Cancelling Insurance Costs

[guile]

I paid upfront for a year's insurance but I am probably now selling my current bike after 6 months of use and will not be getting a replacement immediately. Do the insurance firms charge a cancellation fee and is getting the rest of your money back easy for the unused months? Would my no claims bonus be reset back to zero days if I took out another insurance contract in future or do I get to use the 6 months from the current policy?

[covent.gardens]

You will not get any NCB increase from the policy unless you let it run full term

They don't issue pro rata refunds either and they do charge a cancellation fee, in my experience you will only get about 15% back for cancelling after 6 months, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less.

'Tis the way it is. May be best to just keep hold of the bike for a while and let the insurance run its course to gain the NCB.

[guile]

[covent.gardens]

Which insurer is it?

There will be a page in the booklet they sent you with the cancellation charges and all that jazz explained. But every insurer I've ever known of takes a good chunk off any refund after 6 months, and after about 9 months you tend to get nothing back if you cancel. Reason being; you're committing to a 12 month contract, there are penalties for leaving sooner.

I've even heard people not only getting nothing back, but being charged an admin fee to cancel

[corrsfan]

I had insurance through ebike insurance earlier this year - never again.

had to cancel it having had my bike (changed bikes) for 4 months, £85 cancellation fee on top of the skewed pro rata thing, and they were very insistant about the returning of the cover note. To actually speak to them (because email was getting nowhere) was £1.02 per minute (090...).

Alas this was pretty much explained in the smallprint, however i didnt think id be changing bikes so soon, and like most went for the cheapest cost on the comparison site. My current insurers are much better, and i even have no excess to pay too should i need to claim it!

[Rogerborg]

If you cancel within 14 days, you should only end up paying pro-rata plus the reasonable costs of setting up the policy, and not a "cancellation fee". Note the use of "should".

After that, all bets are off. It comes down to what it says in your contract, and ultimately whether the Financial Ombudsman or a court would find that it's fair enough to be enforced. Bearing in mind that they've already got your money though, the pitch is somewhat tilted.

Lots of people get screwed by this - I rather suspect that it's how many insurers actually make their money these days.

[corrsfan]

I had to cancel it as the revised quote from a 2 year old sym allegedly worth 600 to a brand new CBF 125 was 400 Extra i recall, me still being a learner. Having already given them 300 quid. Both on fully comp basis, same address etc. So I had to cancel this...

[Joncrete Cungle]

When I was younger and more stupid and impulsive, I got screwed over more than few times changing / cancelling insurance when I wanted, nay needed a 'different' bike. In total I probably paid 3 months wages in cancellation and admin 'fees' before it hit me like a brick to the forehead, always read the T&C's and small print. Be a bit more patient and keep the bike just a bit longer to get what you have paid for in insurance cover and the years NCB.

That is before you think about the loss of NCB affecting future premiums and you get screwed again for your stupidity. Buy bike, take out insurance and stick with it for 12 months to get your NCB, especially if you are young / new to biking. If your insurer will let you chop and change for free or a fair fee, great. But many don't.

[iooi]

[guile]

Well it turns out cancellation fee is £35 and I should get the 6 months I havn't used refunded entirely. I guess that's another reason to pay your insurance upfront in full if you can.

I will just have to not get my NCB

[Rogerborg]

That's astonishing! Who is that with? Name and praise.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[corrsfan]

Bike devil, underwritten by mce. I couldn't believe this at first too and triple checked the paperwork too. They explained basically that there's an additional tiny element of insurance which would cover
Mce's excess. Not had to claim it yet so not sure if I pay this then get it back later, effectively leaving me not out of the excess.?!?

[guile]

[Alpha-9]

[thepuma]

I recently cancelled my policy on my 125 with Swinton Bikes...they have a standard £50 cancellation fee plus pro-rata what youve used...bare in mind my policy for the year was only £110 and was only live for 2 months...i only got back £35.

Thats insurance for ya...i used to work in motor insurance some years ago, so i know what they are like for fees etc.
____________________
YBR125 (SOLD) - CBR250R(SOLD) - CBR650F(SOLD) Current - Street Triple
765 RS

[Alpha-9]

I had to pay £100 just to change my fuckin address with MCE
____________________
Fzr-600 1999

[P.addy]

I never pay in full because I never have a bike for a year.

I get so many different bikes insurers don't usually allow me to swap them over

[map]

Would not recommend RAC, who use Devitt insurance.
Actual insurer was Equity Red Star.

Bought on 6 September 2012.
Cancelled on 21 October 2012 for new bike (existing could not be got through MOT).
So just over 6 weeks (46 days).

Cost £304.94
Getting back £115.10 (or about 37.74% of initial cost)

So lost £189.84 (or 62.76% of initial cost)

There is a £50 cancel fee, £25.99 lost for legal cover (it's tied with the policy I thought it was just legal cover for the person so transferable) and a charge of 37.5% of premium for cancelling early so about £113.85 to make the maths right.

The quote for the new bike (Varadero XL125V 2003) via Devitt with Equity Red Star was £774 (+ pennies). Got quote via Tesco compare on their deal of the day via Just Motorcycle Insurance (a new one to me) also with Equity Red Star for £387 (+ pennies).

Pays to shop around and use as many compare and direct sites as possible. FWIW quote without deal of the day discount was also shown on thebikeinsurer comparison site.

HTH
____________________
...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[Lord Percy]

What gets me is this:

When I get my full licence, I'll call them, tell them, and it won't change a thing about my quote. Specially since I paid for the year upfront. So I'll be insured as a learner rider, even if I have a full licence, until the insurance expires.

However, if I call to to tell them I've got a bigger bike, they'll be more than happy to play with the numbers then! To get more money!

Also, the thing about them being insistent on having the cover note actually posted back to them. Another piece of financial institutional bullshit just to string you out and make the cancellation take longer so you're on the policy for longer.

I fucking hate financial institutions. I hate every single industry that makes money through money. Banking, insurance, lending, investment, etc. Makes no fucking sense.

[arry]

[Polarbear]

[map]

[Rogerborg]

[map]

[arry]