View Full Version : has something changed with insurance?
Dicky Ticker
22-12-12, 10:14 AM
It is not just age,it is your riding record,convictions,accidents,claims how it is stored and crime figures for your area.. You can be 45 years old with a bad record and still be paying over £1000.They insurance companies can only use the record from when you started riding and load the insurance from then.
It works two ways,good record and experience results in cheap quotes,but when you have attained your max NCB the price still goes up,hence shop around for the best deal.
One of the biggest hikes is using the bike to commute
Agreed - it's not how it should work - it should be based on the individual. But as a 19 year old male (12 years ago!) I drove a 1969 MG Midget - £750 TPFT - now its £75 FC! (in hindsight I realise I was bloody lucky and now 17yr olds can't afford insurance at all). No one took into account that I wasn't an idiot chav. Why did I get tarred with that brush whilst a chav girl in her saxo pays less because she's a female - I was just subsidising her.
If women/ the old etc want equality in relation to earning, benefits etc, then they should take the rough with the smooth.
yorkie_chris
22-12-12, 11:04 AM
One of the biggest hikes is using the bike to commute
It's sunshine and lollipops compared to car insurance though!
Yes I aggre .
Can I get sarga to quote for my RSV r???
There's more accidents on the commute run . So its fair enough.
.
Maybe I will drop commute on my prilia .
What it cost s petrol wise on the zx6 pays its way compared to the car
Agy, your situation is pretty similar to mine recently. I was with ebike last yr as they were the cheapest after my accident. Mine didnt go up but it didnt go down as much as i thought it should. Ebike have as far as i can tell no pre-renewal retention team, the price on the site is the price.
I shopped around and for hte most part most quotes were higher elsewhere untill Meerkat, managed to cut my quotes in half! also tried Suzuki Insurance, they are relatively new brokers who specialise in, funnily enough, Suzuki's. called them and got a really high quote, told em i got £435 from meerkat and they said they'd speak to the underwriters and call me back in a day or two. Week later nothing heard so was going to go with the Meerkat and they called me back, matched the quote i got from meerkat and threw in free legal, helmet & leathers and discounted roadside assistance. Went with them and cancelled the ebike plan. had to wait till after the renewal date to get my proof of ncd now 3 yrs i think. 3 weeks!!! after the renewal date and 5 weeks after i actually cancelled the plan a guy called me up from ebike and asked if i wanted to renew. gave him a very polite foxtrot oscar as they should have done that a month ago even though they would under cut my new prem.
Best bet is to shop around A LOT, some comparison sites will ask for cheapest quotes, stick in the lowest or a reasonable guess at what you think you should pay and see what happens. I have suffered the last 3 yrs with seriously high ins, £1200 then £900 and £850 till this yr.
Also what is your profession? this is a risk factor too, people in high stress jobs or jobs that put you at risk are loaded, eg sales jobs. there is a site i cant remember the name of but you can prob google, that lets you put your job in and comes up with a list of alternatives that you can legitimately use instead that are rated as lesser risk.
it is also important to be honest in the info you give, you may pay a higher price but its better for a claim to be paid than not. Ins companies are good at getting out of claims due to dishonesty because they employ people like me and my mate!
sorry bit of a long rant there, give meerkat and suzuki a go. hope you can get a reasonable premium and stay on the bike!
Good advice about the jobs bit, I completely forgot that your job affects your premium.
i'm with bikesure, great company. just after my last bike was stolen i had to go into hospital for a by-pass and they phoned me while i was recovering and told them not to contact me and i will contact them. they done what they were told unlike the finance company who even though were still getting their payments hounded me to which i eventually told them to f@*k off till i was better.
move on a year and new bike time i was expecting to be royally shafted for insurance but no it actually went down even with all my declared mods and i have a lot of mods :-)
my insurance went down again, then again this year and it's an all bells'n'whistles insurance. this is due to my postcode.
bring back the old days when Norwich Union done rider polices.
joshwalker094
22-12-12, 01:51 PM
So what if your a student? Does it make it cheaper?
From what I remember being a student cost me more than being unemployed :')
So what if your a student? Does it make it cheaper?
Not sure to be honest, it could be better or worse. In theory you are likely to be out and able to use the bike more than say some one in a 9-5 desk job. But then the 9-5er will be out at peak traffic times etc.
yorkie_chris
22-12-12, 01:55 PM
I'm with bikesure, have been several times, can't fault them.
