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Motorbike insurance - just passed my test, bought a 600cc bike and struggling to find insurance


Scooter
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Hi

I passed my test in the UK early February and I live in France.

Bought a Suzuki 600cc sports bike and didn't realise that in France, if you have just passed your test, they treat you like a young inexperienced driver irrespective of your age or how long you have had your car licence - in my case over 40 years!!

Does anyone know where I might be able to get insurance for under 2,000 euros - which is the cheapest quote so far - most are coming in around the 3,000 euro mark.

Thank in anticipation.

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I got back into bikes about 3 years ago here in France, after a few years away. They also classed me as a "young driver" (despite me passing my test in the last century!) because I had no bike insurance history here. I ended up moving my car insurances to the same insurance company, They then did a better deal, you could try this. I pay about 280 for a TDM 900 fully comp, which I think is more expensive than in the UK.
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[quote user="Scooter"]

Hi

I passed my test in the UK early February and I live in France.

Bought a Suzuki 600cc sports bike and didn't realise that in France, if you have just passed your test, they treat you like a young inexperienced driver irrespective of your age or how long you have had your car licence - in my case over 40 years!!

[/quote]

 

Hi, If you only passed your test this year then statistically you ARE inexperienced. I appreciate that you have been driving (a car, presumably) for over 40 years but there is a lot of learning to do on a motorbike, mainly to do with avoiding cars driven by experienced drivers [:-))])  and the early days/months are critical and in many respects you are similar to a new young driver.

I won't go into the hows and whys of passing your test in UK but living in France and what address is on your driving licence; that's a whole bag of worms that's been discussed before.

As suggested above you should try combining your bike insurance with your car or other policies, it saved me quite a bit with Allianz, but still not as cheap as it was in UK. There was a thread recently about insurance costs.

 

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Scooter,

The reason your premiums are high will be due to the stats - you, re-born bikers and teenagers are most likely to fall off. I enjoy fully comp thru AXA of €227 for a 1200cc tourer (but then I have always had a bike & my last accident was age 19). My son has got a good deal for his scooter thru AMV.fr
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Thanks for the info - waiting to hear from my insurance company on Tuesday and then, if no good, will start contacting some others.

Overlooked this one - thought I had it all covered becasue I had been riding a bike for 4 years (125) but on my wife's insurance!!

Fingers crossed.

Ron

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When we got our second car our insurer would not give us any no claims and it took years to get the insurance down to a fifty percent reduction, I think that they only allowed about four or five percent a year.

Maybe it would be better to insure it in your wifes name.  I know it was a long time ago but when we insured our first car in France they never asked if we could even drive it, or have licenses etc. And  they would not accept UK no claims then either, well ours would not, at least.

Perhaps things have changed though.

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Thanks - I think you are right, it is going to take a while for the amount to become 'normal'.

 

I cant insure in Carole's name because she has not passed her test for a bigger bike unfortunately as that would haev been the best option.

 

Will keep trying.

 

ron

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I've never liked the idea of insuring in someone else's name: it happens a lot in UK with young drivers but means that you never build up that no claim bonus (assuming of course that you don'y have any accidents!!). It's also one of the downsides of having a company car.

When we arrived here the insurance agent wanted (ideally) 13 years' worth of insurance evidence for no claims. In fact I had much, much more, but the way we shop for insurance in the UK means, that worst case scenario, there could be 13 different companies involved.

Basically my view is that if you can't afford the insurance then you can't afford to run the vehicle. so many people seem to think it's some sort of "right".

 

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Sorry Scooter, but it is just my opinion. However, I too have been driving cars and bikes since 1964 and I've seen a lot of accidents, and had a few when I was still in my teens and inexperienced. I also had a spell working for an accident investigator and saw some pretty horrible results. I think you never stop learning, and like it or not, insurance companies base their premiums on the likelihood of you having an accident taking your experience into account. I've had to pay high premiums for performance cars in the past; same sort of risk assessment.

Your mistake was in not earning any no-claims bonus of your own, and riding for 4 years as a learner is not exactly the best news for an insurance company to hear.

On my car owning soapbox I say that owning and running a vehicle doesn't end with the purchase of the car or bike; all the other costs have to be factored in, maintenance, road tax (where applicable), day-to-day running costs (fuel and wear and tear), and insurance.  You already know this, but a lot of younger drivers ignore it! What I'm getting at is that people often shell out a load of money on a car they can just afford to buy, but then leave nothing for the rest of the costs, and then start whingeing about insurance as if it's somehow unfair.

There, got that off my chest!

Do some careful shopping around and use the online quote sites. Often a local agent can match the premiums if you show him proof of what you've found. Use the same agent who insures your house and car. Bite the bullet, pay up, and drive carefully for a couple of years and it'll start to come down.

You would have been in the same position in the UK; they're no more lenient there.

Happy riding!

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