How's this for taking the p*ss? Bought the bike Sept 2009.......Quickly insured with Bennetts just to get me going on the day. Insurer was Equity Red Star. Changed to Footman James in 2010......Insurer was Equity Red Star. They sold off their 'modern bike' stuff in 2012.......To BikeTeam - Part of Equity Red Star, so the Insurer was Equity Red Star. Bike Team were disbanded in 2016 and their policies were taken over by Principal Insurance Brokers....Equity Red Star continuing to insure until Sept 2016. Last premium (for 2015 - 2016) £116 Total (including Breakdown and Recovery top of the range; and Legal Services). Excess £200. Principal Insurance Renewal came today: Zenith £179; £400 Excess........For a Ducati 750 F1(not a l'il ol' 750SS) Arrangement Fee £30, even though I'm an existing customer. Got them down to £130 without Legal and Breakdown. Tried Carole Nash..... £274 All in............Got a discount though, £195. Eff Off.......Both of you.
Aviva renewal for later this week on my 1200 Multistrada and the 1098R was £550 . A phone call to Ducati Insurance got that down to £270 with declared modifications (70mm exhaust) although didn't include riding other bikes. Lady said she'd talk to the underwriter and have been (unsuccessfully) trying to phone them having got an e-mail asking me to do just that. Every time I phone I get the automated "were too busy to take your call message but please hold on", yeah right. Andy
All brokers charge an arrangement fee because the insurance companies no longer pay middle men to sell their policies. Andy
Fortunately I have got other much lower figures from other people, but I'm waiting on the detail.......after all, it will hopefully be another years NCB earned. The idiots can't see that if I wanted to insure a 900SS with a 750SS engine it would be much cheaper than what they are quoting for a 750SS upgraded to 900SS spec without changing the engine.........ie, the same bloody thing.
Hastings came on on my year old multi, £213, then a chaser for £249?! Called to query, re-ran and £170. Result!
Some don't......and some do.........but £10 is a lot less than what Principal say they can charge....Up to £75. And some class it as a classic bike (19 years old).......so I can have a 10% discount if I join a club............so get a £20 discount in exchange for a £25 membesrship fee.....How does that work? ............and lose all NCB as well.....
im advising a non life broker at present and know that all their underwriters get paid a fee for any business placed with them
Mortgage brokers seem to want quite a high fee for 'arranging' one..........ie, filling in a form and emailing it.
Hastings always say that the renewal quote is always likely to change if you ask them to re run when you come to pay. You have to ask them though.... Unfortunately this year they decided to change their ability to insure my two bikes kept at two locations to a 'computer says no' . Their loss , I've been happy wih them over the years.
It gets worse...........or should I say bizarre............ Had an emailed quote through from Bikesure (Adrian Flux)......a stupid premium...... I clearly recall what I advised them in the way of modifications. In the quote, my bike has suddenly had the engine bored out; the engine has a chip fitted; it has custom wheels; it has an uprated clutch......It is also kept in a brick garage, when they were clearly advised it is kept in a secure timber workshop. In addition to those serious errors, they also want a £50 arrangement fee. I have lodged a formal complaint and requested they correct the information supplied to the various underwriters immediately. Another bunch of idiots. I do hope these so-called specialist bike insurers monitor this forum.
As mentioned earlier.....Carole Nash wanted £274 and then reduced it to £195........mine's just a shitty little 750, though. I have come to the conclusion, most of these people wear blindfolds and just stick a pin in a random list of figures...............either that or they are incompetent.
AL, I think their idea of "modifications" is a standard list of things done to enhance the stealability of the bike, they have no real concept of what is or isn't a mod (if you tell them that you have sprayed the bike a slightly different shade of red, they will list it as a "cosmetic enhancement" in their tickbox list and add another 3-5%). e.g. on yours, the use of a 900ss front end isn't as much an enhancement to make it more of a risk, but more to improve braking and handling (and therefore improve safety and reduced crashability). Makes little sense to anybody who knows what they are looking at or talking about, but they have created a set of "numpty" rules by which they can squeeze a few extra quid here and there from us honest road users. Good luck in getting a decent quote. I tried a firm called Onecalldirect, based in Yorkshire somewhere. cheapest quote, but very difficult to correspond with, and not an easy site to navigate when they ask you to upload your proof of NCB, etc. IF you do by chance go with them, I have the email address of their customer service person who sorted things out for me. Pete
Cheers Pete......but they don't seem to have very good reviews (or do motorcycles now). What's so bloody annoying is that on a compare website........ .....Carole Nash & Bikesure both come out at £139.....how can they possibly want £135 more in a phone call quote?
Aren't Bikesure a trading name of Adrian Flux? used to be with them, but they were being difficult about something, so dropped them and went via a comparison site. agree that onecalldirect are pretty poor at customer service, I had to complain via a public review site to get any sort of response, and i only hope I never have to contact them in the event of a claim, as I have a feeling they will be piss-poor at that side of things, too. If the biksure of nash websites are coming in at £139, I would just go with that and save yourself some time and money - not like you have blinged the bike up or done things to turn it into a 200BHP track monster. Or is it that you have to call to declare health conditions (are they formally DVLA notifiable? worth trawling the DVLA site to see if they are or not - assuming that is why you are having to call not just click). Pete
Have you tried Ducati Insurance? I've been seriously impressed with them. They can be a little slow to confirm mods with the underwriters but they were way cheaper than anyone else. £70 for my 900SS
Pete...... I ain't signing up at £139 with Carole Nash or Bike Sure (Adrian Flux) as I have got some lower quotes coming in........lower, but they need to be lower..........my current policy which is due to expire cost £116 including Legal, top of the range Breakdown/Recovery and IPT.............Bearing that in mind and seeing as I have another year NCB, I expect a better deal than £139 and nowt included. Health...........not notifiable. I'm having to phone because: A) Most sites ask 'Have you passed CBT?' - YES or NO. Well I haven't.......so the site freezes because it thinks I can't ride a 750. B) 'What type of licence' Answer 'Full' 'How long held?' Answer '48 years' or do the date thing............and then it freezes because it can't register the fact I was 16 when I got my provisional and passed my test two months later, when I was still 16. C) Most sites only go back as far as 1970. Ducati Insurance and Mark on the phone have been quite helpful, but they are not in the right groove yet........ ......Interesting your 900 is £70 and they want approx double that for my 750...........I hope they read this, bearing in mind mine is more or less a 900 with a 750 engine!!
