The annual merry-go-round with the insurance business is a right pain, a feeling that you'll appreciate just reading this painful episode in times of competition and choice. And since I've not had a guid moan in a while....
I've always declared mods if anything because you don't want these suits to back out of paying out due to nothing more than a non-standard blue anodised bolt. Here's how it goes;
+ Aftermarket exhaust (non-performance enhancing, road legal),
+ Aftermarket indicators (more intense, a safety improvement),
+ Double Bubble Screen,
+ Givi Rack/Top Box (sometimes on, sometimes off)
Nothing too risky you might have thought.
2008 premium, Fully comp @ Borehamwood address parked on road (double chained to a lamp post against a wall but rated Roadside parked), 5000mi PA = £128 Bennetts. Oddly enough, had I parked on the private parking bay, it's less secure than roadside chained to a lamp post but roadside rates as a higher risk of theft. Makes no sense. Renewal came in a £280. Squash that. Got a better deal with Bikesure £135.
2009 Renewal, no changes, Bikesure wanted £320. Squash that. Got a better deal with NIG (but downrated to TPF&T) £130.
2010 Renewal. Additional Mod Uprated Brakes (Armstrong wavy) and I moved to Bedfordshire, parked in the back green of the house.
NIG wanted £290 (Comp) or £230 TPF&T! Squash that!
AND the operator told me that the 'product' I had was discontinued. And due to the number of mods, the premium was higher even if I removed a mod to account for the uprated brakes, their position remained unchanged. Well only until a magical 'please hold' mysteriously caused the discontinued 'product' to return at a higher premium. There were only a couple of firms willing to insure me at this point.
And here's the killer line form the clueless self proclaimed 'experts' in motorcycle insurance.....
"
Are you intending to Streetfighter the bike?".
The only reply I could muster; "
Do you appreciate what I am telling you about these mods? Do you actually know what is what? It appears that the quote expert specialist Bike insurers with xx years of experience unquote cannot tell the difference between a well maintained bike and something out of Mad Max? No matter, please explain to me where the increase in perceived risk is?" There's never an answer forthcoming that makes ANY sense. Except the simple fact that they just want more dough.
And with Dial Direct/Equity Red Star, I got unlimited miles, TPF&T, no chain required (since if it's pinched from outside a shop, I'd not be covered so I had that clause removed), all the mods approved, breakdown with RAC and European coverage for 28 days and all for a pricely sum of £96.
The way I see it, they're after more of ones modest pie every year and add to that the data one supplies to the countless insurers is worth more to them updated each year. And it's all sold on. This is not so much about insurance but about squeaking more out of the pips. It all takes time and causes loads of grief. And of course, ask them to repeat the blurb they spill out at BP Gulf Gusher rate (incomprehensible at the best of times), and it means they have to hit 'back' on the processing screens and end up being sacked for not making commission targets of 100 new premiums per day.
In the old days, one could get insurance with a firm and provided you made no claims, you stayed on their books and subsequently enjoyed lower premiums year on year. It was called NCD, the dinosaur that was replaced with the promise not to increase your premium next year - the dangling of a genetically modified carrot on the crossbar of the constantly moving goal post. Choice it seems comes at a price. Mostly ours. Patience and sanity are tested at every turn. I'm no luddite embedded in a false sense of nostalgia but in terms of how insurance 'works' and given it's a legal requirement, I am all for it working properly, not how it does these days. But since the insurance business is so tied up mob style in the global ponzi scheme and acts accordingly, one must treat it as such.
That I am bound to annual bouts of hoop jumping and the unavoidable conditions that inevitably ensues, all under the pretense of competition and choice, frankly that's something I'd rather do without. If one insurer can do it, they all can but the fact is that they're choosing, bundling, consolidating, re labelling and re selling ALL of it. I really don't like the competition of finding a the best quote and as far as choice goes, there is none. Its a trial to get a decent deal.
Until next year that is
PS Stuff the insurance trade and get smart. Unless you've a brand spanking new bike, get TPF&T. Should you be so unfortunate to loose yours or have a bash only for it to be written off, you'll easily grab another decent Storm for under a couple of grand anyway.
Starts with a R. Rrrrrrrr. Motorbike!
see the results below, what a waste of time that was :-
