Motorcycle insurance quotes

al_kawasaki

Hi all, I’m posting for the first time, I hope I’m in the right place.
I’ve been riding bikes and driving cars for 30+ years having never had a claim or convictions .. I’ve been living at the same address for 16 years and 3-4 years ago insurance companies stopped supplying quotes for my motorcycle insurance so now I only get 3 quotes from comparison sites and only one is affordable.. I understand that living in central london has become I theft risk.
I’ve called companies and spoke to real people as opposed to online and they are unable to even generate a quote for me, when I asked why they were unable to give any explanation.. one company suggested there maybe something on my records that is causing this .. how and what would I even look for .. the final straw this morning was I’m think of buying a different bike and only got one quote of £3.5k for a year .. I’m gradually being forced to give up riding.. 
Is there a way of looking into the information insurance companies see when giving quotes.. many thanks..AL.. 

Sandtree

There are various databases out there that insurers can request information from like CUE (Claims and Underwriting Exchange), the IFR (Insurance Fraud Registry), CIFAS (a cross industry counter fraud non-profit). If you google each of them and "data subject access request" they will give instruction on how to get information that they hold on you, though there can be some complexity in DSAR requests if you are being investigated as a potential fraudster.

You can also check your credit file to see if anything is untoward there, a CIFAS loading as a victim of fraud may show but they are only supposed to last for just over a year so wouldnt explain the timescales you've been having issues for.

al_kawasaki

Thank you .. I’ve now requested DSAR with mib .. I’m hoping to find some explanation other than I live in London though for some reason I don’t think it will be that easy 

Sandtree

al_kawasaki said:

Thank you .. I’ve now requested DSAR with mib .. I’m hoping to find some explanation other than I live in London though for some reason I don’t think it will be that easy 

Never touched motorbike insurance professionally or personally so only have a modest understanding of how it varies from Motor and the landscape of the market. 

Personally know a few bikers that live in zone 2/3 London and dont have issues with insurance (or at least not ones they've talked to me about and unfortunately people tend to talk to me about them) but insurers can look at fairly small areas as hotspots they dont want to touch.

I was actually surprised my car insurance didnt materially increase when moving from leafy surrey to zone 2 London as was anticipating having to pay a lot more for a car I'd be using a lot less and be less appropriate for the types of roads used.

al_kawasaki

Sandtree .. thanks for the reply .. I started to get less quotes for my motorcycle about 3 years ago .. there was a definite change in the number of quotes returned to me .. last year I swallowed the higher price just to renew with the same company.. I did a test with a neighbor that has the same post code as me just a couple of doors away in our close and rides .. he gets around 15-20 quotes returning from comparison sites.. so he got a quote for my bike, my reg ..and I got a quote for a different bike the same model as his .. he got the usual 15 and I still only got 3-4 .. he has had claims and I have had none in 36 years.. I know everyone is different but for me to get no quotes, even expensive ones points to something is wrong for me 

al_kawasaki

An update.. I received DSAR .. it showed nothing out of the ordinary.. apart from a personal injury claim.. what would be my next step in finding out why insurance companies won’t quote me for motorcycle insurance.. thanks ..AL.. 

Sandtree

find a good broker, they'll first of all try and quote and if they also get lots of declines they can contact the underwriters themselves to find out