In a moment of what some may call utter madness, I brought a work mates 20th Anniversary Suzuki GSXR 750.......yes I know utter stupidity. But, It came as 1 owner & with only 8,000 miles & at such a good price how could I resist? Move on a few days & it`s time to ask my insurer (Carol Nash) known affectionately after this as CN for short to ask if they would add this fine beast to my existing multi-bike policy which I have with them. With only a couple of months to run before renewal I thought it would be a simple task of a mid term change & perhaps a hundred quid max for the upgrade.......Oh no......It appears that the multi bike policy I have (rather had now) only caters for 3 bikes & to add a fourth would mean cancelling my existing policy, giving me a small (no surprise there then) refund & taking out a new policy. I suggested taking off one of my bikes that gets little use & replacing it with the gixer, but oh no wait a minute, they cannot do that as the "specialist" broker wont insure the gixer. So a few minutes later after being put on hold yet again the guy returns with a new quote from a company for all 4 bikes.......Wait for it you know whats coming next & bearing in mind I paid only £375 for last years policy.....Wait, wait........£1178.48p!!!! not a misprint! Well as you can imagine I was speechless & that aint happened for many years now.....How the FU@KING hell can they do that to honest folk????? So in a complete daze I puts down the phone & phoned Adrian Flux (Bikesure), I didnt tell the helpful young lady til I`d got their quote how much the robbing FU...sorry CN wanted for a new policy. Well to cut a long story long I got almost like for like cover for £499, ok, so it aint as cheap as some pay but for me it was a MASSIVE £678 saving which works out about £125 per bike to insure them all. I did try insuring the GSXR on it`s own but quotes (because for some stupid money making reason you can only use your NCB on 1 vehicle at a time) were coming in @ £375 ish, so it was a no-go. I give up, I really do......I must be less of a risk than Pope John Paul & have security that the CIA would have difficulty breaching yet I cannot for love or money get a good quote or get my stress levels down to under a 1000 when I deal with some what I consider moronically idiotic people when I talk bike insurance......Rant over.
See my post from a few days ago about insurance companies - http://thetriumphforum.co.uk/threads/always-ask-for-insurance-discount.8994/ I switched from CN a couple of years ago due to their inflexibility and a cockup where they failed to notify the DVLA that the bike was insured. I only found out after receive a nasty letter from the DVLA. Lucky I wasn't ANPRed in that time!! On phoning CN they never even apologised. With Bennetts now. They are not without their problems (see above) but they are half the price of CN.
To be honest with you pasher I dont think there is a really good insurance company out there. The people you deal with who are supposed to be leaders in their field do not in my opinion know enough about motorcycles to give you a honest quote. Yet again today I was asked if the 150 HP/175 mph Suzuki would have a sidecar or trailer attached?? WTF is that all about?? They didnt even realise how stupid the question was.
They are just covering their backs. However unsuitable the GSXR is, there WILL be someone out there welding sidecar lugs to it and attaching a tow-bar to its tail-end
it all seems to be down to "modifications" yet if you replace a M8 zinc plated bolt with a stainless steel one you've modded the bike....Where do they get off these companies???
I can remember replying to a girls question on my thruxton of "has it got any modifications" by saying yes...It has Norman Hyde rear sets on it...her reply was " What are they"? As I say these people are deciding your fate & the price of that fate...They should know their stuff so at least you are in with a shout of getting not only a decent quote but a quote that is truly based on what bike you have & not one they think you have!!!
