Insurance for new rider — any pointers?
Discussion
I've got my Mod 2 booked near the end of the month and I'm furiously window shopping for bikes right now. Aside from the obvious comparison websites, are there any particularly good avenues to explore for insurance?
I realise this is an incredibly open-ended question but as I'm new to bikes I'm not at all familiar with the market. Are there brokers who can find good deals for new riders?
The bike I *want* is a Street Triple (probably an early-ish one with my budget) but insurance is looking pricey and I'm not sure if I can justify it...
I realise this is an incredibly open-ended question but as I'm new to bikes I'm not at all familiar with the market. Are there brokers who can find good deals for new riders?
The bike I *want* is a Street Triple (probably an early-ish one with my budget) but insurance is looking pricey and I'm not sure if I can justify it...
jan8p said:
How much are you looking at for the Triple?
My quotes were around £400 for a new rider for a 2011 1050.
What you paid is absolutely irrelevant. Why do people do this? Is it to crow about what they think is a cheap premium?My quotes were around £400 for a new rider for a 2011 1050.
OP - have a good shop around and on places like the Bennett's site try lots of different things - for example last year when insuring the OHs R1 it was behaving very strangely and reducing premiums for adding business use, no change for protected NCB and things.
If the bike is only worth a couple of grand have a look at TPFT - making a claim will bugger up your premiums (and your car premiums, and your wife's car premiums etc for five years), so claiming is often not worth it in the scheme of things.
Get a massive excess and then insure the excess - a few years ago I got a £650 excess that brought my premium down by £150, which was a very substantial proportion of the premium. The insurance was £40 but I bet you can get it cheaper still.
Dog Star said:
What you paid is absolutely irrelevant. Why do people do this? Is it to crow about what they think is a cheap premium?
Calm down Doris. Clearly insurance differs massively, but money is money and it helps to see what is a reasonable sum to pay for your first 'big bike'.I think £400 is entirely reasonable, the OP might have been quoted £4000 and think it is normal for all new riders.
I went with MCN as a new rider - they were far and away the cheapest (1st bike, just passed DAS, Triumph Tiger Sport). Similar to the other poster it was around the £400 mark whereas the next quote up was around £700 so quite a big jump. I think I just used one of the insurance comparison sites to find it.
(ETA £ included just to give some context !)
(ETA £ included just to give some context !)
I've always found the comparison site thebikeinsurer gives a good range of quotes that you'll find hard to beat shopping around directly.
An early Triple shouldn't cost loads more than anything else. Naked bikes are generally a lot cheaper than anything with a fairing.
Don't be put of going TPFT as a lot of comprehensive policies have massive excesses.
If you can afford a bike with TC they can quite often be cheaper to insure than the equivalent without.
An early Triple shouldn't cost loads more than anything else. Naked bikes are generally a lot cheaper than anything with a fairing.
Don't be put of going TPFT as a lot of comprehensive policies have massive excesses.
If you can afford a bike with TC they can quite often be cheaper to insure than the equivalent without.
Try Pricipal insurance.
I had a 12 year break from bikes and then bought a Ducati 848 Evo... they weren’t the cheapest (cheapest are normally MCE, but wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole), but they went through everything possible (security, where the bike was kept etc..) to get a very competitive quote.
I’m now riding an MV Agusta F3 800 and stayed with them for my now 5th year. No nasty surprises come renewal time, willing to negotiate on price against cheaper like for like quotes.
Also gave me a bonus of a years no claims when I first took a policy out with them, which helped get my policy cost down.
Be prepared to get a little shafted in your first year, but once you’ve got a years experience, you will see a drop in policy costs.. 50% drop in my case.
I had a 12 year break from bikes and then bought a Ducati 848 Evo... they weren’t the cheapest (cheapest are normally MCE, but wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole), but they went through everything possible (security, where the bike was kept etc..) to get a very competitive quote.
I’m now riding an MV Agusta F3 800 and stayed with them for my now 5th year. No nasty surprises come renewal time, willing to negotiate on price against cheaper like for like quotes.
Also gave me a bonus of a years no claims when I first took a policy out with them, which helped get my policy cost down.
Be prepared to get a little shafted in your first year, but once you’ve got a years experience, you will see a drop in policy costs.. 50% drop in my case.
I passed last year and bought a new MT07, it was garaged, business use, clothing cover, legal and all that jazz. 5k miles and it was £400 for the year. After 6 months I swapped it for a new street triple and I had to hand over another £400.
I was initially put off the triple as the costs for insurance were around double the MT but the triple is by far the better bike.
Good luck with the MOD2!
I was initially put off the triple as the costs for insurance were around double the MT but the triple is by far the better bike.
Good luck with the MOD2!
jan8p said:
Dog Star said:
What you paid is absolutely irrelevant. Why do people do this? Is it to crow about what they think is a cheap premium?
Calm down Doris. Clearly insurance differs massively, but money is money and it helps to see what is a reasonable sum to pay for your first 'big bike'.I think £400 is entirely reasonable, the OP might have been quoted £4000 and think it is normal for all new riders.
Thanks for the replies, all helpful.
FWIW I've been quoted in the region of £700 for an early Street Triple, with a hefty excess. Insuring the excess is something that hadn't occurred to me, I'll look into it.
There are a lot of variables in these speculative quotes as I don't know for instance what built-in security the bike I end up buying will have. (Immobiliser, Datatag, etc.) I'm wondering if I should buy a lock now so I at least have that nailed down.
(Although the lock point is confusing — I might have different security arrangements for home and work, and comparison sites don't incorporate that kind of nuance...)
FWIW I've been quoted in the region of £700 for an early Street Triple, with a hefty excess. Insuring the excess is something that hadn't occurred to me, I'll look into it.
There are a lot of variables in these speculative quotes as I don't know for instance what built-in security the bike I end up buying will have. (Immobiliser, Datatag, etc.) I'm wondering if I should buy a lock now so I at least have that nailed down.
(Although the lock point is confusing — I might have different security arrangements for home and work, and comparison sites don't incorporate that kind of nuance...)
With regards to the lock and chain that you declare on your security - when I have purchased the insurance I have made it clear that my 1.5m long 19mm Pragmasis chain will be used at home only; expecting people to lug around 12kg or more of chain is a bit much, it's hard enough moving it around the garage. I stick with an alarmed Abus disclock (and sometime a Magnum chain) for when I'm out. To be fair I'm so paranoid that I don't let the bike leave my sight anyway.
Dog Star said:
With regards to the lock and chain that you declare on your security - when I have purchased the insurance I have made it clear that my 1.5m long 19mm Pragmasis chain will be used at home only; expecting people to lug around 12kg or more of chain is a bit much, it's hard enough moving it around the garage. I stick with an alarmed Abus disclock (and sometime a Magnum chain) for when I'm out. To be fair I'm so paranoid that I don't let the bike leave my sight anyway.
Makes sense, thanks!I will check out Bemoto, also.
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