Motorcycle insurance cancelled

[markbrunell]

I haven’t been cancelled but I am unable to get renewal quotes and feel like I’ve been blacklisted through no fault of my own?

I’ve been driving over 35 years and riding motorcycles just as long as.

why?

[bonio]

@markbrunell not much to go on, so you're going to have to fill us in.

[RideWithStyles]

difficult to work out when you give little info but expect an good answer.

 

Well not splitting hairs but maybe you have done something wrong? 

for example in this header tread you say it’s “cancelled” but then you say on the first post can’t get “renewal”,  They are two separate things with different implications.

 

so what you saying are two different things…which for me is questionable and maybe they do too with something you’ve filled out? 

 

First thing would be to ask them! If they don’t say owt why you l

feel they have done.
It wouldnt surprise me if they just don’t want too (they don’t have to offer or even consider to insure you) or something of you fall out of their favour, maybe try some other specialist insurers?

Edited January 15 by RideWithStyles

[markbrunell]

Hi.

Three years ago I wrote off a bike after skidding on oil. Then in November i had my Honda stolen so i reported it to Police and insurance but i found it told my insurance that I wasn’t making a claim and told police to remove the flag off system got it repaired but i bought a new bike used the old one as part payment which was all good.

but now I've tried to insure the new one and NO ONE will give me a quote ?

[RideWithStyles]

Right getting an actual picture.

 

you are now a very high risk person on two wheels within a very short space of time and want to load yourself up with a brand new bike which will be costly.

(any claims with four wheels?)

1) you wrote a bike off- £££. Scrubbing some ncb and a mark against you.

2) not too long afterwards- bike stolen, even if you didn’t claim afterwards but noticed them you are a risk for theft and other risks of vehicle so a mark for this will be present.

3) now you wish to load yourself up with a brand new bike which will be costly within a space a two months….

 

that is probably why they say no….maybe you need to stabilise your history with the old bike first?

 

maybe there is some other things that have you on a balance of acceptance before hand (eu license, dodgy history so many things) and now it’s tipped over.

Edited January 15 by RideWithStyles

[Tiggie]

32 minutes ago, markbrunell said:

Then in November i had my Honda stolen so i reported it to Police and insurance but i found it told my insurance that I wasn’t making a claim

 

This happened to me and my premiums went right up the following year. When I rang insurance to find out it turns out just reporting it is enough to be classed as a claim on their system whether or not they have to pay anything out 

 

To them it doesn't matter that they haven't paid out, what does matter is that you have reported a vehicle as stolen so are considered more of a risk.

[bonio]

Yes, Tiggie is right. They ignore the fact that you found the bike that was nicked, and the insurance never paid out. In their minds, you've claimed on one bike being written off and another being stolen, all in three years. It's a rubbish situation you're in, 100% not fair, but it is what it is.

There are companies out there that specialise in high risk insurance. If you haven't done so already you might try one or of these, but be prepared to open your wallet wide. They are usually ready to insure people mainstream companies won't give quotes to.

Other than that, you're only way forward is to wait until the write off from the oil spill expires: once 5 years are up, you no longer have to declare it, and you'll be back down to one claim. You'll be two years older too, which will help. But I can understand that's not what you want to hear if you've just a got a new bike you want to ride  

 

Edited January 15 by bonio

[Davidtav]

I would try to find a specialist broker you can visit in person rather than just doing online quotes. Good luck

[markbrunell]

Any suggestions as to whom I could try?

[Hairsy]

Have you tried the main aggregators? I use MoneySuperMarket and confused.com but there are others.

 

One thing you could try is getting a quote for very low mileage, no pillion and with very comprehensive security. If you're happy with these restrictions then go for it. If not though, still get the quotes but then phone those who have made an offer to you and ask if you can increase the mileage / add pillion / reduce the security. You're trying to get someone on the phone who knows that their company has given you a quote and who sees an easy sale / commission.

 

If you can get people on the phone then the other thing to do is ask what it is about your profile that's causing the issue.

 

I had a similar problem a year ago with bike insurance and couldn't understand why I was seen as such a big risk. It turned out to relate to an enquiry I'd made a year earlier about a motorhome policy, asking whether a fridge malfunction was covered under the insurance. It wasn't (as I'd expected) - but my enquiry had been incorrectly recorded on the Insurance Claims Database as a fire claim. It was only when I spoke to someone that I found out about this problem. It got resolved and then my insurance dropped to sensible levels.

[S-Westerly]

Insurance companies seem to be necessary evils from what  I can see.

[Hairsy]

A few brief thoughts from an ex-insider - I used to work for an insurer. I won't name them but most people would have heard of them.

 

Please try to resist shooting the messenger.

In my own experience, the attitude to customers was really good.  If a claim was valid, we would go out of our way to pay it - and prided ourselves on going the extra mile.

 

There are insurers out there with a far less customer focussed approach. They're normally cheaper.

 

Having said that, insurance is a difficult game for a number of reasons.

 

- There's very little profit per customer. For our GI business (which included motor), our benchmark for a good year was whether premiums were higher than claims. If they were the same (it was often very close) then our profit would come from investing the premiums paid at the start of the year until the claims had to be paid out later in the year. That's why you always have to pay more if you want to pay monthly.

