Do you pay too much Insurance?

[Dafe]

I'm amazed at how much people on here are still paying for their motorcycle insurance.

Companies like Swann, Protecta, AA and AMI cost such a fortune!
If you are with these companies, then you need to give "National Auto Club" of Whangarei a call. Ph 0800 501-508.

Two months ago, My annual payment was $1200 with Protecta. Now $597 with NAC. The excess dropped from $2000 to $500 also. The fine print between the two policies were also identical, word for word.

What have you got to loose? Call for a quote. Save yourself some money.

Thanks again WhiteTrash for putting me onto "National Auto Club".

[Hitcher]

Hmmmm. This appeals to my Scots genes...

[placidfemme]

perfect! Time to re-new my insurance anyway... and this seems like a good option!

*going to call them today*

[Motu]

I've never insured a bike - never made a claim either....

[sAsLEX]

I've never insured a bike - never made a claim either....

hard to insure a bike when you dont have the right license :violin:

[skidz]

Thanks for the info Dafe, I might give them a go on the Harley as it comes closer to the time. I'm paying $1200 a year with Star Insurance.

[dhunt]

I've never insured a bike - never made a claim either....
Never insured my bikes either (Saves lots of money). Had to claim on someone elses insurance once though when they decided to take me out at a intersection.

[JohnBoy]

might be an idea...
i wonder if they will give cheap deals to someone who has a bit of a history??
might have to give them a call

[Devil]

Sure, NAC was fine, untill they wanted 20% of the insured value for a theft excess...oh, then there was the third party excess too, so if you munt your bike into someones car, and its your fault, you're paying an excess for your bike, then an excess for their car.

Never mind other insurance companies looking down their nose at you when you want to leave NAC. "Oh...you've been with NAC? what did you do? Criminal Conviction? Lost licence? Killed someone?"

Only as a last resort.

[placidfemme]

Sure, NAC was fine, untill they wanted 20% of the insured value for a theft excess...oh, then there was the third party excess too, so if you munt your bike into someones car, and its your fault, you're paying an excess for your bike, then an excess for their car.

Never mind other insurance companies looking down their nose at you when you want to leave NAC. "Oh...you've been with NAC? what did you do? Criminal Conviction? Lost licence? Killed someone?"

Only as a last resort.

Are they really that bad?

I called up today and the premium is $50 less than where I am insured at the moment, and the excess is $700 cheaper...

[Devil]

Are they really that bad?

I called up today and the premium is $50 less than where I am insured at the moment, and the excess is $700 cheaper...
Did you ask about the theft excess (well, I guess when you're talking about a $5kish bike, its kinda irrelevant). Or the third party excess?

Shop around (I went through www.kiwibike.co.nz, really nice to deal with).

NAC specialise in insuring the uninsurable. See what you can get elsewhere before going with them, and read ALL the fine print.

[placidfemme]

Did you ask about the theft excess (well, I guess when you're talking about a $5kish bike, its kinda irrelevant). Or the third party excess?

Shop around (I went through www.kiwibike.co.nz, really nice to deal with).

NAC specialise in insuring the uninsurable. See what you can get elsewhere before going with them, and read ALL the fine print.

Thanks for the advice... I will shop around some more before I make up my mind :)

[Dafe]

Sure, NAC was fine, untill they wanted 20% of the insured value for a theft excess...oh, then there was the third party excess too, so if you munt your bike into someones car, and its your fault, you're paying an excess for your bike, then an excess for their car.

Never mind other insurance companies looking down their nose at you when you want to leave NAC. "Oh...you've been with NAC? what did you do? Criminal Conviction? Lost licence? Killed someone?"

Only as a last resort.
As my Policy states:

Burglary & Theft Warranty/Excess.

A $1400 excess or %30 of an agreed pre-theft evaluation whichever is the lesser applies to any claim out of burglary or theft of the vehicle.

I'm insured for $14,000. Where did you get your %20 figure from. Coz my calculations work 1400 being %10 of 14000.
A %10 percent excess costing $1400 sounds better than the $3000 I'd be paying with Protecta.

