Motorbike Insurance - Address

blue_jet

I'm planning on taking my motorbike with me to university next year, It will only be with me in university for about 3-4 months of the year and the rest of the time it will be at home. My question is, should I put my home address where the bike will be kept for the rest of the year or my uni address? My home address has significantly cheaper insurance than the uni one (about £4000 less) so I'd rather use my home address. Also, If I do say my home address and it's stolen whilst at uni can I still claim on my insurance (I'm assuming not)? Lastly, since I only really need insurance to allow me to drive on public roads would I be allowed to insure it at my home address and just not claim on anything that happens to it whilst at uni (as its cheaper to just buy myself a new bike (twice) than go for the uni address)? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

DullGreyGuy

Speak to your insurer of choice before buying. 

The bike will presumably be at university most the time and so the favourable outcome is that you can just use that address. Some insurers will require you to do a change of address over summer if you return to living at home for those months which may come with an admin fee

bluelad1927

You'll need to talk to am insurance company or broker about your individual circumstances.

Trying to wing it or not claiming a theft is only going to land you in more bother at a later date. You have to declare an accident or loss (theft) regardless  of whether you made a claim. You'll end up with cancelled insurance and much bigger premiums to pay

Aretnap

blue_jet said:

Lastly, since I only really need insurance to allow me to drive on public roads would I be allowed to insure it at my home address and just not claim on anything that happens to it whilst at uni (as its cheaper to just buy myself a new bike (twice) than go for the uni address)?

That might be an option if the bike got stolen... but not so much if you collided with a pedestrian and caused him serious injury - the size of the claim would dwarf your premium in that case. Only a risk free option if you don't plan to ride it at all at university - in which case why not just leave it at home and avoid the question completely.

The question you are asked is where will the bike "usually" be kept. There's an argument that if it's at home for 8 months of the year then that's where it's usually kept and you don't need to say any more than that. (Similarly, you don't need to tell your insurer if you take your bike on holiday for a couple of weeks and you are still covered at the holiday accommodation).

But there's also an arguement that for a period as long as 4 months it's more of a mid-term change to where it's usually kept which does need reporting. Better to be upfront with the insurer and if necessary have that arguement beforehand than after the event I would think.

blue_jet

If anyone in the future reads this and wants to know if I had a solution, even the insurance companies I phoned didn't really know how to handle it so i'm going to talk to my uni's student advice centre at some point. So far the most accurate thing to do is make your home address the one where your home is (see: https://www.gov.uk/tell-dvla-changed-address, you don't have to change your address when at uni) and the overnight address the place the bike it at uni (I still need to ask them for some form of refund for when the bike is at home though)