Some things I thought were spot on and I had no luck with, with others;
-letter confirming they accepted my 33bhp restriction without a certificate
-various letters confirming they were aware of modifications
-mistake in policy documents, apologised and replacement documents on doorstep within 24 hours
-very reasonably priced second bike policy taking into account no claims in use with them
-when I had to reregister my XJ900, I had to change policy from one reg, to insuring the frame number, then to the new reg. This was done for free with absolutely no hassle at all.
And they've consistently been cheapest, or within a couple of quid. (yes I did actually pay a tenner more than I could have to stay with them!)
I've dealt with MCE and bennetts in the past so I know what it's like to deal with theives and liars too... :-P
Really? My insurer MCE at time let me just change the bike on the policy it cost me an extra £255 I think but I still had 5/6 months left on policy
Yep wanted to do that but swinton wanted £1000 TPFT to insure the SV!!!
Agy, your situation is pretty similar to mine recently. I was with ebike last yr as they were the cheapest after my accident. Mine didnt go up but it didnt go down as much as i thought it should. Ebike have as far as i can tell no pre-renewal retention team, the price on the site is the price.
I shopped around and for hte most part most quotes were higher elsewhere untill Meerkat, managed to cut my quotes in half! also tried Suzuki Insurance, they are relatively new brokers who specialise in, funnily enough, Suzuki's. called them and got a really high quote, told em i got £435 from meerkat and they said they'd speak to the underwriters and call me back in a day or two. Week later nothing heard so was going to go with the Meerkat and they called me back, matched the quote i got from meerkat and threw in free legal, helmet & leathers and discounted roadside assistance. Went with them and cancelled the ebike plan. had to wait till after the renewal date to get my proof of ncd now 3 yrs i think. 3 weeks!!! after the renewal date and 5 weeks after i actually cancelled the plan a guy called me up from ebike and asked if i wanted to renew. gave him a very polite foxtrot oscar as they should have done that a month ago even though they would under cut my new prem.
Best bet is to shop around A LOT, some comparison sites will ask for cheapest quotes, stick in the lowest or a reasonable guess at what you think you should pay and see what happens. I have suffered the last 3 yrs with seriously high ins, £1200 then £900 and £850 till this yr.
Also what is your profession? this is a risk factor too, people in high stress jobs or jobs that put you at risk are loaded, eg sales jobs. there is a site i cant remember the name of but you can prob google, that lets you put your job in and comes up with a list of alternatives that you can legitimately use instead that are rated as lesser risk.
it is also important to be honest in the info you give, you may pay a higher price but its better for a claim to be paid than not. Ins companies are good at getting out of claims due to dishonesty because they employ people like me and my mate!
sorry bit of a long rant there, give meerkat and suzuki a go. hope you can get a reasonable premium and stay on the bike!
I'm a Personal Trainer/Gym Manager but there is never such option so I put it down as sports coach. I'm also a student. Maybe that would be a better one LOL Interesting about that, I shall google it.
I wonder why do people even bother with fully comp insurance. If you claim your insurance will go up so much that it's not even worth claiming
I'm holding on to the fact (that I have been politely reminded of recently LOL) no one steals SVs :D
hmmm fair enough, that is prob a good match mate. might be worth seeing what comes up with student as the option.
fully comp is the way forward if you own anything that is worth a fair amount of money or if its on finance. especially if the incident is your own fault or there is no other party involved like you come off on a wet road etc. its swings and roundabouts mate. get the insurance that is best for you. if you can afford to repair/replace the bike in the event of an accident go for tpft. if not go for comp. Also it may apply to bikes as well as cars, a lot of insurers will require comp ins on cars under a certain age, when i had my car it was brand new and insurers said anything under 3 yrs had to be comp.
but i'm thinking if you crash let's say on diesel and do £500 worth of damage, I bet your next insurance will be at least £500 more as well as subsequent ones so you might as well pay for it yourself. no?
Spank86
22-12-12, 02:54 PM
If you go on money saving expert they have a section that'll suggest the best version of your job title
not necessarily, dont get me wrong it very well could do. but it would depend how much ncd you have and if its protected.
you also have to be careful with declaring things like that as, technically if you have an accident you have to declare it even if you do not claim for it through insurance. and this is where insurance companies are complete bar stewards, you cant transfer car ncd to bike and vice versa but if you have a an accident or claim on a car policy you have to declare that for your bike insurance and vice versa.
varies, i think most insurers require a minimum of 5 yrs ncd or something like that. it does attract a slightly higher premium for that benefit though.
