Put off by insurance (lack of) [Archive]

cold_fusion

21st February 2006, 17:28

Hi,
Well I just went into the AA today to get a quote for 2 bikes that I'm looking at, I had just about enough time to sit down and say "I'm 19" and "motorbike" before a shap no was returned. The lady then explained that they would not insure me unless I had my full motorbike licence for 5 years. It did not matter to them that I have my full car licence and I (and my parents) are insured through them.
Anyway so she told me to goto AMI accross the road because, and I quote "then insure alot of bikers" . Once again I got a big old "we won't insure you".
It's not like I'm trying to get a screaming 2 stroke 250cc on my learners, not that I had a chance to say that. So where did everyone get insured on their learners? I'd reather not change my car insurance as its cheap as with the AA so I'd like to just insure a bike with someone.
Any help would be awesome, also I'll be doing some ringing around tomorrow to try and get quotes, I'd just like to know some places where I'll get further than the horrrible 'M' word.
Thanks.

imdying

21st February 2006, 17:34

I'm with State. Was with them when I was 15. Had all my bikes with them since. Never tried anywhere else... maybe I'm paying too much? Don't really care much, the house and car are now with them, so it's a matter of convenience more than anything.

SlashWylde

21st February 2006, 17:59

I have my car & contents with State so when I got the 250 on my learners bike licence they added that to my policy no problem. However I was over 25 at the time and allready held a full car licence.

Now with the 800 & full bike licence I have it insured with Protecta.

cold_fusion

21st February 2006, 18:13

Ok, I'll put state and protecta on my list of places to call tomorrow. Anyone 18-19 on their learners recently done the ring around to get quotes? Once again I'm amazed at the speed of replies on the KB forums, you guys are awesome and very welcoming to my n00bie self :niceone:

dveus

21st February 2006, 18:15

I got my bike insurance through swann. Was 19 at the time and didn't have any issues with being turned down.

Suzi Q

21st February 2006, 18:24

We have our Bike insurance through a broker - David Golightly - 03 357 2428 - he is underwritten by Vero. Not sure if your age will make a differnece, but he is very competitive in pricing.

Rosie

21st February 2006, 18:25

I'm with AMI, they were no problem at all, but...
I'm over 25 (thus am "sensible")
I have my car and my contents with AMI already
I thought the licence thing would be a problem, but they didn't seem concerned about what licence I was on.

I've had trouble insuring cars with State in the past (my 17 year old Toyota corolla is a high performance sports car apparently), but I think someone, somewhere along the line will have had trouble with any insurance company.

Somewhere that specialises more in motorbike insurance, rather than the big home-car-contents companies would probably be more understanding towards a young motorcyclist (and recognise that you weren't getting a stupidly powerful learners bike).

Costs aside, you may need to switch all your insurance somewhere else so you get cover, then switch again when you get a full licence.

madboy

21st February 2006, 18:25

Mainstream insurers will be difficult at your age I expect. AA insured me, but I'm 30 and have two cars with them already, all three with a $1500 excess. Try the boutique insurers. Swann, as above, seems to be mentioned around here a lot.

slopster

21st February 2006, 18:35

Or get 3rd party only with national auto club. They will insure almost anyone. Mine cost me $150 a year and im 21 riding a zxr 750. Mind you they wanted some ridiculous sum when I asked about full insurance.

N4CR

21st February 2006, 18:47

After mentioning the word 'kawasaki' and number '18' to the AA I was told they don't insure those types of bikes... bahahahaha!

Protecta gave me full cover with % based excesses for $850 a year and now with no claims it is down to $650. Sweeet.

cold_fusion

21st February 2006, 18:49

I kind of expected to have a problem with insurance for me being under 25, I was turned down by 2 places when I tried to insure the mighty mini being all of 998cc, nothing short of my parents changing their insurance and putting my mums name on the papers as well as mine would get me insurance with the bug boys, I think I was 17 at the time. I haven't crashed my preformance car yet.

kiwifruit

21st February 2006, 18:50

try a broker
they will do the work for you, for free

Smee

21st February 2006, 19:08

I'm with State, had just got my learners, 30 years old with no convictions, and tried to insure my cbr250. In the beginning the bird said no, until I mentioned I would take my contents, house and car insurance elsewhere - then she got her supervisor and they agreed. I dont think it has much to do with age - more to do with "learner" than anything. Maybe the bike had something as well? To keep costs down, I only wanted to insure it for third-party, fire and theft (like my first car) but they only do full cover or nothing - seemed weird.

Jamezo

21st February 2006, 19:16

Who do you think is the best bet for insuring the following?

