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The factors that determine the level of your bike insurance

admin — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:07:14 +0000

All motorbike users are legally obligated to insure their vehicles, but some have to pay considerably more than others in premiums. There can be a number of reasons for this, some more avoidable than others. However, whatever your particular needs and circumstances, it makes sense to try to get the best value motorbike insurance policy you possibly can and these are some of the issues you should look into order to be properly informed.

The type of bike you have

If you are shopping around to find the best deal, it is useful to know more about the factors companies use to determine the level of the premiums. The first one is the model of bike you drive. If your bike is an expensive model, this will raise the premium, as it will cost more to repair for the company. Equally if it has a powerful engine, it will be deemed a higher accident risk.

Photo by alex_lee2001

Frequency of use

The second determining issue is how frequently the bike is used. If you are able to limit the number of miles you clock per year, this should help to reduce the insurance premiums. However, it is possible that you may even be charged a higher rate by some companies, based on whether you use the bike for business or personal reasons – making it advisable to shop around.

Bike security

If you want a lower premium, you need to also lower the chances of the company having to pay out: thus your bike needs to be locked away in a secure location such as a garage, when you are not using it, to minimise the chances of it being stolen. Furthermore, if you apply other security measures such as bike locks and ground anchors, this will help lower your premium. Make sure that any security device you buy is manufactured by an accredited company that your insurers will have heard of.

Location

Unfortunately, just as with car insurance, where you are living can have a significant effect on your insurance premium. Those living in densely populated urban areas with higher crime rates and accident levels will inevitably pay more than those in quiet, rural areas.

Previous driving offences

When you make an application for bike insurance the company will do a complete check of your previous driving record, with any previous accidents or driving convictions obviously leading to higher premium rates. You should not attempt to deceive the insurance company over these details as this is illegal and could lead to criminal proceedings.

Swapping my Bike for a Car

Editor — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 06:30:08 +0000

Not too long ago if you saw me travelling anywhere, it would be on my bike, but that is certainly not the case anymore. A few weeks ago, I got into a quite serious conversation with one of my friends about whether or not cars were better than bikes. The unusual part of this conversation, though, was that my friend, a car driver, was arguing the toss of the bike, whilst I was standing up for the worthy car! We came to the conclusion that it was ridiculous that we were in the wrong vehicles, and we actually agreed to swap!

Photo by Myles Noton

I was absolutely thrilled with this prospect. I had spent too much money on that bike for what it was worth. The only good value I got through it was my insurance policy through http://www.carolenash.com/, everything else about it cost me a fortune! I was now the proud owner of a car! Yes, a vehicle that you could sit down in, and actually lean back without falling out of it! A vehicle that actually had some protection against the rain! A modus operandus that offered more in house entertainment than my own voice (which isn’t very pleasant, by the way). I was so pleased. I had grown so tired of the freexing cold mornings on that thing. Tired of feeling like I was public enemy number one everytime I drove on the road, watching out for lorries and trucks, thinking it was going to be my last day on this earth. Finally I was in something that could offer me comfort and protection, surely that’s all any of us want from anything, isn’t it?

Informations About Cars And Motorbikes That The Common Man Should Know

Editor — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:14:21 +0000

Motorcycle riders are often endowed with an unfair reputation of being irresponsible drivers who are more prone to accidents. Although, statistics somewhat justifies this claim, some other studies tend to prove the contrary. It has been seen that, per 100 million miles covered by a car, 423.13 cars face accidents. This number is almost double when it comes to a motorbike. Here, 776.57 bikes meet with an accident when they have travelled 100 million miles.

Photo by Mike Birchall

So, this proves that the chances of being involved in an accident for a car is nearly half in comparison to a motorcycle. Again, the rate of fatality in a car accident is 15.72 out of 100,000 registered passenger cars while this figure stands as high as 64.88 out of 100,000 registered motorbikes. So, it also proves that the rate of casualty is 4 times in a motorbike accident than in a car accident. However, coming to the results shown by a study, it has been found that, in case of a car and bike crash, it is mostly the car driver’s mistake. The driver of a car, often tends to overlook a motorcyclist thereby leading to such accidents. And also, the chances to be injured in a car accident are far more in comparison to those chances in a bike accident.

And still, the insurance companies seem to favor the car owners more than the bikers. A motorcycle insurance company does not provide coverage for personal and passenger injuries in one package and these need to be bought separately. This has been stated even by the experts of Carole Nash, the biggest motorcycle insurance company in the UK and Ireland. Whereas, a car insurance company provides these coverage in the same package that it provides for the car.

When deciding, between a car and a bike, the technicalities do noy intrigue a common man, but the abive mentioned details must be borne in mind.