Confused on Minimising Insurance

[McfcChris94]

Looked at the sticky and got to about 450-500 for a Honda Cg125

-I am 17, no ncb and will be riding on my "cbt licence"

What options shall I select to make it as cheap as I can?

It will be stored in a garage

Make it simple please, eg fully comp or not

[SnowTigeress]

[Andy_Pagin]

[Andy_Pagin]

[Teflon-Mike]

I was always told; NEVER buy 'Cheap' insurance; you never get all you pay for; and 'saving money' to get a certificate, but not the 'Cover' you need is a false ecconomy.

What 'Cover' do you want/need?

TPO - Third Party Only
Minimum Legal Requirement to ride on the road. This provides cover to pay for any damage YOU might do to other people's property with your bike. Nothing more.

TPFT - Third Party + Fire & Theft
As above. Plus cover to pay YOU, if your bike is stolen or set on fire.

Fully Comprehensive
Covers Third Party, Theft and Fire, but also 'Accidental Damage' you may do to your bike as well. Often also includes other benefits, and if you are involved in an accident which is not your fault, where YOU are the 'Third Party' trying to claim of some-one elses policy; basically your 'all risk' cover pays you, and its then up to your insurance company to claim it back of whoever was at fault's insurance.

As Snowie Says, its like Gambling. Its a bit like horse racing, where the bookie's decide how likely a horse is to win, and then offer 'odds' on it for you to bet on. More likely they reckon it is to win, the lower the odds, so bet a quid, IF it wins, you only get back maybe two quid. Less likely it is to win, higher the odds, so bet a quid, and if it wins, you might get back a fiver. Insurance is much the same, only YOU are the horse AND the 'Punter'! Bookies are still the bookies, and the odds are always tipped in their favour!

So; they ask you, basic questions about your circumstances and the bike you want covered, and use that to work out the 'odds'; then offer you a 'price', based on what they reckon your chances of costing them money are, and how much money you are likely to cost them if you do.

Logically then; the greater risk of them making a pay-out, and the chance that pay-out will be larger, on a TPFT or Fully comp policy, you would expect to make them more expensive. Lesser chance of a pay-out on a TPO policy, you would expect to make it cheaper.

But, herein lies the example that 'Logic' work in insurance, and 'simple' goes out the window.

Quite often FC quotes can be cheaper than TPFT! While a TPO policy may be hardly any cheaper if at all than a TPFT policy.

AND; if you muddle around with the 'settings' on a quote; and change the value of the bike, or the anti-theft security, that logic would say ought not effect one bit, the risk of a third party pay-out... it does!

There are no real 'tricks' to get a decent insurance quote. But what you have to have in mind is, that advice I was given at the very beginning. You have the certificate, that keeps the coppas happy if they stop you and run your number through the data-base; THEN you have the actual 'cover' the cert is supposed to provide.

One way to get insurance quotes down is to accept higher compulsary or voluntary 'excess'. This is an amount you agree to pay towards any claim. Compulsary XS are what the insurers insist you pay; voluntary what you agree to above that for a lower quote.

THINK LONG AND HARD ABOUT THESE.

If you have an £800 bike, and a TPFT policy, with a £200 XS, if it is nicked they will ONLY pay you £600 max if it is nicked or burned. If you have a £200 voluntary XS on top, they will only pay you £400. So they are reducing thier 'risk' by half... and YOU are accepting the risk of loss yourself. So you are getting TPO insurance and possibly only half the +Fire & Theft cover....

Ironically though; due to the wheeja-bard principle they use to calculate premiums; a TPFT policy with XS's high enough that you dont get any Fire or Theft cover CAN be lower than a TPO policy.... and declaring more theft security, against the risks they are essentially never covering can bring it down even more!

Like I said it is NOT simple!

So lets NOT be blinded by the numbers. Looks like somewhere you can make big savings getting the 'same' thing; but often NO. Get the wrong policy, and it can cost you a LOT more than it saves in the long run, and worth, here and now, paying that bit extra and having to find ecconomies elsewhere, like on your riding gear, where you can for a while 'improvise'; rather than make an expensive mistake.

1/ are you going to use this bike to go to and from School/College Work?

If so you MUST tick the box that says "+Commuting"

If you don't, and even if you only use the bike to go to college or work ONCE and have an accident you might not be covered.

THAT can make a big difference to the premium; and where a LOT of people opt out, presuming commuting means going to work, so if they are a student, figure they dont need it. You do! And if that means taking a 'hit' on the price, so be it. Better to be over insured than have them refusing to pay out.

2/ + Pillions: Another oft offered opt in clause.
As a Learner you cant carry one any way; and again, many opt out. BUT pass tests, and that restriction will be on your insurance when you COULD carry a passenger and you wont have cover to do so. AND if you want to 'amend' the policy they are likely to charge you £25 just for the privileged of changing a detail in thier data-base as WELL as using the oportunity to make a 'Premium Adjustment' and wallop another tenner or more on the price half way through. Cheaper to get it at the begginning, and not need it, than not have it when you find you do need it.