18 years old
Both learner licences (lol?)
3rd party (mebbe fire and theft, but meh)
The ol' RG150

MattRSK

21st February 2006, 19:22

Pathos

21st February 2006, 19:37

I have Protecta

20yrs
150cc fxr
Learners

I crashed on the desert road, was quoted $3000 for damages bike was insured for $1600, no witnesses, no evidence, no questions asked, was offered the cheque in the mail for the value after excess ($1000 in the end).

They wouldn't garrantee me first buy back option, I had to place a tender if I wanted it back.

I turned down the offer in the end because the bike only had superficial damage and it only cost me $30 + 6hours of hammering to put it back on the road. If there had been any dangerous damage forks/shocks/engine etc I would have taken the money.

I reckon they gave me a good deal.

far queue

21st February 2006, 19:41

We have our Bike insurance through a broker - David Golightly - 03 357 2428 - he is underwritten by Vero. Not sure if your age will make a differnece, but he is very competitive in pricing.

Me too. I had no trouble getting insurance with the big companys, but the cost was ridiculous. I've got the car's, house, contents with AMI and they still wanted over $1000/year for the bike, and it's been sometime since I was 19. So I got insurance through David at $492/year. He's a biker himself and he's to good to deal with.

Motu

21st February 2006, 20:54

Bandit Rider

21st February 2006, 21:08

Hey
Just got insurance today through Dave at Kiwi Bike Motorcycle insurance. I am 19 years old and cost me $476 a year. There is no hassles there. www.kiwibike.co.nz. It is through Swann Insurance. 0800 629 253. It was for full Fire and Theft.

Dave's good - he will definitely know what your options are and get the best price. He is a broker, so not tied to one company.

poorbastard

21st February 2006, 21:12

If all your after is third party(without fire and theft) State charges only $50.

Velox

21st February 2006, 21:19

mikey

21st February 2006, 21:26

fuk insurance man. thats for everyone else to pay.
just make sure you dont have finger prints or id on you when you crash into the 40,000 dollar cop car.

Toast

21st February 2006, 21:28

Just as a counterpoint - I'm 52 and have been riding for 36 years and hold a whole swag of full licences.The only bikes I've had insured were two I bought new when I was 18,and one claim on one of those bikes.There are other options....

I was thinking about taking that option, after 3 years of not making a claim, and feeling pretty confident. One total cock up and a $10k bike written off like none I've ever seen...and I'm glad I didn't.

One day when I'm older and wiser though, I think I'll take that option.

Toast

21st February 2006, 21:34

I've been trying to sort insurance recently too. Might end up just doing third party since it's so expensive. Even my KiwiBike quote wasn't cheap - $2k excess and $950 premium! For the first year anyway. Hmmmm.

It's best to get some form of insurance, I think. Even if you just insure your bike for $500, or whatever the lowest possible amount is, and act as if you have no insurance (i.e. don't ride like too much of a clown, leave your bike parked in the CBD on a Friday night, etc.). Should cost about $30 a year insured at that price, with Protecta anyway.

This way, you're in the process of building yourself an insurance history, and will get the discounts later on, when you have a really flash bike that needs to be insured.

Lord Alster

21st February 2006, 21:35

There's going to be a new insurance company starting soon, they'll be online only so you'll do everything yourself on the net, ie: entering info, getting quote, etc. The first product will be motorbike insurance. I think they're launching in the next few weeks. I'll keep ya posted.

Motu

21st February 2006, 21:40

One total cock up and a $10k bike written off like none I've ever seen...and I'm glad I didn't.

One day when I'm older and wiser though, I think I'll take that option.

One day....if I ever own a bike worth $10,000 I might insure it,but as I've always enjoyed older bikes that are not worth much more than the exess it's not really a good idea to insure them.

When I used to work for a small rental car company with just a dozen or so cars,the insurance was crippling....$10,000 premiums 20 years ago.So the boss took a gamble,and put the $10,000 into the bank on a good interest scheme....we had no claims that year,and then he put the next years premium into the bank - hey presto,we were running our own insurance company.

Momentum

21st February 2006, 21:56

Velox

21st February 2006, 22:04

I am with John Baker insurance 0800 65 62 64

I am 23 years old on a cbr 250rr on my Learners
I pay About $850 a year for full and that includes a year road side SOS anywhere in NZ and any car or bike or whatever I am driving at the time. And $112 of that is for no excess gear cover.
How'd ya wangle that? The online quote thingee says you have to be over 25!
(If anyone checks, it's on the second page, once you've submitted the first one).