The theft excess is the highest, costing me $1400.
Any other claims hold a $500 excess only. This is bloody superb if you ask me.
Then again, my bike is in a seperately secured in an alarm monitored garage and the bike is chained through a ground bolt which ain't going anywhere in a hurry. Theft is the less of my worries, however, should it get stolen. I'll lose no sleep over %10.

[Dafe]

Did you ask about the theft excess (well, I guess when you're talking about a $5kish bike, its kinda irrelevant). Or the third party excess?

Shop around (I went through www.kiwibike.co.nz, really nice to deal with).

NAC specialise in insuring the uninsurable. See what you can get elsewhere before going with them, and read ALL the fine print.
Specialise in insuring the Uninsurable???

Whats so uninsurable about my 2003 Sv1000S? Protecta was fine insuring it at twice the price! NAC also have no problem insuring my mates 2004 GSX250. What a BS comment!

[Dafe]

Sure, NAC was fine, untill they wanted 20% of the insured value for a theft excess...oh, then there was the third party excess too, so if you munt your bike into someones car, and its your fault, you're paying an excess for your bike, then an excess for their car.

Never mind other insurance companies looking down their nose at you when you want to leave NAC. "Oh...you've been with NAC? what did you do? Criminal Conviction? Lost licence? Killed someone?"

Only as a last resort.
If you are in an accident, you pay a $500 excess to replace/repair the bike.
If you damaged third party vehicles or property, You pay a $500 excess which will cover upto 1 Million dollars damages to third parties.
All up $1000 max from your pocket. Not bad, especially if you caused a 10 car pile up - your safe!
As for the third party insurance. I wouldn't bother with third party from any company.
Besides, NAC Full cover costs less than alot of other companies third party policies.

In all honesty, I had both quotes from Protecta. Somehow, The third party was gonna cost more than full cover. There was a valid reason at the time.
NAC's full cover is less than half the price of both the Protecta policies (Full & Third Party) and the EXCESS COSTS FAR LESS!

[R6_kid]

uninsurable would be those that wouldnt/couldnt get insured somewhere else, perhaps some on their learners riding a 400 or something like that.

Also how do you put value on a custom or vintage vehicle that cannot be replaced... i would call that unisurable.

just my 2c

my insurance is $14 a month, full comp to 50k. It's $1000 if its my fault, or stolen. Currently running at 65% no claims with house and contents + 3 cars and defence force discount. :spudflip:

[Devil]

Specialise in insuring the Uninsurable???

Whats so uninsurable about my 2003 Sv1000S? Protecta was fine insuring it at twice the price! NAC also have no problem insuring my mates 2004 GSX250. What a BS comment!
I didnt say they dont insure the perfectly insurable. They get most of their business from classic/performance vehicles and people who have a shit insurance history and high risk people (like the boy racer type fraternity).

As for the theft excess, I guess it depends on the vehicles. I must have picked the wrong kinds before!

I didnt mean third party before, but yes, that other excess for hitting someone which you didnt mention in your first post.
People need to know that if they fuck up and hit someone else, they're going to get twice the excess.

[Grizz]

I was with ME Joblin (Classic Cover), and found them ok, certainly cheaper than most and they seemed to have good coverage etc etc, never made a claim so I guess that that would be the real test, however I recently got a quote with AA as we have all our other insurances with them and get this, they were $15.00 per month cheaper and also gave me agreed value rather than market. I now pay $50.84 per month on a value of $9000.00, and the excess is $300.00.

With the agreed value, they cocked up, I was originally told both in person and over the phone that they can do agreed value but when I got my policy it said market value, when I questioned them they said that they don't do agreed value for bikes but would honour it. So after a bit of a shit fight I got it sorted.

[scumdog]

$14,000 H-D with AMI = $1,060 premuim and $300 excess.
with local broker= $600 premuim and $700 excess (so I've just found out)

Guess where I'm going now for insurance.

