On the Road Again!

All the paperwork arrived today from the insurance companies for both the bikes.  Everything looks on order and I have copied the certificate of insurance for both and they are in the wallets I have with me in trips away. The originals are filed away.

As a historic vehicle there's no need to tax the bike and it is MoT exempt. It does have to be in roadworthy condition.  However, everyone needs insurance.  Currently it has theft cover as a non-runner. There's no need currently with it not able to be ridden on the road to have any third party liability. So with it soon to be back on the road, it needs on-road insurance. Firstly I did the Meerkat shuffle. Comparethemarket.com , and got a quote for £68 fully comp from the RAC. I prefer not to pay any excess as all companies enforce some on you.  Then to Footman-James classic insurance - £142 fully comp. GULP!! Both with a 3000 mile limit per year. I might tweak the Meerkat offer and see what the increased mileage is before the price goes up I then did the Go Compare   comparison site and came up with this one. Includes breakdown and legal. Tempting?

It's that time of year again - La danse macabre de l'assurance  begins. My current insurers sent the renewal quote and a note to say that it would be automatically renewed 5 days before it was due - on the 18th September. La danse macabre All would be well if the premium hadn't gone up from £251.93 to £282.31 (£30.38)! Considering the depreciation on a 7 year old car and the lower risk a break-even quotation might have been acceptable. As it was, La Danse was just beginning. Take your partners.... I logged into my account with the Meerkats .  I have successfully used them before and have always saved money.  The trick seems to be to change companies every year to maximise the "new business" enticements. The first few pages of insurers wanting my business were all cheaper than last year's quote (!) and I chose the cheapest. Choosing the cheapest may not be the best way, always, but after checking that all I ne...

It's getting on for that time of year again when my car insurance is due. I used to be with Direct Line but the quote gory higher and higher every year and so I started trawling the comparison sites to get a better quote. Last year this turned out to be the insurers that sell under the banner of the RAC motoring organisation.  They had the cover I wanted and although not the cheapest quote, were the cheapest of the companies I had ever heard of. This year my renewal arrived and they quite matter of factly tell me that this year my premium will go up £50.  The car is a year older and therefore less valuable.  The risk hasn't changed much. So it is back to the comparison sites. What has really happened is that premium last year was a new business discounted amount. This year they are trying to get some of it back. Sadly for them I will go elsewhere.

My insurance is due on the 27th June.  Or I should say my current policy runs out at midnight as the clock ticks over from the 26th into the 27th. So as usual I have seen the forums discussing what people are paying and they are generally  less than me.  I guess the risk is supposed to be assessed on a personal basis. However that is too simplistic.  It's computer generated. What is annoying is the price for the same insurance. When I say same I mean the same basic cover, plus any accidents (I have the car one in May 2015) and other elements AND the same insurance company. Once comparison site quoted  £156.52. My renewal arrived at £179.79 and another comparison site at £107.22 although the last one doesn't include any extras like legal cover. When that's added it comes to nearer £140. So what to do?