Carole Nash does it again.

[Gerontious]

So.. obviously week away and I return to a lot of post, which I ignored last night. today was "busy" and so.. Ive sat down to go through it all.

Amongst it was a renewal for the two bikes. A 19 year old BMW and the New Africa Twin.

CN have offered me a quote of £739.99 with a £225 excess

Bit steep to say the least.. in fact I laughed out loud.

As far as I can tell there aren't any online sites that will give you a quote for more than 1 bike. So.. I went to "The Bike Insurer" and ran through my details and the Africa Twin.

Top of the list was MCE and they have given me a quote of £143.92 with a £575 excess.

Main difference is where the bike is parked. CN call it a "Locked Compound" for MCE the only choice that was appropriate was "Driveway"

And... oddly enough, down the list from TBI was Carole Nash. and there they are offering me a quote as above, for £273.37 with an £1100 excess.

I shall be calling them mañana and it should be interesting.

BTW... this is nothing new, every renewal I have had from them has been an absolute joke. but.. get them on the phone... and..

All it takes is some comparison quotes and threats. plus its an 0800 number.

[Bender]

They were a joke for me on the phone too

[Gerontious]

They were a joke for me on the phone too

 

If they are with me then two guesses.

if MCE can give me a quote like that on an £11,000 value bike.. then what of a £1,500.

They do multibikes.. and the usual line is a multibike is less than two individuals.. so Im looking at less than a nominal £288 in theory. over £450 less than CN.

see what they say.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Gerontious

[skyrider]

£740 tell them to shove it

[Gerontious]

£740 tell them to shove it

 

CN are great when you need them. when it really matters. But not at any price. and definitely not at this price.

Been with them since 2005 and my last claim was in 1996

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

This pee taking insurance nonsense is the only bit that puts me off getting another bike.

If a political party said they were going to legislate to force them to behave it would be a vote winner- who doesn’t have a “the bloody insurance company” story?

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

[mention]Gerontious[/mention] didn’t you say something a while back about them being the only company that covers ..... umm I think it was recovery on any age bike?

[Gerontious]

@Gerontious didn’t you say something a while back about them being the only company that covers ..... umm I think it was recovery on any age bike?

 

yes.. for European travel. (which is my main reason for staying with them and keeping the GS for so long.)

They started as vintage bikes only and that is an aspect from their beginnings that they have kept. most, if not all insurers will only cover bikes that are under 10yrs old.

They offer the same level of insurance.. so in my case thats FC. and rescue too. from anywhere in the EU.

(Ive used their European rescue and its fantastic)

most others only give you TPO. once you're across the channel. and as I say.. refuse to cover older bikes.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Gerontious

[skyrider]

im with Lynbrook and they cover classic bikes

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

That’s worth having. I think it’s worth having? Can you buy that sort of recovery separately and if so is it more costly than the the insurance recovery combined? I expect you’re going to politely say “yes you fool or I’d do it separately” but maybe there are other benefits?

What’s TPO?

Edited March 2, 2019 by Slowlycatchymonkey

[Gerontious]

im with Lynbrook and they cover classic bikes

 

They do... yes. Never heard of them before.

 

That’s worth having. I think it’s worth having? Can you buy that sort of recovery separately and if so is it more costly than the the insurance recovery combined? I expect you’re going to politely say “yes you fool or I’d do it separately” but maybe there are other benefits?

What’s TPO?

 

First question.. I have no idea. but 'probably' its definitely worth having.. as to costs. well.. cross that bridge if I'm forced to.

Second questions. TPO is third party only and is the minimum insurance level you need here or once over the channel.

with a lot of insurers.. you might have fully comp here in the UK, but for european travel most of them will only give you the minimum legal requirement. TPO.

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

im with Lynbrook and they cover classic bikes

 

They do... yes. Never heard of them before.

 

That’s worth having. I think it’s worth having? Can you buy that sort of recovery separately and if so is it more costly than the the insurance recovery combined? I expect you’re going to politely say “yes you fool or I’d do it separately” but maybe there are other benefits?

What’s TPO?

 

First question.. I have no idea. but 'probably' its definitely worth having.. as to costs. well.. cross that bridge if I'm forced to.

Second questions. TPO is third party only and is the minimum insurance level you need here or once over the channel.

with a lot of insurers.. you might have fully comp here in the UK, but for european travel most of them will only give you the minimum legal requirement. TPO.

 

Cripes glad I asked that although stupid I didn’t think TPO is third party only when I’ve seen it hundreds of times. Doh.

If your bike gets trashed while abroad thats it then, curtains for the bike. That’s no good.

[Bianco2564]

Can't complain about CN, renewed my multi bike policy in Jan with R1,RGV,380 and SS, fully comp for £320.

[Ross]

Im with MCE

[oldgrump]

Use to be with CN for about 15 years, but changed to Peter James insurance years ago, currently paying £227.98 for 5 bikes, fully comp with £50 excess on 3 bikes and £200 on the 2 newer ones.

Includes unlimited mileage and full UK and European breakdown cover. As long as you have a Classic bike you should be able to insure a newer one at good rates.

[elizabethf]

I think they're all turd.

