Bike insurance is designed to cover the costs of riding related damages or injuries. Nonetheless, whether or not you and your motorbike will be protected depends on the level of cover you take out. motorcycle insurance in uk is required by law but there can be considerable differences between the levels of coverage offered by individual policies and their premiums.
Basically, there are three options for motorcycle insurance in UK: (1) third party only coverage, which covers against liability for damages done to other persons and/or properties if the insured is at fault in the accident; (2) third party, fire, and theft insurance, which is the coverage against fire damage, theft, and attempted theft on top of the third party only coverage; (3) comprehensive coverage, which includes third party only coverage plus additional insurance against vandalism, accidental damage, medical expenses, and more. The comprehensive option is more versatile where policyholders can add additional coverage depending on their needs and budget.
It is important to carefully choose a company that can offer you the right level of motorcycle insurance in UK. You should also meticulously read the terms and conditions and particularly look out for several factors. First, you should check out the policy excess. Insurance providers set a compulsory excess, which is an amount you have to shell out in the event of a claim. For example, if your claim is valued at £600 and you have a compulsory excess of £300, then both you and the company would pay £300 each. Furthermore, most companies offer a voluntary excess, which is a supplementary amount that you agree to pay from the outset in case a claim is necessary. So if you had a voluntary excess of £200 on top of a compulsory excess of £300, then the insurer would only pay £100 towards a £600 claim. If you set a voluntary excess at a high level, your premiums will be lower but you should only set it at a level that you can comfortably afford.
Most companies of motorcycle insurance in UK provide a no-claims bonus (NCB), which is a percentage off your premiums for each year you don’t make a claim up to a predetermined limit; most companies provide a five-year limit. However, you should remember that building up a no-claims bonus will not guarantee that premiums will stop from rising every year so you should still look around annually. There are ways to reduce your premiums like installing approved security devices, parking in a garage at night, paying premiums annually to avoid monthly interest charges, and adding only experienced riders with clean records on to your policy, among others.
