Insurance and modifications!

[Ollie_07]

After ringing Bennetts yesterday and them saying i cant have a can on my bike as it will void my policy, and then reading one of the guys hasnt declared his mods on the other insurance thread, i was wondering who has covered their mods, and whether its all of the mods or just ones that dont increase performance... like huggers/tail tidys and the like?


Also if any of you guys are around 22 or 23 and have an SV Sport with mods(like a can etc), could you let me know who your covered with and what your premium is?:thumleft:

[fat_brstd]

im 23 with a tl1000s and i pay 500 tp with 1yrs no claims with carole nash and i did have a claim last year (it settled 80/20 in my favour) I have told them its got a loud road legal can on it and thats it. in reality its also got a full ohlins suspension kit which if i declared i wouldnt be able to get insurance as well as a whole bunch of carbon fibre and blingy bits and bobs like new wheels, belly pan, digi gear indicator, braided hoses, 6 pot calipers etc.

When i had my sv i told them i had a road legal end can on it and they said it didnt affect my insurance. I actually had a race can which was marked not for road use and when there valuations guy came down to look at it after the crash he said it didnt matter and put it down as a non performance increasing mod. He also didnt care about the tank raisers and the bmc air filter. I think my insurance was something like 300 tpft with 4 yrs no claims at 22 with carole nash but im not 100%.

Remember a garage and living in the middle of nowhere drops your insurance quite a lot.

[El Saxo]

I'm a bit older at 26, but have just renewed with Express insurance for just under £400 FC, 2 yrs NCB, with 3 points & a fault accident (albeit in the car), SDP use incl commuting, garaged in brick garage, alarm & immobiliser fitted.

Express are the official suzuki insurers so definitely worth a look.

Voted all modes declared BTW. :)

[plowsie]

At renewal i shall tell them the mods on mine. Hoping not to have another accident for a while had too many tbh :(

[jayjay]

Just had a quote for my sv from wicked quotes, policy provided by equity star.

I gave them a list of all the mods and i just got a quote back of £79 tpft, im 32, bike kept in locked garage.

next cheapest was my current provider MCE at £100 also equity star,

last years policy with equity star through MCE was £120

I dont think i will be able to beat £79 what do you think?

[600+]

I have declared every single thing on mine and the list is a bit long - cosmetic mainly but still classed as mods.

paying £354 FC with 7 years NCB, I'm 25 and bike is not in a garage but in private land (as they class it)

[Ollie_07]

Express are the official suzuki insurers so definitely worth a look.

I just tried a quote, and just from adding an exhaust as the only mod, they said unable to quote, please call.... :(

Just had a quote for my sv from wicked quotes, policy provided by equity star.

I gave them a list of all the mods and i just got a quote back of £79 tpft, im 32, bike kept in locked garage.

I hate you!:D

[ASM-Forever]

I presume this is your first bike/first big bike after passing your test, so its going to be unavoidable that you take a bit of a hit in your first year.....its all downhill after that. Expect to pay quite a large excess as well.

I am 21 and my insurance on the SV was circa £300 FC with Carole Nash. I did have 2 years of NCB though. Having written the SV off(non-fault accident) i have paid just over £100 to upgrade the policy to a 2005 R6.

The SV was pretty standard apart from sensible mods like a fender extender/hugger/lowers. I considered getting a new can and when i called CN to see how it would affect the premium, they said it would stay the same. I also looked at an Ohlins rear shock and they said it would not effect the premium but if i wrote the bike off they would only supply a standard shock.

It seems like you are getting quotes on the net which is good for preliminary, but you will find they are a lot more flexible with mods/price when you call instead.

Carole Nash may be a little more expensive, but with all the extras like overseas/legal cover, free breakdown(who actually turn up quickly!) and in my experience the best service by far they are well worth a look

[El Saxo]

I just tried a quote, and just from adding an exhaust as the only mod, they said unable to quote, please call.... :(

The website did that with me too. Cheapest quote by far though when I called them :thumbsup:

[ThEGr33k]

I dont get the whole insurance thing, they just rip us off! N' then there is the fact that everything can be the same, age, bike, NCB, date of test passed, area etc but STILL i seem to get a ****ty quote!

Mine is FC with k5 SV650s down for 6000+ (unlimited) miles 2 year NCB and a couple of mods inc end can it comes to just over £700 with £650 excess, thats bennets for you... If i had have realised before id have gone for ebike.com!! Give it a try, they are so flexible and cheep!

