Originally Posted by banquo  Insurance questions are like oil threads.
You get a lot of answers, but most of them may be irrelevant to your particular situation, because they depend on your age, your bike, your location, and most importantly, what happens if you actually have to make a claim from them.
The number one thing to remember about insurance is that any Policy is only as good as their claim handling, and hopefully you don't have to find out how good it is. If you do, well, that's when you find out how good or bad it really is....
We had a presentation from HD insurance a couple of months back; not exactly impartial, but they did point out a number of features that were applied to their cover, but not to some others. They do agreed value on bike plus all accessories, because even a lightly modified Harley can have several thousand pounds worth of these. That's one example.
My experience with them was that I got some Asian guy on the phone whom I could not understand, and who could not understand me. He couldn't get to grips with the fact that I wanted to insure two bikes, and one of them wasn't a Harley. I gave up pretty quickly, and went with Carole Nash.
My renewal this year, for the FXST and one classic bike was quoted at £230, but reduced to £200 yesterday, when I phoned to renew. Agreed value on the classic, but not on the FXST (they don't do agreed value on modern bikes). I have it in writing that they would take the value of accessories into account when a claim was submitted, FWIW. Excess £50 on the classic, and £150 on the Harley.
CN do recovery and roadside assistance in the UK and Europe, and they provide legal assistance. They're also a broker, so they are (supposedly) there to work on your behalf in the event of a claim. I have heard good and bad reports on how well they do that, as I have about pretty much any insurer...
The Stage 1 was not a problem, although I had to reinforce in writing that I had Stage 1, because although they had it on record, it wasn't mentioned in the Policy Documents. Now I have something in writing that they accept the Stage 1. The Policy is actually with Groupama for the past 2 years, Previously with Equity Red Star, so it changes according to who they think gives the best deal.
Anybody's guess which is the best option for you, but good luck whatever you choose... |