Insurance and Modifications

[D-Rider]

Last year I mentioned that I declared all of my Falco modifications to my insurers and it made no difference at all to my premium. I was very happy.

I'd had 3 years claim free riding since my return after a gap of several years, a license that has never seen a point on it and came in with a premium of about £200 fully comp.

I was looking forward to 4 years no claims this year and, based on the premiums that some of you have uncovered this year, a somewhat reduced premium.

That was until I was knocked off the bike at the end of March.
The renewal came through at £419.
When reporting the accident I asked them if my NCD would be affected and was told it wouldn't. However, when they were asked the reason for the increase, I was told it was that until the accident claim is resolved I have zero NCD.
So after moaning about that (to no avail of course) I asked what the premium would be if the NCD is restored ..... £250 .... so even with another year NCD (if settled in my favour) the premium will have gone up.
Oh, and I think it has to be settled 100% in my favour for me not to loose all my NCD. In this day and age and with the police having failed to take any witness details I guess 100% is unlikely.


Anyway ... getting to the point .... I thought that I'd better get on and shop around.

Did "thebikeinsurer" website which turned up some good quotes (all with me declaring I have no NCD).
One of the companies in the site's list of results rang me up and I went through my mods with them - they went to check with the underwriters and never phoned back. I didn't care much as they weren't the cheapest.

I phoned the cheapest, MCD (about £220) and went through my mods. The chap on the other end was really helpful, thought there wouldn't be a problem, and then went away to check with the underwriters. Today he came back with the bad news that because of my modifications, they won't insure it.

So why is it harder this year?

• Are insurers getting tougher on modifications?
  Or is it now that I've been hit by a car (and consequently appear as a higher risk while I have no NCD) they don't want to trust me with a modified bike?

Anyway, my insurance runs out at midnight tomorrow so I've renewed with my current insurers who know about the mods.
Oh yes, I did mention that £220 quote to them (before I'd got the bad news from the underwriters) and somehow that magically turned the £419 quote into £322.
Now I'm hoping that the insurance claim can be settled in my favour and I get some NCD restored and a refund!


Moral of the story - don't let some blind cage-driver knock you off a bike.

• 1) It hurts
  2) You'll spend half of your remaining life filling forms, writing letters and visiting medical experts who need to prepare reports
  3) It might not be your fault but it can screw up your NCD and general insurability - especially if the claim is unresolved at renewal time.

[back_marker]

I am going through a non-fault claim myself at the moment after some silly cow in an Escort decided that she was more entitled to a particular bit of road than me, despite me being there and stationary.

Having had the same problem with car insurance after a non-fault claim which doubled the renewal premium, despite keeping full NCB, I resolved to keep my insurance company out of it altogether. I have been in touch with an accident management company who will arrange for my bike to be repaired and I have a hire bike being delivered tomorrow (not sure what yet, getting cautiously excited). In order to qualify they must be happy that it is not your fault - I said that she drove into the back of me and they agreed straight away - and then after a quick check that the offending party is properly insured they set the ball rolling.

I did question them on what would happen should it be my word against hers and a 50/50 payout being agreed and they pointed out that I had the option to take out a so-called angel policy for £10 which would cover any liability for the cost of bike hire or repairs.

I will keep you all posted on the outcome...

Oh, on the subject of mods, when I originally took out my current policy when I bought the Falco, I was very clear on all of the mods, even down to specifying that the air filter and tyres were not the same pattern as those fitted to the bike as standard. The answer I was given was that the insurance company would cover me but would not cover the cost of replacement of the shiny bits should my bike be stolen (only insured TPFT).

[D-Rider]

Parallel issues ... it was an Escort that hit me!

I've already been offered 70/30 in my favour by the third party insurers.
Not inclined to go with that at the moment - the problem was that the bloke continually failed to observe me despite me approaching over 150m with an uninterrupted view. Then when he pulled across me i avoided hitting him but ran out of room to keep avoiding him running in to me and he sideswiped me - all without noticing that I was on the piece of road he was moving across in to.