[Dafe]

$14,000 H-D with AMI = $1,060 premuim and $300 excess.
with local broker= $600 premuim and $700 excess (so I've just found out)

Guess where I'm going now for insurance.
This is exactly what I'm talking about!!! Your deal is quite comparible to the deal I've now got from NAC.
NAC is a good option as they're nationwide. Your broker may not be.
I'm sure there are others out there paying around 1200-1400 dollars too.
They only need to investigate what were saying here and they could be saving $600 odd a year too.
Come on everybody - INVESTIGATE FOR OWN BENEFIT!

[laRIKin]

Never insured my bikes either (Saves lots of money). Had to claim on someone elses insurance once though when they decided to take me out at a intersection.

I'll say.

I have insured bikes in the past.
But when I had 3 Guzzi's it was costing me just under $2000 a year.
Now this was on 8 to 9 grand bikes, so over the 8 years I have saved the
price of 2 more bikes.
But as SDU is going to ride one of the Guzzi's I am thinking about
insurance for her (she does have insurance on the Serow) as well as me
again.
But then again at the price, it may just be her.
But the price of insurance is cheaper at about $1350 for 4 bikes.
Especially when you compared it to wagers you get today.
But as I have only ever had 2 crashers on the road (ice and a car pulled out)
and that was years ago (25+).
I may just chance my arm again.
As it's better odds than Lotto.

Rik

[ducatilover]

my gn is insured with NAC and i pay $350.48 per year FULL COVER some other fags quoted 500+, i thought its a really good deal! my excess is 500/1000 but i am a learner :motu:

[Rashika]

$14,000 H-D with AMI = $1,060 premuim and $300 excess.
with local broker= $600 premuim and $700 excess (so I've just found out)

Guess where I'm going now for insurance.

...and that is with who now?

(just confirming that I am getting the right one for me and my baby)

[cowpoos]

I'm amazed at how much people on here are still paying for their motorcycle insurance.

Companies like Swann, Protecta, AA and AMI cost such a fortune!
If you are with these companies, then you need to give "National Auto Club" of Whangarei a call. Ph 0800 501-508.

Two months ago, My annual payment was $1200 with Protecta. Now $597 with NAC. The excess dropped from $2000 to $500 also. The fine print between the two policies were also identical, word for word.

What have you got to loose? Call for a quote. Save yourself some money.

Thanks again WhiteTrash for putting me onto "National Auto Club".


Mine is $173 and excess is $300 I ride a suzuki 98 tl1000s [agreed valued at 9500]...this is full cover...I'm 26yrs...and have disclosed my speeding fines,etc
can any one beat that!
i don't

[Dafe]

I don't think anybody would beat that. Not unless they had family or personal interest in some insurance company!
So are you going to provide us with the other half of the information?

At least my figures come with a company name and even a phone number!

[Beemer]

[QUOTE=Dafe]I'm amazed at how much people on here are still paying for their motorcycle insurance.

Companies like Swann, Protecta, AA and AMI cost such a fortune![QUOTE]

I agree that Protecta and AMI both charge a fair whack for bike insurance (no experience of Swann), but I've got both bikes insured with AA and they were the cheapest I could find.

$430 for the Goose ($6500) and $700 for the Beemer ($12,000), both with a $300 excess.

[Bob]

In the UK, we don't have your system of everybody having 3rd party coverage supplied by the state (I understand this is funded in part by the WOF?), so we all have to buy our own.

And the major league moral over here is: SHOP AROUND! As some of you have found out, you can get much better deals by checking out other companies.

What follows is intended for the UK market and will be launched on my site when I get round to it (and come up with some photos to accompany - if I can think what should go with it!) - AND IS VERY, VERY LONG - but I'm sure a lot of the same principles must apply.

Take a look and hopefully you'll get something out of this:

PART ONE: WHAT THE TERMS MEAN ETC

"Insurance - you have to have it if you want to ride on public roads. Not having it means points on your licence, a hefty fine and possibly even a prison sentence, quite aside from the unfairness of you inflicting yourself on other people, without the ability to pay them back if the worst happens. Not to mention running the risk of some scumbag walking off with your P&J and getting nothing back for it.