I would imagine working in my filed they would expect me to ride extremely carefully as I CANNOT risk injury and I do ride very carefully as I am extremely aware of this fact. so i think my job title should be a pretty good one for insurance :)
hahaha, yeah i'd like to think so. sadly my job goes against me somewhat! think fraud investigators are loaded pretty highly due to the propensity to create enemies lol
I have a chain and padlock but no idea what brand. what do you put down on the form when they ask for security? they don't have "other" option
i have an abus detecto which is usually on the list, some do have an "other" or "unknown". if they dont have yours listed or no option for "other" try giving them a call, usually they have a more extensive list
I am playing around as we speak and just discovered being self employed yields better rates...
I am employed as well as self employed :)
nice, marital and residential status may affect it too
oh... maybe not... hmmm too many variables to play with :)
yorkie_chris
22-12-12, 04:25 PM
I am playing around as we speak and just discovered being self employed yields better rates...
I am employed as well as self employed :)
Might not be what you want to hear but do you use the bike to get around for work purposes?
depends. i cycle a lot too
just noticed alpha dot makes a bit of a difference and the kit only costs 25 quid
yorkie_chris
22-12-12, 04:44 PM
If you, as a PT instructor, was to use the bike for example to visit several different gyms/clients through a day then they would consider that to be needing "business use" on the policy.
The "commuting" bit of cover is generally limited to "travel to and from a fixed place of work".
Re. alphadot, have a good look round the bike, a lot of suzukis came with alphadot as standard and a replacement certificate for it might be cheaper than a kit.
How much difference does a tracker make?
I am not aware of having alpha dot. what does it look like?
what's a tracker?
is datatag better than alpha dot?
yorkie_chris
22-12-12, 04:52 PM
Neither are much more use than a chocolate fireguard, there are the very occasional cases it helps get some kn*bber prosecuted but very very rare.
The sticker may be of the slightest deterrent effect to a thief but likely not.
A tracker, unsurprisingly, tracks the bike if stolen.
from memory there are 2 types of trackers. both have pros and cons
the cheaper usually one off cost ones are RFID based. they have a unit that works like an alarm, if activated they emit a VLF signal with basic info such as owner or reg etc. Some police forces have the receivers but not all. The work on a direction finding basis and the coppers basically go towards the blips. Pros: cheap, usually only recurring costs are batteries, works inside buildings and vans. Cons: have to have a police force with receivers who will actually bother looking for a bike.
the more expensive ones are GPS based, they are a mini GPS unit in the bike that constantly comunicates with the security company. dont need to rely on coppers to have receivers as all taken care of by the company. Pros. Can, unless the bike is destroyed, locate and track in real time. cons: might not work in buildings or vans, usually expensive installation cost and membership/sub for as long as you want the service. company could go bust. data could be used against you in the event of traffic violations/accidents. so if you are a bit generous with the right wrist not a good idea.
Alphadot and datatag is more of an identification service than a tracker
oh also with the security things, these only go some way to offsetting risk as i think a lot, if not most, of insurance claims are for accidents and personal injury rather than theft etc. so the risk is more about you than the bike. so age, riding history etc are more important than if you have a disc lock.
if you are unfortunate like me and had a couple of accidents, it wouldnt make a difference if i had an armed squad guarding my bike that was locked in a bank safe for 23 hours out of the day :-(
uffffff.... all this stuff is giving me a headache :'( I cannot afford any fancy security devices
I got myself a cheapo bike to get around and enjoy myself (on the rare occasions time permits) and not have to worry about it too much and cheaply insure it but seems not to be that way.....
weirdly, price comparison sites show one price for company XYZ and then if I run the quote on the XYZ site, it gives an entirely different price....
yes you are right and i reckon ultimately unless I move, the insurance won't budge. I have now tried all types of locks, alarms, tags etc and none seem to make any real difference to the price of insurance
uffffff.... all this stuff is giving me a headache :'( I cannot afford any fancy security devices
I got myself a cheapo bike to get around and enjoy myself (on the rare occasions time permits) and not have to worry about it too much and cheaply insure it but seems not to be that way.....
weirdly, price comparison sites show one price for company XYZ and then if I run the quote on the XYZ site, it gives an entirely different price....
haha, yeah me too.
yep, in fact alot of different companies are actually part of the same group or underwritten by the same companies!
eg carol nash i got a quote direct of £780 for this yr. went to suzuki insurance who after some haggling gave me a decent price but started really high turns out to be a subsiduary of carol nash!
