Re: Insurance Renewal Rip-off

You generally find that the cheaper policies, incl Bennettâs and Carol Nash, charge for changes to the policy, even if it reduces risk, itâs built into their pricing model. If you chop and change itâs worth looking at other companies.

I still canât work out why the insurance for my 2 dirt bikes is more than the road bikes when they are of a similar value, scored together and not used on the road!

We are fortunate that there are lots of insurers out there to chose from. As to hiking up prices for existing customers, that really annoys me too, some are worse than others!

Dan

If you have multiple vehicles out may be best to take out a Family Fleet Policy. This covers all your vehicles, (in my case cars, vans and bikes) up to a total value. The policy rises by the total value not the amount of vehicles. Adding a vehicle under my agreed limit is a one off £25. They can be found by searching the internet. I live in East London so my premium is never going to be cheap but i am paying about £700 in total more than it was costing to insure one van.

carol nash charged me an extra £75. because i asked for a cheaper quote which i had. they never mentioned it over the phone they just lumped it on the total payment. when i phoned up they say they can charge from £35 up to a max of £75 its up to them . what for who knows

Barry

Insurance is a strange necessity, as some of you may be aware, I'm currently unable to ride and a couple of months ago the insurance on my Sym Maxsym 400i 'super scooter' came up for renewal - Fully Comp is £83.00. As I knew I wouldn't be riding for at least six months, I phoned around for 'laid-up' insurance i.e. essentially Fire and Theft (no riding risk) - the cheapest I got quoted was £96.00! I was told by one broker that "only a couple of underwriters offer this type of cover so they can basically charge what they like" thus I simply renewed the existing cover (TPFT quotes were £91.00 upwards). Nobody will include the Sym in my multibike policy covering my Classics which does includes my 2007 Enfield.

As the great Winston Churchill once said (when asked about bike insurance): It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma."

He also said 'We shall fight them in the bleachers' (he was a baseball fan, I believe.)

Philip

My insurance renewal from Bennetts came through in June - like you, significant increase. I went through the comparison websites and found the same cover for £120 less with.....Bennetts! They price matched. When I added a second bike at the start of July, the only way to get a reasonable quote was for them to cancel my existing policy and take out a new one. I spoke to the guy at Bennetts who informed me that they prioritise NEW business. Loyalty stands for nothing anymore so check the comparison sites, get a cheaper quote - probably through Bennetts - and ask them to price match. If they will not you can cancel the renewal and take the new (lower) quote.

All the advice from the consumer sites is to shop around - same cover for hundreds less.

John

After a query this week by an insurance recover assesor, I knew this had to be forth coming, the classic bike insurers have spotted the problem and raised prices accordingly, Bennets it seems have not clocked on yet. The new salvage COP of practice means a lot of Historic bikes now have to be repaired irrespective of cost and damage, instead of paying the value of the bike they will be facing the cost of restoration which as we know is far greater. Agreed value is becoming redundant because of this.

The one paragraph in the COP leaves a lot of confusion, but no doubt this will be resolved and clarified. Historic interpretation is not governed by the V5 either, Commando's, nearly all historic, but it could be argued that the press bike, or one owned by Clint Eastwood etc are worth repairing the next bike off the production line is not.

It's worth quoting the relevant paragraph (my emphasis):

"It is recognised that some historic/ classic vehicles or vehicles of special interest (Sentimental Value) may be repaired irrespective of extent of damage, providing it is safe to do so. In these cases the vehicle will fall outside the Code of Practice, which will not apply. However careful consideration must be taken to justify this action and if required escalation sought to make sure the correct decision has been made."

Note the last sentence. I do not believe that this will apply to the majority of our bikes but may be used for example for a Lawrence SS100 or a Rem Fowler V-twin Norton - but in both cases only if provenance can be proved. Maybe also for bikes like the Unitary twins.

