Insurance quotes don’t add up

[Sezageza]

For context I’m 19, live 20 miles north of outer London, 2 years NCD, brick garage. 
I got quotes for Honda cb650r (6000), MT07 (3500), Royal Enfield GT (450), Triumph bonneville T120 (1400).

The bike I really want is the CB650R but I’m not paying 6000 for annual insurance but I don’t understand why classic style bikes cost so much less regardless of power over naked bikes. Also people in London are paying under £1000 for a mt07 at 19, I have the garage, cheaper area, NCD but still they pay a fraction of what I’m charged and I feel like I’m missing something. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

[bonio]

Wish I could explain it buddy, but sometimes the quote machine seems like a random number generator to me. Some folk on here have worked in insurance so they might be able to shed some light on it. @Bikesureused to comment here occasionally, but I've not seen them post anything for a while. 

[Sezageza]

It honestly does feel like a “random number generator” with the results luckily I found out the Norton commando 961 is under £1000 for full comp and I’ve now fallen in love with it so going with that, that being said second hand it still costs £8000+ so I will hate myself if I drop that. 
just to add to the post it’s not even CC related a MT03 costs £3100 for full comp and a R3 I can’t even get quoted. Honda CB300R £2500

Guess it’s just luck of the draw regardless of how safe or rural you live

[Capt Sisko]

See it through the eyes of the insurance industry. To you're young, inexperienced and want to ride a 90bhp / 130mph motorcycle of a type that screams use my power. You then want to ride it in one of the worlds most densly populated & congested cities (that also has a serious crime problem). Your chosen bike is only part of the equation, your job, points, previous history are all taken into account. As for why some bikes cost more to insure than others, a RE650 produced half the bhp of the Honda and has none of the expensive plastics or sensors that the Honda has. Go figure. You'd get the same silly number quotes for a Golf GTi or something similar as opposed to a Kia Sandero. 

 

The bottom line is it's nothing personal, it's just the number & combination of factors counting against you. To the insurance company you represent a serious risk and they look at it as not, will this client be making a claim, but when. I sincearly hope you don't but their statistical model will suggest otherwise. It's also nothing new. At 19 I had a RD400E and paid the equivalent of £650 in todays money for just TPFT. I was young, inexperienced and riding a bike that for the day was both fast and very nickable. And yes, I had a claim.

[Sezageza]

I would understand 100% if it was due to power, price even weight as for a newer rider that would be significant but my issue is the fact a £12000 bonneville with over 80bhp and over 100NM of torque also weighing 230kg costs 1/6 of the Honda and also dropping the bonneville plastics would be the same if not more to replace. That’s what doesn’t make sense also I live out of London in a rural part of essex but people in London pay a fraction of what I’m charged with very similar situations (age, garage, 2years NCD, etc)

Quote

RE produced half the bhp of the Honda, expensive plastics

 

Edited January 26 by Sezageza

[bud]

The CBR is classed as a sports bike. Hence the higher price compared to the bonneville. Which is generally owned by older less accident prone people.

It's the same really with the Norton commando.  For most it will be owned by an older age group. And ridden for short rides on sunny days. So the claims history for that model will be low. This is one of the guidelines the insurance company will look at.

[Sezageza]

That actually makes a lot of sense now as the MT07 is classed as a high risk same with the cb as it has a decent jump in power at 7000rpm which could end up bad w/o experience whereas even though the triumph has very similar acceleration to these bikes same with the Norton it’s classed as low risk because of the lack of accidents and the bike getting stolen. Still have no clue how some people are getting such cheap quotes in higher risk areas but maybe it’s just a very lucky bug in the system. 

[Capt Sisko]

1 hour ago, Sezageza said:

Norton commando 961

Make sure you've read up about them, know what to look for and what questions to ask. Pretty they certainly are, but the early ones don't have the best of reputations for reliability.

[Sezageza]

Looking at 2023+ maybe 2022 when the new owners took over and released the new model variant heard it’s a lot more reliable now. 
saved about 80% of my money last year and quite happy going down to zero in my account if I have to.
 

[ChrisBiggsUK]

WIth regards quotes not making sense, I posted this on another Insurance related post not too long ago and hope it may shed some light;

 

Quote

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.

 

So, where for me (43, retired, homeowner, married, quiet cul-de-sac) it was under £600, for him on the exact same bike (we ran the quote using my license plate) it was £4,000.  All manner of factors can change the price in wildly different ways.  It's probably not 'fair', but insurance companies are all about risk mitigation and perhaps they view your combination of young age and chosen bike style to be a big risk.  Shop around, call companies directly, and good luck!  

Again, I can't believe I'm this interested in insurance.  Middle age has hit me in ways I never thought possible.

[JRH]

13 hours ago, bonio said:

 @Bikesureused to comment here occasionally, but I've not seen them post anything for a while. 

Apparently they were dropped as sponsors last year.