Spent an hour and a half on the phone to Hastings on Friday because they hadn't uploaded my bike documents to their website, so i had to ring to change my licence and my bike. After a 40 min wait to get through, the lady on the line for bikes didnt know what pillion meant, and then proceeded to tell me they couldn't insure the new bike! back on hold while she figured it out.... basically she had tried to update the bike BEFORE updating my licence to a full bike one

God forbid you have to claim with/against hastings!

[fastbob]

I can't complain about Swinton. GSXR 1100 and an ER5 fully comp with breakdown cover for £364 a year . A pound a day doesn't feel too painful. It did take nearly two hours on the phone to set up though mainly because I made the mistake of saying to the operative " So what do think is the best deal ? " This throws them into a spin and they have to start reading out the script all over again.

[Gerontious]

In the list of quotes for the Africa twin. with number 1 being the cheapest and number 37 the most expensive.

Swinton were number 6 £200 + £850 excess

Hastings were number 9 £207 + £850 excess

reminder. Number 1 is MCE £143.92 + £575 excess.

Number 37 is Premium Choice £568 + £700 excess.

I wouldnt go with any of them, obviously.

I would prefer to stay with CN because as I mentioned they are really good when it matters, when you really need them.

They saved me from a whole world of pain several years ago, went that extra mile and saved my bacon in a major way and were entirely professional and efficient at no extra cost to me aside from a single 1 minute phone call from my PAYG phone, they immediately called me back (in Austria) to save my credit. Perfect.

but as i say.. this latest renewal is a joke.

[onesea]

This pee taking insurance nonsense is the only bit that puts me off getting another bike.

 

I actually found having 2 bikes is as cheap as having one... They do know how to take the p155.

My misses changed cars the other day it took 1 hour on the phone to remove 1 car from the policy and add another apparently it was "more difficult" because I had changed cars a couple of weeks earlier and we where near our renewal date (for which I had cancelled automatic renewal) .

I then reinstated the automatic renewal got all the changes made in 10 minutes asked for a quote for renewal with the changes. It was nearly 2 x quotes elsewhere so I then declined the renewal but it made all the changes easier

Insurance companies are nothing more than legalised money launderers IMHO, who else treats loyalty with such contempt. They are no different in other areas house insurance, we just 1/2'd ours for same cover. There is a certain Meerkat that has saved me £1000's, even then we get confused.com and gocompare just to check they all in the same moneysupermarket....

[elizabethf]

It's a shame Direct Line don't cover motorbikes (yet?) as they are brilliant. I have home, car and pet insurance with them. all of which heavily discounted because all my insurances are with them as is my partner - so we both get discount from each other haha.

[Snod Blatter]

If you can get a quote from Bemoto then their Titanium cover will give you EU recovery even if your machine is ancient. In fact you get better cover than with CN (far as I can tell) so when CN give you the spiel about other insurers being cheaper because you don't get all the lovely extras you can tell them they're wrong

When I umm'd and ahh'd they gave me the Titanium cover for free too, which was nice. £322 for TPFT is still steep to me but CN wanted £470 or something, I'm so fed up of their game that I didn't even bother calling them. I have had to chase them to get proof of my NCB too despite being assured it would all be done automatically, pah!

[Gerontious]

If you can get a quote from Bemoto then their Titanium cover will give you EU recovery even if your machine is ancient. In fact you get better cover than with CN (far as I can tell) so when CN give you the spiel about other insurers being cheaper because you don't get all the lovely extras you can tell them they're wrong

 

Bemoto are number 17 on the list.

they are quoting £242.96 plus £850 excess.

Titanium level is number 23

£273.37 plus £850 excess

Again this is for the Africa Twin on its own. Its unlikely the GS will ever leave the country again for the remainder of my ownership.

and i have 2 years Europe wide this that and the other as part of the purchase price.

It may turn out that I get the cheapest possibe cover. TPO for the beemer. give it a stupid low value and insure it separately and use my NCB for the Honda.

[Gerontious]

well... just off the phone and I have jumped ship. (after 17yrs)

laughable really.

The best multi-bike they could offer me was £696.97 (and that was giving a value for the BMW of £500!!!)

Insuring the Honda on its own FC £549

(They cant even beat their own online quote with the Bike insurer of £387.46)

TPO for the Africa twin.. an unbelievable £396 !!!!! (though that might have been a multibike)

Compare that against:

MCE £143.92

Bennetts £177.43

Devitt £183.48

POST OFFICE £189.08

So.. likely to go with MCE. and see how much TPO is for the BMW and if its stupid as it cant share the NCB, get rid.

[The Hitcher]

When I got my new bike last year, trying to find insurance was a nightmare as it wasn’t on insurers systems yet, CN and bikesure quoted me something ridiculous like £1500 TPO, in the end I got it for £800 FC with a £500 excess, which I’m pretty happy with, renewal time at the end of the month though!, which reminds me I’ve got to tax it as im a couple of days late!.

[Snod Blatter]

So what are you going to do about EU recovery?

I have wondered for a few years now how CN can carry on, but this year they must be losing customers all the time. A shame, back in 2009 they were one of the cheapest I could find..