One Motorcycle is stolen for every 40 on the road twice the theft rate of cars and it only takes a professional thief 14 seconds to steal an unprotected machine. Bearing this fact in mind, it is surprising to know that many bikers fail to insure themselves or their vehicles correctly. Shopping around for the right policy takes time.
Your policy will be priced with various factors taken into consideration, age, postcode and past insurance history will help the insurers to decide the monthly premiums you will pay. Third party fire and theft being the cheaper option, fully comprehensive costing more. The excess on the policy should always be a consideration as this is one way where you could significantly lower the premiums.
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You could look to pay for additional benefits such as;
- Recovery of policy excesses
- Loss of earnings compensation if incapacitated through an accident
- Personal injury compensation
- Legal fees check with insurer
- A 24 hour legal advice line
- Defending a motoring prosecution if you need to appeal against a legal decision against you resulting from an accident.
- Accidental death
- Loss of sight limb speech hearing total disability
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To keep you insurance premiums at their lowest you should aim to protect you motorcycle by; |
- Fitting your bike with a Thatcham 2-3 way immobilizer or Sold Secure approved system is a good way to start, a thief will move on to another vehicle without one if this has been fitted.
- Marking the machine's parts with an ultra violet pen to aid recover
- Keep it locked in a garage when not in use
- By keeping your annual mileage down to under 5.000 a year, riding a less powerful model and not submitting small claims will also help to increase your no claims bonuses and build up a good picture with your insurer.
- To ride a motorcycle you must be aged 17 or older.
- The license has to fall into the following categories;
- Full motorcycle license
- A provisional license with motorcycle entitlement
- Full car license
- Full moped license
A provisional license means that you will not be able to;
- Carry any passengers / Ride without L plates / Ride on motorways
Your driving license must have a Category A or A1 entitlement. Cat A means that you would be free to ride all kinds of bike. Cat A1 license restricts riders to machines no larger than a learner motorcycle not many people go for an A1 license as the tests required are the same as for a Category A. Learner riders are restricted to bikes with an engine up to 125cc and 11 kW (14.6 bhp). Learner riders over 21 years old can ride larger bikes when supervised by a Direct Access instructor.
Direct Access and Accelerated Access schemes allow riders aged 21 or over the option to train and take their test on a bike larger than 125cc, after which they can ride bikes of any size. For the first two years after passing your test and gaining a full Cat A license you can only ride bikes up to 25kw. To obtain a license fill out a D1 form and a D750 photo card application and return them to the DVLC in Swansea ensuring you tick the With Motorcycles' box. All forms are available from the Post Office or the DVLA direct. |