One way to reduce the price is to buy via a cashback website like Topcashback or Quidco, you should be able to get £30 to £100 back off your cheapest quote, you don't get the money for 3-6 months though.
Spank86
23-12-12, 01:43 AM
I have two bikes insured with two different companies through one comparison site using one underwriter.
Makes you wonder why the underwriters don't just cut out the middlemen.
I just did a quote to see what my insurance would cost if I had Ninja ZX10R 2006 with my 4 years NC and 1 offence of SP30 (in 08/2010) and it came to £437.
Really don't know why yours is so expensive Agy?
I just did a quote to see what my insurance would cost if I had Ninja ZX10R 2006 with my 4 years NC and 1 offence of SP30 (in 08/2010) and it came to £437.
Really don't know why yours is so expensive Agy?
My car insurance renewal went up in October, when I went to get a quote with another company they said I had an undisclosed claim on my file. Turns out someone used my reg and it was mistaken identity. They asked if I was sure I hadn't been in a crash! Anyway, I asked to be put through to the retentions department and said I had a cheaper quote elsewhere and wanted to leave. They ended up dropping the price to keep me. Postcode risk assessment is what hikes the premium more than anything, coupled with age and experience, whether it's a desirable bike to nick. My 08 SV with all the mods on it is £140 tpft through Bennetts, my wife's is the same with Swinton but fully comp.
Basic trackers can be bought on eBay for about £40 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Vehicle-Tracker-Tracking-Device-for-GSM-GPRS-GPS-/120939971904?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item1c28958540
Not sure how well you could hide it on a bike though.
Fallout
24-12-12, 10:25 AM
It's all postcode. Theft is the major issue with bikes. I've never paid more than £80 for my SV. Garaged and in nice postcodes, and that's why it's been cheap.
Have you tried dropping the theft coverage? TP only? Might be one possibility. Then you'd have to think of a serious way to keep the bike safe. e.g. ground anchor and huge bolt cutter impregnable chain.
As for the whole women vs men equality insurance thing, it's a proper joke. What is the point? Discrimination against where you live, your age, your job etc etc. is all fine, but sex isn't? Women deserve cheaper insurance because they claim less. Simple as.
Women deserve cheaper insurance because they claim less. Simple as.
No, it's because when there is an accident they use their 'puppies' to convince the man he was at fault ;)
widepants
24-12-12, 10:43 AM
No, it's because when there is an accident they use their 'puppies' to convince the man he was at fault ;)
http://www.pupmart.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/puppies-rehoming.jpg
these dad boys really do it for me
dizzyblonde
24-12-12, 10:51 AM
Here's a thought
Try changing your job description.I know it shouldnt make a jot of difference.
However, some jobs are more risky than others apparently. A housewife can go out whenever she wants on a bike according to insurance quotes. Yeahhhhh right! Being a housewife rather than a machine operator bumped my insurance up! I was told when renewing to leave it as it was!
Being a fitness instructor, if you were to make a claim for injuries or loss of earnings through incapacity, might be the clanger. Insurance company would cough up more for you than a checkout operator at Tesco.
Try it with a dummy quote
Spank86
24-12-12, 11:49 AM
As for the whole women vs men equality insurance thing, it's a proper joke. What is the point? Discrimination against where you live, your age, your job etc etc. is all fine, but sex isn't? Women deserve cheaper insurance because they claim less. Simple as.
IMHO Where you live should only count for fire and theft purposes and age shouldn't except as how long you've been driving nor should job or sex.
Why should my insurance go up if six telephone engineers who aren't me crash this year. Or if I change my job and do something else even though I don't commute on the bike.
Fallout
24-12-12, 12:10 PM
Because it's all based on statistics. Either they use statistics or they don't. Nobody can be represented by a statistic, but short of an interview with each proposer, where they're hooked up to a lie detector and asked a series of questions in an attempt to determine how safe a driver they are etc. there's no way they can tell anything about you. So while it's not fair to use statistics, it's a system that attempts to make it more fair than just having everyone pay the same.
Choosing which statistics to use based on stupid EU decisions is ridiculous. Either let them use statistics, or don't. Don't just exclude the gender statistic because sexism is considered worse than ageism (apparently), you cheeky young scamp doddering old fool Eastleigh living phone engineering though mortgage owning so considered responsible scum bag!
