Insurance Renewal - It pays to shop around

[Lady Phoenix]

Had my renewal come through today from Carole Nash

Gone up from £147.22 to 237.31 with an excess of £1,200 on a bike valued at £1,000

Tried Bike sure and no luck beating it, so did a Compare the Meerkat

Swinton Bike £50.24, paid over 12 installments £5.75 a month

However, doesnt include breakdown cover so added that on at £6.99 a month with first three months free.

Total cost over 1 year = £131.91 which is a 40% saving on the Carole Nash quote.

Lesson Learnt = Shop around, use comparison websites and get the compaies to call you.

O, and I get a free meerkat toy too
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Many Thanks
Penny
www.ladyphoenix.co.uk

[Irn-Bru]

Why not pay it off in one go? Save even more that way.

I don't think I've ever been with the same insurer more than 1 year in a row, the grass is always greener in this market.
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KTM 990 SMT & Suzuki DR-Z 400 SM

[Lady Phoenix]

[oldenuff]

As someone who has just dumped by buildings/content insurer having found that the emergency cover was glacial in its application I caution against the lowest quote. You only find out what cover you really have when it all goes wrong. At that point you are not able to do much about it. I was surprised when I renewed my insurance on the VFR how wide was the spread and how few underwriters were involved. The people we talk to are brokers. A lot of policies are with Red Star and maybe two or three others and you can get a 50% variation in apparently the same policy through different intermediaries.
You really need to read the documents before you sign up.

[nowhere.elysium]

In other news, water is wet.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[Richy CB1000]

Go for the meerkat toy, I've got Bogdan and Vassily

[Rogerborg]

If you have a credit card and can afford £39 up front, then I'd recommend Auto Aid for breakdown cover.

You pay for the recovery (although they can sort that out for you) then claim the costs back from them later.

What I like is that there are far fewer exclusions than with other companies, particularly accident and vandalism damage. That's pretty significant for a bike.
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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

[Irn-Bru]

[Ed Case]

Have you had a quote from Bennetts ?, I did and knocked a hundred quid off my insurance !.

[suburban myth]

A mate at work paid £276 on his Dullville for the first year and when his renewal came through it stayed about the same despite the 1 year NCB. Popped into his local brokers office on the high street on a whim. £109.

[carvell]

[Lady Phoenix]

Wow, so much to reply to.

One of the quotes that I got from Comparethemarket was Bennetts and that was more expensive.

One of the few companies that didnt come up was Bikesure. Now, I had contacted Bikesure earlier this year via the Honda Shadow Forum. I had sent them a message last year to which they never replied so I had ended up going with Carole Nash. Then, at a later date I was talking to Bikesure, telling them how useless they were, and explained what had happened and they asked me if I would give them a second chance if they promised me a further discount for being a Shadow member. So, I contacted them and they were unable to get a cheaper quote.

The polocy I have, via Swinton, is £50odd but does NOT include Euro Breakdown cover, which is very very important to me, but they include an option to add it, so when I say its £50odd quid, its actually closer to £120, however, thats still cheaper than Carole Nash.

Now, someone said about the small print and checking it. Thats all well and good, but who reads a document that they dont actually have? When you are on the phone you have to ask the questions, which I did. Thats why it takes over an hour and a half to sort out the policy.

Now, Carole nash £247, £1200 excess on a £1000 bike or Swinton £50odd, £300 excess.

What happens if Im insured by Carole Nash and by bike gets stolen? I think you will find that I get nothing. Swinton would give me about £700.
What happens if Im involved in an accident thats not my fault? Well my bike would be repaired at no loss of my claims bonus as it would be paid for by the other parties insurance.

Ive worked in insurance, although not Motor, and to be honest its pretty much all the same. Whats different is the weightings that they apply and how they deal with renewals. A lot of companies apply a huge discount on first quote to attract the business knowing full well that most people just take the renewal without shopping around.
Now, people like you and I would say its silly not to shop around but its a well known fact that over half the people who have insurance policies just take the renewal quote and file the paperwork. This is why companies like Swinton operate on an "auto renewal" basis.
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Many Thanks
Penny
www.ladyphoenix.co.uk

[Irn-Bru]

[whitedevil]

[carvell]