I recieved my insurance renewal on my Street Triple, which typically has gone up and was already more than I thought it should be. So I had a look on MCN compare and the same insurer Hastings Premier came out at almost £50 cheaper for the same cover!! Triumph Insurance came back with a reasonable price on MCN compare, so I gave them a call. After speaking to them they then even reduced their quote further, so I thought great I'll go ahead. I went through the process and was just getting ready to give them my credit card details, when the lady from Triumph Insurance ran through the policy terms. One of the policy terms is that if you state you keep your bike locked in the garage at home, and your bike gets stollen within 500 yards of your home then they will not pay out!! I'm pretty sure that my existing policy and the policy on my Bonneville are both the same in that if the bike is stollen within x distance of home then I pay an increased excess, but they still pay out on the loss. The Triumph Insurance sales lady tried to convince me that most other bikes insurers would be the same, i.e. no pay out if bike stollen from home and not locked within the garage. So if for example you set out for a ride and realised you have forgot something, that means no parking the bike outside quickly nipping in the house to get forgotten item, or no leaving the bike to refill a bucket of water if washing the bike (even if you lock it). No, you would have to put the bike back in the garage and lock it. This was a bit of a shock to me, and I'm trying to decide if this really is an issue or not, or do I just say that the bike is kept on private property (not garaged, even though it is 99.9% of the time) and pay an increased premium of about £50 Anyone have any views on this, or similar experience?
I can see the insurer's point that it encourages people to keep their bike garaged by default and not get lazy about putting it away. They live by their risk assessments. As you've pointed out though, there are reasonable situations where you could be exposed despite not acting unreasonably. I suppose you have to make your own risk assessment on the likelihood of your bike being lifted while your back is turned. Personally I'd take the risk with my own Street Triple but that's just my personal choice. I wonder how many people would, should the worst happen, simply claim the bike was in the garage. Unless the policy also requires the garage to be locked, the insurer would probably be hard pushed to prove the bike wasn't in there if you say it was. I suppose they could ask for proof of break-in if the policy does stipulate it.
Insurance companies are the champions of loopholes -they will always find a way to not pay if they can. My son found this out the hard way. Different countries have different laws, but here in the US I pay about $360 a year for full coverage on both bikes and there is no language like that in my policy. I do get a discount because they are garage kept.
Right? If you're going to lie about it you may as well just break into your own garage and call the cops for a report. Just don't let the nosy neighbors see you.
Ok, it got a bit weird... I called BikeSure who insure my Bonneville, to see if they could offer a multi bike policy, and also to double check the terms of my Bonneville policy. It turns out that they actually are the provider for Triumph Insurance, and I was right about just an increased excess on my Bonneville in the event of theft from home. But this has now changed since I took out my policy and they no longer do this for new policies, and most other companies are now the same i.e. no pay out if bike stollen from home if not locked in garage. However as I had, on the recommendation of the Triumph Insurance salesperson, got a quote from them for the Street Triple being parked on "private property" as opposed to "in garage" the underwriters for BikeSure now wanted a photo of both my bikes in the garage to prove where they are kept FFS!! So I've just had to take a photo and email it to the insurance company
I came across this a few years ago on my old Tiger, the provider was saying your only covered for home theft if it’s secured and parked as stated on the application, at the time I didn’t have a garage but parked on the front garden - so I opted for the Park on Public Road next to house option and no security chain When the bike got duly nicked I got paid out no problem, but I always remember the bit about parked and secured as in application So even now I have the garage option (if I could clear the kids and wife’s bicycles and junk out) I always take the parked on own property option and pay the bit extra on the premium
Try Bemoto insurance, my bike is insured if away touring and not in a garage, when my bike is at home between 10 pm and 7pm it must be locked in garage but otherwise no restrictions.
Contracts of insurance are ‘of the utmost good faith’ - uberrimae fidei for the Latin scholars. In simple terms, insurance is the only enforceable betting contract. Both sides are betting something won’t happen but are agreeing the stakes if it does. Anything that materially affects the risk has to be declared because it also affects the premium. Saving a few beer tokens on the premium by non disclosure and thereby voiding the contract is penny wise, pound foolish.
Insurance completed Sent the photo of my bikes locked in the garage. Then called them again, spoke to a different lady, who informed me that I should not have had to send the photo She also answered an explicit question I had asked of the very first person I spoke to (supposedly at Triumph Insurance), which was: "would you still cover my bike if I was washing it and left it briefly to get a fresh bucket of water from the house?" - Initially I had been told NO, but she informed me (without me asking again) that under those circumstances the bike would be covered, and that it would only not be covered if you had used the bike returned home not intending to use it again and had not locked it in the garage. - I'm now totally confused (not hard to achieve) , so I just think I'll always be cautious and lock my bike away (as I usually do) when not in use Anyway, the quote they (BikeSure) provided was still about £50 cheaper than my renewal quote from Hastings Premier for an equal/better level of cover, so I went ahead. I was told I could choose who I wanted the insurance with either BikeSure or Triumph...it was the same policy , I decided BikeSure to make life simpler with both bikes insured by the same named provider So Triumph Insurance, BikeSure, and Adrian Flux are all the same company.
Geez, it's like the Department of Motor Vehicles when you go to register your vehicles, each person tells you something different. I think it is just to keep us confused.
The policy explicily states the bike must be kept in a locked garage, whilst I was talking to the insurance provider they were careful to always prefix garage with locked. I think the thing that surprised me was that previously any dealings I had with insurance companies the question was where is your vehicle usually kept, and you recieved a discount for mostly keeping it in a garage, rather than an explicit requirement to always keep it locked in a garage. Anyway now I know
Glad you got it sorted. Those insurance companies have got more loophopes that a knitting machine but, well, you gotta have faith, as George Michael said just before crashing his car in to a shop window.
I once called hastings direct for bike insurance and as they were recommended. I went through the usual questions and they then asked where I lived..... I said "hastings" (which I did at the time) and they said "where's that?"..... They even promote hastings on their advert with a pigeon shitting on a statue ffs. 100% honest. End of conversation. I then put the phone down.
It gets worse. I've just insured my Yami Tracer with Bikesure and I had to fill in a declaration form giving the current mileage. I suppose because I specified I did 4,000 miles per annum.
If you read MCN, they are always trying to get us out to do 5k+ and send in pics! All very well but, personally, I don't get a freebie motorbike every year where I can put on unlimited f£@king mileage on (and not even clean) and then can't think why "everyone" doesn’t get out more!? The twats don't even realise that (as you say @andypandy) you get screwed to the wall if you go over 4k by the insurance industry Nobbers. Anyway , gotta go as my high horse has arrived..... ;-)
Got me worried now i use Bikesure and they know the bike is stored in a locked shed with a ground anchor and i have never seen or been told anything anything about it not being insured if it goes missing from home.