London motorbike insurance - ungaraged

bobbsy

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Hello all,

I am normally a reader, and have not posted here for quite a while.

I have a 2010 F800GS, daily rider and commuter, and am looking to change it over for a 2017 F800GS. I Live in London, and the bike is kept on the driveway, ungaraged. It is well secured though with 2x chains and ground anchors.

I am struggling to get a quote for comprehensive insurance. MCE will insure with a huge excess (£2000), and that is it. Have tried comparison sites, Carole Nash, specialist brokers. All telling me they cannot get me a quote for an ungaraged bike in London of that value.

Has anyone out there managed to find a way to get insurance?

Thanks

B
 
Please list out ALL the names of the bods you have contacted already. That will save Fat Bob from Barnsley recommending his mate's best mate's insurer, who he thinks was Er Bike.
 
Good point!

MCN Compare
Carole Nash
Bikesure
Principle Insurance
Bemoto
Bewiser
 
Try a few more of course, but I've had some issues in the past 3/4 years with insurance due to not having a private garage where to store the bikes in London.

I am struggling to get a quote for comprehensive insurance. MCE will insure with a huge excess (£2000), and that is it. Have tried comparison sites, Carole Nash, specialist brokers. All telling me they cannot get me a quote for an ungaraged bike in London of that value.

I've only been able to insure the bikes via BMW/Devitts as a broker and it became harder to get a quote in the last 2 years, as they were coming up with the renewal quote only 24 hours before renewal.
Last year I switched to MCE that was cheaper but with an excess similar to yours (it was cheaper for a reason). They were the only other ones (apart from BMW/Devitts) that accepted to insure my GS as not garaged.

I finally managed to rent a place where to store the bikes and it is a tiny bit simpler. Not cheaper, but simpler, and I'm happy with that. :D

Good luck.
 
Had exactly the same problem with my GS. Bennett’s wouldn’t insure me again this year and all the quotes I was getting were starting at £1100 quid with £2000 excess.

After persisting for a while finally got insured with Go Skippy (I hadn’t heard of them either) for half that and a reasonable excess.

I assume it’s the massive rise in bike thefts the last couple of years.
 
Had exactly the same problem with my GS. Bennett’s wouldn’t insure me again this year and all the quotes I was getting were starting at £1100 quid with £2000 excess.

After persisting for a while finally got insured with Go Skippy (I hadn’t heard of them either) for half that and a reasonable excess.

I assume it’s the massive rise in bike thefts the last couple of years.


As expected it's affecting us all not just those doon sooth, just swapped from a 2016 GSA to a 2018 GSA Triple Black halfway through policy & had to pay £250 for the privilege! :rob
 
As expected it's affecting us all not just those doon sooth, just swapped from a 2016 GSA to a 2018 GSA Triple Black halfway through policy & had to pay £250 for the privilege! :rob

Yep, they appear to have us all by the short and curlies. It’s not surprising there are so many uninsured motors out there.
 
Good point!

MCN Compare
Carole Nash
Bikesure
Principle Insurance
Bemoto
Bewiser

Pick up a copy of MCN at the newsagent’s.

Work your way through ALL the bods advertising motorcycle insurance. To these list add Ebike, if they are not there. There is no instant short cut to your salvation, not least as what suits someone may well not suit you, too. The days of dirt cheap motorcycle insurance in London (and possibly other places) are over, at least for now..... particularly for newer riders, parking on the street. Claims results, married to a market sentiment that London is a shithole (I wonder where they got that impression from) where motorcycles are stolen every 10 seconds, has done for it.
 
Hello all,

I am normally a reader, and have not posted here for quite a while.

I have a 2010 F800GS, daily rider and commuter, and am looking to change it over for a 2017 F800GS. I Live in London, and the bike is kept on the driveway, ungaraged. It is well secured though with 2x chains and ground anchors.

I am struggling to get a quote for comprehensive insurance. MCE will insure with a huge excess (£2000), and that is it. Have tried comparison sites, Carole Nash, specialist brokers. All telling me they cannot get me a quote for an ungaraged bike in London of that value.

Has anyone out there managed to find a way to get insurance?

Thanks

B

Bike theft in London has seen a massive increase in the last few years, if its not chained down or not there is a good chance it will be stolen and why the cost of insurance and excesses have gone up.
 
Thanks all for you advice. It seems to have changed drastically since my last renewal between Sep and now for the new bike. I've tried a lot more than I wrote above, but no luck so far.
 
Bobbsy,
I also live in London, bike parked off street chained to the floor.
I swapped my 1200 GS for a new 650 V Strom last June.
Was amazed when my insurers, Devitt, would n't insure it.
I thought the smaller bike would be less of a problem.
Bennetts sorted me out & the premium was about £50 less than the GS fully comp.
Are you under 25 ?
 
I've tried a lot more than I wrote above, but no luck so far.

I thought the smaller bike would be less of a problem.

I feel your pain, I've been refused quotes for a few years. I was stuck with a single insurer.
I was told by one insurer over the phone that >=5k bike non garaged in London is a big no-no (along with all the other variables of the case).

I started my MCE policy this year declaring one of my bikes as parked on private property (but not garaged). I managed to find a secure location for the bikes later on and the excesses went down a lot (around 50%) on one bike.
 
Thanks again for advice. No, well past 25 these days ! 11 years NCB, no points, no convictions, never made a claim. Bennetts wont quote for me now.

I've cancelled the new bike purchase - sticking with the 2010 as couldn't justify the new one with third party only...
 
Fair enough.
One of the reasons I bought the V Strom was that there had been one theft attempt of the GS.
It was a 2007 bike, but it seems all 1200's are fair game.
The V Stroms seem to be not as desireable for the scum.
Will be interesting at renewal time in June.
I'll make sure it's value is under 5k !
 
That's my plan also going forward (value <5K, not looking at bike change yet).

Pretty disappointing though knowing that I can't have a new bike unless I move...
 
That's my plan also going forward (value <5K, not looking at bike change yet).

Pretty disappointing though knowing that I can't have a new bike unless I move...

Insurance is a commodity and it’s cyclical. Prices go up and crash back down. It won’t be bad forever. Comfort yourself with the money you’ve saved, not buying a new bike.
 
Yes, since I shifted to a pair of F800’s my insurance is cheaper for the both of them than any of the R1200’s I owned. I went with eBike as they have almost always been very competitive at renewal time, don’t charge an admin fee to change bikes mid-way through the policy and actually get the insurance docs right, unlike the clowns at Principal! I no longer live inside a zone and have a garage so I guess that helps. Insurance can be very post code specific too - when I lived in zone 4 I moved a mile up the road to a property without a garage and the insurance went... down?
 


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