Bike Insurance - it really really pays to shop around

hi people,

i have 2 bikes, one a Yamaha 1100 Dragstar the other a new Honda 600 ABS Silverwing. i have them both insured for buisnes use by Bennetts on the same policy.

It's up for renewal, and i get the quote come in for £227.92, or + Legal Cover @ £257.91.

i'm thinking that's a big jump, but assume because the new bikes value over the old Piaggio 500 X9.

so today i'm doing paperwork, not something i love to do,m as a break i decide to ring another insurance company Devitt who's flyer came through the door, get a quote for the same like for like insurance cover, and they quote £219.90 .

astonished, i go through all the details again and confirm it, ask the girl to stick it on file.

now i ring Bennetts renewals, explaining i have a quote that's best part of £37 cheaper.

"one moment while i check with the other brokers" so i'm holding for e few minutes not expecting a big change, if it were a within say £10 i'd continue with them, then she comes back on the line "sorry, but the best i can do is (now i'm expecting a price hike ) £192.35"

i nearly dropped my coffee in my lap at the shock , perhaps i'm just losing the plot but i did get her to repeat it, and mentioned that is a hell of a lot less than they started with.

what grates with me is if you read their 'keyfacts' blurb, you could be forgiven for believing they had done at least this check before sending out the renewal quote

i get some rehearsed excuse that "insurance company's constantly revise their rates", so i asked "so why do you no wait until nearer the actual time to be more accurate then? smacks more to me of 'lets see if the punter pays up without squealing' more like" (so what makes you think i am an awkward cuss then lol!).

anyway, i have renewed with them but thought i'd mention it, many bikers trust bennetts as a well known specialised bike insurer.

(and who needs some fat twit elevating while singing),

regs
CC

progressive is the cheapest here so far

The big problem with insurance is most people come to it either having zero claims experience or just one or two small claims. Thus they either rely on that gut feeling that all insurance cover is the same right? ... or have some fleeting experience with a former company who paid up straight away. Little did they know that for many small claims it is actually more cost effective for the insurers to pay out than negotiate. You see it takes time and money to send out an inspection engineer, thereafter possibly involving a loss adjustor or at least a senior underwriter should you decide to argue. Then there's all the admin time because there will be a number of stages possibly stretching to months if you won’t play ball. Each time the case takes a step forward someone has to review it and that slowly adds up. Basically there is a statistical (the life blood of insurance) cut off point where it's more cost effective to pay on certain claims.

Now where this will all fall apart is on your first medium to really big claim. You have to remember that insurance companies only exist to make money and now it becomes worth fighting over that claim!

In very basic terms there are two important factors for all insurance companies, attracting new business and balancing income vs. claims. The vital difference between some insurance companies and others is how their business model sits between these two factors. They essentially have two options, build a good reputation that keeps clients coming through the door or significantly limit their claim losses. As much as they (and you) would like both to be true, the statistical mechanics of insurance just won’t allow it.

So those companies going down the reputation route will generally pay out on most claims with little negotiation. The reward is over time they’ll acquire/maintain a good reputation that some clients will happily pay more for. The other route involves fighting tooth and nail over anything other than a small claim. And this second group won’t only rely on the fact that you probably don't know your rights and thus won't put up a good fight. They'll bury lot's of very relevant information in that policy that they know you’ll never read. One of them will be a percentage relating to write off value vs. repair cost.

For example in the UK the value of motor vehicles drops quite significantly over the first 4 years. Thus if the insurer sets a level whereby the moment repair costs exceed 60% of your vehicles 'market' value (not what you think it's worth) they automatically write it off, you’ll quickly find yourself with a very nasty surprise that you can't do a single thing about. That bike you've owned for 4 years and purchased for US$10000 now only has a market value of US$4000 (ironically you would still pay well over that to buy an equivalent one second hand). 60% of that is US$2400... and oh dear all those panels needed to repair it after that simple spill exceeds this. Here’s your write off cheque, good bye and do consider using us again. No amount of cries of 'your joking there's no structural damage and it was in mint condition’ will make any difference.

So what this really boils down to in the words of Clint E is ‘are you feeling lucky… punk?’ If you believe you'll never have an accident then go with the cheap guys since you’ll save a few hundred, maybe even thousand over the years. However if you’re not so sure then think long and hard about those perceived savings, since one decent accident will wipe them out and leave you considerably worse off.

There is one piece of good news though. Since my time as a junior motor underwriter for a major UK insurer (and a former spell with a global insurance broker) the Internet review sites have arrived. They will happily blab about who those naughty companies are. So next time you're offered ridiculously cheap insurance with a company you've never heard of (or possibly have heard of), go and do your homework!

I have a couple quads registered for street use (yamaha raptor 660 and a honda 350 4x4) and added my SW to the policy, it cost me 37 bucks a year to add it. total I pay a little over 100 bucks a year for the 3. Yay Geico!

tankyuong wrote:

progressive is the cheapest here so far

I ended up with geico, full coverage, 500 deductible, for 200 a year here in Springfield.

I have American Family Insurance here in Kansas City and I'm paying $140/yr. Full Coverage, 500 Deductible.

I was in a "not my fault" accident last year. got t-boned in my truck as i was going through a green light. Still had to tell Geico about it though. I was with American Family for ages until i shopped around and found out i was overpaying for just about everything, dont blame Am Fam, i think the whole industry is that way. Now i shop every year!

USAA paid $3600 to fix a 900 dollar ford ranger, go figure. Of course, i had the guy on my cam corder admitting fault.
"well i wasnt even looking! i i just didnt see the light and crashed right into you didnt i!"
Yes you did . . . . . .yes you did.