Bike insurance

[bsa-bill]

my insurance (peter James) was hiked up last renewal time so I did the old comparison thing and switched - I'm now with One call, ( rais I think) 56 quid full comp for one bike, I only insured the one I intend to sell (Covid allowing) the other one is getting pulled down when the weather improves.
I was sorry to leave Peter James as they had stayed pretty good pricewise, so the sudden jump was disappointing but I'm all for switching and taking advantage of first-time buyers offers and if the renewal is to steep then switch again (just make sure everything is as it should be), customer loyalty counts for little these days.
Which reminds me my energy contract ends next month, I've managed to keep my costs the same for the last four years but doubt I do the same this time.

                             

[Greybeard]

I just got a quote from Carol Nash that was £147. I then tried that comparison site, Quotezone and got a quote from Carol Nash of £56.70. No excess charges!
What the heck is that about?

[bsa-bill]

What the heck is that about?

It is the way it is, first-time buyers get a good quote to "capture" them, of course, established customers pay for this so you need to be a first-time buyer all the time.

The government cap on energy prices has resulted in fewer good deals for first-time buyers because Energy companies are not able to load loyal customers with the extra to cover those deals - it's a funny old world

[Greybeard]

.... first-time buyers get a good quote to "capture" them, of course, established customers pay for this so you need to be a first-time buyer all the time.

Yes, I get that but I was new to Carol Nash when I got a quote from their website.

[bsa-bill]

Yes, I get that but I was new to Carol Nash when I got a quote from their website.

Take it - you've been captured twice, they just haven't realised you'd escaped 

[bikerbob]

I found out a few years ago how the system works, I had been withe same company for about 10 years for my car when I used a comparison site only to told that I could have same insurance with the same company for £54 cheaper. I rang the company up and eventually got through to a guy who explained how the system worked, he said like most people you are probably under the immpression that when your insurance is due someone in the office looks at your file and checks everything and gives you the best quote. This does not happen everything is automated the powers that be decicide by what percentage the premiums and add ons are going to change and they apply them, no person actually looks at your file this only happens when you make a claim. It will always be cheaper online because you do most of the work answering all the questions.  So each year now I go onto a comparison site and get the cheapest quote then when the renewal comes in if it is within £10 pounds of the cheapest quote then I will renew because I do not have to go through all those questions, but if it is over £10 then my wife does this because she is good at it like all women she has the gift of the gab, she tells them about the cheaper quote then sometimes they will match it or come close to it but if not we will go with the new company. She has found that they will always give you a cheaper qoute if you complain enough but not always what you want. She never tells the existing company what the new quote is only the name of the company and that it is cheaper because on rare occaisions they may give you a quote that is less.

[Greybeard]

But this quote via the comparison site is a hundred quid cheaper. It's crazy I tells ya!

[bsa-bill]

[quote hundred quid cheaper.][/quote]

Double check the terms and cover

[RDfella]

Was with Carole Nash for years and appreciated the agreed value element, but finally had to give up with their useless customer service. Every renewal contained many mistakes (eg listing my DOT as Minarelli - whatever that is - my vee twin as an A65 etc) and every year I'd ask them to correct the errors - only for them to be there again next year. Eventually I got through on the phone and spent half an hour going through all this with a seemingly helpful fella. Yep, next year same again, so I changed insurer.

[Rex]

What we really want is posts about how good the insurance company handled things went we made a claim.
It's not just about paring five quid off the premium, but how good and effective the company was when we needed their services.
I had a Suzuki stolen from outside work and CN paid up in three weeks, which was before the coppers even found it parked up locally having run out of juice.

[Butch (cb)]

These days pretty much any insurer is going to be cheaper than the one you're with. I'd been with CN for a few years, in part because it was a hassle to sort out the details on 12 motorcycles to make a change. But last year they came up with a p155 taking £500 for renewal. Switched to Peter James at £350 which seemed fairer to me. Though as people will say, the price of the premium may not be the best measure of an insurer.

[Angus]

One of the thing I found when changing around was that these people we are dealing with are brokers, the actual underwriter are quite often the same. I changed three times for a much lower premium and the underwriter was the same each time, the paper work was close to identical.