Momentum

21st February 2006, 22:10

How'd ya wangle that? The online quote thingee says you have to be over 25!
(If anyone checks, it's on the second page, once you've submitted the first one).

Dad has his Motor Yucky covered with them. so he gave them a call and asked if they could do anything for me. And no its not under his name the bike is owned by me and its all under my name. I have had 3 moded cars befor and only one clam befor and that was when someone stole one of them. that may have helped i done know

Pixie

21st February 2006, 22:15

It's best to get some form of insurance, I think. Even if you just insure your bike for $500, or whatever the lowest possible amount is, and act as if you have no insurance (i.e. don't ride like too much of a clown, leave your bike parked in the CBD on a Friday night, etc.). Should cost about $30 a year insured at that price, with Protecta anyway.

This way, you're in the process of building yourself an insurance history, and will get the discounts later on, when you have a really flash bike that needs to be insured.
You must have 3rd party.
Just incase you fall off and your bike goes under a $ 500,000 supercar and it crashes into the Beehive and it all goes up in smoke.

I pay $ 50 for this.
But I make Methuselah look youthful

Oscar

22nd February 2006, 08:04

One day....if I ever own a bike worth $10,000 I might insure it,but as I've always enjoyed older bikes that are not worth much more than the exess it's not really a good idea to insure them.

When I used to work for a small rental car company with just a dozen or so cars,the insurance was crippling....$10,000 premiums 20 years ago.So the boss took a gamble,and put the $10,000 into the bank on a good interest scheme....we had no claims that year,and then he put the next years premium into the bank - hey presto,we were running our own insurance company.

Are you some kinda anarchist?
That sorta talk is attacking the very foundation of our society - the food outa my kids mouths and the motorcycles outa my garage.
Commie Bastid...

Ixion

22nd February 2006, 08:07

Are you some kinda anarchist?
That sorta talk is attacking the very foundation of our society - the food outa my kids mouths and the motorcycles outa my garage.
Commie Bastid...

'Ere , watch it. :headbang: I'm the commie bastid around here, Mr Motu's got his own business, he's a capitalist middle class bourgeois (sorry mate, them's the breaks)

Motu

22nd February 2006, 08:12

I must admit I'm kinda nervous about the DT230,mainly from a theft point of view...considering where I live.I'm still prepard to repair any damage I cause if I dump the bike - and if I do extensive damage to an expensive Mercedes with it I don't think I'll be around to worry about those sort of insurance claims.I'm trying to talk my wife into slipping it into the company vehicle insurance,but she'll have none of it.

placidfemme

22nd February 2006, 08:16

Hey you could always try Swann Insurance... But thier excess is rather high (about $1500). They Insured both Sam and I on our learners... lol they even insured my bike before I got my learners...

Now we are with NAC (National Auto Club) in Whangarei... excess is only about $800, and they insure your bike for a good amount too... only problem is they take thier time in processing a claim... thier number is: 0800 501-508

Oscar

22nd February 2006, 08:18

Oscar

22nd February 2006, 08:34

Seriously, it still disturbs me that most people here shop for insurance by price. It may have something to do with the number of threads complaining about claims service.

I mean, if you guys bought motorcycles the way you bought insurance you'd all be riding Jawa's...

The Stranger

22nd February 2006, 08:55

Can't be bothered reading the whole thread, so sorry if someone else has covered it.
Try cibby and/or TIS insurance.
TIS specialise in the uninsurables, for example my 17yr old son got full cover on a late model Supra. These things are on the hot list. No one else we spoke to would even think of insuring him due to age, cc rating and the fact it is on the hot list.
They can also be very competitive price wise, but this, like all insurers seems to vary so you need to shop around, but I will be very surprised if they can't do something for you.

Devil

22nd February 2006, 09:04

Make TIS, NAC and to a lesser extent Inbroke your last resorts. If you do end up with them for whatever reason, read your contract very very carefully. Make sure you're well aware for what you'll get hit up for if you have an accident. These guys specialise in taking your money, and often have multiple excesses.

I put my vote in for the www.kiwibike.co.nz guys. Dave was awesome to deal with and ended up talking bikes with him for a while when I was hunting for a new one!

Trumpy is insured through swann (using kiwibike) for about $850 per year (i'm under 25, just)

The Stranger

22nd February 2006, 09:07

Make TIS, NAC and to a lesser extent Inbroke your last resorts.

Why is that Devil?

