Motorbike Insurance

The attractions of cheap motorcycle insurance quotes

Unless you are fortunate enough to be very wealthy, the chances are that you may be interested in looking for cheap motorcycle insurance quotes.

Motorcycle insurance typically comes in many different shapes and sizes and as you might expect, the prices also vary considerably.

It might be perfectly possible to approach several different insurance providers with the same set of requirements and circumstances but to see some fairly significantly different motorbike insurance quotes in response.

So, what is going on? Why are cheap motorcycle insurance quotes not available all of the time and all more or less around the same sort of price?

This inevitably involves us in a discussion of the principles of risk.

As we all know, in principle, the higher the risk posed by a situation for the insurance provider, then the higher the premium they may require in order to provide cover.

This is a basic foundation stone of insurance but assessing risk is a difficult and occasionally subjective science. Two insurance providers may interpret identical situations quite differently and reach diverging conclusions as to the risk inherent in the situation.

These situations are surprisingly common and they explain, in part, why you might occasionally get quite different quotations from different insurance providers.

There is another factor that comes into play – and that relates to the nature of what you are actually getting for your money.

Contrary to what some people may believe, insurance policies are not typically more or less identical to each other in terms of the amount of cover they are providing and of what type.

So you may look at two motor bike insurance online policies that at a surface level appear similar but which on closer inspection are actually significantly different.

This may also apply to that sometimes overlooked area of an insurance policy, its terms and conditions. These may, in some cases, be far more restrictive and constraining than in others and that may have a significant effect on how easily you may be able to make a successful claim should you need to.

Where does this leave us in terms of considerations relating to the idea of cheap motorbike insurance quotes?

Perhaps the most obvious conclusion is that the ticket price may not be a particularly good indication as to how cost-suitable for you the policy is.

A policy may appear to be cheap but if its terms and conditions constrain your degree of freedom to use your bike in the way you wish to use it, then you may wish to pay a little more for a policy that does support your bike and lifestyle. In essence, the less cost-attractive policy may prove to be more cost-suitable for you.

The moral of the tale may be to think twice about cheap motorcycle insurance quotes and to ensure that you read them carefully.

What is the cheapest motorcycle insurance?

Some bikers occasionally express frustration at what they perceive to be the difficulty in finding out what is the cheapest motorcycle insurance, though they may sometimes overlook that they may be able to have a significant effect themselves on the cost of their policy cover.

Stick to the specification

It may pay to avoid heavily customising or otherwise modifying your bike.

Modifications may make insurance providers nervous, particularly if you have changed it to the extent that it no longer conforms to the manufacturer’s specifications and when insurance providers become uneasy, your premiums may rise as a direct result.

Heed the rules of the road

Making the effort to consistently drive within the constraints of the law is always a smart idea, not only from the moral point of view but also from a practical point of view in that convictions and penalty points on your licence typically equate to a significantly higher premium.

Choose the bike you need

The size and power of your motorbike may also be factors that may influence the price of your premium and typically you may find that the bigger and more powerful the machine, the more your insurance cover may cost.

Opting for a less powerful bike may enable you to find the motorbike insurance deal that matches your expectations and your pocket.

Shop around

Just accepting the first motorbike insurance quote you may get may not be an approach that may be particularly helpful when trying to find the cheapest motorcycle insurance.

Comparing a few bike insurance quotes and assessing their cheapness against the levels of cover that they actually provide may typically give you the information you may need to help you select a policy appropriate for you.

You may find that your considerations of what is the cheapest motorcycle insurance may be very different to the policy selected by another biker. Even if they had the same bike as you, other factors like how you use your bike, whether you have driving convictions, your age and experience etc, are all important factors used by providers of motorcycle insurance in setting premiums.

There are specialist providers of motorcycle insurance who may be able to offer competitively priced cover for a wide range of bike riders including:

• female bike riders;
• riders at opposite ends of the age spectrum – perhaps as young as 16 if a CBT pass certificate is held and up to 75 years in some circumstances
• scooter and moped riders;
• classic bike owners.