Carlo Nash pffff.. Shocking quotes for my Triple R over £1000! Seems you have to use a comparison site or spend the day ringing round for a competitive quote. Money Saving Expert have a motorbike section for tips. Proved very useful for me for insurance (and lots of other services): http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/motorbike-insurance
What really f*cks me off with insurance is that I have touch wood never had an accident, bike or car in over 40 years, but I only have 11 years no claims.Secondly, why is it that they dont give no claims to the person instead of the vehicles? You can only assign 1 NCB to 1 bike on a multi bike policy....WTF is that all about? I ride all my bikes so why aint I getting NCB on riding them all safely?? Ive spent some time this morning composing a letter to CN...Trust me, they got it with both barrels & whats more....They fecking well deserve it for being so underhanded
Over here car and bike insurance works a little differently. 1. It's the vehicle that takes out the insurance , not the person. As a result if the owner of a vehicle wants you to drive or lends you their vehicle, your covered up to the full cover on the owners policy; 2. Your no claims bonus gets applied to all of your vehicles - bikes and cars; 3. Maximum ncb is 50% and it takes up to 14 years (in theory) to earn it. Although some companies give it after 5 years. 4. Glass cover (screens back and front, all lights) is almost always included, even if it's only a 3rd party cover policy; 5. Breakdown Assistance is almost always included, although some policies have a clause that the vehicle needs to be at least 30 mls away from home, to benefit.
Insurance is definitely getting tougher here...if any of my bikes are within 500m of my house is outside my locked garage & get nicked then your not covered. Also, I have just had to sign a deceleration for mileage on 3 of the 4 bikes.. it's an absolute joke what they say you need.
I had to jump through hoops for the RAC sending my licence and evidence of no claims from previous insurer. Most of them hammer you for extras even if they don't improve performance. Be prepared be a souless corporate letter in reply.
In fairness Rooster, I`m pretty certain that you would not remember to say "oh, by the way, I have a sidecar fitted" now wouldn't you???....Well, that`s my defence
I have just dumped nasty nash as they ripped me off for a mid term change. If every one stops using them it would soon show them the customer should come first.
I went with Bikesure in February to insure my America. It was the cheapest at the time and they said I could add my Bandit later to the same policy. So obviously it would be cheaper for me to have a multi bike policy like I do with the wife's car and mine. Oh yeah ? Oh no ! I rang up today, £115 to add the Bandit. £120 quote on comparethemarket.com. Thing is Bikesure's quote was for ten months, the duration left on the policy I took out in February which equates to an annual premium of £138.
Personally I don't think there is good & bad insurance companies....but I do think that there are good and bad brokers...I am a strong believer that insurance should be done on the person & not the vehicles when you buy a multi vehicle policy. And this bollo*ks about only being able to earn 11 years maximum NCB when like me you've driven without accident for 40 years is pure utter nonsense. Vehicle insurance needs a radical shake up by the throat & some of the brokers I've dealt with need the same. So many advisors who give you the quote are not well versed enough in vehicle technology & I think some certainly put commission before your well being every time.
Totally agree TB, I've posted my views on insurance several times. Mandatory by law but a totally unregulated corrupt industry, hate the barstewards! I swear if it was not mandatory I would take my chance and not have any motor insurance. Going off on a tangent, company BUPA cover. I had a hernia operation several years ago, what have I not been covered for in the policy since ? Yes you guessed it hernias!
Hi big lad, ....only thing you forgot to say was that your insurance policy in France also contained within the policy price your road tax payment....such a great idea and so easy so tax dodgers could not get away without paying.....and when you get your new policy each year you have to display a tear off part of it, about 2'' by 2'', in the windscreen so the 'vieux William' can easily see that not only that you have current insurance but also road tax... .....and don't forget.....there is no MOT test for bikes in France!....... Cheers, dickydido
My Bennetts policy has the same clause - bloody ridiculous! We are paying through the nose for insurance so the bike should be covered wherever it's parked and these companies should stop putting "get out of paying" clauses in. In effect if you come home from a ride, park your bike outside the garage in your drive then go in for a cuppa whilst it cools down and it gets nicked then you are b*ll*xed! I asked how much my insurance would increase if I said that the bikes were just kept on the drive but they wouldn't say and told me that as I had stated they were kept garaged then I couldn't change it!
