Reversed into: Insurance questions

[3chords]

Long time lurker posting when it suits him. Any response greatly received.

My bike was knocked over whilst parked and I was wondering about a few things:

I have a fancy exhaust that is now scratched. The exhaust has not been declared to my insurers. Can I still claim on it (I'm assuming everything will be paid out by the other party's insurers!)?

Can I claim for my train fare while the bike's out if action? Riding to work is about £10 cheaper per day than the train.

Kindest regards, xx

[djr]

[3chords]

Greatly received?

Yeah that or something.

[3chords]

Just spoke to my insurance and was asked if the bike has any mods. I said no then asked hypothetically what the case would be if I did have a few non-standard bits. I was told dryly that they could invalidate my insurance.

Stuff that's non-standard [hypothetically]:

Carbon GP can
Double bubble screen
Flush front indicators
Stickers [I remember a thread on insurers claiming that these needed to be declared!]
Crash bungs

I then asked whether mods would be an issue as I wouldn't be claiming on my insurance. I didn't really get an answer. Only that they cover the bike in it's standard trim.

[fatjames]

[thepuma]

[Turkish]

You won't be claiming off your own insurance, so any mods are a non-issue.

You are legally entitled to have your bike repaired to it's previous condition, including the replacement of any mods, at the place of your choosing.

The contract with your own insurance company is none of their business. I don't even know why you spoke to your insurance company tbh. It should be 100% dealt with via the 3rd party insurer, unless there is an issue with blame and you may want your bike repairing on your own policy.
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ZX-6R G2
CBR125R RW6

[P.]

They do care.

I had different exhaust, different wheels and a paint job on my car when someone hit me.

They charged me extra for not disclosing that info.

When I crashed my GS500, the insurance paid out but did not pay out for the front fairing that had been put on there as I did not declare it, thus it wasn't covered as I wasn't paying the price for having it fitted.

So, take that as you will.

[3chords]

Thanks for the feedback. Facepalm nuttin'.

Would the general consensus be just to try and claim on everything [including zorst etc.] and then see what happens?

[Rogerborg]

[thepuma]

[P.]

AFAIK insurance companies speak with one another anyway. Fault will always be contested if both vehicles were moving.

I would be checking the insurance clauses anyway.

But my insurance charged me the additional premium.

[3chords]

[lozzypop1]

[3chords]

[Notj7]

[thepuma]

[Rogerborg]

"need" is a strong word. It would be to your benefit if the claim is contested, but your claim is against the muppet that reversed into you. His insurer will indemnify that claim. Your insurer isn't even a party to it, unless you're making a claim against a fully comp policy with them.

That said, when Mrs Borg got shunted up the arse some years back, I did contact my insurer and let them deal with it, but I wouldn't do so now. Talk to the shunter's insurer first, see if they want to deal with it. No sense in bringing another set of grasping parasites (no offence, arry) into it unless absolutely necessary.
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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

[inchy1981]

I work in Insurance and this is what I would do...


If i was definitely the other guy's fault, then I would just phone his insurer directly. If you dont know who his insurer is, go to www.askmid.com and for a few quid, they will tell you. If they admit liability, they wouldnt contact your insurer. If they say its your fault, they will send their allegations to your insurer.

Your insurance policy will say that you are obliged to tell them of all accidents, but I wouldnt. Even if its a non-fault accident, they may still load your premium and charge you more next year.

As for the mods... Asking them hypothetically, what would happen if you had mods has probably raised alarm bells with them.

I dont think they would void your policy though. A few years ago they may have done, but recently, the FOS (ombudsman) have told insurers that if they would have accepted the risk in the first place, they cant void it, only charge you more.

Eg, if you had a power commander and a different can, and didnt tell them, they may charge you £500. Had they known about the mods they may have charged you £800. So they would just charge you the difference.

As it is, your mods arent power enhancing anyway (apart from the can) so it probably wouldnt make much difference.