MOTOBKE.CO.UK
All about owning and riding modern motorbikes!



Home Bikes Kit Features News and Views Bookshop Be a Writer!/About Us

---

Insurance – boring but essential. Bob Pickett (who spent 20 years in the industry) gives pointers towards getting a good deal

Insurance - you have to have it if you want to ride on public roads. Not having it means points on your licence, a hefty fine and possibly even a prison sentence, quite aside from the unfairness of you inflicting yourself on other people, without the ability to pay them back if the worst happens. Not to mention running the risk of some scumbag walking off with your P&J and getting nothing back for it.

But what do the terms mean? Who should you talk to? How to get a good deal? With a little homework, you should be able to do the latter. Which is where this article comes in – keep the following in mind and hopefully someone will “Quote you Happy” (but be prepared for a smack in the mouth if you really do say that) as the rather annoying advertising campaign says.

Know your enemy

First off, what does it all mean? You give them your money and they cover you if something happens, right? Broadly speaking yes, but it all depends on the level of cover you purchase. There are three main types, Fully Comprehensive, Third Party, Fire and Theft and Third Party Only (there are special “one off” polices for things like track days, racing etc, but we’re concerned about getting you covered to ride on the road here).

Fully Comprehensive. Exactly what it says. This covers you against anything and everything, even if it is your fault. Bike hits the deck, gets stolen, catches fire or whatever, you are covered. Repairs to the bike (or replacement cost if it is a write-off) in the case of the former, or cost of replacement in the latter cases. Along with, of course, other party’s property being protected should you be the one that causes an accident.

Third Party Fire & Theft. Or TPF&T for short. Like the above, but in property terms only covers those you crash into not repairs to your bike. But it does pay up in the event of fire or theft, hence the name.

Third Party Only. Or TPO. This is the absolute legal minimum. Like TPF&T, but without the fire and theft bit. So you actually get nothing, but you have to have this to ride on the road.

In terms of cost, fully comprehensive is the most expensive, followed by TPF&T with third party only coming in cheapest. Quite simply, you pay for what you get. But even if you’re broke, try to get TPF&T rather than TPO – it often isn’t that much more and at least you have the peace of mind that should the bike go missing, you will get the replacement value (based on the second hand value of course).

Secondly, there are a couple of very important terms that come up time and again. Main ones to consider are:

No Claims Bonus. Don’t hit the deck in a year, get a discount on your premium. There is a limit on this, usually 60%.

Policy Excess. How much of any claim you pay before the insurance company dips into its own pocket. The higher the excess, the lower the premium – if you’re prepared to carry more of the cost, then an insurer will charge you less.

Agreed Value. You agree the price of the bike from the word go. Saves time haggling later, but if you take this route it depends on the bike. Also establishes the Write-Off value in advance.

Write Off. When the cost of repairing is considered to be more than the value of the bike. The write off value is worth checking with the broker. Depending on the company used, this could be as low as two-thirds of the bike’s value.

Who do I talk to? Broker or Direct

You have two options, a broker or a direct insurance company. A broker uses a wide range of companies, but a direct insurer only sells it’s own products. In theory, going to a direct insurer should mean a lower price, as they don’t need to pay commission to a middle-man.

In practice, this is not always the case. A broker has the advantage of massive purchasing power – they can trade their ability to send a large number of clients in the direction of the insurer, in return for a reduced rate. This might seem like insanity, but what it does is give the broker a competitive edge over their rivals. The insurer is trading off a higher price for direct cover, plus paying a commission against a higher volume of customers being sent their way.

Look at the small ads at the back of magazines for insurers and brokers. And check out any insurance deals by the manufacturer , such as Kawasaki’s K-Scheme or Honda’s own ‘captive’ insurance company. Also, talk to your mates. Who do they use and why? If you have a mate with a similar machine who lives nearby, then it is fair to assume that his broker/insurer will have a decent deal in place for you as well.

Before you start looking, consider the level of coverage to take out. What are you are riding? A twelve year old RG125 valued at £100? Then is Fully Comprehensive with a policy excess of £500 really worth it? Conversely, if you have a brand new R1, then I’d say you really do want to have more than TPO under your belt (assuming you can get anyone to quote you for less than Fully Comp).

Be patient and be honest

Whatever level of cover you decide upon, to get the best deal, be prepared to spend a lot of time on the telephone. Never, ever take the first quote offered. There may be a better deal waiting in the wings. But do get a quote reference from the company in question – that might just turn out to be your best deal and if you can quote a reference back to them, then they’re committed to those terms.

If you do not have the patience to call every company yourself, then check out a few brokers – they all use a raft of different insurers, so make use of their database to get you a deal.

Don’t think that one broker will get the same deal as another though. Depending on which companies they use, one broker could come up with a much better deal than another. Often this could depend on the bike in question, your age, where you live and a million other things beyond your control.

Be prepared to haggle. Get a bargaining tool. Got two similar quotes? Call each broker with the other’s quote and see if they are prepared to beat it.

Another trick is to get a mate to call giving the same basic details (postcode only for the address! Obviously, not the exact postcode, the first part will do). If he gets a much better deal, call them up and mention it.