 

- If customers lie on applications or claim forms then it will kill profit. You can price that in if you want to but if you do then your honest customers will pay for the additional claim costs of the less honest ones. Like most insurers, we weren't prepared to do this and handled it by checking customer 'facts' carefully, ensuring that we paid out all valid claims and no invalid claims. This approach is what leads to accusations of 'nit picking'.

 

- You have no choice but to pool people into groups in order to assess them. Theoretically you can assess individuals but that costs the expensive time of an experienced underwriter - and a domestic customer will never be happy with the premium once you've factored that cost of underwriting into the premium.

 

- Underwriting is done using past experience data. We knew categorically that if someone has had a no fault accident in the last year then they are more likely to have a no fault accident next year than a person who's had no incidents. The data is very clear on this.

 

- We all think that's unfair but it's still a fact when you look at the whole population. The reason, probably obviously, is that some people drive with more attention than others and are able to avoid some no fault accidents. Therefore, when you look at the whole population, if someone has had a no fault accident then they're less likely to be one of the attentive ones.

 

- We're all very defensive and protective of our personal data. That's a shame because if the world was prepared to share more information then the insurers would love to assess you more accurately.

 

- By way of example, based on responses to different adverts, we knew which newspaper some of our customers read. Over many years, we got to the stage where we could make a clear link between choice of newspaper and life expectancy. This is correlation rather than cause but it's still true. We would never use that, but it shows that patterns of behaviour are quite predictable in large populations.

 

I'll stop now. I'm getting boring!

 

P.S. I don't insure my bikes with the company I used to work for. They'd be too expensive!

Edited January 16 by Hairsy

[Fiddlesticks]

A tale of two quotes.

2024 model low mileage Tiger. (Not purchased yet). £13.5k value. 12k miles with pillion and commuting. £2,500 fully comp.

 

2007 XJR1300 owned 3 years. 2K miles with pillion but no commuting. Different end can. £127 third party / £150 fully comp.

 

First one certainly makes the case for a general hack/commuter.

[ChrisBiggsUK]

It is interesting seeing how wildly different policy prices are.  One of the lads from my Church enquired about starting motorcycling and I told him of my experience thus far, gave him some advice, and then matters turned to cost.  Gave him a quick look on auto trader on my phone, showed him some kit he would need and then we got on to insurance.  I told him it would be wildly different for each individual person, but to give him a rough idea of his circumstances, we ran a quote through the meerkat place using all his info, but using my bike.  The cost of this young lad insuring my little 125 bike at his address?  Near as makes no difference £4,000 was the cheapest quote he got (whereas my own insurance was just under £600 fully comp as a brand new driver of any sort which is probably high but as a new driver and rider, I'm fine with paying the price to get on the road).

I tried to reassure him that this was just a random quote for my bike for him, and that it would be different for each individual bike, and potentially significantly cheaper, but I could see the spark drain from his eyes when he realised how much it would cost him as a young lad.

I can understand why his quote was so high though.  His age (barely in his 20's), status (single, unemployed), where he lives (rough area, with parents), all counted against him.  

I'm eagerly looking forward to when my insurance comes up for renewal to see whether it drops in price, with my having had (touch wood) a full years no claims.  I don't think it will, but I'm interested to find out.

I can't believe I'm this interested in insurance.  Of all the things that could have piqued my interest in my middle age, insurance wasn't one I would have put money on.

[Tiggie]

Area definitely plays a big part. As someone who has to pay the "Bradford" tax due to my postcode I know only too well 

 

I once put down my mother-in-laws address (York)  instead of my own on an online quote just to see what would come up and got almost £200 cheaper for the year 

 

Can't say I wasn't tempted 

[Capt Sisko]

Is the new bike valued at over £20K? With a "ticked all the boxes" BMW and many other now costing this amount & more I've heard tales that some insurance don't want to quote for bikes with this level of value, (which is a bit discriminatory when £20k only buys you a cheap or basic model from most mainstream manufacturers).

[Fiddlesticks]

On 16/01/2025 at 12:36, Hairsy said:

A few brief thoughts from an ex-insider - I used to work for an insurer. I won't name them but most people would have heard of them.

 

Please try to resist shooting the messenger.

In my own experience, the attitude to customers was really good.  If a claim was valid, we would go out of our way to pay it - and prided ourselves on going the extra mile.

 

There are insurers out there with a far less customer focussed approach. They're normally cheaper.

 

Having said that, insurance is a difficult game for a number of reasons.

 

- There's very little profit per customer. For our GI business (which included motor), our benchmark for a good year was whether premiums were higher than claims. If they were the same (it was often very close) then our profit would come from investing the premiums paid at the start of the year until the claims had to be paid out later in the year. That's why you always have to pay more if you want to pay monthly.

 

- If customers lie on applications or claim forms then it will kill profit. You can price that in if you want to but if you do then your honest customers will pay for the additional claim costs of the less honest ones. Like most insurers, we weren't prepared to do this and handled it by checking customer 'facts' carefully, ensuring that we paid out all valid claims and no invalid claims. This approach is what leads to accusations of 'nit picking'.

