Okay, so I have a Suzuki Bandit 600, recently I decided to treat myself to a new bike and couldn’t resist a bargain CBR600RR I saw in the small ads. Taking delivery on Monday and thought okay I ought to get some insurance on it. Being aware that I have only just renewed my policy on the Bandit last month and taking into consideration cancellation fees (or “**** you tax” as I like to call it) and the fact that hapilly my existing insurer was still cheapest to insure the cbr I set up a policy to start tomorrow. Fine, sort the new policy, close the old one, transfer no claims and maybe grumble about the cancellation fee but life goes on and I can enjoy my new bike whilst setting about selling the bandit.
Enter the DVLA’s new evil SORN rules! In order to sell the bike (offer test rides, allow the buyer to ride it home with 11 months tax remaining etc) its best to try and keep the tax on it. Well the DVLA and my insurer have other plans. If the bike is uninsured I have to return the remaining tax for a refund and SORN it (which makes it harder to sell). No problem I thought…simply move the no claims onto the new bike and leave the bandit insured without any no claims for now (probably pay a little more “**** you tax” to my insurer in the process) and cancel the policy once its sold. - No can do sir. Your underwriter refuses to insure that bike for a rider without no claims. You must cancel the policy and start a new one which will also attract a second cancellation fee when you sell the bike (there’s that “**** you tax” again!) 2 cancellation fees amount to more than a year’s worth of insurance on the Bandit! Tempcover type daily insurance for more than a week also amounts to more than a year’s worth of regular insurance. Ebike offer “pay as you go” on a monthly basis with no cancellation fees but they wont cover me because I work in broadcasting!
I really can’t see a way out of this unless I keep my no claims on the Bandit and don’t insure/ride the CBR until the Bandit is sold OR declare the Bandit as SORN and risk storing/selling it without any cover in the event of a theft and put up with the hassle of trying to sell an untaxed bike (no test rides, delay for the buyer when collecting in having to wait for cover notes and tax to arrive). I can see this stopping me from enjoying my new bike and costing me money. :crying:
Anyone have any bright ideas as to how I can keep the Bandit covered/taxed at a reasonable cost so I can sell it?