Insurance For Older Riders

Where does he get his quotes?

I know I'm only 71, and ride a smaller bike, but Confused.com is still providing plenty of very reasonable quotes, from a variety of companies including mainstream names like Bennetts, Carole Nash etc.

Might be worth a try, or maybe he's done that already!!

 

is it perhaps a custom bike that is costing him an awful lot of money for insurance?
BMW don’t make a 1400 GS. If it’s a one off build this is quite possibly the reason it is expensive.

 

How does he shop for insurance.....has he a clear record.....any recent tickets or claims.

So many people stay with the same insurance company each year....CRAZY.

I am also in the UK.....I will only get price via the likes of Compare The Market.

My 2020 900cc Bonnie T100 is £96....I am 71....never made a claim in my life....never ever had a ticket....I know hard to believe.....more so when I say I drove for a living......on the roads all day long.

 

I guess any 75 year old riding a £24k 1300cc bike with a bit of claims history is going to be seen as 'high risk'.

Like nickjaxe I pay around £100 for fully comp/5,000 miles for my new £5,000/400cc bike but 9+ years no claims, secure garage storage at home, living in a country village here in Scotland and no commuting or pillion cover probably helps. Plus it is a small, cheap bike!!

Of course that could all change in 4 years when I reach your friends magic number!

 

Was he blame worth for the accident.....I think the go back further than 5 years.

 

Ok seems I got that wrong.

 

I think the problem is tipping into the 75+ bracket as far as insurance is concerned and far less about the bike itself. For me the best bet would be to find a good insurance broker and let them do the legwork

 

I’ve a mate who is desperate to downsize to a new bike but he’s over 70 and Dealer insurance will not provide him with cover even for a short test ride.

 

I am now 76 and have just changed to a Speed 400, I had no trouble getting a test ride on one from Total Triumph, maybe it's because I have been dealing with them for many years, however when I tried the comparison sites I had only 4 quotes for the bike, I tried Bennetts and they advised that they do NOT insure anyone over 75. Carole Nash wouldn't provide cover even though I was already insured with them on the Honda CB500 I was selling.
I eventually arranged cover with Hastings Direct who were most helpful and cover was only £126

 

The leader of a group that I ride with ( Fossil Riders ) has just turned 84 and
can't get insurance for his Guzzi and has sold it and now meets up with us in his car, now that is a warning to all of us oldies, buy a classic and insure through Footman James who do good deals for classic bikes used for low mileages. ( so I am told )

 

These so called admin charges are a joke,,it's the press of a button nowadays, no paperwork involved.

 

I'm (unsurprisingly) on the GS forum and the premiums being paid (if they could get cover) for the 1300 GS when it 1st came out was eye watering. The new 1300 GSA is having similar problems, especially the ASA version ( with the auto gearbox thing). It's quite common for new expensive models to cost more to insure and in certain circumstances they're not even insurable because the underwriters don't know the actual risk what the new model is to them so they just refuse to quote. There's also the £20k limit where many insurers just won't quote over that, there were stories of quite a few cancelling their orders close to delivery because they couldn't get a quote so it always pays to check what your insurance will be before you place your order for a new model and don't assume (which many did) that their insurance on their new bike would be similar to the one they had because it was the replacement model.

 

Triumph insurance is done via a third party broker, so not direct with them, Also Triumph dealerships will not allow test rides for riders over 75, it is their insurance that specifies the age limit cut off and not the dealers themselves, it is the same for car and van insurance, reach 75 and you are heavily penalised, all your friend can do is shop around via comparison sites.

 

72 years old soon, and currently going through an insurance claim..... I suspect my insurance quotes will be rising soon!!