I wouldn't claim for work expenses would I? If I crashed I don't think insurance would cover my loss of earnings would it?? It would only be relevant if I injured the other party. That's why there's separate insurance for personal injury, which I think I have with another company. Like I said, I think being in sports should be good as it shows I need to ride carefully to remain injury free.
I did look at TP only; yes very tempting but the risk is just waaaay too high. I cannot install a ground anchor on a public pavement. Plus I park in so many different places, I cannot be chained up at every location.
My postcode is number one for this price. Simple as :'(
I am largely relying on the premise that no one steals SVs. And certainly no one arrives with a van to load one :D LOL
timwilky
24-12-12, 01:31 PM
Ahh the naivety of youth.
All things count against you, just by differing amounts.
You age, how long you have been claim and conviction free, what convictions you may have had in the past 5 years are the start. and are personal indicators as to risk.
Then you start with group indicators, what is your address, where do you park, your occupation, marital status. etc.
Now don't bite my head off. But to an old fart like me I would say young, single and employed within the sports industries would scream higher risk than say young married teacher etc.
I would think sports industries likely to give the wrong impression as it also lumps you with other richer professional sportsmen who can afford to take risks and invariably come a cropper in cases where enthusiasm exceeds ability. So look at the lists of occupations. Maybe you might fit into another lower risk category. Your self employed so is there "company director" for instance.
Spank86
24-12-12, 01:46 PM
Because it's all based on statistics. Either they use statistics or they don't. Nobody can be represented by a statistic, but short of an interview with each proposer, where they're hooked up to a lie detector and asked a series of questions in an attempt to determine how safe a driver they are etc. there's no way they can tell anything about you. So while it's not fair to use statistics, it's a system that attempts to make it more fair than just having everyone pay the same.
Choosing which statistics to use based on stupid EU decisions is ridiculous. Either let them use statistics, or don't. Don't just exclude the gender statistic because sexism is considered worse than ageism (apparently), you cheeky young scamp doddering old fool Eastleigh living phone engineering though mortgage owning so considered responsible scum bag!
My argument is only use statistics based on YOU, ones that make sense. Insurance starts high and then goes down based on you, no need for interviews. Fire and theft statistics are reasonable to base on area but other stats based on job or marital status or gender are just rubbish. It's correlation without causation. Even the age one makes a bit more sense because you have definite changes in brain chemistry between teenage and old person which absolutely affect driving ability but even that's shakey.
I'm 30. I don't get why I'm paying insurance at a level of a youngster
timwilky
24-12-12, 01:57 PM
I am 52 and still feel like I am paying too much and how unfair that you can only get NCB for 8 years. My one and only car claim was a 50-50 35 years ago when I was 17. So I can only think it is you youngsters pushing up my insurance. Again I have 3 vehicle policies. I cannot be using all at the same time, but am charged 100% for each.
It could be argued that statistically you will at some time have a claim. Therefore someone like me is probably statistically likelier to have a claim as I have not had any for such a long time.
As for other risks age has no real bearing, When I got back on two wheels 10 years ago I was knocked off 6 days after buying the bike. OK I received full payout but I still had to say I had a no fault claim for 5 years which loaded my policy. as statistically if you have had an accident, you are more likely to have a second.
Fallout
24-12-12, 02:02 PM
My argument is only use statistics based on YOU, ones that make sense. Insurance starts high and then goes down based on you, no need for interviews. Fire and theft statistics are reasonable to base on area but other stats based on job or marital status or gender are just rubbish. It's correlation without causation. Even the age one makes a bit more sense because you have definite changes in brain chemistry between teenage and old person which absolutely affect driving ability but even that's shakey.
I disagree because you can pick wholes in or support the validity of any of the statistics. For example, you say area is an ok stat, but if I always parked my bike in an impregnable garage and never parked it anywhere else, the theft elevation for area is unfair in my case. The 'locked garage' adjuster doesn't do that scenario justice. Similarly, gender is rubbish because some blokes ride safely and some don't, but I've never seen a girl ride or drive like the lunatics we were (are :rolleyes:) in our youth, so it's a good assumption and in our cases it's correct.
I'm 30. I don't get why I'm paying insurance at a level of a youngster
Cos you live in an 'orrible place and park it on the road! ;) I'm pretty much the same age and could insure your bike almost 10 times over for what you pay, but I live in Gentlevilletown and have a locked garage.
Ho hum... looks like nowt I can do
Dicky Ticker
24-12-12, 02:26 PM
Agy as you claim your bike is necessary for commuting between customers surely it is tax deductible and if this is so what is the problem? You maybe paying a high premium but it can be compensated by retrieving your outgoings against earnings.