No idea how this will end up - but I wish I'd avoided involving the insurance companies.
I've since realised that:

• 1) The cost of repairs to kit and the bike may be less than the total NCD I could loose over several years.
  2) It's in my insurer's interests to agree to settle at less than 100% given that it gives them the excuse to charge me more for insurance - safe in the knowledge that I won't have an NCD to take elsewhere.

[D-Rider]

Well, it looks like I've got a bit further in understanding what insurers don't like about my bike.

Pete contacted me and suggested I talk to Bike Team - to whom he's declared all his mods and had positive feedback about the acceptability of modifications.

So, I phoned them and explained my situation. They went away to check things out - rang me back and told me that none of their insurance companies will touch me.

It appears that what they don't like is the combination of a Power Commander and a 2:1 exhaust ...... which is great given that the fuelling is terrible with the 2:1 if you don't have a PCIII to sort it out for you.

Looks as though 2:1 conversions on a Falco are a big "No-No" from an insurance point of view! - despite the fact that there are less parts to get damaged!

Think before next year's renewal I'm going to have to go back to a 2:2 setup and spoil the look of the bike.



Not happy.

[Fausto]

With regard to not getting the insurers involved..... is this not a little dodgy? I'm sure that you are required to state any accidents etc at renewal even if you made no claim. It would be worrying that this non disclosure could be used against you in the event of a subsequent claim

With regard to 2 into 1 pipes and to resurrect a very old debate - I read in MCN recently one of those readers questions/experts answers bits where a chap was advised against fitting a 2 into 1 on his V twin as "...the power pulses would blow his silencer apart all too soon..." (words to that effect).
Obviously conveniently ignoring the RSV stock setup ( although Aprilia discontinued it) and it was in MCN....

anyway, just thought I'd throw that in

[D-Rider]

With regard to not getting the insurers involved..... is this not a little dodgy? I'm sure that you are required to state any accidents etc at renewal even if you made no claim. It would be worrying that this non disclosure could be used against you in the event of a subsequent claim

With regard to 2 into 1 pipes and to resurrect a very old debate - I read in MCN recently one of those readers questions/experts answers bits where a chap was advised against fitting a 2 into 1 on his V twin as "...the power pulses would blow his silencer apart all too soon..." (words to that effect).
Obviously conveniently ignoring the RSV stock setup ( although Aprilia discontinued it) and it was in MCN....

anyway, just thought I'd throw that in

No, I wasn't suggesting not declaring the accident - I believe it's best in the long run to be "up front" - but if I didn't claim, then they couldn't affect my No Claims Discount.
Many years ago I had a bike stolen, I claimed, it was recovered ..... having been used as a robbery get-away vehicle (that was a laugh - the most unreliable bike I ever had) .... back to the story ... I cancelled the claim, my NCD remained.

As for the 2:1 on a V-twin .... think you've answered that yourself .... same engine as a Mille, headers taken from a Mille, end can designed for a Mille ..... shouldn't be a problem ..... except, obviously, for insurance purposes ....

[Aladinsaneuk]

wierd!

they were happy with my renegade cans.... but would object to 2 into 1!

[D-Rider]

wierd!

they were happy with my renegade cans.... but would object to 2 into 1!

yup - guess insurers know more about being cautious than they understand about bikes. It's a complete nonsense..... think I'll have to hunt a pair of shotguns ... (though I prefer my single Fuel)

The girl I spoke to (I couldn't get to speak to your contact) seemed to think the problem was not the 2:1 or the PCIII but having both of these together.

[Aladinsaneuk]

hmm - i would speak to the man i spoke too

i declared everything - and that includes pc3 etc....

[Syltiz]

Having gone though a similar experience myself recently, Im trying to think why the 2-into-1 mod is seen as substantially raising the risk for insurers to the point they wont even touch it. I think part of the problem is the person on the other end of the phone is not always knowledgable enough to discuss the mods with and to properly discuss them with the insurance brokers. When I renewed mine, the lady could not get her head around braided brake lines.