By taking a bit of time and knowing what to look for, it may be less difficult than you think to find what is the cheapest motorcycle insurance.

The realities of convicted biker insurance

Convicted biker insurance is something that just might make a significant difference to the cost of your motorcycle insurance cover.

What is it and how does it work?

The biker’s image

For a long time some bikers have been working hard to consign to the bin, the old stereotypical image of the biker as some form of rebellious force of nature.

The vast majority of motorcyclists are law-abiding citizens who manage to avoid infringing the various laws that govern road usage.

Of course, sometimes things may go wrong and you may find that however conservative a rider you are, you may pick up some form of motoring conviction.

That may not necessarily indicate that you have a fundamentally flawed attitude to riding your bike safely and considerately, however, insurance providers may not take into account your past behaviours. They may only see your current conviction(s) and the predictable result may be a significant hike in your insurance premium with any dreams you have about cheap motorcycle insurance, seemingly disappearing without trace.

Why?

Insurers typically rate policies and calculate the premium based upon their statistical perceptions of the risks involved.

Statistically speaking, motorbike riders with convictions may be more inclined to become involved in situations resulting in a claim.

For that reason, insurers typically increase their prices to cover what they see as their increased risk.

Bigger cheques

Your response to this may simply be to fatalistically accept that you are going to be writing some larger cheques for your motorcycle insurance in future.

Yet you may have an alternative – and that is to seek a provider offering convicted biker insurance.

These organisations may have different ways of looking at different forms of conviction and trying to perform a little more of an analysis of the risks constituted by different bikers applying for insurance with convictions on their licence.

Convicted biker insurance does not necessarily mean that you will be getting your insurance for the same price as you were prior to the points being added to your licence.

What it may mean is simply that your application is being reviewed against the product list that has been built up based upon considerable experience in this specialist domain rather than simply looked at in the context of generalist motorcycle insurance.

Yet it is also probably the case that you are looking for practical benefits rather than simply sympathy and understanding.

The bottom line is that in some cases convicted biker insurance may be able to offer you a more cost-effective solution to your motorcycle insurance needs if you have a licence that is something other than spotlessly clean.

Looking for scooter insurance?

You may regard your scooter as your pride and joy but perhaps feel that because it is a fairly modest and economical type of motorcycle, scooter insurance may be pretty standard wherever you look.

In fact, you may find that there are significant variations in the various scooter insurance policies available and these might make a difference to your situation.

Shopping around may, therefore, typically be a more sensible approach than just making an ill-informed purchase.

Before you chose a scooter insurance policy though, you may first have to have a good idea of what type of motorcycle insurance you are looking for.  As with so many other aspects of life, the greater the level of cover, the more you may have to pay for it.

The extent, to which you insure your scooter, will depend on a number of variables including its value and age.

It is perfectly possible, for example, to ride your scooter under third party cover only.  This would mean that you may be protected financially if you injured someone or damaged their property while riding your scooter. Court costs may also be covered.

What would typically not be covered in this situation though, would be any costs involved for damage to your scooter. Similarly with third party cover only, if your scooter was stolen, then you may be looking at significant cost yourself to fund a replacement.

The next level up on the cover scale may be to go for third party, fire and theft scooter cover.  This obviously typically offers greater protection, which you may consider to be essential, particularly as scooters tend to be a favourite target of thieves.

One level up again would be fully comprehensive cover, which would typically include repair costs for damage to your scooter as well.

Whatever your choice of cover, there may be ways in which you may be able to reduce the cost of your insurance premiums.

For example:

• if you have a clean driving licence, you may typically expect your insurance premiums to be lower than if you had convictions;
• making modifications to your scooter may also result in higher insurance costs;
• agreeing to keep your scooter parked off road when it is not in use may attract a premium discount;
• your scooter may be most at risk when you are riding it, so keeping your mileage as low as possible may help to reduce both risk and premiums;
• while you can’t do anything about how old you are, you may find that scooter insurance providers may offer discounts for older and more experienced riders.

