And that's the reason why insurances should be regulated by the government. When I cancelled my Bennetts policy over the modifications fiasco they wanted to charge me the entire cost of the policy to cancel it! That's just criminal. I told them they'd have to take me to court to get it, and they gave in immediately. Us old codgers get a pretty good deal on insurance, I think. But woe betide anyone who decides to move house or change bike, or put a sticker on the fairing; they'll grab you by the short and curlies and start tugging til it hurts. I pity the youth of today, they're being ripped off to a horrendous extent, it's daylight robbery, but there's absolutely nothing they can do about it.
Last 2 cars ive bought have had this, think it was something Norwich Union was doing. They pestered me for months afterwards trying to get my business, even though id sorted insurance out elsewhere for half the price.
I had exactly the same experience. My R1 was costing me £60 for 12 months insurance. About 3 months into it, i bought the 996 and wanted to add to the policy. My insurers quoted me £350 or something similar to add the 996, when Carole Nash were quoting me just £100 to insure both bikes. They were totally unable to tell me why it would cost so much more, when both bikes were same value, I only wanted 3rd party only and there would be zero extra risk to them. In fact the 996 is slower so i guess im more likely to crash it. So I tell them to cancel it expecting a refund for 9 months unused insurance. However they then promptly wanted to charge me something like £75 to do so. Consisting of a £50 early cancellation fee plus recalc of some sort of discount they gave me on the original policy. In the end after a very long heated phone call and talks to a "manager" they settled on £35 for me to cancel meaning I effectively paid £95 just for 3 months insurance when a whole year was only costing me £60 in the first place! Madness.
The whole business is crooked, and I begrudge every single penny I pay to insurance companies. An elderly friend of mine was paying something like £900 a year for his car insurance til I intervened. He'd stuck with the same company for maybe 30 or more years cos 'they were good to him'. After telling me this I went to his house and hit the comparison sites, then got on the phone, an hour later his insurance cost him £90, with all the same benefits as before. If you are too lazy to shop around I guarantee you are getting ripped off - no matter how well known or well-respected the insurance company is, they will try to fleece you. That's a cast iron guarantee.
Yup, I had a policy on the 848 that was with Carol Nash and underwritten by Highway. Added some bits and bobs to it (sliders and casing covers) so I could take it on track and limit any damage to it should the worse happen and when I spoke to Carol Nash they told me Highway wouldn't cover it as it was modified and they don't want to touch it. So I could either cancel the policy and redo it with another underwriter or remove the mods. So, I tried to change the the policy and after them failing to call me back repeatedly I ended up with no insurance on a Friday and being told by them there was no way it could be sorted until the Monday. Figured I'd try Ducati insurance and low and behold they could sort it there and then, brilliant! So went through the forms and at the end they gave me a choice of 2 policies with 2 underwriters, one of whom was friggin Highway. I was absolutely fuming and funnily enough they didn't get my business. I didn't get a chance to shop around with the Pani though, only place that would give me cover was Ducati Insurance
Three decades ago the insurance business went into meltdown. People came to realise they were effectively paying for nothing, so started claiming on their insurance more regularly. The cost of fairing panels and car body parts had become such that it was cheaper to claim on the insurance and pay a heavier premium than it was to fork out for repairs yourself. Suddenly the insurance companies didn't want to be in the risk game any more, it was their turn to take a hit and they didn't like it, and they started cancelling policies wholesale. I was dispatching at the time (and all legal by this point...), and a letter dropped on my mat saying I was no longer insured - simple as that. Turns out that dispatching was just too risky for the underwriters, and just about every courier in the country suddenly found themselves uninsured and uninsurable for about two months. We were all riding illegally. Eventually Devitt came to the rescue with a package for bike couriers, but it was 4 times dearer than before, and as they were the only company willing to insure us, we had absolutely no say in the matter. Since that time all insurance companies will find any excuse, no matter how trivial, to wriggle out of a claim. They are fucking crooks. All of them.
Definitely. I think thats how they make most of their money. I can guarantee every year my renewal, my dads, my mums and my wifes will come in at well over 2 or 3 times the price I can get it elsewhere. Quick search on confused.com to check what i should be paying, then a call to the insurance company and they instantly drop their quote by 50% without even questioning it. Just shows you how much profit they make.
Now, imagine how many people don't query their renewal (and believe me, its a lot, plenty of people here do it). I've said this before, but an elderly mate of mine stuck with the same company for decades because he thought they were sound, but came down the pub moaning about his renewal one day. Turns out he was paying over £900 a year for his car insurance. I went round his house and set about the internet, and within half an hour I'd got it from £900 to under £90 - the old bugger shed a tear, bless him, when he realised how much he'd been ripped off over the years.