Motorbike Information

These figures are courtesy of yesinsurance.co.uk, who said that over the past 25 years the fatality rates of all other types of transport have dropped considerably, the risk of riding a motorcycle has maintained its dangerous fatality rate.

In 2006 6,484 motorcycle users were killed or seriously injured according to the Department for Transport, this is in comparison to 14,254 car users. Motorcyclists are 51 times more likely to be killed than car drivers, this figure is considered per mile travelled, they are also twice as likely as pedal cyclists, the next most vulnerable group.

Paul Purdy of yesinsurance.co.uk said: “The rising cost of fuel and the exemption of motorcycles from the London congestion charge have been two of the factors encouraging car drivers to switch to motorcycles.

“This has implications for other cities such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham, where the introduction of a congestion charging system could lead to a rise in road casualties. Deaths and serious injuries of motorcyclists in their forties have almost doubled over the past ten years, whilst figures for those in their twenties and early thirties have declined.”

He added: “Whilst we support the move to encourage car drivers to use other forms of transport in city areas, as an insurer we are acutely aware that the risk factor for motorcycles is over 50 times higher than it is for cars, as far as deaths and serious injuries are concerned.”

There is a prevalent trend for relatively inexperienced middle aged men to switch from cars to powerful motorbikes, this is something that is contributing to the rising number of accidents. The sheer number of accidents are pushing up bike insurance prices for all motorcyclists.

Motorcycle traffic has increased by 37% over the 10 years leading to 2006, this is according to Department of Transport figures. Paul Purdy recommended: “Wherever possible, we encourage drivers to turn to public transport rather than motorcycles when avoiding the congestion charge.”

Motorbikes are often seen as a dangerous form of transport, and it seems from these figures that the assumptions are correct.

Although it could be the sheer vulnerability of the motorcyclist if an accident should occur, the injury and fatality levels are higher, but unlike a car passenger there is no metal shell protecting you on a motorbike. With a car you have a metal frame work that will take the brunt of the impact in an accident, you are also surrounded by safety features such as seatbelts and airbags which minimise injuries. On a motorcycle the only protection you have is a helmet and leathers.

Motorcycles are also harder than cars to see on the road, a car can clearly see another car approaching but it can often be hard to see motorcycles approaching, especially if they are driving to one side of a car.

It is said that two thirds of motorcycle accidents are attributed to speeding, braking or manoeuvres on the UK’s roads. The two main reasons behind motorcycle accidents are collisions with fixed objects and negotiating around corners and sharp bends. Corners and sharp bends can be fatal to motorcycle users if not taken safely, bad weather conditions can also contribute to accidents, as can deteriorating road surfaces.

Motorbike or motorcycle insurance is something you legally have to have if you are riding a motorbike on a public road. Alternatively you obviously need moped insurance or scooter insurance if riding a scooter or moped!

The process of getting motorbike insurance is seldom fun and can be a bit of a chore, but the way to make it more rewarding is by thinking that if you put in a bit of effort and do it properly, the right motorcycle insurance policy will save you a stack of cash.

Getting a Quote

You will need to start by deciding which providers of motorbike insurance you will get a quote from, how you will find them and how many bike insurance quotes you are going to get. Generally around half a dozen motorcycle insurance quotes should be enough, and the other decision you need to make is do you use the internet or the telephone (or both).

The most popular way of obtaining the quotes is to use the web to get quotes initially and then follow up with a phone call to the two or three bike insurance quotes you favour. The web is also a good way of choosing who to contact in the first place; simply google / motorbike insurance / bike insurance / motorcycle insurance / moped insurance / scooter insurance, or another search engine of your choice, and you will have no end of bike insurance providers to click through to.

Click through to about six in turn (the exact figure you choose is up to you). The boring bit is you will have to fill different motorcycle insurance quote forms in each time, asking the same information.

Remember to be prepared and have any information you need to hand as in order to provide you with an accurate motorbike insurance quote various items are required – details of any convictions you have, any accidents or claims, how much no claims bonus etc etc. All of these things affect motorbike insurance premiums but can be found on your driving licence or existing policy documents.

What’s included in the motorcycle insurance quote – other benefits.

