Insurance for first bike in London - SO EXPENSIVE!

This topic has been brought up before, but it was some time ago and was about renewals rather than a first bike.


So! Context:

  • I’m 26
  • Passed Direct Access a month ago
  • Live in Stratford, London in a building with locked underground parking
  • Interested in either a Honda CB650R (Brand New), Honda NC750S (Brand New), KTM 790 Duke (Ex-Demo)
  • Dad works for Honda and can get me discount on new Honda bikes
  • Using the bike for commuting
  • Expecting to do under 7000 miles a year

I’ve been hunting around for a quote, but the fact that I live in Stratford/London is making the quote astronomical.

If I put the bike at my address, quotes are around £2200-£2500 for fully comp, £1000-£1800 TPFT. However, if I change the address to my parents in Wiltshire, we’re talking £600-£800 fully comp! All of these are with an excess of around £800, except for Aviva who will only offer Comp (they say because the bike is worth over £5k). Aviva’s excess is £325 for my quote.

The Insurers I’ve got quotes from are:

  • Aviva
  • Lexham
  • MCE
  • BikeSure

The following could not give a quote, but could when I changed the address to be my parents in Wiltshire:

  • Carole Nash
  • Bennetts
  • Motorcycle Direct

How does anyone start riding in London from DAS? I tried second hand bikes, same problem. I haven’t tried smaller bikes, but could give that a go… See plenty of bikes around London, but do most of them come from outside or something? I know theft is high (heard on TV 30 bikes get stolen every day in London), but these prices are just insane!

Any advice greatly appreciated! :blush:

To be honest, you pay for it… I was in a similar situation to you and paid 1k for my first year, back in 2009. And that was with an online only insurer, luckily I didn’t have an accident.

The things people do to reduce price:
Have a garage (not easy)
Buy a cheaper, way older bike as a first bike may be a solution
Type of bike will play a role - a 600naked won’t command the same premium as a 600 sports bike
Add more security (although bear in mind the consequences if you can’t always add that security)
Move (I did to afford my second bike)

I’d love to give you more suggestions but other than going through all comparison sites I can’t.

What I can say is don’t insure at your parents’ unless the bike lives there… Might be fine as long as insurer doesn’t know, but get into a claim and they work it out, you’ll get in a lot of trouble.

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See what comes up with a kwak er6f

Getting your first bike on DAS living in London seems to result in getting a 125 scooter or sucking it up and paying the premium. Or move.

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Or getting a cheap bike to insure TPF&T until there’s some NCD to offset against the cost of comprehensive.

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JMI (Just Motorcycle Insurance) ??? Might be worth a try. I see its not on your list of companies that you’ve already tried.

Insurance price goes up if you declare you are doing less then about 4000 miles a year
are you sure you are only going to do 3k, that’s very little

You need a sub £2k bike, around 600cc that isn’t too sporty, Yammy FZ6S2, Beemer F800 something, Honda CBF600/NC700/Dullsville NTV, Suzzy SV650, Kwak ER6 - that sort of thing. Should be able to get TPFT for £500 or less.

I pay £180 TPFT on a FZ6 parked on drive in Romford postcode. Although I do have a few NCD, I’m older and I get IAM discount. That said, my old FZS600 was only £450 TPFT for first year riding. But, then even now, when I’ve checked out quotes for anything worth £3-4k, 1000cc or slightly sporty, I also get quotes of £1-1.5k even now…

And yeah 3000 miles a year commuting?! You must either work 2 miles away or only work 1 day a week!

I’ve got the same bike as Arfa, I’m zone 3 south east London, fully comp class 1 business cover, garaged and a tad older than him… and pay about the same price.
Under 600cc not a sports bike seems the sweet spot for decent prices but a garage really helps me getting insured.

Just tried them, they wanted me to call them because they couldn’t quote online :weary:

You’re right, I calculated it wrong :joy:. I’d do more like 4000-5000. Rechecked quotes and it made the price go up, however. Also tried putting the millage up to 7000 odd, but it went up for that too.

Nice, thanks for the examples and detail!

I just tried a £2k Kawa ER-6F, got quoted £1032.69 TPFT, £1210.77 fully comp.

Good saving! It’s on a 2008 bike, however. I’m not at all experienced with used bikes, but I feel like I’d like a slightly newer one with better safety features (e.g. ABS, traction control etc.). For £600 more on the insurance, I can have a brand new bike insured, which I find appealing. But obviously then there’s the £4.5k difference between the bikes to pay. I wonder how much of that I’ll get back when I sell it in 2-3 years time.

Food for thought! Thank you!

So £2k bike, under 600cc, with how many years NCD?

I have a garage, so hopefully I could get near this in a few years time, perhaps with the NCD coming into affect as I earn it.

If you don’t use your bike to commute you the premium will go down.

I spent a year on a 125 which made the premium go down a fair bit.

Also have a look at an Yamaha XJ6 or a Honda Hornet. Both great bikes

I’ve got a non fault accident listed from 4 years ago but protected NCB of 6 i think.
Remember if you buy brand new you’ll lose money on depreciation as soon as you drive off the forecourt unless you’re thinking of keeping the bike for ages then it won’t matter.

Part of the reason I’m getting the bike is to spend less time on the cramped tube… A few people who do Social/Domestic only must use their bike every now and then to get to work, especially if they have something to go to after. I wonder how that grey area is settled.

+1 on the honda hornet! great bike, reliable and fun for when you get more confident.
i loved my orange '05

Nice.

My thinking is that my first choice, the CB650R, is £6,999, where as I’ll pay £6400 because my dad works for Honda. It’ll probably be worth £5500 once off the forecourt? I think I’m happy with that, but will have a think and do some sums to be sure!

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Any advice on buying one (or any used bike)? My fear is getting one that’s been handled poorly, or has issues that will cause it to be a bad ride, affecting my confidence.