Whatever you do, be honest – if you don’t have a clean licence, you have made claims in the past three/five years and your bike is so non-standard it almost defies recognition as that model, you DO need to own up. Cover these up, then have an accident and WHEN they come to light, you have invalidated your insurance. And that is fraud. Which can see you sent to prison. Not a good idea!

Better a few quid more on your premium than becoming “Big Rex’s Bitch” in the big house!

Cheapest not always best

The lowest price may not be the best deal. OK, so you got a TPF&T quote of £150 from company 1, and £180 from company 2. You give your business to company 1, obviously.

Not really. What about the small print? What is your excess? If company 1 quoted a £300 excess, then perhaps company 2’s £250 excess might be preferable? For the sake of another £30 up front, you’re getting back an extra £50 of repair work done if the worst happens.

Will you be riding anyone else’s bikes? If so, do both quotes allow this? Were any little sweeteners like breakdown cover included?

Back to haggling, if you’ve got two quotes which are fairly close, see if you can get something like breakdown cover or legal expenses insurance thrown in to clinch the deal. Moral: You don’t ask, you don’t get!

Take careful note of everything, not just the price. The overall package is what counts at the end of the day. Just taking price as the sole factor could see you ending up with a worse deal overall.

Legal expenses

The broker or insurer will offer you Legal Expenses Insurance. This is additional cover and will cost you around £10-15. In the event of an accident, this pays for a solicitor who will work on your behalf to claim the cost of a new lid and kit, travel expenses, inconvenience money and if you are injured, compensation for bodily injury.

But as we said above, worth trying to get this thrown in as a deal clincher if you have another quote in place – don’t try it on if you don’t, as you might get the door closed in your face and have nothing to fall back upon!

Additional security

It varies from insurer to insurer, but the norm is to offer discounts on your premium for fitting additional security above and beyond the steering lock. Some form of marking, such as Datatag or Smartwater will get a discount from most companies.

When it comes to items such as alarms, the level of discount from one company to another can vary – in fact, an alarm that one company recommends may not even be considered worthy of a discount by another!

Before going out and spending money on additional security, check with your prospective insurer as to whether they give discounts for kit approved by Sold Secure. It may also be worth finding out if they can provide a list of security equipment that they approve for discounting purposes.

Garaging the bike overnight should mean discounts – but this is an odd one. I know from experience that I insured a bike when I did not have a garage. Shortly afterwards, I moved home, to one with a garage – about two miles from my old home. This did not have any effect on the premium, despite their asking me if the bike is garaged when I took out the policy in the first place!

Get trained/keep it on the island!

Pass a training scheme by an approved body such as the IAM and you should get a discount – but again, before booking any advanced training, check with your insurer to see which schemes they recognise. Advanced training is always worthwhile, but if you are doing it just to reduce your premiums, then no point doing it with a company your insurer doesn’t accept.

Experience also helps with your premiums – the more continuous years under your belt the better. More experienced you are, the better your hazard perception etc. But note “continuous” years. The “Born Again Biker” does not (or at least should not) get the benefit of having ridden for 10 years, then not having thrown a leg over a bike for the next 20.

Keeping it upright also helps - as we said in section 1, building up a No Claims Bonus is the most effective way of getting your premium down. It is often possible to protect your NCB, for an additional fee.

Restrict the miles/ Ride an old bike/keep it for longer

Fact: The more miles you ride in a year, the higher the risk of an accident. By limiting the number of miles you ride each year, you will get a discounted rate. Likewise, if you do not use the bike for commuting (the most hazardous time of day to ride – ask any DR!), again your premium should be reduced.

Do you ever ride another bike? If not, then see if limiting yourself to the one bike can bring your premium down (and if not, then keep the “any bike” allowance – it could come in handy).

If you’re up to the task of maintaining a bike of 21 years of age (or more!), then you – or rather the bike – qualifies for Classic Insurance, which will almost certainly be a lot less than the cost of insuring a modern bike. You are also VED-exempt, which is nice.

If you’re not one of those types who MUST change his/her bike every year, then you should also see the benefit in your premiums. Length of ownership infers that you care for the bike, rather than using it for a 12 month thrash before moving on to the next one.

Get married and grow old together!

Strange but true: get married and get a discount. This comes from actuarial tables (Definition of an Actuary: Someone who thought that Accounting was living in the fast lane) that show ‘Smug Marrieds’ to be more responsible, ride/drive slower and take less risks.

Likewise, getting older helps. Reach 25 and your premiums reduce. So pass 25 and get married and bingo! Your premiums take a quantum leap downwards!

It may also work in your favour to join the BMF or MAG (or both!) - both have worked hard to get discounts for their members with a number of companies. Also, there are companies who will give you a discounted premium simply for joining either organisation. Plus you’ll be supporting our main source of protection against anti-biking ideas being introduced by The Powers That Be.

Look after your documents

With the deal done, put your documents away somewhere safe where you can find them easily. You never know when you might need them – hopefully not until renewal date, but the whole point of having insurance is to protect you against the unforeseen circumstance!

Got any tips you'd like to pass on? Then click here to find out how

---

Home Bikes Kit Features News and Views Bookshop Be a Writer!/About Us