Insurance companies now refusing to quote for East London

[sjtscott]

Bennetts have not been able to offer me a renewal quote so have basically told me to go away this despite another year of not claiming, of not getting any bonus points etc. Was told when I enquired sorry nothing we can do many underwriters are pulling out of offering cover for London postcodes now.
So I can't get a quote off eBike online, won't quote, also Carole Nash won't offer me a quote online.
I'm really going to be forced into taking out a 'shell' MCE policy to get reasonable insurance (sub £400) now and remain legal FFS!
£1000+ Mandatory excess mean's I ain't claiming unless its total loss/nicked.

Bring on me leaving London at some point this year!

[sjtscott]

Bike is too valuable for 3rd party only, still worth a good £5k+ also means I won't consider TPFT either sadly.
I called CN after much discussions apparently with underwriter they came back with £900 FComp.. I told them to try again.. £780... was I going to take it. Thanks but no thanks. They tried to offer me TPO and TPFT - I said no chance sorry.

Ok looks like the £390 initial quote from MCE has to be taken.. despite the £1075 mandatory excess

[sjtscott]

anonymous said:

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Thanks, will give them a try - nothing to lose at this stage. Next closest on comparison websites are random brokers I've never heard of either but again some £250 more per year over MCE.

[sjtscott]

Gavia said:

Bloody hell, I wish my bikes were £86 and £158 to insure. I certainly wouldn’t be complaining.

Agreed lol If the OP was taking the p*ss by rubbing it in then well done!
Peanuts for two insurance policies and clearly no East London Postcode.

[sjtscott]

2Btoo said:

Ouch. Which London postcode are you? (Only give the first part, natch.) They can differ quite a lot.

Its near Canary Wharf.. E14

[sjtscott]

anonymous said:

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Will do.. I've requested a call back for later today when I'm free of meetings to get the quote sorted. Cheers

[sjtscott]

anonymous said:

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Interesting.. thats a new line of questioning over what I'm used to. I know some ask where its parked during the day. For me its a secure underground work car park... infinitely more secure than at home. But currently my bike spends a large part of the working week during the working day under my building.

[sjtscott]

sjtscott said:

anonymous said:

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Interesting.. thats a new line of questioning over what I'm used to. I know some ask where its parked during the day. For me its a secure underground work car park... infinitely more secure than at home. But currently my bike spends a large part of the working week during the working day under my building.

With the Principle guy on the phone none of their insurers will quote as I have no garage basically at home. I suspected as much. He was going to refer to underwriters to see what they can do and call back if possible. I'm not expecting a call personally.

[sjtscott]

MrGman said:

sjtscott said:

Gavia said:

Bloody hell, I wish my bikes were £86 and £158 to insure. I certainly wouldn’t be complaining.

Agreed lol If the OP was taking the p*ss by rubbing it in then well done!
Peanuts for two insurance policies and clearly no East London Postcode.

No not at all, when i was trying to find quotes on the scooter i was feeling pretty hard done by, the street i was happy with admittedly.

This thread has made me appreciate the prices i pay for my bikes.

Even though i can't complain about my premiums stuff like this does make me mad, annoys me that people like yourself are suffering due to others actions.

You know I could possibly understand if there was something I'd done wrong to increase my risk, but nothing, I have the maximum no claims possible, mid 40s, license for 21 years, no points no claims in well over the 5 years they ask about. I spend 10 bloody minutes locking up and covering my bike every evening and then doing the reverse every morning in order to try to keep the thing. Reason I goto town and I have very expensive decent locks and chains is that I had a bike nicked in April 2005. Completely gone never recovered I was hammered for the payout I got for the next 5 years of insurance premiums I had to declare it for.. That stung but I could understand they wanted their money back and some.

Looks like I'm going with mce, and I'll be hopefully gone from London come next renewal.

[sjtscott]

pip t said:

Yep, I had to swap from Bennetts to MCE this year as Bennetts refused flat out to cover me.
I live in leafy Surrey, and the bike is hardly a fire breather (CB500X). The problem was not being able to garage it overnight.

