UK motorcycle insurers and your experiences
 

Husband just had a dust up with this lot of robbing gits. Cancelled a policy he'd had for 3 months as he no longer has the bike. Expected a reasonable admin fee but they kept the whole amount of the policy - minus £2.20p - to cancel it. So their fee was something like £100.00. Seems this is a regular ploy according to feedback. :thumbdown:

So we won't be using them again. Not impressed.

i feel for you,my wife cancelled our car insurence and was hammered with a £175 admin fee,we had only had the policey for 3 months,seems the insurers will always try and keep your money no matter what:thumbdown:

If you are thinking about selling a bike, switch the insurance to monthly payments when the renual comes up. This is typically, basically a loan, they lend you the money to buy their insurance and you pay it back over the year. However, a loan is covered by consumer credit laws. Cancel the insurance, stop the direct debit and tell them to go whistle for it. They will threaten to sue and send the bailiffs round etc. but the bottom line is that if they do they'll make the loss not you. They'll strike a deal.

Insurance in the UK is a racket not a service. Pay them or the police beat you up. Treat them accordingly. I'm afraid I'm even rude to their call centre staff now, make their lives painful and they make the deal faster in order to move on to creaming a softer target.

Andy

It's been going down this road for some years, ever since the insurance companies put an end to walking into one of their high street branches and dealing with human beings.
I suspect this thread will disappear without trace as it becomes absorbed into its' forum = Trip Transport.
There is a sticky for UK insurance issues within "trip paperwork" if anyone fancies starting it over again? That would at least mean that the various UK insurance companies could receive their deserved plaudits or brickbats!!

Yep, thieving, robbing bastards. I've got MAG onto it which might niggle them a bit, and am in the process of getting the major m/c mags here clued up, but short of riding with no insurance ( which I won't do, under any circumstances because its just not right) we're a bit stuck. But thanks for that tip Andy - I'll look into that further and probably do exactly as you suggest. I'll always pay my way but I won't line their pockets. And anyway, they'll have to find me first as I'm off.......:thumbup1:

Bennetts = tossers
 

Would you like this thread moving over to "Trip Paperwork"? I can do it for you easily.:cool4:


A slightly different situation, but possibly the description is of use to somebody. A while ago I took out insurance with Bennetts. Within the 2 week cooling off period I wished to cancel. They tried to shaft me. The following letter got me a full refund... Fight the bar stewards!

My street
My town
My county
My postcode

Bennetts Insurance
Pegasus House
Bakewell Road
Orton Southgate
Peterborough
PE2 6YS

Date of letter

Ref (policy number xxxxxxx)

Dear Bennetts
I herewith inform you that I have submitted a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Below is a timeline of my dealings with you (known here as “Bennetts”).

1st February 2009 me takes out motorcycle insurance online and pays by credit card £229.49 (policy number xxxxxxxx)

10th February 2009 I receive certificates of motor insurance, policy document, but NO key facts document from Bennetts

11th February 2009 After reading the policy document and looking at the policy excess amounts, I decide (clearly within my 14 day statutory cooling off period) that this is not the right policy for me. I post back, by Special Delivery, a letter to this effect, including the certificates of motor insurance. I have made no claim on the policy.

16th February 2009 I receive a letter dated 14th February from Bennetts saying the insurance is cancelled per 12th February. There is no mention of any fees to be paid.

5th March 2009I receive my credit card bill. On it there is a debit of £229.49 to Bennetts and a credit of £194.46 from Bennetts. This a discrepancy of £35.03

6th March 2009 at 5.40pm I call Bennetts to complain and speak to a customer service lady. She informs me that the £35.03 is made up of £5.03 pro rata usage and a £30 admin fee. She keeps on referring to a Key Facts document, I haven’t even heard of. She doesn’t have a copy herself either and is unable to tell me where on the Bennetts website this document can be found. (I am online as I call her). If this Key Facts document exists or not, is immaterial. Legally, charges must be “fair and reasonable”. I believe them to be unfair, and I know that by any stretch of the imagination, they are wholly unreasonable.

I know a lot about IT systems. For an admin clerk to press a button on a computer screen to cancel a policy, print a letter and put it in an envelope does not cost any organisation £30 in wages/time, unless of course, this clerk is being paid £30 per minute! If they are, can I have a job please?

As you have not dealt with my complaint to my satisfaction, I have been forced to submit a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Furthermore, I will forward a copy of this correspondence to the entire printed motorcycle press and post it on every online forum I can. Customers need to be treated with fairness, not ripped off at the first opportunity.


Yours sincerely,

me

ouch. I'm with Bikesure, i'll make sure I cancel in June, my policy ends in June, I was going to jump ship anyway, as i'll need cover only for a month, I should be in turkey by august, and then not returning to Europe for a long long time.