Once you have got the number of quotes, make a short list of, say, three, providers to call but you need to decide how you are going to choose them. Besides choosing on price you need to take into account that different bike insurance quotes may or may not include extras. Examples are ‘riding other bikes’, enabling you to ride your mate’s bike, breakdown cover, legal assistance cover and whether you have equivalent cover to ride abroad. Some motorbike insurance providers include these as standard, others offer them as optional extras.

Type of cover and excess

You will need to make a choice as to what type of cover you want. Comprehensive is not always as expensive as you might expect but can come with a high excess. Third Party Fire and Theft is worth considering if your bike is a few years old and Third Party Only if it is worth less than 1000 pounds as the excess starts to become a significant proportion of the bike’s value.

The excess is the amount deducted from the payment of any claim that you make – it is the amount that you have to pay.

Calling the Provider

So you have your shortlist. You now need to confirm all the details of your motorbike insurance quote over the phone with them, both the cost and what benefits are included in the price; occasionally the price given over the internet mysteriously increases when you ring through.

Choosing your Motorcycle Insurance Provider

Having confirmed all the details and spoken to all on your shortlist you now need to make a final choice.

The most sensible criteria to use are:

(i) Price (obviously!)

(ii) What benefits are included

(iii) How they came across when you spoke to them? How experienced/professional did they come across and what sort of attitude did they have? Did they inspire confidence?

Clearly how you weigh up these three criteria is up to you, as is the final decision!

Conclusion

Finding a motorbike insurance provider is an important though unfortunately an unexciting task. If you apply a method to it as described above then you can be confident that you have done it properly and made an informed and correct choice.

The motorbike insurance industry now has the use of a Motor Insurance Database; this holds information of all motor insurance policies including cars, motorbikes, vans, and Lorries. In addition, records of your vehicles MOT and Road Tax are also kept on databases. These are all accessible by the police, to determine whether a vehicle is legally fit to be on the road.

These databases were created to catch uninsured vehicles on the road, in addition to vehicles that are either untaxed or without a MOT certificate. Uninsured drivers alone cost the government on average around 380 million pounds according to the DirectGov website.

This money is added to our motorbike insurance policies, and costs the honest motorist on average 30 pounds per policy according to the DirectGov website. This is called IPT (Insurance Premium Tax) costing you five percent of your insurance premium.

The database also holds information of whether you have an insurance policy on another vehicle, which entitles you to drive any other vehicle, in the event you are driving a friends vehicle.

The combination of the insurance and MOT databases, enable us to buy our road tax online, making the whole process much easier, and does not cost us any more money. This is provided that your insurance and MOT information has been stored on the database correctly.

Motorbike insurance companies check their information against the database on a regular basis, keeping it both up to date and correct. If a customer of bike insurance has for example provided an incorrect registration number, this will be picked up by the checks in a matter of days. The client is then contacted to rectify this error, some of the time it may be that the vehicle has been sold, and the insurance policy has not been cancelled.

Many vehicles that are sold do not have their insurance policies cancelled. When the new rider or driver then tries to insure the vehicle, this can cause complications, as a vehicle cannot be insured twice. You must always cancel an insurance policy on a vehicle you no longer own, as this can also cause complication for you if the vehicle is involved in an accident.

Motorbike insurance companies have the responsibility to keep the database as up to date as humanly possible, meaning that if any information is delayed over a set time, the insurance company can face fines for this. This is why the insurers require certain paperwork from customers to be returned within a certain time, and if this is not received, they can invoke cancellation procedures.

However, there can be delays of a few days before your information appears on the database. The information is transmitted overnight from the insurance companies to the database. So do not expect to tax your vehicle the same day as insuring it, whether you have insured it over the phone, or online.

The police have the ability to scan vehicle registration number plates, and check the database for insurance, tax, and MOT in a matter of seconds. If your vehicle is found uninsured, the police have the power to seize your vehicle, with the possibility of destroying it in the event no one with valid insurance claims it. This will enable them to crack down on vehicles that are not fit to be on the road.

Having the database in place is an advantage to us all; it speeds up both police checks, and helps to crack down on uninsured drivers making it a very efficient way of accessing the data. Therefore, whether you are uninsured, untaxed or your vehicle has no MOT, it is only a matter of time before you are caught.

When you are looking tobuy bike insurancewhether it is for the most expensive bike or a cheap bike you can be sure that finding a provider of Bike Insurance is easier than you think and getting the right level of insurance to meet your needs can be done without complication.

