insurers - are they fiddling us?

My girlfriend has had a Yammy SR125 since last autumn and been looking into doing her full licence. Got a good insurance quote with Bennets at the time for £88 Fully Comp, nice one. All was well...

A friend of ours, Mark, also got himself a wee learner cruiser thing (hyosung i think, but we forgive him!), but on his test date a few months back forgot his CBT cert and the examiner gave him 15mins to get it or it was a fail. Well, it was a 30mile round trip to his house so, crest fallen, he agreed to a later date which was last Tuesday.

In the meantime he was unfortunate enough to sieze the engine on his bike. He asked if he could borrow the SR for practice and for the test, he would cover insurance costs etc. but as he was TPFT on his bike the only way around this is to be a named rider on Amanda's policy.

We rang Bennets, explained everything, saying we wanted cover for another learner but would only need it for a week max, this came to £110 and the one stipulation was Amanda would not be allowed to commute to/from work so we agreed to this. At this point they stated the 'change of policy' admin fees would mean we didn't get a full refund but around £50 back from the £110, which Mark was ok about but hardly over the moon. £60 for a weeks cover!

Mark passed no probs on Tuesday. So we phoned the insurance today to get things reverted to normal. The broker tells us we are not intitled to any refund out of the £110 and if Amanda wants to commute again she has to pay the £25 admin fee for this once more. We were not allowed to speak to a manger/supervisor either stating 'the manager would need to review our policy before hand'.

I'm waiting on a call from them about it, but somehow just know we are held over a barrel here.

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by haggis

My girlfriend has had a Yammy SR125 since last autumn and been looking into doing her full licence. Got a good insurance quote with Bennets at the time for £88 Fully Comp, nice one. All was well...

A friend of ours, Mark, also got himself a wee learner cruiser thing (hyosung i think, but we forgive him!), but on his test date a few months back forgot his CBT cert and the examiner gave him 15mins to get it or it was a fail. Well, it was a 30mile round trip to his house so, crest fallen, he agreed to a later date which was last Tuesday.

In the meantime he was unfortunate enough to sieze the engine on his bike. He asked if he could borrow the SR for practice and for the test, he would cover insurance costs etc. but as he was TPFT on his bike the only way around this is to be a named rider on Amanda's policy.

We rang Bennets, explained everything, saying we wanted cover for another learner but would only need it for a week max, this came to £110 and the one stipulation was Amanda would not be allowed to commute to/from work so we agreed to this. At this point they stated the 'change of policy' admin fees would mean we didn't get a full refund but around £50 back from the £110, which Mark was ok about but hardly over the moon. £60 for a weeks cover!

Mark passed no probs on Tuesday. So we phoned the insurance today to get things reverted to normal. The broker tells us we are not intitled to any refund out of the £110 and if Amanda wants to commute again she has to pay the £25 admin fee for this once more. We were not allowed to speak to a manger/supervisor either stating 'the manager would need to review our policy before hand'.

I'm waiting on a call from them about it, but somehow just know we are held over a barrel here.

Thats why I love my insurers H & R Insurance in Blackburn, Aberdeenshire. https://www.hrinsurance.co.uk/

Really messed them around - well not that much - got my SV done TPF&T initially, decided that I would go fully comp - well had a chat with my dad who suggested it woudl be better - saw the sense in it and called them.

Lost a little bit of money due to the mid-term cancellation, but they didn't charge me admin fees, and, when I needed a duplicate certificate, they didn't charge me their usual £10.

They also give VERY good advice on which policy to go with - I have excess insurance which has a limit of £500.

By taking a policy that was £10 more expensive than the lowest cost one it meant that I have an excess of £250 rather than £350.

At first glance, it seems that I made a mistake, but under certain circumstances my excess can be doubled, main one being if I leave the bike outside instead of in my garage overnight at my home address. They pointed this out and recommended the second policy, which I took.

David

bennetts are cheap but they do charge for every extra ontop.

Originally Posted by kwak zzr

bennetts are cheap but they do charge for every extra ontop.

Had a better quote from Suzuki's own insurance scheme (NIG as insurers) than my initial quote from Bennetts. Came to £270 fully comp with a lower xs compared to Bennetts £310

[tj2]

Bennets used to be good, but now they just take the ****........

Ebike are now my preferred, but if they start going the same then they also will lose my business

Terry

The main thing wrong with Bennetts as far as I was concerned is that they do not insure you to ride any other motorcycle. Obviously this means that I can't just swop bikes with anyone for a ride. Not good.

On top of that, although they are cheap, the rob you blind if you want to make any adjustments to the policy. (as you have now found out).

Originally Posted by Steelman

Had a better quote from Suzuki's own insurance scheme (NIG as insurers) than my initial quote from Bennetts. Came to £270 fully comp with a lower xs compared to Bennetts £310

my MCE insurance put me with the same company NIG.

the best was when i had my accident in october last year because it hasnt been settled yet they took 4 years NCB from me just incase robbing gits

i find bennits rather over priced to me about £200 over.

but like anythink shop about and ya find the one u want.

jon

Originally Posted by kwak zzr

the best was when i had my accident in october last year because it hasnt been settled yet they took 4 years NCB from me just incase robbing gits

I was pleased with the NIG / Suzuki quote as I had no NCB for a bike (returning after 14 years), so the premium at £270 seemed good - the only advantage of being more mature in years (but definitely not in thought and actions)