Your actual age has nothing to do with riding experience,it is how long you have held a motorbike licence. A 25 year old can have 7 years NCB so the insurance company has something to gauge against the individual, but, at the beginning they do not have any record to gauge you as an individual.
Everybody has gone through this experience at some time or another in their riding career,we all have to start someplace.
I can have my own premium hiked if I exceed my declared annual mileage but as my bike is only for pleasure my declared mileage is low,less miles against somebody like yourself riding high miles in London there for you are deemed to be a higher risk
No, I don't commute between customers. I travel to one place of work and to uni. Often I cycle too. My bike is not for business use.
I know it's to do with time spent riding but I expected some respite after my first year and here? NADA :( not one iota
Spank86
24-12-12, 02:35 PM
I'm 30. I don't get why I'm paying insurance at a level of a youngster
Sounds like most of it is due to theft from your post code.
Change your post code to so22 5dn and see what happens, just as an experiment.
And moots not my house, it's a garden centre in Winchester.
You're also a new rider but my most expensive policy was £300 on the speed four.
Spank86
24-12-12, 02:38 PM
I disagree because you can pick wholes in or support the validity of any of the statistics. For example, you say area is an ok stat, but if I always parked my bike in an impregnable garage and never parked it anywhere else, the theft elevation for area is unfair in my case. The 'locked garage' adjuster doesn't do that scenario justice. Similarly, gender is rubbish because some blokes ride safely and some don't, but I've never seen a girl ride or drive like the lunatics we were (are :rolleyes:) in our youth, so it's a good assumption and in our cases it's correct.
A locked garage isn't THAT safe, most of them could be accessed within seconds, as for crazy women, have you forgotten the Earlys so quickly? The point is theft stats really don't matter WHO you are just where,
Johns bins were casualties of war on a weakly basis.
I have just tried my mum's address in Cambridgeshire and hasn't actually made much difference. Interesting. The only thing that changed the premium is a garage
Spank86
24-12-12, 02:54 PM
Oh yeah, I've always had mine down as garaged. Currently it's defended by asbestos so if anyone breaks in I'll have my revenge... Eventually.
Dicky Ticker
24-12-12, 03:27 PM
I have used a made up name at my address with 8 years residency in uk,chain as security on street parking ,one years NCB-----using what I know about you regarding work.I put you down as a dietitian working at a health centre rather than fitness instructor.
Result £158 Hastings Direct TPFT
You can legitimately change your employment status but it seems to me that it is purely your post code that is your killer.:confused:
dizzyblonde
24-12-12, 04:06 PM
Like I said, job title goes a long way ;)
Like I said, job title goes a long way ;)
Agreed. Could only get 3pf&t when it was down as motorcycle trade. Retailing is much better :)
yorkie_chris
24-12-12, 05:22 PM
You can legitimately change your employment status but it seems to me that it is purely your post code that is your killer.:confused:
+1 there are many different ways to phrase the same job.
Try a few different ones and find out what they want to hear :)
Spank86
24-12-12, 05:26 PM
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance-job-picker/
Littlepeahead
24-12-12, 06:07 PM
True about job title. My job is Filming and Photography Manager but if I were to put anything like that on my isurance it would go through the roof as they would assume I was riding my bike to riots to photograph them. So I am listed as an Administration Manager, which is what I do in essence. A friend with the same bike as me in a similar post code, with garage and same years riding experience got a quote for £2200 while mine was £120. The reason? He was a professional Cricketer, I was the press officer.
Ceri JC
24-12-12, 06:57 PM
The reason? He was a professional Cricketer, I was the press officer.
Professional sports people crash loads. Hardly surprising; they do, by their very nature, tend to be aggressive, competitive and to enjoy speed. They're also spectacularly over-represented in DUIs. It's one of those professions I can at least understand carrying a silly premium weighting. Even if I feel sorry for the individuals who are the inevitable exceptions to the generalisation.
It's more the subtleties between "wording" of the same job that gets me. Plus the fact that if you're remotely specialised in your profession, they never have anything that accurately describes it in their drop down list. I could quite reasonably be considered:
Security (Frequently misinterpreted to mean bouncer/security guard)
IT Professional (Ridiculously broad categorisation; tell me programmers as a whole are anywhere near as risky as technical sales guys)
IT Consultant (What the hell does that even mean?)
