37 replies to this topic

[Catteeclan]

Ill never understand insurance. When my XJR 1300 sp was totaled by a blind motion in Range Rover (hit me from behind on a large roundabout), I changed to an Enfield 500 and my insurance went up! 100 odd hp to 28, explain that.
On the other hand, my renewal for the TDM 900 abs 2005 just went down from £110 to £90!

That'll be because you had a claim, even though it wasn't your fault.

[leehenty]

My Royal Enfield 500 costs me more to insure than any other bike I have. My TDM is a mere £60

[Robodene]

My MT-07 premium has also halved with Europa (like my Rebel, as said above). This after years grumbling. 

[Favs]

£117 both bikes fully comp this year, but plumped for the 2 bikes  F/Comp  + anybody's (insured, different address), bike fully comp for £165

[Robodene]

Have prices eased generally for bikes? That is my experience this year. Quite the opposite of my car premium which has ballooned. 

[trevini]

Mine have always been about the same, except for the Guzzi which was a little more expensive this year, but only about £10. Niner has always been between £70-80 (since 2005) and the Guzzi £80-90, but when I renewed it in January, it was £102. 

[Studley Ramrod]

Yet to renew my insurance, dreading the cost of my 9'er and mk1 8 fiddly 🙄

[chrisr]

I just get whatever’s cheapest for my old Omega and my Tdm, on the basis that I’ll get nothing out of them anyway…….no claims in 50 years means bugger all.

[trevini]

Had to play the insurance game with my truck yesterday after the renewal from Swindletons came throughout double last years price. Got it back down to within £20 of last year. The whole thing is just one big con. I asked if that was the price for everyone as the new legislation states that should be the case, but it doesn't apply to commercial vehicle policies. Greedy thieving bar stewards is what they are!

[muddy]

That'll be because you had a claim, even though it wasn't your fault.

Hello old chaps. I thought I'd resurrect this thread in order to pick your brains.

On my French tour I got torpedoed by an elderly lady who lost control of her VW Golf while attempting a 3 point turn. I was stopped a few metres short of her waiting for her to complete the turn when she first backed into a wall, then compounded the error by driving across the road into a shop front barrel of flowers, finally turning the car in my direction and flooring it. I shouted "NOOOOOO" as she came at me and by some act of the Almighty I'm here to tell the story. To this day I don't know how she didn't hit me, but somehow my bike was pushed back and fell away from her speeding car. I had already conceded I was going to have mangled legs, but got up from the road unscathed. The damage to my bike remains a mystery, but the front cowl metal frame was pushed towards the handlebar and slightly twisted. It's as if a giant hand had gripped the headlight and pushed the bike backwards and down behind the stationary car I was stopped beside, out of the way of the VW.

The damage is the cowl frame and plastic, including the dash unit. I've totted it up and it's a couple of grand, so likely a write off. My insurance was informed, but I managed to get the bike into rideable condition and got it home. The thing is my insurance want to pass the claim on to a company called 4th Dimension and I don't like what I've read about them. They make money out of storage charges and bike rental, etc., giving them no incentive to get the bike sorted any time soon.

The bike has done 38k miles and I ride about 7k a year, so I'm not going to get that much in a payout. And the inconvenience of a long drawn out claim and also having the bike taken away by this mystery company, leaves me thinking I might just not claim. Am I mad?

[laughin in a windstorm]

I don't trust any insurance company for anything, we've had some experiences with insurance companies and they've always been bad in that they cost us money,

2 years ago we spent £4000 on a HONDA CRV car and just 2 weeks later some piece of shit stole the catalytic converter off of it, the insurance company said it would cost £2000 to replace the exhaust and claimed that is more than what the car is worth so they will write the car off instead, we couldn't get anything even remotely close to our car for that unrealistic price so we said we would not go ahead with the claim, they said ok,

we got an aftermarket cat system fitted for £1000 of our own money, the next time our insurance renewal was due we were on the insurers list of making a claim even though we never actually went through with it, it raised all of our insurance quotes by an average of £80,

so through no fault of our own we were out of pocket by well over a £1000, I will always get whatever the cheapest quote is insurance wise as any claim will leave us out of pocket either way,

insurance is a scam and as for 'protected' no claims bonus, that is just insuring your insurance, what you don't pay for now you will pay in time

Edited by laughin in a windstorm, 01 October 2025 - 03:00 am.

[muddy]

@LIAW
Your story doesn't surprise me. The insurance world is as unethical and corrupt as the government that presides over it.

I'm in a similar spot to you. I fully expect that if I go with the procedure the "underwriter" want me to go with, nothing will get resolved for months while the company that does the job of the "underwriter" ought to be doing sit on the bike making money out of storage costs and any other shenanigans the corrupt sob's have thought up. I've heard of bike hire costs running into many thousands of pounds for those who've been given a courtesy bike. I cannot in good conscience do go that route.

I've contacted the French lady's partner and asked him to inform their insurer of these potential high costs and that I would get an independent engineer's report on the damage if they give me the go ahead. The French bloke said he'd do that, but I've heard nothing since. In a last ditch attempt to get some just resolution I'll get their insurance details and talk directly to the insurer. If I can get a couple of grand I'll be happy, but I doubt I'll get a single shekel, just a premium bump.

[Robodene]

Which? organisation has lodged some major complaint about the fact that the insurance industry is no longer fit for purpose. We will see whether anything comes of that. It does need to be turned upside down in my view. It never seems to have recovered after revised competition rules were introduced (if memory serves me as the point of change). It never used to be like this. 

[leehenty]

My ST1300 is cheaper to insure than the RE500 makes no sense.
Keep eye on the bottom suspension link rear, Muddy it had the same setup as a TDM but in a steel eye. Bike is two years old, obviously grease is tightly rationed at Honda.

[muddy]

Watcha Lee. I did to the CB500X what I did with the TDM900, covered the undercarriage in Waxoyl. Likely it'll be moving aside soon and making room for a thumper, the Honda GB350S.

[leehenty]

Ooh thats a nice traditional bike.

[Snowbird]

Aunty Carole actually came in with a cheaper renewal by £11 this year compared to last year   But... the recovery is now extra so it seems  , so now with Bennetts with everything included at £16 less again.

What a bloody PITA!

[laughin in a windstorm]

loyalty amounts to nothing