Recently got my full license and very excited about purchasing my first bike… However dreams are crumbling due to the outrageous insurance quotes I am getting. I have run through your standard comparison sites with a variety of bikes from 450cc to 1100cc and at different values from £2k up to £12k and the lowest fully comp prices always come back at about 40% of the bikes value, some much higher if any quotes at all.
I am 31, got my license in September so zero no claims, no points or penalties, live in SW6 and the bike would be kept on the street. I understand keeping it in a locked garage would help but not enough to cover the cost to rent a garage (about £80 per week!). I would also put on a disc lock and big chain around a lamppost with a cover over the bike but it is tricky to know which chain/lock insurance companies approve or if it will even lower the quote.
Seriously questioning how anyone can insure a bike in London. So any thoughts and advice on this would be really appreciated.
The only thing I can suggest is go with something cheap and ride if for a couple of years to get some no claims. Theft is a huge problem and also having no riding history means that you’re on the back foot on all data criteria from an insurance perspective.
My first year on a new 600RR in SW7 was £1K from MCE. Every other quote I got was over £2K. I had to call them to check the quote was genuine before I bought the bike. And that was with 2 years no claims bonus.
With no history you’ll pay through the nose for insurance on anything fancy. Pick up a Hornet or Bandit and enjoy it for the first year. It’s likely you’ll drop it as some point but that won’t matter. Then check your quotes again and trade up. You won’t lose much in terms of depreciation. It may even go up in value if you service it.
There is something to be said for a bike you don’t care that much about too. I rode the wheels off my old 500. I could park it anywhere and I wasnt worried. Even when I dropped it (twice) I was like, “whatever.” In some ways I enjoyed it more than my fancy bike.
I live in london without a garage, my bike is on the front garden not the street and i have 2 ground anchors 2 disk locks cover alarm tracker and loud barky dog…im 42…my insurance was 2.5k, then down to 2k then back up to 2.5k tbh each year of no claims seemed to just increase my insurance, I gave up with bennets but the only other insurer that will help me is MCE at £900 with a £6000 access…
My bike is a BMW F700 GS 4 years old now.
I feel your pain
Nope, in fact i have a driving licence with 25 years clean driving and all of the no claims. 2 years on a 125 clean, another 4 years on a 800cc clean, i just live in a black postcode and despite the fact i have more security on the bike then it would have in a garage, despite the clean driving and licence and all of the no claims… that is all i could get… bennets was brutal to me at least MCE insured me for under 1000 (just) bennets was just taking the piss over and over.
it breaks my heart
As someone WAY outside the M25 with a garage I do have to think that when you’re taxed that much for being a biker (and it is a tax), does that not make you want to move?
It’s not always a possibility. E.g. in my case I’m an IT contractor and all my work is in Central London (less nowadays due to remote work but still). There is absolutely no way I would commute each day for hours, meaning I have to be close to the city no matter what. In my case I “solved” the problem by buying a flat with an underground residents parking but I feel for those who are stuck here and can’t afford such luxury.
Hornets and Bandits aren’t crap bikes, they are insurable bikes. You get most of the upsides of a new super sport with none of the downsides which in your first year on a big bike is ideal.
Nope. Love where I live for the accessibility it provides and the things I can do nearby. Don’t love the costs but am prepared to pay up to get the benefits.
I don’t live in London now but, when I did , I rode for years on just Third Party Only cover to keep costs down. I don’t understand why the insurance companies are reluctant to provide this cover these days as it reduces their exposure to the cost of theft and own-bike damage. By providing TPO they would reduce the number of uninsured vehicles on the roads. Why is this not a good thing?