 

- You have no choice but to pool people into groups in order to assess them. Theoretically you can assess individuals but that costs the expensive time of an experienced underwriter - and a domestic customer will never be happy with the premium once you've factored that cost of underwriting into the premium.

 

- Underwriting is done using past experience data. We knew categorically that if someone has had a no fault accident in the last year then they are more likely to have a no fault accident next year than a person who's had no incidents. The data is very clear on this.

 

- We all think that's unfair but it's still a fact when you look at the whole population. The reason, probably obviously, is that some people drive with more attention than others and are able to avoid some no fault accidents. Therefore, when you look at the whole population, if someone has had a no fault accident then they're less likely to be one of the attentive ones.

 

- We're all very defensive and protective of our personal data. That's a shame because if the world was prepared to share more information then the insurers would love to assess you more accurately.

 

- By way of example, based on responses to different adverts, we knew which newspaper some of our customers read. Over many years, we got to the stage where we could make a clear link between choice of newspaper and life expectancy. This is correlation rather than cause but it's still true. We would never use that, but it shows that patterns of behaviour are quite predictable in large populations.

 

I'll stop now. I'm getting boring!

 

P.S. I don't insure my bikes with the company I used to work for. They'd be too expensive!

A question for somebody in the know...

 

You can only use your no claims bonus on one policy at a time. If you were to provide proof of a single no claims bonus to two different insurers for two different bikes - how would they know? (Not that I'm suggesting you should do such a thing, just curious).

 

The logic of the No Claims Bonus system seems a bit strange to me.

 

 

 

Edited January 17 by Fiddlesticks

[Mawsley]

Wow.

 

If I ever get a quote over £250 I'm giving up bikes.

 

 

[Hairsy]

1 hour ago, Fiddlesticks said:

You can only use your no claims bonus on one policy at a time.

 

The logic of the No Claims Bonus system seems a bit strange to me.

 

 

 

 

I hate the no claims bonus 'system'. I consider it a con. The fact that you can pay to protect it makes a mockery of it. And the fact that it has to be 'attached' to a specific vehicle means it isn't actually representative of the driver / rider.

 

Of course, there is data associated with it and there is definitely correlation between those who pay for no claims protection and numbers of claims. People who pay for the protection are indicating that they place a value on the 'bonus' and they're less likely to claim.

 

Re your question about 'what if you gave the evidence to more than one insurer', you might get away with it. At the time I was involved, I wasn't aware of any source of data that would enable an insurer to check. But I wasn't terribly involved with motor and things could have moved on.

 

In my opinion, when it comes to 'pushing the boundaries' with insurers, you should never do it. You may need that insurer to look after you in the event of a 6 or more digit claim because of a life changing incident to someone else involved in your accident. If you've been honest with the insurer then they will look after you (with varying degrees of willingness). I will never give an insurer any opportunity to say no in the event of such an incident. Remember - you could have a medical incident that blacks you out and causes that incident. It's not always rider incompetence.

 

I think someone earlier said that they see insurance as a necessary evil - I think I agree. But it IS necessary and small short term savings aren't worth it if they risk a non-payout.

Edited January 17 by Hairsy

[Fiddlesticks]

Completely agree

[markbrunell]

Is there anyway I can insure my bike when mainstream insurance won’t even give me a quote?

can anyone out there suggest help for me please because I feel so frustrated that all off this is not of my making and all I want to do is be legal and ride my bike!

[bonio]

In your position I'd phone up some mainstream insurers like bikesure and see if they can give a quote. If they all draw a blank then I'd be googling "high risk motorcycle insurance" and phoning some of the companies that come up. If a company won't give you a quote ask them what you could do to find one who will.

 

Edited January 18 by bonio

[Hairsy]

On 16/01/2025 at 09:55, Hairsy said:

Have you tried the main aggregators? I use MoneySuperMarket and confused.com but there are others.

 

One thing you could try is getting a quote for very low mileage, no pillion and with very comprehensive security. If you're happy with these restrictions then go for it. If not though, still get the quotes but then phone those who have made an offer to you and ask if you can increase the mileage / add pillion / reduce the security. You're trying to get someone on the phone who knows that their company has given you a quote and who sees an easy sale / commission.

 

If you can get people on the phone then the other thing to do is ask what it is about your profile that's causing the issue.

 

Did you try this?

[RideWithStyles]

Unfortunately you didn’t follow the number one rule of motoring if you intend to use on the road- ALWAYS check you can get/afford the insurance before committing to changing/buying ANY VEHICLE.

 

Anyway understandable you want to keep legit . Most of us here luckly aint in the same boat so unfortunately other than a google search so pin point direction will be few.

Id try some brokers, localish ones that are general in their field, cars, homes, trades, businesses, homes, bikes can come up trumps.
Might not be mega cheap so id expect some pain for you still but you keep very clean and super safe it might just get you on the ladder again.

[Bungleaio]

On 17/01/2025 at 16:05, Mawsley said:

Wow.

 

If I ever get a quote over £250 I'm giving up bikes.

 

 

I've never paid that little in the 7 years I've been riding