The only positive about Bikesure, is that I once had an issue, I only live 20 miles from their offices, I threatened to come and sit in their office singing songs, until they sorted my problem. that worked!

Well, it's Belle's thread - sounds good to me!
Maybe the thread title could be something like "UK motorcycle insurers and your experiences" - some folks will see the title "bikesure" and think "nothing to do with me"?

Your letter template is certainly a good un for anyone who needs to take up complaints with insurers/brokers.

ps Re-reading the sticky titles under the Trip Paperwork forum it seems that neither of the main ones is fully relevant to this subject; in fact, UK insurance issues have become wrapped up in the Green Card issues of importing a bike into Europe + the other sticky in there specifically mentions MOT/tax/registration but not insurance (which inevitably crops up among that discussion).

OK, moved. More appropriate to be in paperwork, rather than transport. I'm the one that hijacked it to include Bennetts, so the change in title is also necessary. :oops2: Sorry Belle :blushing:

Let's see how the thread fares before stickying it. Most of what's on the HUBB is important and it can't all be stuck.

cheers
Chris

Bikesure are the robbing gits!!
 

Well that was a quick re-location; just for clarity, Belles' OP above was referenced to "Bikesure" but that reference disappeared when the thread changed forums and title of the thread.

Bikesure are not unique
 

Bikesure used to administer the Harley-Davidson scheme for a while. I had two policies, my Harley and a Moto Guzzi (spit!). I renewed the Guzzi policy in November, in January the contract for Harley changed to Carole Nash so Bikesure could not contractually offer me a renewal. In February they cancelled my Guzzi policy because it was tied to the Harley policy and I had not renewed the Harley policy (I couldn't because they couldn't quote me having lost the Harley contract). They tried to charge me 60% in admin fees plus the usage, I said no and within a day they had relented and gave me a full refund.
The Harley scheme is now with Carole Nash so I phoned them to take out a policy on the Guzzi, no problem. Roll on 8 months and I get rid of the Guzzi (Hurrah!) and buy a Victory after a couple of months. I phone Carole Nash to take out a policy on the Vic and am told they must go on one policy as you can't have two policies covered by the same no claims entitlement. I told them I had one with them previously with my Guzzi and was told I was wrong. The crack was they wanted to charge me an amendment fee on the Harley policy as well as the cover fee for the Vic.
In short all insurance companies are licenced bandits who "all s*** in the same pan" (That's a Black Country phrase) there really isn't any difference between them.

Carole Nash, Bennetts, MCE, Bikesure, ebike, Footman James, it goes on ............
 

Chris,
Within about a week the subject of UK bike insurance comes around again, this time for that well known, high-profile in the UK insurer, Carole Nash:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...l-theyre-57345
And this one is on the same lines:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...an-cover-63791


Without a sticky for UK insurance issues, I would expect the subject to keep turning up in multiple threads that repeat the questions, the answers and the general flow of information about what is going on in the UK vehicle insurance world, of which bikes are a subset of special interest to this website.

For contrast, the medical insurance aspect has 6 stickies including specifics for Canadian medical cover, UK/EU travel insurance and 4 other topics.

I've made this a sticky.

FWIW, many topics regularly reappear on the HUBB. The same questions about Russian visas appears weekly:blushing::helpsmilie:

On most forums, this one being no exception, people just post their question without first browsing/searching what's already there.

Chris

Insurance for non UK resident
 

UK insurance for a foreigner is a minefield.
I (wrongly) thought that if I left the registration in a UK resident's name, that it would be easier to have me added as an additional rider.

I had one company who said they would do it then reneged at the last minute.
I had one company that said if I got a UK licence then they would cover me. But I am not entitled to a UK licence unless I surrender my Aussie licence and apply for residency.
I had 20 companies that said a flat NO as soon as I said I was from Australia.

I was given the number of a Broker - who cut through all the red tape and got me what I needed. He is a biker himself and took care of everything with one phone call and some emailed paperwork. Too easy!
I honestly disclosed to him all my plans and did not try to bypass the system - it probably cost me a bit more but it is well worth it to avoid the headaches.

The insurance also came with AA Breakdown Cover for the UK and I paid extra to get 90 days breakdown cover in the EU

With his permission - his contact details are:
St.John Canfield-Payne
CanfieldPayne Insurance Consultants Ltd
Tel: 01342 302422 Fax: 01342 301432
The Cravens, Ship Street, East Grinstead, RH19 4DX
jcpayne.canpayne@tamcentraluk.com
We always offer competitive premiums for all types of commercial, motor, household, travel and private medical insurances


Perhaps some other travellers/ foreigners will be able to navigate the minefield more successfully with St.John's help.

The broker contact info is very helpful.
It would be even more helpful if you (happen to) know, or could find
out, what is the UK underwriter for the policy that
the broker obtained.