The Dreaded Insurance Renewal

[xbally]

My policy is shortly due to expire and i know i am going to be hit with the usual increase in premium from Carole Nash. Can anybody please suggest who i might approach for an alternative quote?

[iansoady]

As always, Peter James.

[xbally]

Thanks Ian-i'll give them a go.

[Moto63]

Morning Martin, I go with AVIVA through Carol Nash. Aviva were absolutely brilliant when dealing with my accident. Yes I paid/pay a couple of extra quid for using them, extra £20 approximately but I've gotta say it was defo £20 well spent when I went through all the post accident hassle..... admittedly you'll hopefully/probably never need to go through the post accident hassle, However I thought exactly the same 3 years ago, the choice my friend is yours 😁😁👍
Cheers, Michael

[CrazyFrog]

I actually used Bennets to insure the Jawa - they were the cheapest by a country mile, and OK to deal with too.

[xbally]

Thanks Pete and Michael. I used to have a Bennetts policy many years ago when they were in Coventry if memory serves me right.They started off as a specialist and like Carole Nash grew and then were taken over by the big boys i think as were Footman James.I was under the impression Michael that all CN policies are with Ageas who i think own them now? Again,i used to have the old "rider policy" through Norwich Union who were taken over by Aviva. I think i've got that right but stand to be corrected. We have some friends who are brokers and are going to look into an Aviva quote for me-in the meantime i'll check out the other suggestions-thanks again.

[Moto63]

As I say Martin you might pay a couple of quid more but I personally would highly recommend Aviva.
When I took the policy out I put a four thousand pound value on the cafe racer as that's what I had in it. When I had my accident the bike was obviously completely written off, all they did was asked me to send a couple of photos of the bike, which I did. I was concerned at the time as it had obviously been "altered " from original spec and it wasn't an agreed valuation. I needn't have worried... they paid me out within a week of me sending the photos.... and the guy on the phone was very apologetic that he had to deduct the £200 excess off the £4000.... brilliant service.
Cheers, Michael

[Richard]

Companies like CN and PJ refused to insure me because I don't always put my bikes in a garage at night when I'm either working nights or up for a morning shift.

They were also quoting a lot more than just a few quid extra.

[Moto63]

Yes but CN are simply the broker, it was Aviva themselves that I dealt with in the aftermath of my accident and as I say absolutely no complaints. I suppose it's like most things in life, we all like to feel we're getting a good deal and not metaphorically getting our trousers pulled down. However IF and I repeat IF you are in the unfortunate position as I was that you NEED the insurer to be of a decent standard then let me say from personal experience that the extra dosh was money very well spent.
I'm pretty sure there'd be quite a few companies out there that would have taken one look at the photos of my bike, and as nice as it was, it wasn't standard. That in itself would have been an open door for some to say "I hadn't declared the changes" so insurance null and void. At which point all the costs of repairs to two vehicles, one an Audi A5 that I hit head on, plus 8 potential whiplash claims would all fall at my doorstep for ME to pay..... an approx cost was put on this at the time to be in the region of £60,000, yes 60 big ones, so again £20 well spent in my eyes.
I will and have done, continue to use Aviva from that day forth.
Cheers, Michael

[xbally]

Thanks-i'm awaiting the Aviva quote via our broker friends and shall be looking at the others once my CN renewal arrives.

[Ian]

I'm going through a similar trauma. I have today just had my renewal from Hastings Direct. A slight increase of over £70! Needless to say, I shall be consulting the world wide Web to try and get a reasonable offer. Loyalty, I'm afraid went out of the window many years ago, and I have not used the same insurance company/broker consecutively for many many moons now

[Moto63]

Just to go slightly left of field.... the wife was rear ended (ooo eerr vicar) a few days ago (Wednesday I think) bloke gets out of car, bloody great pot on his leg from the knee down to his toes😡😡. Turns out it's his daughters car and he's not insured 😡😡. However we've got a quote from local body shop for a new rear bumper. Bloke been down and shoved cash in body shop guys hand for car to be fixed. One could say "the old fashioned way" granted the pratt shud be insured in the first place but in our case no real harm done.
Cheers, Michael

[iansoady]

I'm pretty sure there'd be quite a few companies out there that would have taken one look at the photos of my bike, and as nice as it was, it wasn't standard. That in itself would have been an open door for some to say "I hadn't declared the changes" so insurance null and void.

I don't believe that any refusal to pay if the modifications didn't contribute to the incident would be valid. I've heard a lot of people say that payout's been refused but these always tend to be "my mate down the pub" rather than direct experience. However, I accept that the value of the mods themselves may not be covered.

I'd be delighted to hear about any authenticated instances.

If there is a clause in the policy to the effect that unauthorised modifications nullify the policy it would be good to see this tested in court.

[johnr]

peter james from me too. i added a katana to my policy this year with a list of non stock modifications as long as your arm, including engine brakes forks wheels etc etc and the underwriters said fine, policy cost pretty much the same as last year. iirc ive got 6 bikes on it now, multibike, all fully comp, mix of modern and lod stuff, euro breakdown cover on them all, £275 quid. cant really argue with that price.

[Moto63]

No John you can't, sounds very reasonable indeed. 👍... cheers, Michael