There are many levels of insurance that suit your needs when you come to buy bike insurance. Depending on not only the quality of your bike or if you have a cheap bikeor not but also on the types of activity that you will be doing and where you live. All of these things will affect your Bike Insurance.

As the roads become more dangerous for bike users and the risks of using roads congested with cars increase it all means that you need protection when on your bike, and with a good level of Bike Insurance you will be safe in the knowledge that whatever happens you are covered.

Some of the discounts that are available to you when you buy bike insurance are:

Prices can be lower for experienced users. If you are under 25 and just starting out on your first cheap bikethen you can expect to get a standard premium on your insurance but when you are over 25 you are less likely to be involved in a road accident and so you will qualify for a much lower cost.

Extra security on your Bike Insurance policy means that if you store your bike safely in a garage of indoors then you are taking extra security measures to protect your bike. This means that you could save around 10% on your policy. Using additional security devices such as an immobiliser, alarms and additional locks can keep your bike safe. As over 40% of claims made concern theft of vehicle.

Female bikers who are looking for a good deal on their Bike Insurance can rest assured as they will get a deal to suit their needs. As female bikers are less likely than men to be involved in a road accident you can have a policy that cuts up to 30% off your premium.

If your bike is older than 3 or 4 years then you can qualify for a great deal on your Bike Insurance.

If you keep your mileage under 3000 miles a year then you could also benefit from a lower insurance premium and when you come to buy bike insurance you will get a discount of up to 12%.

Whatever make or model of bike you own, whether a cheap bike or not you can always find a great deal on your Bike Insurance. More and more bikers are using the Internet to find the best deals for motorbike insurance and when they come to buy bike insurance they are surprised at the great deals that can be found on many sites.

See if you qualify for a better deal by being a safer road user or a more experienced driver and how it affects your insurance premium

According to research conducted by the UK’s biggest insurer the period between May 23th and 25th has been identified as the most dangerous time of the year for motorcyclists. Recent claims data reveals that there is a staggering 50 per cent increase in motorcycle accidents at or around this time of the year – which is the May ending Bank Holiday period – making this day the single biggest day for claims. As the weather gets warmer and enthusiasts get to riding on their motorbikes for their first ride of the year, the UK’s biggest insurance provider, Aviva, is warning both the nation’s estimated 1.2 million motorcyclists as well as other motorists, to be extra vigilant. Britain is now heading into the most statistically dangerous part of the year for motorbike accidents caused by motorists. More bikes on the roads Nigel Bartram the senior motor underwriting manager at Norwich Union, said: “As bike fans are keen to get back on the road after a long winter, our claims data shows that accidents are more likely to happen at this time of year. We are urging motorcyclists to be more careful, but equally want to make drivers more aware of the increase in motorbikes that will be filling the roads.” Mr Bartram also added that: “Checking for blind spots, being aware of bikes overtaking or undertaking and being extra careful when opening doors and pulling out, are just some of the simple steps that drivers can take.” Norwich Union also attributes the large increase in claims to the warm weather which encourages more ‘weekend riders’ onto the roads, but also to the glare of bright sunshine, leading to more accidents than there are on rainy days. On the brightest and hottest summer days Norwich Union says that it sees a 50 per cent increase in motor claims, compared to an average day. In addition an increasing number of people appear to be taking out bike insurance policies and heading out onto Britain’s roads on two wheels instead of four, new research has claimed. According to a new study, the number of Britons that are choosing to get in the saddle instead of behind the wheel has surged by almost a quarter this year. Two wheels instead of four More people are being attracted to taking out insurance policies for their motorbikes and heading out on two wheels because of the credit crunch, according to the Post Office, which undertook the research. Richard Pennant-Jones the head of general insurance at the Post Office said: “At a time when many people are stretched financially, switching from four wheels to two is one way to save money.” He continued: “Using mopeds or motorcycles over the spring and summer can help reduce day-to-day transport and running costs, including motorbike insurance which could be significantly cheaper for motorcycles and mopeds than cars.” The UK car industry has suffered a sharp decline in sales over the past year, as the recession has forced many motorists to downgrade their vehicles from large cars to smaller ones, while others have simply chosen to keep their existing vehicle. Taking out bike insurance and buying a motorbike instead of a new car looks set to offer motorists some relief from the high costs of running a vehicle during the recession. If you need the right bike insurance policy for your motorbike, find the right policy fir you at OnlyInsurance.