Insurance: is yours valid?

[Martin C]

I've had a Carole Nash Custom policy with Equity Red Star for 5 x years (originally covering my "modern" 612cc Royal Enfield Bullet GT Cafe-Racer, and subsequently a "classic" Moto Guzzi, a Ducati Monster 900, & recently a Ducati ST4 as well) and previously had to list all modifications to the Bullet on a separate form & provide pictures of it for their underwriters.

Calling CN to renew my policy this week, I mentioned the non-E-marked (Viper) cans on the Monster, and they said "the bike is not covered, and any claim would have been thrown out immediately". I pointed out the Bullet has a "Goldstar type" silencer that I had listed years ago, and they said in that case if it wasn't E-marked (it's not) then the Bullet also wasn't ever covered! They said I should have told them about any non-E-marked exhaust, although they never specifically asked me about this. (The 1986-imported Guzzi is borderline for needing an E-marked exhaust, and has Lanfranconis that are stamped "competition use only" - in Italian which my local MOT tester doesn't understand!)

All my silencers have passed recent MOTs with no problem, but Equity Red Star via Carole Nash are only happy with E-markings. However, via other brokers (e.g. Ducati Insurance) Equity WILL cover a bike with non-E-marked exhausts (albeit they'll only pay for replacement standard ones), so it is clearly NOT a legal or underwriting issue that's at stake. This is a common modification so you might expect CN to pro-actively ask the question before insuring any bike: but they don't! Why not?

I suspect that Equity probably gives CN a rock-bottom deal, enabling CN to offer their customers a good price + make a good profit: in the event of a claim on a bike with a non-E-marked exhaust, Equity will still have to pay out any liability to a third-party, but will then reject the policyholder's claim for damage to their own bike - thus significantly cutting their claim costs.

So, if you tell Carole Nash about your non-E-marked exhaust, they will most likely offer you an alternative, costlier policy with another insurer. If you don't tell them, then in the event of a claim on your own policy you've actually only got Third-Party cover, not comprehensive. Is this a scam or what?

[Alan Hughes]

Think we'd all better go and check the small print on our insurance policies!

Alan.

[bullet350]

get the cans mentioned and they'll claim that they don't pay out if your motorcycle has a black frame.
or a silver one.....

i think next year i'll just set fire to £350. it'll save the postage and the paperwork.

just so you know the type of pond life you're dealing with;

i was quoted £1800 tpft for a diesel escort van worth £600.
i've had bikes for years and they claimed it was so much because i had no experience of driving a 'commercial vehicle'.
fair point except they'd asked for my profession- i'm an hgv driver.
500bhp and 40 tonne, but a 40bhp escort migh overwhelm me!

350bullet

[MrFluffy]

Ummmm I had a really bad experience with carole nash and one of their gold cover policies. So *NOTHING* they pull suprises me now.
Do you know if you have fully comp, and you come off because you hit road debris, as the debris is deposited by a 3rd party, you cannot make a claim on your own policy. Since the chances of finding the owner of the nice black lorry mudguard on the a272 near cowfold that wrapped round my front wheel and jammed under the fairing were practically nil, so too was my insurance cover in this case.
Gold star cover, and I had to pay for my own ambulance ride and helmet etc...

The 350 quid you set fire to would at least give you some warmth...

[themoudie]

Aye,

We used to be loyal to Ms Nash and her company. However, upon finding that we were able to obtain the same policys from our local broker for  £20-00 less each than Ms Nash required and talk to a knowledgeable qualified person on the other side of a desk over a coffee. You now know where our trade now goes.

Shop local, Bill

[guest18]

Is this a scam or what?

Yes, I can say with confidence... in my experience motor insurance is 99 times out of a hundred a scam