But what do the terms mean? Who should you talk to? How to get a good deal? With a little homework, you should be able to do the latter. Which is where this article comes in – keep the following in mind and hopefully someone will “Quote you Happy” (but be prepared for a smack in the mouth if you really do say that) as the rather annoying advertising campaign says.

Know your enemy

First off, what does it all mean? You give them your money and they cover you if something happens, right? Broadly speaking yes, but it all depends on the level of cover you purchase. There are three main types, Fully Comprehensive, Third Party, Fire and Theft and Third Party Only (there are special “one off” polices for things like track days, racing etc, but we’re concerned about getting you covered to ride on the road here).

Fully Comprehensive. Exactly what it says. This covers you against anything and everything, even if it is your fault. Bike hits the deck, gets stolen, catches fire or whatever, you are covered. Repairs to the bike (or replacement cost if it is a write-off) in the case of the former, or cost of replacement in the latter cases. Along with, of course, other party’s property being protected should you be the one that causes an accident.

Third Party Fire & Theft. Or TPF&T for short. Like the above, but in property terms only covers those you crash into not repairs to your bike. But it does pay up in the event of fire or theft, hence the name.

Third Party Only. Or TPO. This is the absolute legal minimum. Like TPF&T, but without the fire and theft bit. So you actually get nothing, but you have to have this to ride on the road.

In terms of cost, fully comprehensive is the most expensive, followed by TPF&T with third party only coming in cheapest. Quite simply, you pay for what you get. But even if you’re broke, try to get TPF&T rather than TPO – it often isn’t that much more and at least you have the peace of mind that should the bike go missing, you will get the replacement value (based on the second hand value of course).

Secondly, there are a couple of very important terms that come up time and again. Main ones to consider are:

No Claims Bonus. Don’t hit the deck in a year, get a discount on your premium. There is a limit on this, usually 60%.

Policy Excess. How much of any claim you pay before the insurance company dips into its own pocket. The higher the excess, the lower the premium – if you’re prepared to carry more of the cost, then an insurer will charge you less.

Agreed Value. You agree the price of the bike from the word go. Saves time haggling later, but if you take this route it depends on the bike. Also establishes the Write-Off value in advance.

Write Off. When the cost of repairing is considered to be more than the value of the bike. The write off value is worth checking with the broker. Depending on the company used, this could be as low as two-thirds of the bike’s value.

Who do I talk to? Broker or Direct

You have two options, a broker or a direct insurance company. A broker uses a wide range of companies, but a direct insurer only sells it’s own products. In theory, going to a direct insurer should mean a lower price, as they don’t need to pay commission to a middle-man.

In practice, this is not always the case. A broker has the advantage of massive purchasing power – they can trade their ability to send a large number of clients in the direction of the insurer, in return for a reduced rate. This might seem like insanity, but what it does is give the broker a competitive edge over their rivals. The insurer is trading off a higher price for direct cover, plus paying a commission against a higher volume of customers being sent their way.

Look at the small ads at the back of magazines for insurers and brokers. And check out any insurance deals by the manufacturer , such as Kawasaki’s K-Scheme or Honda’s own ‘captive’ insurance company. Also, talk to your mates. Who do they use and why? If you have a mate with a similar machine who lives nearby, then it is fair to assume that his broker/insurer will have a decent deal in place for you as well.

Before you start looking, consider the level of coverage to take out. What are you are riding? A twelve year old RG125 valued at £100? Then is Fully Comprehensive with a policy excess of £500 really worth it? Conversely, if you have a brand new R1, then I’d say you really do want to have more than TPO under your belt (assuming you can get anyone to quote you for less than Fully Comp).

[Bob]

PART TWO - THINGS THAT CAN GET YOU A GOOD DEAL

Be patient and be honest

Whatever level of cover you decide upon, to get the best deal, be prepared to spend a lot of time on the telephone. Never, ever take the first quote offered. There may be a better deal waiting in the wings. But do get a quote reference from the company in question – that might just turn out to be your best deal and if you can quote a reference back to them, then they’re committed to those terms.

