hi all … just been through my renewal ins quote with mce …
got onto the question about pillion cover …
normally I just say yes as I do carry the wife on the back sometimes but this time I asked what exactly is pillion cover… I just thought it was extra cover for my passenger so they have the same cover as me … the guy on the phone went on like it was the end of the world … he actually said … “if you don’t take this cover and you carry a pillion and get stopped by the police for some reason you will get an LC20 charge” so I replied is this cover a legal requirement then, he said yes … I asked why it wasn’t in the highway code then … he went to ask his manager … he just said my insurance is void if I don’t buy this cover and I carry a passenger … so the way I see it is … ITS JUST ANOTHER WAY OF INSURANCE COMPANIES SCREWING US …
on another note, mce were the only company that would give me a normal quote this year, well when I say normal I mean under a grand … i’m told its coz of my London post code … supposedly its turned into Beirut since last year … aint stopped the property prices going up though has it …sorry I digress
He is selling you bullshit. It is not a legal requirement, it is as you say the way they fleece you out of more money.
If you were to have a crash with your wife on the back and you do not have pillion cover and the accident was caused by said third party, it does not preclude you and your wife making a claim as you are claiming against the third party.
The salesman is a liar n clearly has no understanding of his target audience or the law.
i’m yet to read the small print, but if they have put a clause in that states my cover is void if I carry a passenger unless I have their cover then I would be riding without insurance … would that be LC20???.. and would such a clause be allowed ??
sn1ke … I’m in se19 … bennets wouldn’t even quote this year although they were my last company
i'm yet to read the small print, but if they have put a clause in that states my cover is void if I carry a passenger unless I have their cover then I would be riding without insurance ... would that be LC20???... and would such a clause be allowed ?? sn1ke .. I'm in se19 .... bennets wouldn't even quote this year although they were my last company
amphibianalf
Insurers can make such a clause, but it must be included in the terms and conditions that pillions are excluded unless a premium has been paid.
Riding other than in acordance with the terms of your licence has nothing to do with insurance offences. Insurance offences (If I recall correctly) are INS codes.
They cannot exclude your cover per se. They may reduce it from say FC, but you should still have third party cover (again unless your T & C’s say otherwise) but as I said earlier, if you have a crash which is not your fault, it does not matter one jot.
If you are making a claim against another, it doesn’t matter what cover you have in place. In fact (legal requirements aside) you could be without insurance altogether and it does not preclude you making a claim. You could be convicted of no insurance, it does not preclude you making a claim despite th conviction.
very interesting discussion... never thought to challenge this...
Serrisan
same here but this time I did and it does make a difference to my price ...
the way the guy made it sound was I have to have it … i’m going to make a call to customer services tomorrow, I asked if the call was being recorded and for a ref and his name and I have the time … ive been rolled by an insurance co before after they couldn’t find the recording of their operator making a big mistake in my quote that led to me having to pay an extra £250 on my premium
thanks rusty … I looked up the code but don’t have the understanding of their interpretation … I can see this is gonna be a pain in the arse if I try to get some clarification
Never really given this any thought. I’ve always gone with having the pillion cover because I have a pillion seat and pegs, even though the times I carry a pillion are few, if ever, and far between. With car insurance the risk associated with passengers is calculated by the number of seats in the car regardless of whether you carry passengers in them or not. I thought the opt out of pillion cover on motorcycles was to reduce the insurance premium for the single seat motorcycles or those not carrying pillions rather than to increase the premiums of those carrying pillions!
I contacted the Association of British Insurers a couple of yesrs ago about pillion insurance. I am old enough to remember the introduction of compulsory pillion cover and the fuss the motorcycling fraternity made at the time complaining it would hike premiums. I asked the AIB why insurers asked if I carried pillions if the cover was already included. I received this reply which, I think, clarifies the position - not much but a bit!
"To pick up on one point, I must make it clear that while insurers may want to know if a motorcyclist intends to carry passengers, and may price their policies accordingly, they cannot invalidate a policy for carrying passengers unless (and these would be rare circumstances) the policyholder had said they never carried passengers, but actually did so routinely. In the circumstances you describe, the occasional or emergency carrying of a passenger would not be cause to invalidate a policy.
And moreover, I should also make clear that in the event of an injury to a passenger, the insurer could not possibly deny a legitimate claim for damages from that passenger, even if the policyholder had said that they never carried passengers."
I contacted the Association of British Insurers a couple of yesrs ago about pillion insurance. I am old enough to remember the introduction of compulsory pillion cover and the fuss the motorcycling fraternity made at the time complaining it would hike premiums. I asked the AIB why insurers asked if I carried pillions if the cover was already included. I received this reply which, I think, clarifies the position - not much but a bit! "To pick up on one point, I must make it clear that while insurers may want to know if a motorcyclist intends to carry passengers, and may price their policies accordingly, they cannot invalidate a policy for carrying passengers unless (and these would be rare circumstances) the policyholder had said they never carried passengers, but actually did so routinely. In the circumstances you describe, the occasional or emergency carrying of a passenger would not be cause to invalidate a policy.
And moreover, I should also make clear that in the event of an injury to a passenger, the insurer could not possibly deny a legitimate claim for damages from that passenger, even if the policyholder had said that they never carried passengers."
jjmurphy
Which more or less confirms what I said in an earlier post. Thanks for that. Spot on
I just get so wound up at insurance companies and more so their sales people that seem to know nothing about the product they are selling, especially in this case where they try to make up laws to sell the product … I dunno why but I always feel like I’ve got to make the point, am I wrong and just getting to be a moany old git
I just get so wound up at insurance companies and more so their sales people that seem to know nothing about the product they are selling, especially in this case where they try to make up laws to sell the product ... I dunno why but I always feel like I've got to make the point, am I wrong and just getting to be a moany old git
amphibianalf
It's people like yourself making these points and enquires make sure the rest don't always get mugged off.
So, in short, don’t need to add it, unless you carry a pillion every day. Be prepared for a fight if need to claim as insurers may try to wriggle out of it as they don’t understand the product they sell…
So, in short, don't need to add it, unless you carry a pillion every day. Be prepared for a fight if need to claim as insurers may try to wriggle out of it as they don't understand the product they sell...
Serrisan
Or make sure that any crash is a claim off the third party. Doesn't matter one jot then.
hi all … an update and a bit of a new subject … so I phoned around for a quote and have been told that most companies wont touch me because of my post code, I cant actually get a quote from principal insurance and the comparison sites come back with mce at the top with £659 for comp cover, then the post office with £1300 … I also cant get mce on the phone sat there for 15 mins with no answer 3 times yesterday … silly thing is ive been told by these companies that my area is high risk of theft now, but I can get a really cheap quote for TPFT …£180 … go figure
