Bike Insurance

SuperMike · Scooby Slapper Joined: 30 Sep 2015 Karma :

Ok, Time is fast approaching to get insurance sorted out before hopefully picking up the new bike on Tuesday. I have had a look through the insurance sticky at the top of this page, but can't find an answer.

I have brought a brand new CBR 650. I'm after some advice as to what to do insurance wise. The few people I have spoken to have said fully comp, but having experienced a written off motorbike (my scooter) a few months back, it isn't as clear cut as that in my mind. The fully comp policy is about £400 more expensive than TPFT, the difference being of course I can claim if it is my fault on fully comp, whereas I can't on TPFT.

Now, having been through all this recently, the insurance was sodding useless. I might as well not have had it for the money that I got paid out. I had a pretty high excess true, but then they added £250 for the engineers report, they valued it low etc etc. I did haggle but ended up with about 25% of what I paid for the scooter brand new - it was 100% the other parties fault.

I would only ever claim on the insurance if the bike was a total write off, and this on a brand new motorbike would probably mean me putting it into the side of someone's house at 70mph? If I did this, I'd probably not be fussed about getting back on a bike anyway. Given that the vast majority of motorbike accidents seem to be by default given 50 / 50 blame regardless of how obvious it isn't, to my mind the maths would be like this:

New bike was £6399
Minus £500 excess
The insurance would value it lets say 6 months down the line at £5000
£250 engineers report (or thereabouts)
50 / 50 blame £2500

Leaves a potential payout of around £1750!!

I know I am assuming a lot here, but I am trying to see where the justification is for the extra money for fully comp? I am more worried about someone stealing it than I am about my potential to put myself into a brick wall. I work as a physio, and have seen enough RTA's to have some respect for the potential power of these machines. Yes, I know, how many times has a newcomer said that and ended up with a load of I told you so's whilst lying in a hospital bed, but genuinely as I approach 40 I'm not a boy racer anymore, and I'm confident that I will be a capable motorcyclist.

I guess I just have a very very dim view of insurance. They are there to make money and I have found that the time I have needed them in the past they have wrangled and squirmed and wriggled their way out of paying for most of what I assumed would just be a given. Loss adjusters, market value, etc etc. To my mind, taking a TPFT covers me for if some chav puts my bike in the back of a van so I'm not left paying out on finance for the next three years on that, and then it is my gamble I guess as to how much do I trust myself to not do something stupid? Am I missing something?

Skudd · Super Spammer Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Karma :

Bike is brand new........................ fully comp with the least amount of excess that you can afford as this will alter the premium price.

I would have checked out the insurance bit before buying the bike, but you live and learn. Thumbs Up

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wr6133 · World Chat Champion Joined: 31 Dec 2013 Karma :

Rogerborg · nimbA Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :

SuperMike · Scooby Slapper Joined: 30 Sep 2015 Karma :

Rogerborg · nimbA Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :

SuperMike · Scooby Slapper Joined: 30 Sep 2015 Karma :

talkToTheHat · World Chat Champion Joined: 21 Feb 2012 Karma :

Until you have recovered all costs, you are expensive to insure. Make sure you get a quote, on paper, for the same insurance with the accident marked as 'non fault, all costs recovered' rather than 'pending'. Claim this as an additional cost.

The price of insurance on a 125 doubled for me between writing off a 125 and recovering the costs. It sucks.

Book value is not market price. Find sales of similar examples. Book value of my 535 was somewhere between fuck and all, less than salvage bikes sell for on ebay. It took balls, written complaints, and decent records to get the market value of mine back.

"Can i accept that as an interim payment" is the magic phrase to get some cash in your pocket and salvage of bike if you want it.

I think mine was back on the road with a new number plate new rear light cluster and a precautionary MOT, less than £100 for a bike that insurers were trying to write off. Cosmetic repairs to bodywork, indicators and a new exhaust happened as the cheques came in.

However, no fully comp and you're on your own in the event of an accident, and costs can soon mount up. My first contact with the police after the 125 mostly consisted of them confirming i could get the bike moved on insurance so I wouldn't get stung for their recovery charges.

If you bought a brand new bike outright then do what you want, if you have it on finance then fully comp and gap insurance or it will really hurt if someone takes you out on your way home and you have to stump for the grand or two depreciation from turning the key.
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MattEMulsion · World Chat Champion Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Karma :

Why you would spend nearly six and a half grand on a brand new bike and then skimp on the insurance is beyond me. Can you really afford to throw 6.4k into the wind if you stack it? Fully comp every time in this situation for me.
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iooi · Super Spammer Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Karma :