Trail bike insurance

[cheshircat1933]

I wanted to get Mike McCollum covered to ride the DRZ, it was the least I could do, after all it is his bike so I called my broker and they said as you have two bikes on your policy you will have to have two policies, so twice the price! So I called another well-known broker who said yes, you can have an additional rider on your second bike. I mentioned the DRZ and trail riding and they said no, we don't do trail or enduro bikes, we class them as off road. I pointed out that this was on road but the road would not be sealed. No, it is too risky. What about if it is only third party - no. Wait a minute, where I mostly live in Essex there are quite a lot of unsealed roads and I drive down them frequently in my car, am I not covered. Oh, yes, it is OK to drive your car. What about if I had an off road vehicle, say Land Rover - oh, that is OK. Then I rang the broker who insures my car, would they insure trail/ensuro bike - no. Also rang other brokers and they would not cover trail riding. Whatever next - no cover in supermarkets cos the trolleys scratch the vehicles; no cover for driving on motorways as the accidents are usually big and expensive.

Can it be right that insurance companies can pick and choose when and where they will cover you, when the law says you must be covered to drive on roads or in public places. Does it make sense that a motorcycle designed for trail riding can be deemed risky, when a Range Rover with unsuitable tyres, or even my old Ford, is not considered risky.

While we are at it, how come I can get 4 additional drivers on my car for free, but it seems impossible to get cover for one
additional rider on a motorcycle. I have checked my insurance documents and the wording is vague about off-road events.

Perhaps we should all look at our insurance cover and look into the whole matter seriously.

Harry Cheshire. As a footnote to my sorry tale, First of all I never mentioned trail riding but as soon as they saw DRZ that was it, also do be careful to make sure your insurance covers you for what your doing because if you or anybody who is driving your bike is stopped by the police you will lose your license. How I got round my problem, I passed the bike onto my son, he got cover for himself and Mike. He can ride the bike and mine, I can do the same, and Mike gets to ride his own bike for free, all for an extra 45 quid. All's well that ends Well. Harry.

[Beerbelly]

Insurance companies are a rip off. Just insure it as per normal and don't tell them anything! If the wording is vague then you can argue the toss! Trouble is off road to them is mx and enduros and is deemed competitive. They don't know the difference is my guess. Try ebike I spoke with the underwriters when the broker gave me grief and I was insured.

[big yellow tractor]

Just insure your bike as standard "social domestic and pleasure" use and add "commuting to and from a fixed place of work" only if it's no extra coin or you really need it. Also, if you're likely to ever carry a pillion, make sure that's on there. It's normally no extra cost but insurance companies like to drop it off if they can.

Don't ever tell an insurance company you were/are/intend to be, off-road. It just confuses their little brains and gives them a get out. Same goes with recovery companies. You are riding a road legal bike on the road. Full-stop. Period. End of sentence.

Most single bike policies will let you add additional riders at little or no cost but I've yet to find a multi-bike that will. I suppose it makes sense otherwise we'd all get together and lump our bikes on one policy and all ride what we want for about £10 a year fully comp. To let another rider use your bike he/she will need to be covered for "other vehicles" on his own policy.

Off-road events are a different matter. You will need to check the insurance cover provided by each event and decide for yourself if it is suitable. Some are a bit restrictive. I think for some trials events for instance, you are covered all risks while in a marked section but not on the stages in between.

Some personal accident cover might be in order if you'll struggle to pay the bills should you pop a collar-bone or snap a leg.

Hope that's of some help

[Dave]

Don't ever tell an insurance company you were/are/intend to be, off-road. It just confuses their little brains and gives them a get out. Same goes with recovery companies. You are riding a road legal bike on the road. Full-stop. Period. End of sentence.

^ This.

Don't say you're riding off-road, because you're not. You'd be lying to them and to yourself. Just don't even bring it up.

[Treloen]

As every one else has said, don't mention off roading. You are riding on byways, which are legally roads. If you do anything more than that you're not covered by any insurance, and their small print will verify that.

I insure my WR250F through Bennetts (although it's not been anywhere for over 3 years due to injury). I've not had any issues with them, and my cover costs less than £100 a year.

[SLR]

normally followed by the question, has it been modified! I asked them to define modified and the insurance company said 'is it exactly the same as was when it left the factory if not list the differences'. Does this go down as far as stickers?

[Dave]

You should go to great lengths and into great detail. Explain about the different brand tyres, the lower psi, the different viscosity oil, the non standard bearing lubricant, the drive chain, etc.. Should take about 40 mins. See if they still insure you lol!

I insure with Bikesure. They ask 'Any performance enhancing modifications' which is a better question and what all companies mean when they ask.