Despite what we may think, our ES2s, Dominators and Commandos would not be considered vehicles of special historic interest, even Anna's Manxman.

would the vehicles not considered to be of special historic interest end up on a ( Q ) plate even though they fall into historic class

Barry

I've had a similar problem with Bennets and sometime later with C Nashe. Generally after the first year theyincreased their premiums just because they can. When they were told that I could get cheaper coverthey could suddenly reduce their premiums. So every year I did the same and went through several companies.

Once I got my Dommi and joined the NOC I checked out classic bike insurance and took up the NOC discount withFootman James. Last year I bought a 1979 reg BMW R100RT a few weeks before my Dommi insurance was due. I contacted Footman James to add my new toy to my insurance and they 'suggested' that I wait until my renewal before I added theBMW. When the renewal quote arrived my insurance had gone up by around £50 to cover both bikes withthe same cover. Firms like C Nashe and Bennetsnormally insure new or newish, modernbikes, young or high risk riders and other such therefore when it comes to historic machines and sensible owners theyprobably apply the same criteria they use for modern machines etcand don't understand that the owner of a historic vehicle is probably a much lower risk being somewhat older and much wiser than their 'usual' customer.

Previously Barry Carson wrote:

would the vehicles not considered to be of special historic interest end up on a ( Q ) plate even though they fall into historic class

Barry

Iâm pretty sure Q plates canât be historic vehicle tax class, the whole point of the Q place is to signify indeterminate age or construction.

Dan

I have been with carol nash for a number of years and laugh at my renewal process, the last 5 years they quote I say NO then they ask me what I would like to pay and after checking with the gods we agree a price. good points, I tell them I have sold a bike and they do notrefundbut the cost of insurance does not go up for the new certificates etc , but no refund.when I add a new bike its about £38 but its normally on a frame number and that's covered for more than the month it used to be [ dropped to garage storage whilst dvla sorts itself out. ] I must admit my latest restoration is awaiting therenewal date as I am in no rush to register the bike but the system seems to work. The dvla which is by far my biggest head ache,is a system to work around and it took me from November 2017 to june 2018 to get a scott registered but the insurance was in place despite the time delay

not really a recommendation but they are flexible and though I have never had to use the breakdown service my wife happily waves me off for a ride with off you go with carol.

OK everybody ... dump Carole Nash and all the other rip-off merchants! I use RH Specialist Insurance 0333 043 3911. No admin charges, very reasonable prices, no extended telephone menu system to trawl through and they answer the phone quickly in my experience. I pay around £85 per year for my Commando and additional bikes are quite cheap to add on.

Phil B

hi Phil

I have never used either Nash or its equivalent. Every time I have tried I have met with a problem of their making not mine. Thats why I have my current policy through a broker Clegg Gifford and Co. I also have a fleet policy with the RAC to cover that eventuality. The insurance industry is fueled with large profits at the expense of the customer.

Previously philip_hannam wrote:

Hi Graham.............quite a few years ago I had a multi-vehicle policy with Carol Nash. One car and three bikes. It cost £250 fully comp plus recovery which at the time was very good value as the car insurance alone was generally around £200. Then one year the premium went up 50%. I rang and asked for an explanation and was infomed that this kind of policy was not proving to be good value for CN and hence from now on it would be 'pay up or change'.

What is annoying is the lack of consideration for loyal customers. There seems to be a deliberate move towards forcing customers to have auto-renewals. Thereby hoping that any large premium hikes will be missed.

I have been shopping around and can get my 2 classic bikes insured FC for £70 each and my newer Honda for around £110. I have to pay for my own recovery but that still brings the total to half of the renewal quote.

I got my insurance renewal from Footman James today. My renewal will cost me £130 for both my Dommie and my BMW, an increase of a whole £18. That's forfully comprehensive andEU riding which is standard, shows, etc and agreed value.I am limited to 3000 miles/year split over both bikes but as I ride purely for pleasure that's no problem. If I want RAC Roadside and Recovery it'll cost another £35.