:D

[kwak zzr]

yep told them about the lot, the zorst made £5 difference.

[eviltwin]

Express are the official suzuki insurers so definitely worth a look.

Whilst not wanting to moan, please don't think that being Suzuki's official insurer makes Express a good company to deal with...I hope you never have to claim through them El Saxo. I would never recommend them to anyone and would never use them again, even if it was free. Nuff said.

[El Saxo]

Whilst not wanting to moan, please don't think that being Suzuki's official insurer makes Express a good company to deal with...I hope you never have to claim through them El Saxo. I would never recommend them to anyone and would never use them again, even if it was free. Nuff said.

Fair point, I've not had to make a claim with them, hope i don't have to make a claim with anyone to be honest! :lol:

My experience with them was only really that they were by far the cheapest quote i got after a lot of ringing around and they were happy with any and all mods i declared. I shall tread carefully in the event of a claim, thanks for the heads-up :thumbsup:

[Ollie_07]

Think i might try giving them a call then!

Pay all this cash for insurance and some companies provide **** service in the event of a claim and also do everything possible to get out of paying up!! :(

[Moffatt666]

I'm insured with axa though Swinton. £450 tpft. £500 excess. I'm 18 (but 17 when the policy started.

[timwilky]

I always remember going to see a morris minor in Keithley The owner had done a nice customisation, especially the way he had blended in a Merc front grill. He was obviously a very skilled panel beater. The Ford 2.0 V4 engine was fitted in nicely. However, the owner had omitted to detail the engine and despite there being a jag rear axle, there was standard front suspension/brakes.

The car was on an agreed valuation policy. After my report. his claim was thrown out. Why? he had lost control of the car at speed and side swiped an oncoming vehicle. The engine was too heavy/powerful for the installed suspension/brakes.

These undeclared mods left the owner severely out of pocket. His own fault.

People, you have insurance for your own protection against financial loss. Not just because the law says you must have it. So why risk invalidating it with undeclared mods etc.

His argument, was the car was a work in progress and he had fitted the higher spec engine/gearbox and axle after the policy inception and that he had not realised he needed to declare the extra mods

[northwind]

I just tried a quote, and just from adding an exhaust as the only mod, they said unable to quote, please call.... :(


Yeah, don't worry about that, that's just the website restrictions. I'd be pretty distrustful of any website that DOES quote for a modified bike tbh.

[Ollie_07]

Rang Express Insurance and they will cover my bike with mods declared including can for 90quid less than Bennetts, and also a £250 less excess than Bennetts!!:eek:

Happy and sad at the same time really as although its a cracking quote, i will get seriously stung if i cancel with bennetts to move across, they want 30quid cancellation charge and 30% of the policy!!!:smt013

Basically meaning that 1 months insurance will have cost me £180 ish!! Ouch!!:rolleyes:

Im in two minds whether to stay with bennetts for the first year, and try and hold onto some of money, or bite the bullet, switch companies and release that awesome V Twin note with a new can....:twisted:

the sensible decision is too hold off for a year..... ahhhh!! :(

[ASM-Forever]

the sensible decision is too hold off for a year..... ahhhh!! :(

You have answered your own question!

I guess it all depends on how much cash you have knocking about. Whilst i am sure you can afford to take the hit...would you rather not spend the £'s elsewhere in your life.

My SV had few mods and i had a list of things i wanted to do to it. When i added up the cost it was cheaper to have a sports bike and thats a hell of a lot more bang for your buck!

Of course if you had been thorough in your research/read the documents in the first place you wouldn't be in this situation :p

[Ollie_07]

Of course if you had been thorough in your research/read the documents in the first place you wouldn't be in this situation :p

:smt097


:mrgreen:

[Jackie_Black]

I believe they are all pirates. I had insurance with carole Nash for my DR125 and it cost me £200 on my provisional. I had the bike a month passed my test and traded it for a new SV650 Sport. They wanted £950 fully comp with £500 excess (i'm 29 and live in the sticks and its chained to the ground).

I decided to cancel and CN charged me £120 for just under 4 weeks insurance!! Nasty. Express sorted it for £475 comp with £200 excess.

I hope they don't charge me silly money for the fuel Can I want!:)

[hovis]

£280 for the fireblade

:smt031

[Ceri JC]

Yep, so long as you don't tinker with the engine, mine don't seem to care at all! All mods in my sig are declared to them.