Bloody insurance!

[alexanderfoti]

Hi all

I am currentlly insured with footman james, who have said their new underwriters cant insure me due to my age (23)

So now im stuck with finding a new policy.

This is for my Honda Varadero and my superdream diesel.

Adrian flux have quoted me 600 pounds (ha!)
peter james have said they cant insure me due to my age
Swinton have said that they will come back to me, but no doubt they will be the same

Anybody have any ideas on who else I can try.

[Dougy]

At least you've been quoted mate and these days £12.50 a week for your insurance aint that bad for a young guy, dont get me wrong its a lot of cash, mine is £150 for only one bike and I've never crashed into anyone and its parked in a brick shed in a good area, I'm 43 an I grumbled about that. Maybe check some of your local independent brokers if the big boys wont play nice.

[alexanderfoti]

At least you've been quoted mate and these days £12.50 a week for your insurance aint that bad for a young guy, dont get me wrong its a lot of cash, mine is £150 for only one bike and I've never crashed into anyone and its parked in a brick shed in a good area, I'm 43 an I grumbled about that. Maybe check some of your local independent brokers if the big boys wont play nice.

Hmm indeed, although im a bit miffed that with 1 years extra no claims and 1 less bike on the policy that its gone up 75 pounds!

I am currently trying with the independent brokers to see what I can get with them, not holding my breath!

[alexanderfoti]

SCratch that, Bike sure cant insure me at all either.

[alexanderfoti]

great, so far nobody will insure me.

[Stuart]

Nick tells me Footman James split up and that this guy is better. I've not tried him but give it a go & let us know if Nick is right
http://www.peterjamesinsurance.co.uk/

[alexanderfoti]

I gave them a try as well, but i was below their minimum age of 25 thansk though

[Sphere]

When can you obtain a motorcycle license in the UK, 18? Very weird situation that they won't insure people.

[alexanderfoti]

Moronic if you ask me!

[mr chips]

Carole Nash could be worth a try - they insure trikes so should be able to quote for a bike, even a modified one. Think they look for a minimum no-claims period before they'll quote you, can't remember how many years though.

Also, dunno if you have RAC/AA/Green Flag cover or anything like that, but the RAC just undercut my car insurance renewal by £90 - possibly got a better deal due to having membership, but still worth checking. If they'll quote you, might be worth signing up for Quidco as I saw yesterday that they have an £80 cashback offer going if you take out RAC membership and insurance together. Dunno if that's for car insurance only or for bikes as well though, and it expires in a few days so worth checking out sooner than later.

Other than that, your best bet is probably to use the comparison websites like confused.com and gocompare etc.

[Mouse]

Have you got a quote from Bike Sure yet.
I've had problems with Carole Nash and diesel bikes since they changed underwriters (or something) about 18 months ago.

[alexanderfoti]

Nope, nobody , including Carol Nash would touch me, as soon as I said the engine wasn't from another bike, they ran a mile.

The most frustrating thing is that they never get back to you! They have no reason to phone you tell them they wont insure you so they just forget about it!

[Mouse]

Did you specifically ask for a modified / custom policy when ringing for a quote?

If they tried to put a change of engine on a standard quote it will blow the system out of the water but remember you are dealing with telephone numpties and something as simple as asking for a modified quote at the start of the conversation will make them take a different tack with the commpootaaa and has made a difference for me.

Bike Sure were OK about engines not from another bike but Carole Nash were very difficult about it despite their underwriters custom department not finding a problem with the combination, and sent me an apology about the way Carole Nash had treated me.

I also remember insurance quotes being a bitch until I was a bit older.

[alexanderfoti]

After the first couple of times I did start asking for modified insurance, as they always passed me through to somebody else when I mentioned it, that meant giving all the details over again. I guess I will have to keep trying.

[Mouse]

I guess I will have to keep trying.

Just be patient, listen to what they say and when they refuse you ask why.If it's age then urmm, if its technical they should have a criteria you've failed to hit and will be able to tell you why. Remember that different insurers have different criteria and often with custom jobs you hit a company blanket ruling which is annoying. For instance I found one wont insure anything with a cc of double or more, another wont insure something with an engine not from a similar vehicle and another wont insure a bike with a diesel engine in. They are all different making a game of Russian roulette when you pick the phone up.

Getting quotes for insurance is a sole destroying experience at the best of times I find plenty of fresh coffee and biscuits help a bit

[alexanderfoti]

heh yeah!

Will get to the shops and buy some ginger snaps and get the coffee going Thanks.

[gilburton]

I was getting desperate as well and finally settled on Footman James however, before this, I filled in the MCN compare form and only got back about 3 quotes.
I can't remember the names but 2 quotes were good one of which was a broker in Southend who was into custom scooters and other vehicles and after taking all details on the phone came back with a competitive quote. It might be worth a try. The main problem is getting past the computer tick boxes as anything modified is assumed to be done for performance.
Ironically I could have got a better quote if I was in the MZ club.

[Crazymanneil]

Sorry to hear the hassle you are having. I too have found Carole Nash have gone downhill which is a shame since I always used to go with them. Bikesure (Adrian Flux) were good with the modifications to my bike but were quite expensive. Footman James are a lot better but could not cover me at the start because the bike was not old enough. They covered younger modified stuff but not here in Northern Ireland.

If you are really stuck it might be worth looking at part-time traders insurance or something like that? Requirements vary by company but would allow you to ride pretty much anything. A friend has cover for cars and while it's expensive he is better off than trying to insure a heavily modified motor. He mentioned it was cheap to add motorcycle cover to the policy.

Good luck whatever happens. Its annoying to have this bureaucracy in the way at the last hurdle!

N

[gilburton]

Just remembered the names I got from the MCN compare site.
One was bikesure(no comment) but the others were KGM insurance and JML insurance services also known as Allstyles. I believe this was originally Youngs insurance and they are in Colchester.
I didn't go with KGM as they were a bit pushy and I was getting cold calls re other services but they were competitive and at least they were willing to cover my bike.
I suspect your age is the sticking point as "mods" or non standard mean more power in insurance eyes.
I found it difficult and I'm 65.
I rang loads of custom places all advertising any bike,mods,customs etc. but they didn't want to know. Once again our type of modification doesn't tick the boxes.
I've said it before but insurance is starting to kill anything different but considering our mods tend to lower the power output of a standard bike I can't see the problem,it's just getting someone to actually listen rather than a computer with standard questions.
I don't like "clubs" as I prefer to be independent but if a Diesel Bike Club could be formed(in name only) maybe a broker could be approached to offer insurance???

[gilburton]

When can you obtain a motorcycle license in the UK, 18? Very weird situation that they won't insure people.

No real problem if the bike is standard but they don't like anything different and under 25 years old.