3/ Mileages
More miles you 'estimate' more they are going to charge you. Once upon a time; 'How would they ever know?' These days they simply take it from the MOT records! Only you will know how many miles you are likely to do, but FAR better to over estimate, than half way through the year, be worried that you have done nearly all them miles, and more you go over, more likely insurance could refuse to pay out in the event.

4/ Changes & Amendments
Mentioned, if you want to change part of the cover part way through a policy term; they can wallop you with a £25 or more admin fee and an 'adjustment' charge.

You are a learner; how quick do you think you will get through tests... (DONT ANNOY ME and say thats not your priority at the moment! You have ten months to 3rd Dir test rules!)

After tests, will you ride out the life of the policy on the 125? Will you want to upgrade?

How confident are you that THIS 125 will see you through the policy life? I mean, do you think you might upgrade to a better 125 at some point, or that if this one dies, you'll have to get another?

Some 125 policies are placed with insurance 'underwriters' who will ONLY insure 125's. IF you decide to upgrade to a 250 or 500 half way through, you might have to cancel the policy to do so, rather than make an amendment & pay an adjustment.

Cancelling policies CAN see you for some curiouse dint of the wheeja principle OWING them money NOT to give you the cover you have already paid for!

While high Amendment & adjustment charges can be as damning.

So think about what you are likley to want to do with the policy, and ask silly questions of the small print, LIKE how much do they charge for an amendment.

5/ SECURITY
Most quotes will come down the more security you suggest you use. Think hard on this one too.

You declare the bike kept in a garage; IF your mum has had a delivery of new kitchen units from Ikea and has the delivery men put them in the garage until the fitters arrive to keep them dry.... and your bike is left out in the cold.... its not covered.

If you declare it as garaged and have left it on the drive, while you clean it and oil the chain, and its nicked... you might not have cover honoured.

Likewise; you declare a heavy duty chain & padlock. You may use them when the bike is in the garage, BUT as far as the insurance is declared, they presume you ALWAYS use that chain, even if you have just popped to the shops. So, bike gets nicked from college or from outside the shops; they have wheedle room NOT to pay you.

ONLY declare security you are SURE you will ALWAYS use.

Use security that you DONT declare, they can never moan; but declare security and NOT use it; they will.

Can get premium down; but if you HAVE to pay for insurance, better to actually have some cover for it, than merely THINK you do, or give them excuses to welsh on you.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Rogerborg]

[Alpha-9]

I'd say go TPF&F at a minimum.
Make sure to include details about it being locked up in a garage etc.

TPO will obviously be cheapest but do you really want some cunt to rob your bike and you to be left completely empty handed because you went for the cheaper insurance?

Just read mike's post and a half above, nothing anyone can really add to that.
____________________
Fzr-600 1999

[von1papen]

Personally I've always found Tesco compare gets the cheapest Insurance quotes.

Anyways, yeah I'd go with the £500 excess, you're never going to claim anyway. Simply isn't worth it! Low annual mileage, end of the day you can just diddle the speedo, and again when are they ever going to check this unless you claim the full worth of the bike (which you won't because you'll never be claiming)

Insurance is merely there to cover any cages you may happen to damage and the family that all suddenly have whiplash because you took their wingmirror off.

If somebody nicked my CG I'd simply cancel the insurance, I value my NCB and I sure as hell ain't paying any excess, declaring my claim for the next 5 years and have double what I would have paid for my insurance. Imo it simply isn't worth it unless your bike is worth a substantial amount.

[Rogerborg]

[Alpha-9]

[Teflon-Mike]

You will frequently be asked on the insurance 'proposal'
Have you had any Accidents, Claims, Convictions or 'other' LOSSES in the last 5 years.

If you have an £800 motorbike nicked, and claim for it; its a 'Claim'.
If you DONT claim, its a 'Loss'

Your fucked either way.

But if you make a claim at least you get SOME cash back when it might be helpful, and you need to get another bike!

Rather than a penny part saving on a monthly direct debit that wouldn't buy a half pint of shandies to drown your sorrows in!

And making a false declaration is always grounds for them to nullify the cover or wheedle out of a claim!

Back to comment at top; You HAVE to buy insurance to get the cirtificate that will spoil a coppas day when they stop you.

If that is ALL you want; fair enough; but if you are spending the money ANYWAY, can be better to get some actual 'cover' for the cost, and whats the point of having that if you never use it?

A £500 payout on a nicked bike, COULD cost you more in the long term in inflated future premiums; but if you dont have a bike to insure? Pretty accademic really! £500 here and now could get you back on the road, and yeah; the extortionists will undoubtedly get it all back, over the following five years.... but at LEAST you will have had a bike to need insuring to be giving them the ruddy money!
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Shinigami]

some backwards logic for you, mine was way cheaper fully comp than it was TPFT.

Also if I stated there was a security device the premium went up by nearly £100. If i said it had no locks at all and just sat there unguarded it was less.

Madness