Much as MCE seem to be derided around these parts I’m glad they exist and seem to be willing to cover pretty much anybody. I have no option to garage the bike, if I can’t be insured for outdoor parking that’s the end of the bike for me.

Glad it's not just me. But it's not just Bennett's refusing to quote it's the underwriter/insurance companies.. Hence I've had so many refusal to quotes ... This is the more concerning thing zero choice or competition soon for the London bike insurance market. Last year was fine this year it suddenly isn't. What will insurance be like in London soon once all the legit old stters are kicked out of central London by Khan's revised April 2019 ULEZ introduction? Easy rich pickings of post July 2007 bikes only for the tea leafs

[sjtscott]

black-k1 said:

Morning Loon It took me a little while!!

For a while last year I began thinking that I missed your input to PHBB but I'm now reminded of the reality of your involvement

I think most of us regulars on here worked this out a while ago This thread just confirms it given the indepth insurance industry knowledge.

[sjtscott]

Gavia said:

The Mad Monk said:

Don't you motorcycle chappies have price comparison websites like Confused.com and er, Money saving Expert and others?

No?

Yes and no.

www.thebikeinsurer.co.uk

Is the nearest you’ll get, but it’s not that comprehensive and bike insurance is still dominated by brokers, rather than direct sales. The variables on bikes, with mods, multiple bikes, so many different types of bike in one persons garage, that it’s better to do a ring round and see what you can get. Whilst the underwriters are often the same, the different schemes each broker has can lead to a wide variation in price.

And thebikeinsurer is pushing MCE policies again for me and as way cheaper than the next competition I have to go with them.

There is gocompare for bike insurance too but its not as good as the bikeinsurer
MCN has a comparison site but they have a tie in with Carole Nash who won't give me a quote online or reasonable quote for me at all.. unreasonable cost and underwriter referral on the phone just to get a price.

[sjtscott]

anonymous said:

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Nope no call back.. we were stuck on £780 FC after I said £900 wasn't good enough. Way too expensive

[sjtscott]

I posted to the new thread (about London insurance) but basically ended up having to go with MCE without any other realistic choice to keep it reasonable at just sub £400 FComp. The excess of £1k+ effectively makes it total loss/write off use only now.

[sjtscott]

anonymous said:

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Some really really bad premiums there sorry to hear that
At least you have the MCE option too like myself even if its not an ideal choice.

[sjtscott]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks also for sharing the link Gavia will take a look, didn't pass me by just getting the main policy sorted first was the priority.

Seriously went through the paperwork from MCE with a fine tooth comb so many things just not quite right but I have a recorded conversation explaining to me why the date I passed my UK license was some random date and couldn't be corrected. States no mods but I have them declared - explanation they only want to know about perf enhancing mods. Despite repeated attempts they still weren't listing the triumph factory key immobiliser I told them about but still listed it as 'unspecified' on security devices. I do have that finally showing correctly.

Suggest anyone double triple checks their MCE policy docs!!!

Edited by sjtscott on Saturday 27th January 02:00

[sjtscott]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks for the info however I'm sticking with MCE for now - principle were adamant without a garage and with commuting added + mods declared they couldn't get less than the circa £700 i.e. high 600s FComp they quoted me after I asked them to try better the £900 they first came back with.

Its the map+can i.e. a perf enhancement which is whats doubled the premium not the can by itself I'd suggest. I'm always asked if I have any perf enhancing mods which I don't.

[sjtscott]

anonymous said:

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I'm not sure how they'd ever tell it had been mapped unless your bike is new enough that a dealer would know this? The question MCE asked for comparison are any of your mods performance enhancing - no is the accurate response. They said they will cover any mods that don't enhance performance. They specifically called out turbos or superchargers lol But for non perm enhancing mods will only replace with manufacturer parts in the event of a claim - had that statement from other insurers too.

[sjtscott]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Sure - Race is kinda obvious then

Just to say glad you got it sorted out. BTW there is no way I'd even get a quote for your bike currently anywhere approaching what you got for it. I only have a 2011 Speed Triple!