Beemer

22nd February 2006, 10:07

AA won't insure you if you haven't had your full motorcycle licence for five years, no matter what age you are. I was a member and aged in my late thirties but when I tried to insure my bike with them I was told they wouldn't do so unless I'd had my full licence for five years. I went to AMI and they were good, then I had the Beemer insured with Protecta but transferred it to AA for a significantly lower excess. I've got the Goose insured with AA now and it was cheaper than anywhere else I found and the excess is only $300.

Despite having a previous bike insured with AMI and never making a claim, they refused to insure the Goose because I didn't have any other insurance policies with them. We have the house and contents insured with State but they weren't cheaper for the bike insurance.

The Stranger

22nd February 2006, 10:17

Hard case when according to the Injury Prevention Research Centre, Fact Sheet number 19

-Those with more than 5 years experience show a greater risk compared to those reporting less than two years.

and

-There was no evidence that riders with learner or restricted licences faced greater risk.

Devil

22nd February 2006, 10:25

Why is that Devil?
These companies specialise in insuring the uninsurable (as you said). High risk vehicles and drivers. Often people who have, and have had plenty of accidents. Consequently, there can be many hidden costs and clauses which make insurance though these guys occasionally uneconomical.

With a good driving history despite being young, sure you can get a good premium out of these people, but if you are at fault in an accident, you can get totally butt-raped with excesses, or not covered at all.

Just a heads up to people who choose to, or HAVE to go with one of these companies, that you must read all the fine print and understand it.

Because of my choices of cage in the past and my age, I've had to go with NAC and am currently with Inbroke (untill I turn 25). I've read all the bumf and it would be easy to get caught out. For example, one car I had quoted (and subsequently didnt buy after I found out the following) had a market value of $20k. If I hit someone and it was my fault, I would have been stung for $1500 excess for my car, and a $1500 excess for the third parties damage. Want to know what the stinger was? After a pressed them a bit, they told me the theft excess. $5000.

I've heard plenty of stories from people insured by these companies, particularly NAC of getting totally done and mucked around.

If you're confident that you're never going to have an at fault accident, then fine, it may work out cheap. But, with a motorcycle, shit happens and I'd avoid them like the plague.

Like the usual bike shop/mechanics debate, I'm sure someone will pipe up and say they've had no problems. But caveat emptor.

Momentum

22nd February 2006, 11:17

I was With Inbroke for two of my cars and i found them really grate to deal with. I had my levin for 2 days them some chick hit the side of me. Inbroke got it sorted quick and i was not out a cent at all.

The Stranger

22nd February 2006, 11:26

So you really know little about them then aye?
So why include TIS in your little list?

Whilst they do often write their own policies for cars (backed by a rather large underwriter) they don't for bikes.

So you may wind up with Swann or Protecta or whoever the hell else insures bikes. Now yes they do have access to many insurers which I have never heard of too and can usually place almost anyone.

Sure you may wind up with an onerous policy, same one you could wind up with from any insurer, so yes sure you should read your policy, who's fault is it if you don't?

Devil

22nd February 2006, 11:33

TIS was added to that list by me because of what you said "specialising in the uninsurables". It wasn't in my "watch out for" list till you said it. I'd never heard of them.

Just alerting people to the pitfalls of these types of companies. They have to make money somehow.

TygerTung

22nd February 2006, 11:53

MY mate has his cage insurance with AMI and has had it always with them, he was 21 and he was on his learners and wanted to insure his yamaha TZR250, went as and asked them 'yep no worries, $45 a year' 3rd party, no worried, maybe the TZR wasn't on the 'hot' list? he's 22 now.

The Stranger

22nd February 2006, 12:03

They write insurance for anyone and everyone. But have an specialist ability to deal with uninsurables, which you rarely find elsewhere.

And yes they have to make money somehow (don't we all?), but the inference that they in some way are "dodgy" because of their (percieved) market is inappropriate also.

They tend to have a lot of exotic sports cars on their books too, as these can apparently be difficult and expensive to insure and thus also fall under the "uninsurable" umbrella.

Devil

22nd February 2006, 12:10

I'm not disagreeing with you mate. I dont think they're dodgy, everything is spelled out in policy documents. Fine, we'll ignore TIS in that list. I'm just trying to highlight how these people can actually provide the service they offer, through costs. I'm not against using them, as I mentioned, I've used them myself. Just be aware of what you could be letting yourself in for. Make sure you know EVERYTHING before taking up the insurance.

cold_fusion

22nd February 2006, 21:57

Wow! Thats alot of replies!
Ok so I did some ringing around today and got a quote and quote number from state so the policy can be put into place as soon as I buy the bike. I have 2 options, $56 a year for 3rd party or $280 for full which comes down to $170 after the first year. I'll probably go with the 3rd party and get a bike lock or alarm :scooter: