My current policy is soon to expire and that will leave me 30 years NCB. I’m mid 50’s, have IAM Advance bike and car qualified, have a garage with lots of security in the Big Smoke. My renewal has come through at £1594 with Cornmarket (the IAM preferred insurer) and that includes protected NCB, Class 1 business use. All other quotes are north of £2200. Except one from Peter James Insurance which is only £594. When I dug deeper, it turns out that PJI usually only insure classic bikes. However, as I am a member of an owners club, and an international MC too, they can insure me. The only drawback is that they do not recognise any NCB and therefore cannot protect my 30 years NCB, yet they give unlimited mileage and breakdown cover in UK and europe too.
For comparison, I asked my current insurer how much it would be if I lived in Witham, Essex and they said there is an 80% reduction, bring it down to only £330. Asked the same of PJI and they said there is no reduction at all.
I’m going to call the FCA tomorrow and ask them about PJI and if there is anything else I ought to be considering about such a low price.
So guys, what do you think? What other factors should I be taking into consideration? Generally, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. I think I am doing appropriate research, and if nothing arises, I’ll take the PJI policy and be over a £1000 better off. If there’s any doubt, I’ll renew with Cornmarket and have peace of mind. If I bought the PJI policy, I’ll get a certificate/document from Cornmarket proving my NCB, but would need to use it within 2 years, else it reverts to zero.
Buy a C50 or something else slow, old & cheap, then use your NCB to insure that to keep the NCB live. Insure the main bike with PJI, assuming they’re legit.
I have previously insured my car as a classic (with https://www.classiclineinsurance.co.uk ) and that is correct. Classic policies work slightly differently, they don’t recognise your NCB, and after two years dormant your NCB will reset to zero. But the main reason I moved away from a classic policy and back to a conventional one was they don’t do pro rata refunds; if you sell your vehicle the day after you pay your premium you get no refund for cancelling the policy. I have been known to change cars regularly so didn’t like that restriction. As it happens I still have the same car ten years later so that wasn’t an issue. Duh.
As the car is 16 years old now I struggle to get European breakdown cover for it. I might look at classic insurance again. Classic policies have their merits.
I have considered similar for my classic car insurance scenario, a £200 Fiat or similar, but the faff of parking, MoT, SORN, it rotting away, put me off. And at the end of the day NCB isn’t all it is cracked up to be. The savings PJI are offering far outweigh any NCB benefits you supposedly have.
As had been mentioned above check what would happen if you changed your bike. Are they likely to accept the type of bike you may consider?
Imagine you let the NCB lapse in 2 years then change to a bike they don’t like and you had to start again with nil NCB.
I had not considered that. I did ask the guy I was dealing with, “Is there anything else that I have not considered, and if you were in my shoes, what would you be asking that I have not covered?” and he did not mention that one. I’ve already bought the policy now, but will call to find out tomorrow.
I am by no means an expert here but have been told by various brokers at various times that:
Most insurers have a NCB cap of 9 years, a few allow more but the calculation is linear from zero to what ever their maximum is. Back in the day of paper ledger books NCB discounts were simple calculated over 3 years, 1 year NCB got you 20% off, 2 years 40% and 3 years got you the maximum 60% and that discount was applied to most of the premium. Now that equates to something like 10-20% or more NCB discount for the first year rising to 60% for the 9th year.
Why can the cost of your premium go up when your NCB discount has also gone up? This could be because you’ve reached the maximum 60% and the premium rise is due to inflation or it might be due to factors outside of your control. Note here that any NCB discount is not the final calculation in your premium, it only applies to the part of the insured risk you have personal influence over, risks such as type of licence held, additional/advanced training, driving record, annual mileage etc. Which means that some risks such as postcode area, risk of theft, not being kept in a garage etc are all added to the premium after the NCB discount has been applied.
Is it ironic that my first two initials are also MC? 