If you do not have the patience to call every company yourself, then check out a few brokers – they all use a raft of different insurers, so make use of their database to get you a deal.

Don’t think that one broker will get the same deal as another though. Depending on which companies they use, one broker could come up with a much better deal than another. Often this could depend on the bike in question, your age, where you live and a million other things beyond your control.

Be prepared to haggle. Get a bargaining tool. Got two similar quotes? Call each broker with the other’s quote and see if they are prepared to beat it.

Another trick is to get a mate to call giving the same basic details (postcode only for the address! Obviously, not the exact postcode, the first part will do). If he gets a much better deal, call them up and mention it.

Whatever you do, be honest – if you don’t have a clean licence, you have made claims in the past three/five years and your bike is so non-standard it almost defies recognition as that model, you DO need to own up. Cover these up, then have an accident and WHEN they come to light, you have invalidated your insurance. And that is fraud. Which can see you sent to prison. Not a good idea!

Better a few quid more on your premium than becoming “Big Rex’s Bitch” in the big house!

Cheapest not always best

The lowest price may not be the best deal. OK, so you got a TPF&T quote of £150 from company 1, and £180 from company 2. You give your business to company 1, obviously.

Not really. What about the small print? What is your excess? If company 1 quoted a £300 excess, then perhaps company 2’s £250 excess might be preferable? For the sake of another £30 up front, you’re getting back an extra £50 of repair work done if the worst happens.

Will you be riding anyone else’s bikes? If so, do both quotes allow this? Were any little sweeteners like breakdown cover included?

Back to haggling, if you’ve got two quotes which are fairly close, see if you can get something like breakdown cover or legal expenses insurance thrown in to clinch the deal. Moral: You don’t ask, you don’t get!

Take careful note of everything, not just the price. The overall package is what counts at the end of the day. Just taking price as the sole factor could see you ending up with a worse deal overall.

Legal expenses

The broker or insurer will offer you Legal Expenses Insurance. This is additional cover and will cost you around £10-15. In the event of an accident, this pays for a solicitor who will work on your behalf to claim the cost of a new lid and kit, travel expenses, inconvenience money and if you are injured, compensation for bodily injury.

But as we said above, worth trying to get this thrown in as a deal clincher if you have another quote in place – don’t try it on if you don’t, as you might get the door closed in your face and have nothing to fall back upon!

Additional security

It varies from insurer to insurer, but the norm is to offer discounts on your premium for fitting additional security above and beyond the steering lock. Some form of marking, such as Datatag or Smartwater will get a discount from most companies.

When it comes to items such as alarms, the level of discount from one company to another can vary – in fact, an alarm that one company recommends may not even be considered worthy of a discount by another!

Before going out and spending money on additional security, check with your prospective insurer as to whether they give discounts for kit approved by Sold Secure. It may also be worth finding out if they can provide a list of security equipment that they approve for discounting purposes.

Garaging the bike overnight should mean discounts – but this is an odd one. I know from experience that I insured a bike when I did not have a garage. Shortly afterwards, I moved home, to one with a garage – about two miles from my old home. This did not have any effect on the premium, despite their asking me if the bike is garaged when I took out the policy in the first place!

Get trained/keep it on the island!

Pass a training scheme by an approved body such as the IAM and you should get a discount – but again, before booking any advanced training, check with your insurer to see which schemes they recognise. Advanced training is always worthwhile, but if you are doing it just to reduce your premiums, then no point doing it with a company your insurer doesn’t accept.

Experience also helps with your premiums – the more continuous years under your belt the better. More experienced you are, the better your hazard perception etc. But note “continuous” years. The “Born Again Biker” does not (or at least should not) get the benefit of having ridden for 10 years, then not having thrown a leg over a bike for the next 20.

Keeping it upright also helps - as we said in section 1, building up a No Claims Bonus is the most effective way of getting your premium down. It is often possible to protect your NCB, for an additional fee.

