I recently received my insurance renewal from Carol Nash, I know all insurance has risen, but a 35% increase is a bit steep, so I did a bit of comparison and found a few reputable companies a lot cheaper, so I rang Carol Nash to see of they would match it, and low and behold it was a call centre based in India, after asking to be put through to a manager the advisor kept me on hold and said "no manager is available", I knew I had just been placed on hold as I could hear all the background chatter of calls, I was then asked if I was looking for a comparison price match and said yes, after another hold I was informed that the price I had been given by Carol Nash was the cheapest and "take it or leave it". So I am back with Bennetts Insurance who gave me a like for like policy at my 2023 price, and they are UK based and not an Indian call centre, so no more insurance with Carol Nash and their Indian call centre. Oh and the IAM insurance quote was over double what Carol Nash wanted.
I've been sorting insurance today for the new bike. The SS and ZZR are on a two bike policy which is due to renew on 1st June. They wanted £238 to remove the SS and add the new Scrambler up to the June renewal date, then I could be looking at a renewal for both bikes around £900! That's around 3 times what I paid last year for the ZZR & SS on the one policy which I find a bit of a piss take TBH! The upshot is I've insured the new Scram on a separate policy, FC for 3 months for £167, then I'll look further at renewal options for both bikes (the SS will be taken off the two bike policy when I pick the new one up next week). The advisor did mention a general 40% increase in insurance policies this year.
Zurich used to underwrite IAM Surity but have pulled out of bike insurance so I ended up staying with IAM but my policy is now underwritten by Ageas. It was more expensive but cheaper than going straight to Ageas! If they're no longer competative next year I might bin my IAM membership and put that towards my insurance instead.
I have just been doing the yearly call round for my insurance I have got my 900 tiger for £118 with one click and 5 classics with agreed values for £350 with RH insurance
My dual bike insurance is due the end of this month. I’m waiting for the renewal, expecting a hike for sure.
I'd start looking now as the closer yiu get to renewal, the more expensive the other onsurance companies will be. IIRC somewhere between 3 and 4 weeks ahead of renewal is the cheapest time to get them.
With multi bike policies you only get one NCB which only applies to the "main" bike apparently, or so I was told, so if you decide to remove a bike and take out a separate policy you start with 0 NCB, irrespective of how many years bonus you have or how long you've been riding. You can decide which is your "main" bike on your multibike policy even though you can set annual mileages for each one and they are all fully covered. You can get GAP insurance to cover the shortfall in the payout from your main policy, plus you can get an excess insurance that covers the excess on you main policy. I don't bother with either of those.
I blame electric vehicles and the resultant costs, issues, initial purchase costs, if any claims are submitted. One of my cars went from £280 to £480. Same car, drivers, points, claims etc. Changed insurance and back to £240. One of my bike policies is four bikes, and previously was under £500, so I'm not looking forward to this years renewal
You are correct regarding electric vehicles, if an electric vehicle is involved in a collision on the motorway, then neither the Police or Highways England are allowed to touch it, the vehicle in question has to be recovered by a specialist recovery service, also if an electric vehicle catches fire then a different recovery vehicle attends, basically it has a large container on the back, similar to a skip but larger, this is full of water and the electric vehicle is placed in the water tank and taken to the recovery yard. Previous to this electric vehicles had been transported to the recovery yard, and had subsequently burst into flames some days later, causing damage to other stored vehicles. It is an unfortunate situation that so many people think electric vehicles are the only way forward, not to mention the exploitation of those workers mining the Lithium, whilst also decimating huge swathes of landscape that is irreversibly damaged.
I'vd heard if you get a puncture in a flying fridge you're bollixed as they have to be recovered to get the repair done.
There are also limitations on towing EV's in the event of a breakdown, especially those with the regeneration facility where the motors generate power on overun.
I use Bikesure and have done for the last 4 or 5 years. Something I find very convenient is that my renewal date is in December, not long after the NEC bike show where Bikesure have a stand. I sit down with one of their reps, we have a face to face chat, look at all the options and then they give me a quote which always undercuts every other on-line quote, including the renewal quote from Bikesure. I saved £45 this time round.
I’m also with BikeSure. Their quote on renewal has been competitive for past few years, so I’m hoping this year will be the same.
I agree, Bikesure are very good. I've been with them for 5 years and I've currently got 5 bikes on a multi-bike policy with them. Their call centre agents all seem to be UK-based and if I call them I usually get through in seconds, and they are very knowledgeable. My car insurance is with Churchill and they are the opposite, overseas-based call centre and it takes ages to get to speak with a human being. I'll switch my car insurance to Bikesure at next renewal, I only found out recently that they (Bikesure) do car and home insurance as well as bike insurance.
Well hadn’t received my renewal quote up until today, so rang BikeSure to see when I would get it. The very pleasant agent advised it should be out in the next few days or if I wanted she would do a quote today. Decided to go for the quote. As in previous years vey competitive quote which actually cheaper this year than last. Paid £247 for my Tiger 660 and Thruxton R last year. This year with no change in circumstances it was £228.67, Bargain for fully comprehensive insurance with protected no claims on both bikes. I’m very happy for another years riding.
Not only for bikes. Last year I ended up insuring my motor with Carole Nash. You reckon your 35% premium hike was bad? How about 207%? This is from their renewal notice.