There's no mention of needing an MOT or other certificate or declaration of roadworthiness for either bike.

Fed up with Carol trash despite more than 2 decades of loyally paying increased premiums every month so this year changed to Lynbrook, easy despite having 13 bikes on the policy (3 years ago I asked FJ, they said do you have insurance now, yes I replied, best stick with it they said ) Insurance is a necessary evil but I now realise loyalty gets you nowhere, like lawyers and bankers insurance agents are the scum of the earth (imho)

Previously John Sunderland wrote:

I got my insurance renewal from Footman James today. My renewal will cost me £130 for both my Dommie and my BMW, an increase of a whole £18. That's forfully comprehensive andEU riding which is standard, shows, etc and agreed value.I am limited to 3000 miles/year split over both bikes but as I ride purely for pleasure that's no problem. If I want RAC Roadside and Recovery it'll cost another £35.

There's no mention of needing an MOT or other certificate or declaration of roadworthiness for either bike.

Still a lot IMO. My Peter James policy is £92 for a V50 Guzzi and 1952 ES2 - combined agreed value £8500. Includes everything you mention plus UK/EU breakdown cover and riding other bikes - and no mileage restriction.

I wouldn't be surprised if they use the same underwriter - Equity Red Star.......

Got my renewal notice in from Peter James yesterday, last years £114 is now £115 so no issue there. This huge increase on renewal from other insurers is a con and Carol Nash tried it once with me and lost the business, it is inertia selling relying on you not looking around. I refuse to deal with any company that adds more than 5% in one year, no calls to ask why and then still give them the business if they drop the price. It's a 100% new supplier even if it costs more, the only way to stop them from trying it on.

Got my renewal notice in from Peter James yesterday, last years £114 is now £115.

Sorry, have I read that right ..... are you really complaining about a £1 increase?! ðð

No, not at all, well with the 5% I take as the threshold. Was moaning about Carol Nash, the AA and all the other shysters that have tried it on and lost my business. It does read wrong so will edit.

ð

After an increase from Carole Nash to £186 for my 3 classic bikes I decided to shop around. While I didn't feel the premium was particularly excessive I now have comprehensive cover on 1 royal enfield 1957 bullet, a 1971 T120R and my 1959 dommi for £163 including breakdown recovery on all three. The cheapest quote was £150 without breakdown - when added this came in at £35 per bike. When informed only ride 1 bike at a time resolved at £163. This is with Bikesure (a division of Adrian Flux). Cheers, H

Previously hugh_coombs wrote:

After an increase from Carole Nash to £186 for my 3 classic bikes I decided to shop around. While I didn't feel the premium was particularly excessive I now have comprehensive cover on 1 royal enfield 1957 bullet, a 1971 T120R and my 1959 dommi for £163 including breakdown recovery on all three. The cheapest quote was £150 without breakdown - when added this came in at £35 per bike. When informed only ride 1 bike at a time resolved at £163. This is with Bikesure (a division of Adrian Flux). Cheers, H

Hello folks,

I too was with Carol Nash for several years then my renewal arrived which had an increase of something in the region of £80. At that time my friend also insured with Carol Nash ; he had five bikes with the same value as my five bikes but his insurance was about £ 60 cheaper than mine even though he lived only 5 miles away. Both of us in a very rural location.

I spoke to Carol Nash and they refused to discuss my friends price and said that what they had given me was the best price, although they would reduce any other quote I got elsewhere by 10%. ( So how can that be their best price????)

I decided then not to renew with them and eventually went with Peter James who gave me the same cover and European recovery for £30 less than my previous Carol Nash insurance.

I had no intention of going with Carol Nash but I rang them back and they said they would reduce the Peter James quote by 10%. I asked them why they had not given me such a lower price in the first place and they could not give me any sensible answer. Any way at least they know why I will never insure with them again.

Cheers Mick