[Bishopofmanchester]

hi all

i've just moved house in London and now find myself with a drive but no lock -up garage. while updating my address with my insurance co. i've just been told that they will not insure my GT - full stop - unless i have a garage. obviously a bit of a worry. i've shopped around a bit and found TPF&T cover, but absolutely nothing fully comprehensive - anyone else out there had this problem in London? or other cities? is there a bike insurer out there who actually offers a fair insurance 'service'

 

[LondonDutch]

It' pretty common for many insurers to say this, but not always true when you keep shopping around. My Superduke was refused by five or six companies, and I ended up being underwritten by carole nash's in house team (rather than them broking to a third party), but I had to describe my yard and my security set up in great detail, which Included overlooking windows, Almax 16mm chains, Xena alarmed disc lock, Fortress Ground Anchor, etc... Where I live in N19 bike theft is a daily hazzard and insurers probably take a big hit in payouts for those who leave posh bikes out on the street.

Mind you, the GT is not a Fireblade, panigale or even the bankrobber's favourite, a Superduke, and your drive is technically "off street private land", so don't give up, and keep shopping around!!!

I insured a Superduke R and Sport Classic fully comp in N19 "off street" for around £750 a year, and I'm 45 with three years no claims bonus and 26 years riding experienceg.

 

[Bishopofmanchester]

thanks for your advice here, will keep shopping around

 

[ianhear]

I live just up the road from Dutch (N8) and keep my GT in my front yard.
Swinton came up best for me - I think I pay about £350 fully comp. Every year they try and hike it up £100, but I manage to negotiate it back down again.
Over the years, quotes have varied wildly, but I've never been refused cover.

Ground anchor and chain, max no claims, 39 years old, 23 years experience.

 

[muzzmann]

hi all

i've just moved house in London and now find myself with a drive but no lock -up garage. while updating my address with my insurance co. i've just been told that they will not insure my GT - full stop - unless i have a garage. obviously a bit of a worry. i've shopped around a bit and found TPF&T cover, but absolutely nothing fully comprehensive - anyone else out there had this problem in London? or other cities? is there a bike insurer out there who actually offers a fair insurance 'service'

Build a ramp and roll it into the house ! Been there done that ...

Muzz

 

[greggers]

Build a ramp and roll it into the house ! Been there done that ...

Muzz

+1
And all your guests will see that you have impeccable taste

 

[Faint]

Over here in the US, I pay $440/year for full coverage. I live in a college town which hikes rates up because of the average accidents per capita. I'm also high risk at 22 years old so I pay at the top of the scale.

My boss pays $135/year for full coverage on his Ducati Monster 998. I'm jealous.

We both use Foremost which writes for Ducati, specifically. I'm not sure if there is an equivalent across the pond.

Alternative is to just lie...

 

[phantomfighter]

Have you tried Ebike.com. That's who I'm with. Or maybe express insurance.


Sent from my Motorcycle iPhone app

 

[Jmforge]

Over here in the US, I pay $440/year for full coverage. I live in a college town which hikes rates up because of the average accidents per capita. I'm also high risk at 22 years old so I pay at the top of the scale.

My boss pays $135/year for full coverage on his Ducati Monster 998. I'm jealous.

We both use Foremost which writes for Ducati, specifically. I'm not sure if there is an equivalent across the pond.

Alternative is to just lie...

From what I have seen, UK insurance is a bit different. They have insurance classes, whereas, my limited experience over here in the US is that the rates are determined to a great degree by the typical owner of a specific type of bike, so you may have someone give you a quote for $1000 a year for say a GSX-R1000 because of the loss experience with that bike. (lots of kids crashing at high speed) but a 1198 may only be $500 because the riders tend to be older and wrap them around a lot fewer light poles. When I had my Thruxton a few years back, my premiums with Progressive were about 1/4 of what I would have paid for a Japanese 600 sport bike down here in Florida and IIRC, a 1000 Monster or SS wouldn't have been much more.

