Insurance Price Hike

Insurance rip off ! Yet another case...
My car ( Skoda Yeti ) insured with a well known Company.... ( I wont name but think of a famous battle in Hastings in 1066 ! ) Yes them.
Insured for ' ever' with this firm. No claims , convictions or any other changes to my policy... Renewal arrived... Current year £ 293 , renewal price £ 516 !
I went on price comp site , same cover £ 344.... Rang , current insurers , politely told them you are taking the 'wee ' , they closely matched it .
Bikesure.... I moved to them for the Bonneville , telephone Staff 100% efficient & knowledgeable.
Whilst their follow up e-mails were 'a pain' , for which they apologised. 100% happy . Well done them.

 

Obviously the case, ended up with Churchill in the end, still a hike at £616 but maybe age is beginning to creep in to the algorithm. The motor is a 3 litre diesel MSport X3 so nothing too outrageous. The upside is that the house and contents insurance was up for renewal at the end of February already with Churchill and their renewal was already the most competitive I could find but I rang them and told them that I had already dropped a load of crinkle in their lap at the beginning of February for the car. So they promptly knocked £50 of the renewal which, knowing that they already had my custom was something they could have declined to do.

 

I went with Bikesure this year, was with Bemoto before, who were cheapest to start with then the thieving bastards wacked it up, so shopped around. I agree with others hear about renewing 3 or 4 weeks before. Doing it at the last minute they know your desperate, so worth getting organised. All in all its a fucking rip off.

 

MSE recommends the optimum time to seek renewal quotes is 21 days prior to the due date.

 

Another point in favour of BikeSure is that they claim at least some of them ride bikes and understand why bikers make changes to their bikes. Therefore they don't load the premium if you've fitted aftermarket parts or even ask you to list them.
Incidentally MAG membership gets you a 10% discount! In some cases that pittance of a £30 joining fee might actually save you more than £30. You know it makes sense

 

After speaking to my current insurer I got this years price for renewal of a 2 bike policy down to £650. I paid a total £440 for last year after putting the new Scrambler on it's own policy for 3 months from march.
This is making the Scrambler the "main" bike, applying the NCB to that and adding the ZZR which was only £67 extra due to age, value and predicted mileage. So it has gone up quite a chunk but part of that is from adding a brand new bike of higher value and higher grouping than the one it replaced.
I've had other quotes of over £1000 but the prize for most ridiculous comes from Carol Nash at £2981.!!!!
I considered posting this in the "This made me laugh" thread.l

 

More like Carol Hash…. Sounds like they are on drugs.

 

They seem to make a habit of this. This was for my 3 litre diesel X3. I did wonder if it was an age thing as I’m no spring chicken and some of the comparison websites have listed companies that declined to quote, despite my clean licence and max NCB.

 

This was an online quote on their website after searching for multibike motorcycle insurance quotes. Input details for both bikes, NCB, claims, endorsements, riding experience etc etc. No idea if this could have been revised by calling them but I just can't see it reducing by over £2300 so didn't bother.

 

Prior to my 765 I had a Honda CB1000R. Mid year I swapped the bikes and contacted CN to sort the insurance.
As an over 50 with max no claims, I didn't expect them to decline to insure the 765 with the current policy/underwriter but I suppose that's beyond their control, however, they then wanted to charge me £50 for cancelling my current policy wtf.

I argued, "I aren't cancelling the policy, in effect you are by refusing to swap bikes."

After some debate, they relented, especially seeing as I was taking a new policy out with them ..... gee thanks

Needless to say, I'm not with them now.

 

Not sure what's going on in the insurance industry but prices of all types of insurance seem to have gone up exponentially over the last 2-3 years. Prices of most things have increased in the aftermath of the pandemic with world events also affecting prices of some commodities but why should the affect on insurance be so drastic? Our elderly neighbours saw the insurance for their several years old Citroen C3 jump from £280 to a renewal "invite" of over £1100. Everyone I speak to has seen big increases in vehicle insurance. Some companies who have given me competitive insurance in the past will no longer quote me on the same bike. Conversely, my 2 bike policy renewal last year actually came down almost £100 after an initial hike due to the Street Scrambler theft in Nov'21 but that reduction has been swallowed up, and then some this year. My car insurance has increased marginally over the last few years but I'm not optimistic that will continue with the renewal in August.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole no claims bonus system is overhauled in the near future as there is no consistency between insurers.
I had one insurer on my car accept up to 16 years NCB I currently have nearly 20 years. my current insurer only recognises a max of 9 years. i transferred in 19 ish years and 10 years will vanish when I leave them.
The system is not fit for purpose imo.

 

Just wondered if any of you use TopCashback when buying your insurance?

I usually do the rounds of the comparison websites after which I find the same broker/pice keeps cropping up. I then go on theTopCashback comparison site and I have generally found the same broker/price listed except there is the cash back to come. This year I saved £26 on the Striple insurance.

The cash back is not immediate as they need to be sure that you haven't cancelled the policy during the cooling off period,

 

I've never used TopCashback but I use my Barclaycard Visa for everything I can which gives "Freedom Points" you can cash in for vouchers with various retailers/restaurants etc. I've just recieved £60 to spend at Argos. However, this incentive is set to end in June and be replaced with something else but not sure what.

 

Well picking up my 400 scrambler I was pleasantly surprised. Thinking changing from a Bonneville to a 400 it would be heavy as the Bonnie a 2010 and the 400 new. But the rep said that will be £30 pounds. Of course I said yes are you sure. And she replied yes that's correct. You know I usually every year on the renewal day phone them and cancel. They always say why and I reply your reminder is pathetic. It usually gets a great response and big discount. But next year I do intend to see what Bike sure offer as a lot of people seem to happy with them. If there is such a thing as happy with being ripped of. Makes me think its no wonder why youngsters drive without insurance due to the fact they would have to save for a year or two just to afford it. Joe

 

Just played the insurance quote game. Paid £240 last for a new £21k bike. The quote for this year was £365. Phoned them up and they requoted at £228.

 

I like your line Joe @joe mc donald

Well yes, It seems we are

 

Bloody chancers!

Better add to cover my back, them, not you

 

TopCashback triumphs again. Had an email from GoCompare reminding me that the insurance on the Duke is due for renewal on 1st July. So I played the game and went through the quote process. Cheapest was Swinton at £85.71. That’s fully comp, no voluntary excess, no protected NCB, 2000 miles, clean licence, max NCB.

TopCashback again Swinton were the cheapest £85.80. 9 pence more but I get £26 cashback, bringing the net cost to £59.80.

I was surprised how low the GoCompare quote was because I’m sure last year’s premium was in three figures before cashback.

Hadn’t got to the reminder email from Confused.com. They advised Swinton again at £85.59. And The Bike Insurer, again Swinton at £85.09

I think they arrive at the price by throwing dice.