[bud]

I was watching a Michael Nerves video last night. He was talking about his T Max scooter. When he did a comparison check Bennett's wanted £3,300! He got a quote from another insurer for under £500. So it just goes to show, you need to shop around. 

[Sezageza]

Getting better luck shopping around but for some reason I’ve found a couple bikes that have more than 94bhp not by a lot but around the 97-105bhp give me stupid cheap quotes even if I say they’re restricted. If I insured it even with the restriction box ticked would I not be covered even though I’m insured, this isn’t just one company it’s about 10 quotes from different companies on the same bikes e.g 2024 Triumph thruxston 1200RS which is ~ 103bhp (claimed)

Edited January 27 by Sezageza

[Old-codger]

So if ive read your last post right your thinking of saying to the insurance company that the bike is restricted but in reality it will not be? If its your plan then if you have an accident you are not insured even if it is not your fault and you will be in even deeper crap, from being nicked to lying to an insurance company and god forbid you dont hurt someone in a crash you face huge claims against yourself personally that could run into millions in bad cases.  I take it you havnt got a full licence yet why dont you get an older bike and ride around on that for a year or to, build up your experiance and no claims then move on to something bigger. Just a thought. 

Ps Its been a long while since i read anything on restricting bikes but im pretty sure the bike has to be restricted by an authorised dealer and the insurance will want to see the certificate as proof. Others may be more up on this bit of law.

[Sezageza]

My plan isn’t to not restrict a bike but I was more just surprised I can insure bikes that are out of the limit I’m legally allowed to even after a specifically say it’s for my A2 licence by saying restricted for A2. I should have said if I put a restrictor on the bike would I be insured not if I just tick restricted. Don’t want to come across as trying to do anything that makes me essentially an uninsured driver especially on the internet

Edited January 27 by Sezageza

[Capt Sisko]

Insurance Groups. Weird or what!

https://themotorbikeforum.co.uk/topic/52412-insurance-groups/

 

[ChrisBiggsUK]

6 hours ago, bud said:

I was watching a Michael Nerves video last night. He was talking about his T Max scooter. When he did a comparison check Bennett's wanted £3,300! He got a quote from another insurer for under £500. So it just goes to show, you need to shop around. 

 

And yet oddly Bennetts were far and away the cheapest of the quotes I got and so who I went with.

Insurance, man.  It really does boggle the mind.

[ChriSixFiftyR]

On 26/01/2025 at 01:11, Sezageza said:

For context I’m 19, live 20 miles north of outer London, 2 years NCD, brick garage. 
I got quotes for Honda cb650r (6000), MT07 (3500), Royal Enfield GT (450), Triumph bonneville T120 (1400).

The bike I really want is the CB650R but I’m not paying 6000 for annual insurance but I don’t understand why classic style bikes cost so much less regardless of power over naked bikes. Also people in London are paying under £1000 for a mt07 at 19, I have the garage, cheaper area, NCD but still they pay a fraction of what I’m charged and I feel like I’m missing something. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

I only passed my test 6 weeks ago and bout a 21 CB650R, albeit im 33 years old and north Scotland but some insurance companies were asking £1500 to around £3200 also, but surprisingly I got fully comp insurance with all the extra coverage in the end for £680 from Hastings direct premium. It was through a comparison site

[bud]

You cannot restrict a bike that produces more than 94hp for an A2 licence.

[Shepherd]

I thought it was also down to how much risk the insurer already had in the same area? That's why one could be that much cheaper than another. The dearer one needs to make it worth their while taking on more risk in the same postal area.

 

To really show how weird they can be, I got both my bikes insured together ( multibike insurance), cheaper than either of them individually. Even the multi bike insurer quoted me more for one bike than both.

[RideWithStyles]

Maybe Bennett’s system knew who he was? And what he does And thought….yes, yes of course .

 

well the MT is more likely to be bought, nicked, stolen, ridden like a tool, crashed etc than say a RE or a Bonnie, statistically.

 

ive had ups and down premiums between most insurers, for example Bennett’s more often higher while Hastings less. Only things that change is bikes consistently had for four or so years each, on bennets this year as it seems better if not value of offered to cost but renewing might change.

 

[Hairsy]

17 hours ago, Shepherd said:

To really show how weird they can be, I got both my bikes insured together ( multibike insurance), cheaper than either of them individually. Even the multi bike insurer quoted me more for one bike than both.

 

That's not impossible - their data may well tell them that people who insure more than one bike with them will tend to claim less.

 

For a similar reason, I've had my wife insured on our motorhome for the last 16 years but she has never and will never drive it - it's just cheaper because motorhomes with husband and wife both insured have less claims.

 

As I said in a previous post about insurance, if the insurers have the data then they're quite happy to set premiums based on correlation even if it doesn't relate to cause.

[Fiddlesticks]

Buy the bike a year before you want to ride it. That'll knock a bit off the quote.

[bonio]

Yup. There's definitely a first-year premium: first year on a bike, first year over 600cc, first year over a litre.