 

[greggers]

From what I have seen, UK insurance is a bit different. They have insurance classes, whereas, my limited experience over here in the US is that the rates are determined to a great degree by the typical owner of a specific type of bike, so you may have someone give you a quote for $1000 a year for say a GSX-R1000 because of the loss experience with that bike. (lots of kids crashing at high speed) but a 1198 may only be $500 because the riders tend to be older and wrap them around a lot fewer light poles. When I had my Thruxton a few years back, my premiums with Progressive were about 1/4 of what I would have paid for a Japanese 600 sport bike down here in Florida and IIRC, a 1000 Monster or SS wouldn't have been much more.

Yep they definitely use some odd logic here..before I bought my Sport, I was considering a 90s 900SS, and got quoted over $1000 to insure one. My 2008 Sport 1000 is about $400 from the same carrier. Go figure.

 

[LondonDutch]

Trust me, there is no strict logic.

I have a friend who work in insurance, and basically there is a huge a complex structure of risk assessment, combining the owner (age, experience, previous claims, job, relationship status) with where you live (crime rate, accident rate) your security (garage/street, alarm, lock, tracker) with the bike (performance, value, popularity with bike thieves) - which sounds sensible, but then they work prices through some kind of reverse auction (like Price-Drop TV) where they start ridiculously high and only drop thier quote incrementally according to the competitive quotes you find elsewhere - even when you renew with the same insurer.

I've had underwriters offer to insure my SDR at £1500 a year, and then drop to £600 two hours later, after I found quotes at £800, £750 and £650.

The harder you work to negotiate the cheaper you will get, and I've often thought; "I'll never get this new bike insured with anyone" ...a few hours before getting a £500 quote.

They are complete a*sholes.

 

[Bishopofmanchester]

Thanks for all your input. I've finally settled on Aviva at £700 tpf&t with no garage, best of a bad bunch tone honest. I formerly had a cb1000r and a lock up so fully comp was £800 but I had a 911 stolen in 2008 and many insurance companies want 5 years claim history. ( interesting point though, they count claims for cars but not no-claims from cars) anyway, insurance panic over, if it would only stop raining I could get out there!

 

[LondonDutch]

Cool...

...By the way, we have a London BSMC custom/cafe/brat-style bike meet at the Landseer pub in Holloway next Thursday (3rd may)... Feel free to join us from 7pm.

All UK SC/GT owners are welcome...

 

[Jmforge]

Trust me, there is no strict logic.

I have a friend who work in insurance, and basically there is a huge a complex structure of risk assessment, combining the owner (age, experience, previous claims, job, relationship status) with where you live (crime rate, accident rate) your security (garage/street, alarm, lock, tracker) with the bike (performance, value, popularity with bike thieves) - which sounds sensible, but then they work prices through some kind of reverse auction (like Price-Drop TV) where they start ridiculously high and only drop thier quote incrementally according to the competitive quotes you find elsewhere - even when you renew with the same insurer.

I've had underwriters offer to insure my SDR at £1500 a year, and then drop to £600 two hours later, after I found quotes at £800, £750 and £650.

The harder you work to negotiate the cheaper you will get, and I've often thought; "I'll never get this new bike insured with anyone" ...a few hours before getting a £500 quote.

They are complete a*sholes.

Oh, there is strict logic when it comes to their ACTUAL premium rate. The trick may be to find a company that is picky about who they insure so that you end up with a rate that reflects the loss risk that YOU actually present, as opposed to that presented by the "typical" rider of your particular bike. Bikes like big BMW tourers and expensive harley baggers are easy to rate because of who rides them. It gets a bit fuzzy with sporty bikes, even very expensive European ones. By the way.......were yo serious when you said that the Super Duke was the bank robbers bike of choice?

 

[Bishopofmanchester]

Cool...

...By the way, we have a London BSMC custom/cafe/brat-style bike meet at the Landseer pub in Holloway next Thursday (3rd may)... Feel free to join us from 7pm.

All UK SC/GT owners are welcome...

Great, will be there