How do you insure your bike(s)

[dc]

Just wondered what folk do insurance wise. A lot of bikes around are rebuilds or have some modifications, minor or significant. If you start with a stock bike yourself and do the odd mod, you can be confident in what you declare.

So you buy a bike that has some mods, perhaps standard parts are obsolete or the previous owner thought it was an improvement. It immediately wipes out a few standard insurers and depending on how many mods there are, options become less and you are left with the brokers who seem to be less than perfect. I know going direct can have I issues but on the whole, I find they adhere to the rules and accept they have made a mistake more readily than brokers who also seem to charge hefty fees for any changes. eg. Recent classic car ins. renewed at £100 and in the small print, a £79 cancellation fee. Negotiated lower but that's the type of thing that causes complaints and bad reviews.

So how do you insure a bike with changes (hoping you know what they all are 😟)? I know there is insurance that covers any mods but presumably you're paying for it initially and ongoing.

Just interested because I see many on here own modified bikes and it is something to consider if I get one. Ideally, it is not my preferred way forward as I have vehicles that are modified already but probably just within tolerance of normal insurance but it is never straight forward at renewal time if you want to change.
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[veg]

Classic agreed value and mods insurance companies footman James etc mine is agreed value with a comprehensive list of changes very very little is standard

[rigga]

As above with peter James, all mods declared, few pictures submitted and agreed value cover.

[midlifecrisisrd]

Footman James for both of mine

All mods declared, agreed value

Also took the option of full agreed value AND keeping the salvage after a claim

Steve

[jackjabba]

Footman James for my 5 bikes as well. Agreed value on all bikes and mods declared. The only one I have to send pictures for is the Bimota.

Also like the salvage after claim option for £12 as well.

My quote was £80 cheaper than my Peter James renewal.

[headcoats]

I went the other way as Footman wanted £140 more than Peter James

I had been with Footman for 10 years

See what Peter James come up with at renewal then !

[Deleted]

How do you insure your bike ?

Phone Bikesure (Adrian Flux), give details, pay bill.

[dc]

Aug 13, 2020 13:13:17 GMT 1 headcoats said:

I went the other way as Footman wanted £140 more than Peter James

I had been with Footman for 10 years

See what Peter James come up with at renewal then !

That is quite a saving and shows why it is worth checking at least one other quote at renewal time if it seems high.
FJ were cheaper for one of my vehicles but rather than swap, Carole Nash matched it so with an already agreed value, I stayed this time.

I think what I was trying to get at with this thread was, if you own the bike and have done all the mods, you know where you are and can accurately declare them. If you buy a bike already rebuilt with modifications, you are reliant on the seller as to what has been done. It can happen with any vehicle, an ECU chip changed or control arms upgraded. You may never know and so getting the history of some of these bikes that have multiple owners and with rebuilds and restorations
adds an extra layer of complexity to it.
It is just something that I have found when enquiring about the odd bike over a few months. There are a lot of comments about what the previous owner did but when questioned harder, often details are thin on the ground. That is where buying from a genuine enthusiast owner is better when possible. They are easy to insure as long as you know all the facts. If you are uncertain, then not quite so straight forward.

[headcoats]

Before I swopped to Peter James , a lady rang me from Footman about my renewal and I told them about my quote with Peter James and shesaid they couldn't match the saving

[st66]

Insurance??? Wots that lol just kidding as before declare and agreed value and keep salvage,,,

[damiensk]

carole nash insurance, they any good? thought they maay be due to being a bike insurance specialist!!
or MCN price comparison?

[dc]

Don't have a bike covered with them and when I first took a policy out a couple of years back, I wish I had not due to errors they made. In the end they paid out a bit of compensation but that was after numerous calls chasing up their complaints process. As I have the cover now I have stuck with but when I sell the vehicle, I was hoping to fill the space with an RD. This is why I am not overly keen on having to use brokers. Their customer service can on occasion be arrogant but the last two renewals have been fine and the last person who did the price match was pretty exceptional. 

[mellow]

I'm with carol nash,have been for years.
Every year i try the others but carol nash is always cheaper for me. In fact time i have rung after receiving renewal letter i got it for the same price as last year and it actually went down the year before that. 4 bikes agreed value fully comp and only My R1 has excess of £100, others no excess

[copper99]

Whats right for me, this year, doesn't automatically mean its right for you...or anyone else.

So you have to put some time in and get some quotes, some people dont need EU breakdown cover, pillion cover etc etc...so you can trim quite a bit off an initial quote.

I found last year, splitting my classic bikes to a policy with Footman James and putting my modern bike with Bewiser saved me over £205 on my Carol Nash renewal, id been with them for years but for some reason, the policy jumped dramatically last year with no other changes.

Just doing the same exercise now and Carol Nash have worked out cheaper this year, so ill be switching back to them with the modern bike...which kind of proves the point.