Using a motorcycle insurance quote

If you are looking for a motorcycle insurance quote, then you may find the following tips useful:

• although times may be tough, it may be advisable to avoid restricting your search to policies that appear to major exclusively on offering cheap bike insurance – in the event of a problem leading to you needing to make a claim, the price of your policy will not interest you, as you will only be focused on the cover it provides;
• it may, therefore, make sense to concentrate initially on finding cover that you believe to be adequate and appropriate for you and your bike;
• today, the motorcycle insurance marketplace is competitive and you typically may not need to settle for the first quotation you receive – it may make sense to shop around or go to motorbike insurance providers who are able to give you access to multiple options;
• the price of your motorcycle insurance quote may typically be affected by a significant number of issues, including your own previous riding history – if you have significant motoring convictions on your licence, it may be advisable to seek specialist convicted biker insurance;
• you may be able to take some steps to reduce the overall cost of your premium – your options may vary policy by policy but might include things such as garaging your bike when not in use, cutting down your total annual mileage, accepting higher excesses on the policy or changing your machine for one that has a smaller engine and a lower risk category;
• if you have a smaller and lower value machine, perhaps including some models of moped or scooter, you may find attractive deals through companies that specialise in scooter or moped insurance;
• similarly, some insurance providers may offer interesting options for female bikers, experienced riders or those riding bikes that generate an insurance premium in excess of £1000 per annum;
• in spite of what you may have heard to the contrary, a combination of shopping around and thinking about your total biking position, may result in you finding attractive options for that motorcycle insurance quote.

Motorcycle personal accident cover

photo credit: fesek
For bikers, personal accident cover offers additional peace of mind to both rider and loved ones, in the event of an accident. The harsh reality is that road users on motorcycles or scooters have a higher accident rate than those driving cards – and the risks for a biker are significantly greater in the event of an accident. This means that extra cover for accidents is a worthwhile investment.

Personal accident cover gives additional protection for accidents resulting in permanent sight loss, loss of limb/s, speech or hearing loss and any permanent disablements. Additionally, in the event of accidental death whilst biking, the cover would pay a lump sum to your estate, helping your family financially if the worst came to the worst. The sums vary according to the accident or injury received and the type of policy you have in place. Paying more for your personal accident cover is likely to result in higher compensation sums in the event of a claim, but it`s worth researching carefully to see which policy provider matches your individual needs best.

The same cover can also be used to ease financial burdens arising from motorcycle accident, which prevents the rider from working. Again, this lump sum can ease the recovery process, until the rider is ready to return to work, for example to pay for a wheelchair or home / car adapation, to pay for nursing care, to cover everyday expenses or to cover loans, bills and childcare costs. Many people find that when they have an accident, their corporate sickness policy doesn`t adequately cover their needs, or that government support is insufficient for those who are self employed or out of work.

This enhanced personal accident cover package covers more than regular motorcycle insurance policies, including road traffic accidents which are the principal`s fault. They also offer worldwide protection if you bike overseas. The insurance also offers the benefit of flexibility – each policy is tailored to the applicant and no medical examination is required. The policy can usually be added onto a regular motorcycle insurance policy and be paid for in either installments, or a lump sum.

Regular insurance policies won`t necessary offer the same amount or type of cover in the event of a motorcyle accident, particularly if the principal was at fault. This can lead to financial distress or difficulty during any recuperation period, or later disablement following a road accident.

As with any type of insurance policy, insurance price search or comparison for financial products such as a loan for bad credit it`s well worth looking online and doing a search on a price comparison website for the products that best suit your circumstances. As with all insurance policies, motorcycle insurance and motorcycle personal accident cover will be offered at different prices, with different terms and conditions between providers. It`s worth paying a little extra to get the right amount of cover to protect you and your family in the event of an accident and spreading the payment out by direct debit can help make your insurance premium payments more affordable, rather than paying out an initial lump sum.