First time I had heard this but had to make an amendment to my insurance today< Im used to where is the bike kept at night when at home, My answer in the Garage, But this has now changed to where is the bike stored at home and its now fully expected to be in the garage when you are at home and not next to it. So for clarification I asked if I was cleaning my bike whet inside to the toilet and came back outside and my bike was stolen would I have a claim, I was told probably not as the bike was left unattended at my home and not in the garage, So I have to put my bike in the garage every time its out of my eye sight for 5 mins, Madness another why so many bikers are going off the road. Sorry rant over but its madness.
This is a new one on me. My insurance company and the companies I've used in the past have stated if the bike is at home or within half a mile of home between the hours of 10pm and 7am it must be locked in the garage. Doesn't mention anything about the in between times. We all leave our bikes outside the house during the day at some point when we are cleaning it or going/coming back from a ride. Maybe I should check. Which insurance company?
I never leave my bike 'outside' when I am at home. Its in the garage. Its only 'outside' to clean or when I am working on it. Then its back in the garage. I benefit from living in a 'close' and my neighbours would spot anything 'odd' had i just nipped to the loo. Plus one of my neighbours is a motorcyclist too and we are often both outside tinkering with the bikes. I will not leave my bike unattended very often when out and about. I will always be close by. For instance i would never use bike parks in London. Theives just patrol them, not to mention the arshole mopeds who think they can just jam their scoots in a small gap either side. As 2 owners may have found to their cost one day, when they found their heaps of scoots on their side in the middle of the road. Scratch my sidepanels and you will get your just desserts. Both my bikes are alarmed. They are in an alarmed garage. The garage has 3 locks. One central and one on each bottom corner. Then my Saab is parked right up to the door. Good luck moving a saab without a key. They have a gearbox lock. It is also alarmed. Plus my neighbours have eyes. That said though, a determined thief will steal anything and nothing you can do will prevent it. Just make their life less easy.
I am normally within a short distance of my bike when I leave it,and always in view.Not just scooterists that are a problem.With all the car park to choose from at Box Hill one moron on a tatty old BMW parked so close to my bike I thought they were going to mate.I had to ask him to move his bike so I could mount mine.I sometimes wonder what planet some of these people come from. As I get older I am getting less tolerant of mindless morons and thoughtless,selfish behaviour. Sorry for rant and getting away from the thread.I am sure a lot of ins companies would invoke all sorts of objections to paying out on a stolen claim.
Pet hate of mine: its not my fault if it gets stolen, even if I leave it in the keys over night on a back street. Its stolen. The end. Most insurers insist on the 10pm thing as above, mine is same, and that any locks fitted are fitted...another grey area is if you are out. Should you use the great big padlock thats on your policy or is it void?! Trail that big chain all over europe sir?! Another 'dont need to payout' thing
I had my old bike insured as locked with almax chain, when I renewed this they said I need to have it chained up everywhere with said chain rather than at home with the chain like I had it previously, I'm not carrying around a 20 kilo chain when i pop to the shops!
Hmm.... this has got me thinking about the mentality of insurance companies. When I took out my insurance I was asked a few questions that I'd never been asked before. One was if I had CCTV to which I replied yes because I do. There are 16 camera's linked to it but it can be a bit temperamental at times with some of the camera's going down, infact 3 are not working now. So does this mean that if my bike is locked in the garage like it should be and someone breaks in and steals it and the CCTV doesn't catch the robbery I'm not covered!?.
I had a gorgeous 999S nicked from my garage a few years back. It all ended ok with the insurance company but there were a few twitchy arse moments along the way... I can offer 2 golden rules:- 1. Don't get bent over with 'non disclosure' Make sure all questions are answered accurately and correctly whilst going through the quote proccess. 2. If your bike gets nicked, don't panic. Get the policy out and read every square fucking inch of it. Then read it again. Then, and only then, pick up the phone and report it.
