Insuring a motorcycle twice.

Nemo1966

Insuring a motorcycle twice - sounds crazy I know but read on.

I bought a classic 125cc motorcycle, then passed my CBT. Now in the 4 weeks waiting for my theory test I want to practice on the 125cc in preparation for the practical test. So I called a few insurance companies hoping to get insure short term (28 days) and then obviously get a new policy when I have my full licence and also add my wife onto the policy. A further complication is that my wife is taking her CBT in 4 - 5 weeks and I can't add her until then. My quote for a full year was £100 fully comp and £140 for 28 days

So I thought of insuring 3rd party for a year £60 and just cancelling it when I wanted to get the other policy. However the insurance company wants a cancellation fee of £50!

So, it occurred to me, why didn't I just insure 3rd party and leave it running - then just take out another fully comp policy when needed. I did a little searching on the interweb and read that a lot of insurance companies don't like this and claim it is illegal to take 2 policies out on the same vehicle. But then I read that it isn't actually illegal to take 2 out on a single vehicle BUT it is illegal to claim on both policies if an accident or other happens.

Could someone clarify for me?

thanks

rs65

There is no law that says you cannot have two policies on one vehicle. If you tried to claim for one incident on two policies then that could be fraud.


ps I don't understand why you need to cancel policies.

Nemo1966

rs65 wrote: »

There is no law that says you cannot have two policies on one vehicle. If you tried to claim for one incident on two policies then that could be fraud.

ps I don't understand why you need to cancel policies.

Thanks for the reply.

If I take out a full policy now (12 months fully comp) I cannot have my wife on the policy as she hasn't yet got her CBT. She isn't taking her CBT until some 4 weeks from now. I need a policy in effect to use the bike for 3 weeks to practice to take my test. I could ADD her to a fully comp policy in 2 months or so when she passes her test but they want over double the original policy amount to do this.

It is far cheaper too have her on the policy from the start. Therefore it makes it over £100 cheaper to take out a third party policy for a year to cover me for 4 - 8 weeks until my wife takes the test and then take out a fully comp policy with us both on it from the start - also by then we both have full bike licences... again cheaper. Now if I cancelled the original third party policy after taking out the fully comp policy they want to charge £50. If I leave it running I don't need to pay anything more. However many insurance companies don't like this and ring you claiming it is illegal and tell you that you need to cancel the first policy! Which like you say and I think is rubbish - however claiming on 2 policies would be illegal.

This would all be solved if someone offered cheap 28 day motorbike insurance - but no one seems to these days.

Unless you know of another way around the problem??? Any help appreciated.

thanks again

Additionally: Strange that you can have 2 motor insurance policies but only claim on one - yet you can have as many life assurance policies as you like an claim on them all.

FlameCloud

rs65 wrote: »

There is no law that says you cannot have two policies on one vehicle. If you tried to claim for one incident on two policies then that could be fraud.


ps I don't understand why you need to cancel policies.

If the insurers are on the ball you maybe forced to claim on both policies.

Nemo1966

FlameCloud wrote: »

If the insurers are on the ball you maybe forced to claim on both policies.

Well if it is illegal to claim on both policies and the insurers are forcing it then I would suggest they are breaking the law and not the claimant.

Quentin

Nemo1966 wrote: »

Well if it is illegal to claim on both policies and the insurers are forcing it then I would suggest they are breaking the law and not the claimant.

It is illegal to claim on both policies.


But if you have 2 policies covering the same risk, then each insurer should pay their share of the cost of any claim.

FlameCloud

Quentin wrote: »

It is illegal to claim on both policies.


But if you have 2 policies covering the same risk, then each insurer should pay their share of the cost of any claim.

....meaning there will be a claim on each policy.

Nemo1966

FlameCloud wrote: »

....meaning there will be a claim on each policy.

Just found out on another forum -

If A had an accident whilst driving - A's policy covers it
If her B has and accident whilst driving - B's policy covers it
If the car is damaged whilst parked/stolen/set on fire - each policy pays half the cost of the claim and they pay 50% of the appropriate excesses on both policies

So it isn't illegal to have insurance on both car or claim on both policies as long as the payout isn't overlapped or duplicated. Hence no fraud

Quentin

FlameCloud wrote: »

....meaning there will be a claim on each policy.

Yes,


Not by the policyholder though!


If the OP makes a claim and the insurer is on the ball they will contact the other insurer for their share.

FlameCloud

Quentin wrote: »

Yes,


Not by the policyholder though!


If the OP makes a claim and the insurer is on the ball they will contact the other insurer for their share.

As I said, not if the first insurer is on the ball. Doing what you suggest will strictly prevent a contribution.

Nemo1966

FlameCloud wrote: »

As I said, not if the first insurer is on the ball. Doing what you suggest will strictly prevent a contribution.

Define on the ball?