Risk Analyst (Ooh, this is a good one; I'll automatically be really risk averse and drive like I'm on the IAM test the whole time)
External Auditor (Sounds promising; I might be uptight and conservative in my driving, right?)
Financial Services (So what does that mean, I'm a banker who blows his bonus on a sportscar he doesn't know how to drive?)
These carry a huge variety of different premium ratings. I do the same job, I'm the same person, I'm the same risk. Yet a huge part of my premium cost is utterly arbitrary; decided based upon the extremely limited understanding of what I do that a person in a call centre has.
Dicky Ticker
24-12-12, 07:12 PM
I am not trying to cause controversy,just point out that a different postcode and occupation makes a VAST difference.
Still surprised about Cambridge,unless it is in the city itself rather than the county
yorkie_chris
24-12-12, 07:18 PM
Professional sports people crash loads. Hardly surprising; they do, by their very nature, tend to be aggressive, competitive and to enjoy speed. They're also spectacularly over-represented in DUIs. It's one of those professions I can at least understand carrying a silly premium weighting. Even if I feel sorry for the individuals who are the inevitable exceptions to the generalisation.
You get paid to race motorbikes/play whatever balls game you are passionate about... well it's not exactly "work" so don't whinge :)
21QUEST
24-12-12, 07:28 PM
Give this company a ring.
Lionheart Insurance Services Ltd
0800 917 5227
0121 380 0930
Win the lottery and be your own under writer ?
Like I said, job title goes a long way ;)
Being in the motor trade is not good for low quotes .
Spank86
26-12-12, 09:03 AM
According to MCN London is the 5th worst town for bike theft and Cambridge the 8th.
Of course Romford Bromley and Croydon are all above "London" so I guess it's best to just live in the sticks.
LewSpeight
28-12-12, 01:04 AM
I currently can't ride my SV till February, I did my CBT in feb 2012, so will have 1 years ncb this coming feb. passed to 33bhp licence end of October. If I wait till feb to insure the Sv, it brings my quotes down from 3k+ to £650 because i'll have a years riding under my belt. no crashes or claims of any kind, garaged, town centre postcode, and I'm only 18.
I'm currently paying 500 3rd party on my crappy 125cc import.
I thought I was getting robbed blind for my 125, but it seems on the Sv I'll be doing okay?
Yes, around £650 sounds right for you. Mine was around the same when I upgraded to my restricted sv650 around your age too.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance-job-picker/
Cheers for that spank, gonna bookmark that for my renewal next year, although there arent too many alternatives to my job title :-(
Agy, whilst the premiums are shocking at the mo it should hopefully get better for you. I was borderline having to give up the bike this year due to insurance, shop around lots, sometimes give the companies a call too as they often do "special one time only" deals to secure sales, they should honour that quote for a week or so if not more (just be sure to check how long it will be valid for, if tehy sayo nly this call tell them that you need to get the money sorted first and need a week) and if they lower it you can try to play them all off against one another.
According to MCN London is the 5th worst town for bike theft and Cambridge the 8th.
Strangely, I haven't heard of one motorcycle or even scooter being stolen in Cambridge since I've been working and living here, which is about 16 months. Given that for 15 months of that I was running a bike shop and in contact with a large number of bikers every day I can't see how that figure is anywhere near correct... Oh wait a minute, it was in MCN... that'll be why it stinks of bullsh1t.
Spank86
28-12-12, 08:36 PM
Of course I don't know what the stats actually are or how they're compiled.
It could be raw numbers or based on percentage of bikers.
Given that you haven't even heard of one I'd say that's very odd. I heard about a couple being stolen last year in Winchester and I have almost no contact with non GMer bikers.
LewSpeight
28-12-12, 09:34 PM
When i started riding, i setup a little local group on fb for lads my ages with bikes/scooters and what not. We started with 41 in the group who used to come out religiously everyweek and go for a local couple of hour ride.
Over the year of 2012, there are now only 6 of us that come out.. partly because some have moved onto cars, 2 have had serious crashes and stopped riding all together, but mainly because there have been so many bikes nicked this year i've lost count.
Most of them got stolen when the gypsy's were around, i hate to point the finger but it seems a little suspicious; only one stolen bike ever got recovered.
Iantson
28-12-12, 10:25 PM
My son is just 21 and just passed his direct access on 14 Dec we got a SV650 K5 on the 15 Dec and insured it on 17 Dec 12 with 4 years NCB on his 125 TPFT £421. Express Insurance
I have a 1250 Bandit L0 2010 and a V-Strom 650 K7 on one policy never claimed in 30 years and pay £152 Fully comp. H&R Insurance.
