of July so i get a NCB, while also having a new policy for the bike i buy, then in july cancelling it and taking it out again with a NCB - this seems a rather expensive option

B). wait to buy a bike until the summer and keep the 125 insured to gain the NCB

C). cancel the current policy and get a new one for the new bike

Or is it unlikely that this restriction applies to all bikes? I have a bike lined up (Kawasaki er6f) but wont be able to contact the insurers until tuesday

Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated :), thank you!

[njl]

Have a look see if a short term policy is an option for couple of months on the bandit, but won't be too cost effective. You may find it's only 30 quid or so getting the new policy without the 1 st year ncb. Mine never seems to go down..

[Dabz]

July isn't far off, only a couple of months so I reckon the main aim has to be to get the years ncb! A pay as you go policy might be the best bet on a new bike?

[redken1]

Congrats again Rachael. Try on one of the internet sites like gocompare.com and type in all the required info and see what quotes come up. May be a starting point and may give you some ideas before Tuesday. Good luck

[Uber Dave]

I was in a similar situation where i had to cancel the policy after 8 months and take out a new one. I however already had placed a deposit down on a bike.

If I was you,stick out the next 3 months, get the NCB and then get the new bike. I guess you are with Bennett's or Carol Naish? Reason I ask is that they are brokers and the company who actually insures you will insure specific groups of people, they will cover you on the 125 but not something bigger, different insurer through Bennett's and Carol Naish on the nnext bike will work fine.

[Robf]

after i passed my test i upgraded to a 250, i cancelled my 125 policy, my 250 insurance was something like £10 cheaper then the 125 policy, i then around 8-9 months later decided to upgrade to a restricted 500, cost me an extra £70 to change the policy, for the remaining few months and then for this last year the policy dropped and have stayed with the same company.

Have a look around for insurance, i'm with quickfit, who are a brokers, but http://www.wickedquotes.com/ offer me the cheapest insurance apart from the company i'm currently with.

although no claims may give you a discount with that company, you may be better off shopping around every year.

[Toph]

try "bike insurer.com" they were the cheapest for me.... although I'm a few months older than you!! ;D
it's a comparison site, but the quotes were really competitive! good luck on the search Rach...ER6......nice!! xxxx

[silly_simon]

Rach
Try http://www.swinton.co.uk/motor/motorcycle/

They seem very competetive + after 3 months you get £30 back :) Plus they are geared up for new riders aswell as riders with convictions etc

[RachaelEllen]

Wow, thebikeinsurer.co.uk has offered me a good deal through CIA, that's with the 1 years NCB though.

I also have another question, is it technically commuting if i am going into university as a student? Not sure if this would make a difference to the price but might be worth a try

[silly_simon]

I think commuting is classed as travel to and from a permanent place of work or study, So really they just need to know the vehicle will be left somewhere other than your home address :)

[RachaelEllen]

I've found a way to drive the cost down a bit, if i choose a high voluntary excess then re-insure myself again against the excess. I've found that the bikeinsurer.co.uk also offers this at just £30 which covers me for £500 excess:

http://www.thebikeinsurer.co.uk/motorbike-excess-insurance/

This might be something worth considering for young bikers like me

[crewy]

When i got my ducati 916 when i was 22, my kawasaki zx6r was insured with h & r, they wouldn't insure me on the ducati, so i had to take a different policy out with MCE then 4 months later when the kawasaki policy ran out i rang MCE up and added the NCB onto the ducati policy, saved me about £80 i think. Didn't know you could do this till MCE told me i could

[SupeRDel]

One thing about insurance - you just don't know how good your cover is till you make a claim.

How many owners tell the insurance companies about all their mods to their bikes

[Nooj]

Welcome to the world of the thieving, money-grabbing scrotes that are bike insurance companies. If they can screw an extra 50p out of you by any means possible, they will :)

[Squashed_Fly]

How many owners tell the insurance companies about all their mods to their bikes

I do! Called MCE to let them know about the exhaust and the sticky tyres (anything not recommended in the OEM guide can be counted as a modification from the original spec). Made no difference to my payments but now if I have an accident, I know they can't refuse to pay on those grounds.

[SupeRDel]

Exactly

[NoYou]

have a look at http://www.bikesure.co.uk/ they're the only company i could find that would insure me on a 600 they have have all sorts of different policies and i've seen some good reviews on them and one of ym friends recommends them whole heartedly