Confused ? bike insurance is a tricky subject
Lots of people call us to tell us they are confused about bike insurance and are not sure what the different levels of cover mean, why their mates can get insurance cheaper than they can or they want to know what a voluntary excess is.
At The Bike Insurer we try and help you get over all this jargon by constantly telling you throughout the whole quote process what certain terms mean, such as voluntary excess for example.
What we cant do though on the quote forms is tell you why your mate is paying £200 less than you for his bike insurance, when really you think that if anything you should be paying less than him. So below Ive just shown a few reasons why this may be. Hopefully once you've read this you will be a little less confused about your bike insurance.
Scenario 1:
John is age 36 and rides a Honda CBR 600 and he got it at the start of the season last year. Its a 2004 model that he paid £3000 for. At the time he hadnt ridden for a few years but had been driving during this time. John lives in Bristol and he keeps his bike in his garage at home. After much searching around for his bike insurance, John ended up paying £257.
Scenario 2:
Andy is 40 and also rides a Honda CBR 600 which is a couple of years older and he has just bought it for £2200. Andy has just got his full bike licence but he has been riding off road for a few years, and he considers himself to be a pretty competent bike rider. Andy lives around the corner from John and although he is older has ended up paying £445 for his insurance, which he thinks is unfair as he is a) older and b) his bike is not worth as much.
On paper it looks like Andy should get a better deal, but if you delve into the details then there are a couple of things which sway into John's favour.
1. John has been riding on the road a year longer and has earned himself a no claims bonus discount, which can be as much as a 40% saving.
2. John elected to add a voluntary excess of £500 to his bike insurance, which basically means that in the event of a fault claim, he is responsible for the first £500 of the claim cost. John was happy to do this as he is happy in his own skill as a rider and doesnt believe he will have a crash. He also lives in a safe area where his bike is garaged, and he hasnt known of any other bikes being stolen.
Although Andy is older and the bike is worth less, these factors do not count as much as the no claims bonus entitlement or voluntary excess discount, which can also be as much as 29%.
The moral is, when you get your quotes, go back and play around with your answers. If you are happy to have a bigger excess, compare that price to not having such a high excess. Also, a common mistake people make is on mileage. When you get your car insurance, most people average around 1000 miles per month, or 12000 miles per year. On a bike its different. Try and work out how many miles you will do per year and then get a quote for that, for example;
Kevin rides his bike from March to October, mostly at weekends. When riding he probably rides about 150 miles over the weekend. Over 32 weekends he rides about 4000 miles per year, allowing for a couple of weeks when he cant ride because its raining and then a couple more because he is away on holiday. Limiting your mileage can save over 15%, which is money that should be in your pocket.
Next time you're feeling confused about your bike insurance, and wonder why its not as cheap as you think it should be, just go back and change some details, and as long as you are happy with your choices, and they suit your requirements, dont pay more than you have to.
Article by Dan
Bike Insurance from The Bike Insurer