I just cant understand some people are crazy prices and quotes, I know commuting and carrying pillion makes a massive difference to the price carrying pillion can almost double the price.
LewSpeight
28-12-12, 10:28 PM
My son is just 21 and just passed his direct access on 14 Dec we got a SV650 K5 on the 15 Dec and insured it on 17 Dec 12 with 4 years NCB on his 125 TPFT £421. Express Insurance
I have a 1250 Bandit L0 2010 and a V-Strom 650 K7 on one policy never claimed in 30 years and pay £152 Fully comp. H&R Insurance.
I just cant understand some people are crazy prices and quotes, I know commuting and carrying pillion makes a massive difference to the price carrying pillion can almost double the price.
My insurance and my friends insurance didnt budge one bit when we put pillions on?
joshwalker094
28-12-12, 10:28 PM
My son is just 21 and just passed his direct access on 14 Dec we got a SV650 K5 on the 15 Dec and insured it on 17 Dec 12 with 4 years NCB on his 125 TPFT £421. Express Insurance
I have a 1250 Bandit L0 2010 and a V-Strom 650 K7 on one policy never claimed in 30 years and pay £152 Fully comp. H&R Insurance.
I just cant understand some people are crazy prices and quotes, I know commuting and carrying pillion makes a massive difference to the price carrying pillion can almost double the price.
I disagree with some of what you say.
I've found that on the couple of policies I have had and qoutes that pillion has never made a difference in price, my current insurer Carole Nash don't charge extra.
joshwalker094
28-12-12, 10:30 PM
What I want to know is, as am now a student and come renewal I'll still be a student but part time gardener( SE) what should I say?
They think I'm still working on a call centre at the moment but I will soon be leaving ;)
So what should I tell them to reduce price
LewSpeight
28-12-12, 10:32 PM
My insurance dropped a little (about £15) when i left my call centre job to work in retail, i guess it goes down to less stress etc.
Iantson
28-12-12, 10:33 PM
My insurance and my friends insurance didnt budge one bit when we put pillions on?
It baffles me insurance is nothing more that legalised theft they just make it up as they go along my sons quote was extra £200 for pillion on his policy?
LewSpeight
28-12-12, 10:34 PM
aye, seems to be how good of a mood the underwriters are on the day..
yorkie_chris
28-12-12, 11:44 PM
It's all a big load of sums about risk and whether you fit into one pidgeonhole of one company or another.
The details* don't tend to make any more than a superficial difference if you have shopped around. I do not include employment state or location in "details" though... they can make a big difference.
*eg. pillion cover, minor modifications, 6000 miles pa vs 8000 etc etc
Spank86
29-12-12, 07:56 AM
MIleage certainly doesnt tend to make much difference, most of them dont even check your start mileage so you could be completely lying.
MIleage certainly doesnt tend to make much difference, most of them dont even check your start mileage so you could be completely lying.
But they do ask for mot s .....
Spank86
29-12-12, 09:24 AM
I've never been asked for an MOT certificate by my insurer.
Although yes it's all online so maybe they get it that way but if you're changing each year to hit the best deal and your MOT date doesn't coincide with your insurance date.
Fallout
29-12-12, 10:22 AM
This year I got asked for my license details a few months into my policy. Had to scan CBT and Pass certificate and license. Very weird. Don't think it was anything to do with premium but some sort of other check. Very bizarre! Good job I keep them all filed away.
dizzyblonde
29-12-12, 10:22 AM
Mileage can make a difference. For instance both my bikes qualified for CN, classic policy this year. Had I put down doing more of an average amount per year.....they wouldn't have qualified. I put down 3k for each. Not that I do that between the two :(
If your SV is over ten years old, and you do 4k miles a year or less (IIRC). Your insurance will be peanuts for a classic policy.
Spank86
29-12-12, 10:40 AM
This year I got asked for my license details a few months into my policy. Had to scan CBT and Pass certificate and license. Very weird. Don't think it was anything to do with premium but some sort of other check. Very bizarre! Good job I keep them all filed away.
odd, I get asked for licence every year but never CBT and pass certificate.
yorkie_chris
29-12-12, 10:59 AM
Funny, I didn't think you had any obligation to keep the pass certificate and CBT once you had obtained a full licence.
(keeping it is still a good idea in case of DVLA incompetence obviously)
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