Motorbike Insurance

The Internet is the cheapest and easiest way to buy motorcycle insurance. It has allowed insurers to cut their call-centre costs and pass on the savings to their customers. Most sites offer at least 10% discount when you buy your policy on line. Try the following web sites and see how much you could save when you buy your motorbike insurance on the Web.

Company	Description
Quotezone	Quotezone's UK Bike Insurance Quote System saves you time and money. You just have to fill in your details once, and you will get up to 15 quotes back from reputable insurers such as Direct Choice, Quoteline Direct, Performance Direct and Bikequote Direct.  For most companies, you will see the quotes appear online in around 60 seconds.
Swinton	Swinton provide comprehensive cover for all makes and models of motorcycle, from classic motorbikes to performance motorcycles and scooters.
Norwich Union Direct	comprehensive and third party fire & theft motorcycle insurance.
Bennetts	The UK's number one for motorcycle insurance and insures over 170,000 bikers in the UK and Northern Ireland. Bennetts will get the lowest quote from their range of top insurers. Low cost, hassle free bike insurance.

Things to consider when buying motorbike insurance

Not all insurance is equal and the cheapest quote is not always the best. Always consider the following when comparing motorbike insurance quotes:

Comprehensive Cover

You will generally be offered a choice between "comprehensive" or "third party fire and theft" cover. The latter will cover damage and injuries caused by you to other parties but will not cover damage to your own motorcycle. Riders considered to be a high risk may not be offered comprehensive cover.

Policy Excess

Excess is the part of any claim that you will have to pay yourself and by opting for a higher excess you will generally get the cheapest motorcycle insurance. You will sometimes be asked to choose the level of "voluntary excess". This may be additional to the standard excess or it may be instead of the standard excess. Check the terms carefully. If you rarely make claims, taking a higher level of excess can make your insurance significantly cheaper.

If an accident is not your fault, you will generally be able to recover the excess from the third party.

Legal Protection Cover

Motor insurers will offer you a "legal protection" option (sometimes called uninsured loss recovery). This can be useful if you have an accident that is not your fault. If this happens, it is your responsibility to claim against the third party and unless you have legal protection cover, this process can be quite time-consuming. Legal protection will provide you with a claim recovery service that will do most of the work for you and will often speed-up the process considerably.

In some cases, it will also cover the cost of your defence if you are procecuted for a motoring offence.

Accident recovery

Most comprehensive policies include the recovery of your motorcycle to a repairer if it unsafe to ride following an accident.

Riding Abroad

If you need to ride abroad, you will often need to contact your insurer to have this cover added to your policy. There will often be a charge although some insurers provide cover within Europe as standard. While riding abroad, the terms of cover may be different and breakdown cover will often not be provided.

Business Use

Most insurance policies will cover you for commuting to and from your normal place of work. If you need to use your motorbike for business trips however, you will need to ensure that you have business cover. This is generally a chargeable extra.

Can I ride other people's bikes under my own insurance?

Many fully comprehensive car policies allow the policyholder to use vehicles that do not belong to them and are not hired to them under a hire purchase agreement, subject to the owner's permission. This is rarely the case for motorcycle policies however. Note that even where provided, the cover is Third Party only cover and does not cover damage to the motorbike being ridden. It only covers liability for damage and injury to third parties. This cover operates only whilst the Policyholder is riding (other named riders are generally not covered) and is designed to be used in emergency situations only.

Payment Options

Almost all motorbike insurance sites now allow you to pay by debit or credit card. Many also allow you to pay by monthly direct debit installment although you will generally have to pay slightly more if you choose this method.