Has anyone got TPO insurance for an expensive bike?

[Undinist]

I live in Brixton and don't have a garage. Even with 3 years NCD, clean licence and being an old git who's ridden big bikes for 20+ years, the only way I can get cover for an 18 grand megasupersports thing is to pretend I have a garage and then ask for TPO. There seem to be a few insurers who will go for that. The usual suspects - MCE, Devitt etc - will cover me for nothing fancier than a group 14 bike, e.g. a new 18 grand R1250GS, and only for fully comp, which costs £2100+. They won't do TPFT or TPO. I don't understand their logic. Anyway, if I bought their cover I doubt I could ever claim without making myself uninsurable in the future. So it seems to me I need to self-insure. Pretend to have a garage, get the cheapest possible TPO cover and invest in a tracker and alarm and a couple of sold secure diamond chains. And sleep with my phone next to my head, and my emergency thief-bothering kit next to the bed - bodyworn camera, baseball bat, spray dye etc. A friend of mine has TPO cover on his Blade - that's all he could get. It's been stolen 3 times but he always gets it back because it has a tracker.

[stinkwheel]

Move. Sounds like you live in a jungle.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[NJD]

Sell the bike and live a life without stress.

Fuck the sounds of London. Fuck getting beat up for a bike (their hardly going to turn up with flowers and a card).

Or move.

London? TPO? No way. In a city where crime is so high because there's nothing to chain the things to (not the only reason, but it doesn't help) I wouldn't even take the chance.

You could track your bike all the way to the local park and cry over the burnt frame (putting the logic that the tracker would be burnt/damaged too aside for a moment) but I'd rather save the time and money.

Although I suppose with the heavy traffic having a bike becomes an evil necessity, interesting.
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The do it all, T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶k̶e̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶ ̶l̶u̶m̶p̶,̶ ̶C̶h̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶N̶o̶o̶d̶l̶e̶

[Undinist]

Quite a few of the local lads have an R1 or S1000RR. It's all 'look at me' riding with lots of rev bombing. I don't see how they can possibly have insurance. And if they won't ride insured, do they buy the bikes? Do they have a licence? Plod does nothing about this. There are a few traffic officers in cars, but none on bikes. And they're all busy with more serious offences. London's the Wild West.

[NeverAgain]

In my company, those that live and work in the London office often will use an address of a relative that live outside London as their address on the V5 and insurance.

[Undinist]

[Undinist]

[weasley]

The question you’ll be asked is something like “where will the bike be kept overnight?”. If you tell them it’ll be chained to a bear in a vault in Fort Knox but it’s really parked on the High Street with the key in it you are lying to gain a financial advantage.... fraud. Get caught and then see how tough it is to get insurance... for anything.

Of course this all depends on getting caught. Risks and consequences. It seems stupid that your address and parking arrangements affect a TPO policy, but there’s no point trying to understand insurance.
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Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

[TaffyTDM]

I believe insurers are still responsible for any carnage caused by your bike even if you have been relieved of it and it has been borrowed by a promising young footballer to take his mothers shopping home on the way back from the music studio where he has been studying a dj course,if said misunderstood yoof sadly cannot be traced, hence the reluctance for TPO.

And in your area, there are many promising footballers frequenting many (although never enough) yoofclubs.

[Hong Kong Phooey]

Instead of tpo you up the voluntary excess to cover the bikes value.
So long as you don't ram someone up the arse then the high excess won't matter.

If it gets nicked you'll be the same as if you were tpo.
Fuck London, sounds proper shite.
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'81 CG125, '97 FZS600 : '99 CBR600F4, '09 KTM RC8

[Undinist]

That doesn't help when you can't get a quote for anything except TPO.

[barrkel]

I have my S1000R (£7.5k so not mega-expensive but not pleasant to lose) insured fully comprehensive in Enfield, in a garage, 7 years NCD and 6 points, 5k miles per year, for for £850 with Bikesure.

Would be only 400 TPO with MCE, as low as 275 TPO if I had 0 points, but they caught me doing 25mph past a newly 20mph camera twice in one week before I noticed they'd changed their thresholds.

Would be £690 FC with 0 points.

When I tried to switch my Brutale insurance (to get more NCD faster, not that it would make a huge difference) they wanted £2500. Ironically, it was Bikesure (branded as MAG Insurance) that insured the Brutale and wanted the big numbers, but they could do much better on a brand new quote as Bikesure (branded as BMF Insurance).

A garage was a requirement when we were looking for a house to buy, partly because of the insurance angle.
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Bikes: S1000R, SH350; Exes: Vity 125, PS125, YBR125, ER6f, VFR800, Brutale 920, CB600F, SH300x4
Best road ever ridden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MhNxUEYtQ

[ThunderGuts]

Sounds pretty horrendous, but has been said falsifying details for insurance is a risky game; if you lose you'll probably never get insurance for a bike in London again.

I don't want to sound patronising, but isn't this simply a case of being realistic for the environment and not getting anything that's a thief magnet?

That's without the mental games - what happens if you go on holiday? How easily will you relax knowing your bike is sat on show for a week, two weeks etc. and "isn't really insured"? It'd drive me potty I think.
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TG.

[LustyLew]

London is a cess pit of scum. My o/h has his CB500x nicked from outside Morrisons. Was only in there 5mins, but thats all it takes to lift such a ligth bike.

I propose we implement a "The Purge" style event. Give all the aspiring little 'man dems brap brap' a kinfe and let them finish each other off.

I am desperate to move far away from London!

[Polarbear]

I couldn't have a nice/expensive bike without fully comp insurance.

It would only be viable if I was rich enough to take that sort of financial hit with wincing!

Thankfully I now have no need to even look at London on a map, let alone go there,
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Easy-X]

With prices like that I'd be thinking of finding a friend or family member with some room in their garage. Store and insure the bike at that address (to wheel out on Sundays or whatever) and spend of the rest of the week on a old rat bike.
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Bhud]

[MarJay]

Sidebar to this thread:

Why do people like living in London? I work there and commute in from Basingstoke, which is hardly a hub of action and excitement, but it's still a million times better than living in the expense, filth and traffic of old Lahndah tahn.

The absolute only way I'd have property in London was if I was rich enough to have a small flat to stay there during the week if I needed to be there to earn my spectacular salary that would require, if I were a BBC TV star for example (although they are all based in Manchester now!).

Nope. Can't see the appeal to be honest.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Undinist]

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[Undinist]

You don't know how to interpret those stats because you have no knowledge of Brixton. Those theft numbers include kids nicking each other's phones. Doesn't affect me. I've tried life outside London. Grew up in Kent and Sussex, moved back to Sussex after a spell in London to enjoy the rural idyll - bored to tears. Also spent 6 years in Manchester. Boring people everywhere. Boring shops. Boring cafes. No women to look at. All the really attractive women in the UK move to London. So do all the intelligent, interesting people. The UK is completely Londoncentric.

[Undinist]

[chickenstrip]