It was the same for me. I am Italian with an Italian driving license (got it 13 years ago, never an accident.) When I decided to buy a motorbike (supersport bike) I looked for insurance and it was terrible (the cheapest was twice the price of a new bike). This was because I had no claim bonus in this country. So I had to forget the idea of a sport bike and bought a scooter (got insurance for £700) and keep it for gaining NCB. Last year then I found a good deal with suzuki (£99 insurance if I buy a new sport bike - this was perfect for me). Now I have 3 years NCB, I am 33 years old, no pillion, 3k miles per year, no commuting, never had accident, bike kept in a brick garage locked and with CCTV and the best deal I found is £600. I am thinking it would be cheaper for me to sell this bike and buy a new one where they give a £99 insurance as deal.
P.S. Yesterday I applied for a UK driving license - I hope I will pay less.
I am beginning to suspect government functions have once again been too freely offloaded to the “free market”… surely private insurance companies, answerable to no member of the public, should not be able to dictate who can and can’t drive a vehicle in this country.
Inb the SE18, SE1 areas of London there is a big problem with “imported” drivers, vehicle and paperwork. Usual mixes. E.g. Somalian with an Egytian driving licence, Belgian registered car, Bulgarian insurance.
You can’t blame the insurance companies too much for wanting to stay away from this mix.
When it comes to EU member states, EU citizens, EU paperwork I have to agree. It’s all rigged against you.
Just a thought - if it’s the fact that it’s the Greek bike that’s causing a problem (worth checking with the insurers), would it be worthwhile to see what the insurance quote would be for SORN? Then you could insure the bike as off the road (I assume it would be cheaper) then register with DVLA (because you now have insurance) and then change the insurance (there would be an admin fee, I assume).
a bit late to be posting on this thread but here’s my experience.
I’m greek and I’ve got a clean greek licence too and opted to buy a bike here than bring the one I had in greece. But I would think once the greek bike is registered here it’s treated as UK.
It’s to my amazement that Alex finds the DVLA system not working. The greek DVLA and transport system is 10 years behind the UK and soooo beaurocratic! It’s cheaper compared to UK but then again salaries are 1/4 of UK at least.
Anyway.
No insurer would accept my 3 years greek NCB. And I got in touch with a dozen.
I was 26 at the time and on a greek licence, tpf&t, central london, inc commuting and a TDM900 the best quote I found was £800 and 500excess from H&R. The bike is being kept off-street overnight but not garaged.
However, 2 years down the line with 2 years NCB my insurance has dropped to £250 and £250excess. No bad considering central london and not garaged.
I haven’t bothered with changing my driving licence to UK. I think what matters in the quotes is the NCB!
yes they say you must, but this is if you are a permanent resident and the police cannot be bothered to check how long you have been residing in this country. Many a prosecution has collapsed because it becomes a case of trying to prove that you are permeanently living here and not semi permanent …they cannot be bothered since they can still charge you for the offence anyway. I only changed my license after 8 years for insurance purposes (it was cheaper) and no other reason.
you are considered as permanent resident since you register yourself with your embassy. friends of mine have got letter from DVLA, Police asking to change the driving license. I changed it as well, and now I pay less insurance
yes I register with my embassy (also because I needed to change my passport that was not valid anymore) to get the new passport (on the new passport I got London as my residence)