Restrict the miles/ Ride an old bike/keep it for longer

Fact: The more miles you ride in a year, the higher the risk of an accident. By limiting the number of miles you ride each year, you will get a discounted rate. Likewise, if you do not use the bike for commuting (the most hazardous time of day to ride – ask any DR!), again your premium should be reduced.

Do you ever ride another bike? If not, then see if limiting yourself to the one bike can bring your premium down (and if not, then keep the “any bike” allowance – it could come in handy).

If you’re up to the task of maintaining a bike of 21 years of age (or more!), then you – or rather the bike – qualifies for Classic Insurance, which will almost certainly be a lot less than the cost of insuring a modern bike. You are also VED-exempt, which is nice.

If you’re not one of those types who MUST change his/her bike every year, then you should also see the benefit in your premiums. Length of ownership infers that you care for the bike, rather than using it for a 12 month thrash before moving on to the next one.

Get married and grow old together!

Strange but true: get married and get a discount. This comes from actuarial tables (Definition of an Actuary: Someone who thought that Accounting was living in the fast lane) that show ‘Smug Marrieds’ to be more responsible, ride/drive slower and take less risks.

Likewise, getting older helps. Reach 25 and your premiums reduce. So pass 25 and get married and bingo! Your premiums take a quantum leap downwards!

It may also work in your favour to join the BMF or MAG (or both!) - both have worked hard to get discounts for their members with a number of companies. Also, there are companies who will give you a discounted premium simply for joining either organisation. Plus you’ll be supporting our main source of protection against anti-biking ideas being introduced by The Powers That Be.

Look after your documents

With the deal done, put your documents away somewhere safe where you can find them easily. You never know when you might need them – hopefully not until renewal date, but the whole point of having insurance is to protect you against the unforeseen circumstance!"

[scumdog]

...and that is with who now?

(just confirming that I am getting the right one for me and my baby)

It's with Insurance Brokers Alliance Ltd, their e-mail address is pretty close to that name but with .co.nz.

The local agent is known to me.
The conditions area:
To be garaged when not in use.
Properly secured when not riding
Exclude any drivers under 30 years of age.
Unlimited mileage
$700 excess (including theft)

And that's it.

[Ixion]

In the UK, we don't have your system of everybody having 3rd party coverage supplied by the state (I understand this is funded in part by the WOF?), so we all have to buy our own.

Almost. Funded by a levy paid as part of your registration . Which is equivalent to your Road Fund Licence (the round disc thingy I think).

WOF is equivalent to your MOT.

[Rashika]

It's with Insurance Brokers Alliance Ltd, their e-mail address is pretty close to that name but with .co.nz.


Ta muchly, will check them out :)

[eliot-ness]

New Bandit 1200. $749. $300 excess With Swann. No hidden extras in the small print

[Jonty]

Is anyone else with Golightly Insurance? It is underwritten by Vero so you have a good quality product - excess for a $7,500 bike is $1000 for theft and $700 for falling off. Reasonably high, but then you have good service (as you deal directly with Vero) and making claims is no hassle. My premium is $500 per year.

[Lou Girardin]

NAC are/were a subsidiary of State.
I'm very happy with Protecta though.

[Rashika]

Is anyone else with Golightly Insurance? It is underwritten by Vero so you have a good quality product - excess for a $7,500 bike is $1000 for theft and $700 for falling off. Reasonably high, but then you have good service (as you deal directly with Vero) and making claims is no hassle. My premium is $500 per year.

I am at present, just sorting out the premium, which ended up being a LOT more than i was quoted (like more than 1.5 times more!).
But rung up David yesterday and he has sorted it out with them (hes a good dude :Punk: ), should get a new amount in the mail very soon.
It SHOULD be aprox $780 year, monthly about $66-70, for a Buell Firebolt 1200 '04 at $16,000 and one very safe rider :) (touching a lot of wood about now)

[BigB]

Well we just rang NAC and they are the cheapest at $680 with a $750 excess for a $17,000 bike. So we'll be going with them.

cheers

[Spider]

I take it that is through NAC?

[RC1]

classic cover wins hands down for me only $450p/a excess $450 for $9k on the TLS no one could match this